Ladies and gentlemen, the era of the PlayStation 5 is almost upon us! Sony recently held a livestream following a cancelled talk event. There, PS5 architect Mark Cerny took to the stage to reveal more details about the PlayStation 5.

Cerny revealed the new console’s specifications. Here is a table comparing it to the PS4:


PS5PS4
CPU 8x Zen 2 Cores at 3.5GHz with SMT (variable frequency)8x Jaguar Cores at 1.6GHz
GPU 10.28 TFLOPs, 36 CUs at 2.23GHz (variable frequency)1.84 TFLOPs, 18 CUs at 800MHz
GPU ArchitectureCustom RDNA 2Custom GCN
Memory/Interface16GB GDDR6/256-bit8GB GDDR5/256-bit
Memory Bandwidth448GB/s176GB/s
Internal StorageCustom 825GB SSD500GB HDD
IO Throughput5.5GB/s (Raw), Typical 8-9GB/s (Compressed)Approx 50-100MB/s (dependent on data location on HDD)
Expandable StorageNVMe SSD SlotReplaceable internal HDD
External StorageUSB HDD SupportUSB HDD Support
Optical Drive4K UHD Blu-ray DriveBlu-ray Drive

Cerny also discussed that the PlayStation 5 will have a new system called Boost. It allows the console to lower game frame rates, even at higher temperature environments. Sony says that “all PS5 consoles process the same workloads with the same performance level in any environment, no matter what the ambient temperature may be.”. Simply put, the PS5 has a set power budget, and it’s tied to the thermal limits of the cooling assembly.

It’s a completely different paradigm. Rather than running at constant frequency and letting the power vary based on the workload, we run at essentially constant power and let the frequency vary based on the workload.”

– Mark Cerny

The console has an internal monitor which analyses the workloads on both CPU and GPU. It would then adjust the frequencies to match the temperature. This would also allow game developers finely tune game performance.

So far, Cerny has promised that the PS5 will be a powerful and versatile console. From expandable storage to 3D audio fidelity, and of course, that new boost system.

Its release is still a bit far off though, as Sony has yet to reveal when its release is. Heck, they still haven’t revealed how it looks like yet. But be sure that gamers all over the world are looking forward to even more announcements in the future.

Source: PlayStation livestream