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Sony finally reveals PlayStation 5 specs: 10.3 TFLOPs 36 CU GPU at 2.23 GHz can give stiff competition to the Xbox Series X

Sony's Mark Cerny talking about the Intersection Engine in the PS5's RDNA 2 GPU. (Image Source: PS5 Live Stream)
Sony's Mark Cerny talking about the Intersection Engine in the PS5's RDNA 2 GPU. (Image Source: PS5 Live Stream)
Sony has finally taken the wraps off the PlayStation 5's much anticipated specs. PS5 Chief Architect Mark Cerny, in a pre-recorded webcast, talked in detail about the various hardware choices in the console and how they affect gaming. On paper, the Xbox Series X looks to have the edge in this generation, but it is too early to conclude anything before testing out some real games.

The day we've waited for is finally here. While there's no revelation of the actual console design or gameplay, Sony's Mark Cerny did talk in detail about the internal architecture of the PlayStation 5. For this generation, Sony is focusing on a different approach to core clocks, improvements brought forth by AMD's RDNA 2 GPU, the SSD and expandable storage, and the Tempest 3D audio engine. We will discuss all those points in related articles but first, here are the specs. 

ComponentXbox Series XPlayStation 5PlayStation 4
CPU8x Zen 2 cores at 3.8 GHz (3.66 GHz with SMT)8x Zen 2 cores at 3.5 GHz (variable frequency)8x Jaguar cores at 1.6 GHz
GPUCustom RDNA 2, 12.15 TFLOPs, 52 CUs at 1.825 GHzCustom RDNA 2, 10.28 TFLOPs, 36 CUs at 2.23 GHz (variable frequency), Custom GCN, 1.84 TFLOPs, 18 CUs at 800 MHz
RAM16 GB GDDR616 GB GDDR68 GB GDDR5
Memory Bandwidth10 GB at 560 GB/s, 6 GB at 336 GB/s448 GB/s176 GB/s
StorageCustom 1 TB NVMe SSD and optional 1 TB expansion card; USB 3.2 storage supportCustom 825 GB SSD and expansion slot for external NVMe SSD; USB storage500 GB HDD; USB storage
I/O Throughput2.4 GB/s raw, 4.8 GB/s compressed5.5 GB/s raw, 8-9 GB/s compressed 50-100 MB/s
Optical Drive4K UHD Blu-ray drive4K UHD Blu-ray drive Blu-ray drive

So, on paper, the Microsoft Xbox Series X appears to be the more powerful of the two. But specs alone aren't indicative of the complete picture. For instance, the TFLOPs difference between the Xbox Series X and the PlayStation 5 is about 1.8, which is actually a full PlayStation 4 no less. Also, the Series X has 44% more ray tracing hardware than the PS5 albeit at lower clocks. This means Microsoft can emphasize more on real time path tracing while Sony looks more towards global illumination. 

Ultimately, it depends on how well developers can make use of the extra TFLOPs in the Xbox Series X. Until we see actual games in action, spec sheets can only tell half the story.

Source(s)

PlayStation 5 Live Stream

Eurogamer

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> Expert Reviews and News on Laptops, Smartphones and Tech Innovations > News > News Archive > Newsarchive 2020 03 > Sony finally reveals PlayStation 5 specs: 10.3 TFLOPs 32 CU GPU at 2.23 GHz can give stiff competition to the Xbox Series X
Vaidyanathan Subramaniam, 2020-03-18 (Update: 2023-07-28)