The PlayStation 5 should further strengthen the market position. We have all the info, details and what is known so far.
UPDATE: Here you can find all information from the presentation on Wednesday:
Hardware details:
First, the highly anticipated full system specs for the new console:
– CPU: modified Zen 2 chip – 8C/16T @ 3.5 GHz
– GPU: modified RDNA-2 chip 10.28 TFLOPs, 36 CUs @ 2.23 GHz
– Working memory: 16 GB GDDR6 / 256-bit
– Memory bandwidth: 448 GB/s, 6 GB @ 336 GB/s
– Hard disk: 825 GB SSD
– expandable storage: NVMe SSD slot
– Optical drive: 4k UHD Blu-Ray
In comparison to the Xbox Series X, the PlayStation 5 is therefore just about the shortest, especially in terms of processor and graphics. Lead System Architect Mark Cerny, however, emphasized in the presentation that more teraflops doesn’t necessarily mean more performance. We won’t know if this is true until the console release.
Especially the change to an SSD hard disk was praised by Cerny in the presentation. After all, the old HDD on the PlayStation 4 often acted as a bottleneck for the games. With the PlayStation 5, loading times could now be reduced almost 150 times.
Conditionally downward compatible
Another rumour that had stubbornly stuck with the new PlayStation generation was full backwards compatibility. Sony announced that a list of the best 100 PS4 games would be created to make them compatible. So not all games of the old generation will be playable on the new console.
Further details were not mentioned in the very technical presentation, but postponed to a later date. It was noticeable that the target audience had originally been the Game Developers Conference (GDC). Finally, the hopes of many fans to finally see gameplay or pictures of the console were disappointed.
Original news from the morning:
Today, Wednesday, March 18th, Sony will present the first details of its new PS5. The presentation was initially planned differently. Actually the whole thing was supposed to take place within the Game Developers Conference (GDC). But this was postponed due to the worldwide Corona Pandemic.
A stream on Wednesday at 17:00 German time will still be available – without spectators on site. Mark Cerny, Lead System Architect of the new console, will talk about the system architecture and more.
The stream will be broadcast in English on the PlayStation blog.
Tomorrow at 9am Pacific Time, PS5 lead system architect Mark Cerny will provide a deep dive into PS5’s system architecture, and how it will shape the future of games.
Watch tomorrow at PlayStation Blog: https://t.co/bgP1rXMeC8 pic.twitter.com/BSYX9tOYhE
— PlayStation (@PlayStation) March 17, 2020
What is known about the PS5 so far
Sony already gave first information about technical specifications of the PS5 in a PDF.
Especially the loading time is one of the main features in the development. Currently, it is 8.1 seconds for the PS4 Pro. The new console wants to land at 0.83 seconds.
This should work with the previously known technical details like CPU and GPU. An AMD Ryzen of the third generation with eight cores is used as the processor. In addition, an AMD Radeon Navi with ray tracing support is used as the graphics unit. So a resolution of 8K should be possible.
In addition, there is a faster SSD hard disk, a BluRay drive and a new 3D audio technology.
Backwards compatible and streaming in focus
The issue of content streaming is to play a major role. The process should work “seamlessly”, as stated in the point “Role of Streaming in Next Gen”.
The console will be backwards compatible with the PS4 and will continue to feature exclusive titles. Godfall is already announced as the first PS5 game. The PS4 will be supported for another three years.
A console or controller design for the PlayStation 5 is not yet known. The fans are still puzzling, of course. Also details about Virtual Reality are not out yet. But the PSVR glasses will be usable.
The price of the last two console releases from Sony was $399 each in America. Also a price that could come for the PS5.
The release was officially scheduled for the holiday season 2020 in the USA, which speaks for a release between October and December.
Competitor Microsoft already presented further details about the new Xbox Series X – including a first picture.
