PS5 Specs: CPU, GPU, SSD, RAM And Backward Compatibility
Sony has finally revealed the full hardware specs of its next-generation console, the PlayStation 5. As expected, the PS5 will come with a powerful Ryzen-based CPU and RDNA GPU along with a custom SSD, which Sony promised will offer faster loading times in gameplay.
The much-awaited console is scheduled for release during the holiday 2020.
PlayStation 5 Hardware Specification
1. PlayStation 5 CPU Specs
The PlayStation 5 will be equipped with custom eight-core AMD Zen 2 CPU clocked at 3.5GHz each. However, the main highlight is that Sony is using variable frequencies on the CPU. It means the performance of PS5 will vary depending on how demanding the games are.
2. PlayStation 5 Custom GPU
The next-gen console by Sony will feature a custom GPU based on AMD’s RDNA 2 architecture hardware. The PS4 was based on the older GCN architecture. Sony promises that the GPU will offer 10.28 teraflops and 36 compute units with a clock speed of 2.23 GHz. Just like the custom Ryzen CPU, the PlayStation 5 GPU will also have variable frequencies.
3. PS5 SSD
We already knew that Sony plans to shift from HDD to SDD for PS5, and that is what’s happened. The PS5 will be equipped with a custom 825GB SSD, and according to Sony, it will offer incredibly faster gameplay loading times.
When we compare PS5’s promised SSD with the HDD in PS4, we realize how incredibly fast PS5 could be. For instance, to load 1GB of data, PS4 took about 20 seconds. However, with PS5’s SSD you can quickly load five gigabytes of data in just a second.
4. PlayStation 5 RAM
The PlayStation 5 comes with 16 GB of GDDR6 RAM and will work extremely well with the system’s custom SSD. On the PS4, to access the data more quickly, some of the game data was stored in RAM. However, in PS5, its custom SSD will be almost as fast as its RAM.
The data can be quickly accessed directly from the SSD. It further means the game data need not be transferred to the RAM, leaving the RAM free.
Other than the above-mentioned PS5 specs, Sony’s next-gen console will also come with a 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray optical drive. To play the games, you’ll have to install the games to internal SSD from discs.
Finally, the powerful hardware on the PlayStation 5 will come with support for 4K and 8K gaming in 120Hz.
PlayStation 5 Backward Compatibility
Now that you know about the hardware specification of PS5, then let’s talk a little about the backward compatibility.
Fans were expecting to get a direct answer to the question:
“Is the PS5 backward compatible with all PS4 and PS4 Pro titles?”
However, Mark Cerny’s answer was ambiguous during the PlayStation 5’s deep dive presentation. “We recently took a look at the top 100 PS4 titles as ranked by playtime, and we’re expecting almost all of them to be playable at launch on the PS5,” he said.
It means that at the moment, the PS5 features backward compatibility with only some PS4 titles. However, Cerny stated that they’ll continue testing the backward compatibility with other titles as well.
Meaning we can expect other PS4 titles to become playable on PS5 in the near future.
However, initially, the PS5 won’t play every PS4 and PS4 Pro titles, which is disappointing for a lot of fans.
