Digital Foundry: Spec Analysis: Sony's surprise PlayStation 5 tech reveal

GTVision · Apr 17, 2019

Nooblet said:
I mean the Xbox is going to have BC too and its BC goes as far back as first Xbox...so its BC library will be much more extensive.

True, although the PS4 has a userbase of around or above 100 million by the time the PS5 comes out. For all those owners BC on the PS5 is a strong incentive, especially because it concerns relatively new games. The BC of Xbox One with the older consoles sure is impressive, but I don't think the older games matter that much for the masses and the Xbox One userbase just doesn't compete with the PS4.

Now that it's clear that the PS5 will be BC with the PS4, it's a bit more difficult for Microsoft to persuade the ~100 million PS4 owners to jump ship.
I'm curious what they'll offer beyond the things we already know like Game Pass. Streaming is something Sony already does, so that's probably not enough incentive unless Microsoft really nails it technically.

big_z · Apr 17, 2019

K.Jack said:
If it's just 4.0 NVMe he's stating it in an extremely disingenuous manner, as if it's some unique breakthrough which Sony created. You can read through these PS5 threads and see that people are taking his words to mean exactly that.

"Faster than any PC SSD on the market" should not be said if it will be run of the mill technology in PCs when the PS5 launches.

It is 4.0 NVMe. The ssd inside the dev kits will be swapped with larger versions of what will ship in the ps5 when available, the current one inside is a bit slower than their expectation. Microsoft is also using a solid drive but it's unclear what standard they will be supporting as dev kits are yet to arrive although expectations are the same as the chip natively supports pcie4.

Sony isn't being disingenuous saying it's faster than pc as the standard isn't available to consumers as of the time of the article. They're simply saying that they are working with proper next gen tech in this regard. It gives fans a reason to be excited because load times were awful this generation.

Noctis0Stella · Apr 17, 2019

What about RAM?
The ps4 had 8gb and now 24 for the ps5??

ThereAreFourNaan · Apr 17, 2019

big_z said:
It is 4.0 NVMe. The ssd inside the dev kits will be swapped with larger versions of what will ship in the ps5 when available, the current one inside is a bit slower than their expectation. Microsoft is also using a solid drive but it's unclear what standard they will be supporting as dev kits are yet to arrive although expectations are the same as the chip natively supports pcie4.

Sony isn't being disingenuous saying it's faster than pc as the standard isn't available to consumers as of the time of the article. They're simply saying that they are working with proper next gen tech in this regard. It gives fans a reason to be excited because load times were awful this generation.

What's the source on this?

Alex840 · Apr 17, 2019

Birdseye said:
Will it run games at 1080p/60fps?

8k/30fps ;)

Laserdisk · Apr 17, 2019

Birdseye said:
Will it run games at 1080p/60fps?

Ridge Racer 7 did that at ps3 launch

ss_lemonade · Apr 17, 2019

Bhonar said:
I don't know the technical details, but how would this work for someone like me who is a totally spontaneous gamer that randomly plays different games on a daily/weekly basis?

I'm not the type who dedicates playing/finishing one game at a time

it wouldn't be unusual for me to play 5 different games in one week

Maybe a similar experience as the OG Xbox? Lol, no idea but didn't the xbox also cache games to it's HDD to improve loading? I remember Halo having really long campaign map loading times when played the first time, then they would load super quick the next time you replayed them. The xbox would then eventually invalidate cached data (probably after playing other games or loading more maps)

BeI · Apr 17, 2019

c0de said:
But there's nothing special then to a PS5 because then it's just standard hardware with a standard bus and he was hinting at a custom solution.
In the end it's something where he might be not wrong but the way he worded makes tech people at least roll eyes (if it's really just using pcie 4.0).

Is PCI 4.0 really going to make much of a difference in the PC space? All I know atm is that I have a traditional SSD and an M2 with 6x the speed, but it doesn't seem to have an effect on load times in games.

Raide · Apr 17, 2019

BeImonkey said:
Is PCI 4.0 really going to make much of a difference in the PC space? All I know atm is that I have a traditional SSD and an M2 with 6x the speed, but it doesn't seem to have an effect on load times in games.

At the start, probably not the leap people expect, especially if they are already running SSD etc. I can see progressive updates to OS and games etc to make use of the changes over time.

Kalle · Apr 17, 2019

RTX was always there, it was called bullshot mode.

degauss · Apr 17, 2019

Classicrock78 said:
Will it play 4k bluray movies i wonder?

I would bet not.

Modest_Modsoul · Apr 17, 2019

PlayStation Begins.

TheRaidenPT · Apr 17, 2019

gofreak said:
I wonder if this announcement frees AMD up at all to discuss Navi more.

They can't talk specifically about the PS5 implementation, but it would be nice to get general details out of them.

They'll talk about it in Conputex apparently so yeah it does kinda free them

darkwing · Apr 17, 2019

my 8k oled tv is not ready

Confused Cheeseburger · Apr 17, 2019

Frontieruk said:
Latest AMD cpu tech. But no real details. Depending on how AMD package Ryzen in the PC space the core count could be as low as 2 cores on a chiplet. This won't be the chip in the PS5 obviously but as the 8 core chiplets will be reserved for the higher end CPU packages and from a pricing perspective Sony would want to keep costs down its more likely they'll use two chiplets to make it to 6-8 cores as this is how Ryzen is built on their current process.

Latest AMD GPU tech. Again no real details, custom could be as simple as a cut down version for example less vram.
Probably using pcie SSD for increased transfer.
Audio chip is based on something AMD started using in the 69xx series of GPUs and is already in Xb1

Thank you

Bung Hole · Apr 17, 2019

2 rear USB 3 ports please.

Zexion said:
Begun, the Spec wars have.

Yeah, Yoda ain't looking so good nowadays.

chaosaeon · Apr 17, 2019

Javier23 said:
Calling it now - Play5tation.

Or P5 for short with some kind of PS font making it look like a symbol or something maybe. I could see that.

Black Duke · Apr 17, 2019

GTVision said:
True, although the PS4 has a userbase of around or above 100 million by the time the PS5 comes out. For all those owners BC on the PS5 is a strong incentive, especially because it concerns relatively new games. The BC of Xbox One with the older consoles sure is impressive, but I don't think the older games matter that much for the masses and the Xbox One userbase just doesn't compete with the Xbox One.

Now that it's clear that the PS5 will be BC with the PS4, it's a bit more difficult for Microsoft to persuade the ~100 million PS4 owners to jump ship.
I'm curious what they'll offer beyond the things we already know like Game Pass. Streaming is something Sony already does, so that's probably not enough incentive unless Microsoft really nails it technically.

Also, Xbox One didn't have BC with Xbox 360 when it launched, right?
BC is far more important this time.

Alex840 said:
8k/30fps ;)

8k*/30fps

*upscaled

Iucidium · Apr 17, 2019

Birdseye said:
Will it run games at 1080p/60fps?

We can only hope for a performance mode

Iucidium · Apr 17, 2019

LiftGammaGain said:
PlayStation One

The PlayStation.

Martl · Apr 17, 2019

So uhmm ... Crysis?

Hyun Sai · Apr 17, 2019

People really think they'll drop numbers before reaching at least 10 / X ? Good luck lol.

Darktalon · Apr 17, 2019

The PS5 will be releasing November 2020, and it will be skipping straight to PCIe 5.0 for 4x todays 3.0 bandwidth. This is why Cerny says it is faster / will be faster than anything available today. I assume the devkits will be pcie 4.0 in the meantime, but pcie 5 will be ratified this year and silicon rollout in first half of 2020, plenty of time for it to be included in the next gen consoles.

Abominuz · Apr 17, 2019

Sony presenting the new PS5. Luniz blowing trought the speakers while Cerny jumps on stage.

I got five on it
Grab your PS4 games, BC it is indeed
I got five on it
Messin' wit that ray tracing and fast loading SSD
I got five on it
It's got crossplay and yall say we back
I got five on it
Partna, all that and its only half a rack.

Skux · Apr 17, 2019

SSD. About damn time.

Prices are crazy low for SSDs at the moment too.

Cyborg · Apr 17, 2019

Great article from DF. I cant wait for the full reveal

BeI · Apr 17, 2019

Raide said:
At the start, probably not the leap people expect, especially if they are already running SSD etc. I can see progressive updates to OS and games etc to make use of the changes over time.

I just wonder if what the PS5 hopes to offer in terms of load times is something PC will even be capable of matching because of bottlenecks.

RestEerie · Apr 17, 2019

Bung Hole said:
2 rear USB 3 ports please.

Yeah, Yoda ain't looking so good nowadays.

USB Type-C please..

Ryuhza · Apr 17, 2019

NinjaScooter said:
PlayStation: Origins

Dawn of the Rise of the PlayStation: Origins

Raide · Apr 17, 2019

BeImonkey said:
I just wonder if what the PS5 hopes to offer in terms of load times is something PC will even be capable of matching because of bottlenecks.

Well, consoles do tend to be a bit more streamlined and less overheads overall but that is based upon how Sony have engineered it and how developers use it. People expecting sub 1sec loads for all games are going to be very disappointed but faster loading with be great regardless and Ssd will be a major boost for systems.

RestEerie · Apr 17, 2019

BeImonkey said:
I just wonder if what the PS5 hopes to offer in terms of load times is something PC will even be capable of matching because of bottlenecks.

there's also the case of targeted optimization since all PS5 will have that fast SSD so devs can target specifically that when designing games. For PC, it can obviously brute force anything if given the available tech but it's too much of a grey area since PC gaming specs are operating on a wider spectrum of specs.

Fafalada · Apr 17, 2019

BeImonkey said:
All I know atm is that I have a traditional SSD and an M2 with 6x the speed, but it doesn't seem to have an effect on load times in games.

That's the fault of games primarily, nothing is really utilizing solid state drives to their potential (yet).

KennyLinder · Apr 17, 2019

Standard next-gen news question: How many GameCubes are we talking?

RestEerie · Apr 17, 2019

Abominuz said:
Sony presenting the new PS5. Luniz blowing trought the speakers while Cerny jumps on stage.

I got five on it
Grab your PS4 games, BC it is indeed
I got five on it
Messin' wit that ray tracing and fast loading SSD
I got five on it
It's got crossplay and yall say we back
I got five on it
Partna, all that and its only half a rack.

is this a rap song..

gofreak · Apr 17, 2019

BeImonkey said:
I just wonder if what the PS5 hopes to offer in terms of load times is something PC will even be capable of matching because of bottlenecks.

We have to see where PS5 will actually typically land in that regard, but, even if PS5 lands ahead of the common experience on PC right now, and even if Sony's doing some clever things in the software stack or in how components connect together, newer components in the PC space overtime would change that math I'm sure.

Remo Williams · Apr 17, 2019

The BC confirmation makes me especially happy, since I've never gotten a PS4, and this means that I can skip it entirely and just wait for PS5 instead. Still waiting for information about possible issues and incompatibilities with some trepidation (and also console noise, since that's a deal breaker for me), but fingers crossed that the majority of the library works well. Some enhancements would be welcome, but not necessary, although it seems that the loading times will definitely be improved.

Bung Hole · Apr 17, 2019

Abominuz said:
Sony presenting the new PS5. Luniz blowing trought the speakers while Cerny jumps on stage.

I got five on it
Grab your PS4 games, BC it is indeed
I got five on it
Messin' wit that ray tracing and fast loading SSD
I got five on it
It's got crossplay and yall say we back
I got five on it
5 Teraflops is all we have
*scratch music*
*Crowd goes silent*
Cue loud: "What the fuck?!"
.

Fixed :P

HBK · Apr 17, 2019

Sub Boss said:
And the next FROM game will still run at 30fps with bad framepacing

I like you.

Only browsed though the article, but we don't really know anything right?

Like they're using top-notch AMD tech (like "hey we're gonna use Voodoo cards with a Glide API" lol) and wanna incorporate some form of solid state storage to beef up loading times. Not much of a reveal actually.

Hopefully they (both) won't botch the CPU this time.

DeadlyVirus · Apr 17, 2019

Playstation 4-2

Zelus · Apr 17, 2019

Transistor said:
If it has BC with all previous PS models, I could see them just calling it "The PlayStation"

Isn't just PS4 confirmed though? Or does the article state that only PS4 is confirmed for now with the possibilities of others down the road?

DeadlyVirus · Apr 17, 2019

Zelus said:
Isn't just PS4 confirmed though? Or does the article state that only PS4 is confirmed for now with the possibilities of others down the road?

It should have no problem do PS1 and PS2, since the PS4 can already do those. PS3 is another story

Horp · Apr 17, 2019

Play5tation, obviously.

Zelus · Apr 17, 2019

DeadlyVirus said:
It should have no problem do PS1 and PS2, since the PS4 can already do those. PS3 is another story

That's the one I'm really banking on. I'd love to be able to play the Mass Effect trilogy on PS5.

Nuclear Muffin · Apr 17, 2019

DeadlyVirus said:
Playstation 4-2

But PS4 was PS3-2; so that would make PS5 Playstation 3-3!

Abominuz · Apr 17, 2019

RestEerie said:
is this a rap song..

Are you serious, sarcastic or am i getting old. Luniz - i got five on it.

chromatic9 · Apr 17, 2019

Expecting some hybrid SSD solution

More games will increase in size too so 1tb is not much for a 4k system. If it really is a full SSD then I hope they have an easy swap drive and decent port for an external SSD.

Ozorov · Apr 17, 2019

HBK said:
I like you.

Only browsed though the article, but we don't really know anything right?

Like they're using top-notch AMD tech (like "hey we're gonna use Voodoo cards with a Glide API" lol) and wanna incorporate some form of solid state storage to beef up loading times. Not much of a reveal actually.

Hopefully they (both) won't botch the CPU this time.

RestEerie · Apr 17, 2019

DeadlyVirus said:
It should have no problem do PS1 and PS2, since the PS4 can already do those. PS3 is another story

i wouldn't know about PS2 but PS1 emulation is a cakewalk at this point that even an android powered toaster can probably do it.

I do hope some of my digital ps1 classic purchase on the PS3 (FF9, chrono cross, Klonoa, castlevania sotn) can be playable on the PS5. It will be real dope if sony open it up.

Other than nintendo, sony is the only one currently with the legacy that stretched all the way back to the 90s.

Pryme · Apr 17, 2019

Thatguy said:
Im not so sure there will be a boutique high end spec available to Microsoft after reading this. Sonys SSD solution is bleeding edge. Maybe Microsoft can change gears and shoot for $399? No their $99 streaming box isn't the same market per se.

Lmao, this is quite the reach.
There's no unique solution, and MS most certainly has their own fast storage plans in place.

Pottuvoi · Apr 17, 2019

Black Duke said:
8k*/30fps

*upscaled

8k*/60fps* ;)

*upscaled

Digital Foundry: Spec Analysis: Sony's surprise PlayStation 5 tech reveal

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Game Designer at EA

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