Sony unveiled the PlayStation 5 Pro, an upgraded version of its current-generation console, in September. In a technical presentation, PS5 lead architect, Mark Cerny, gave an overview of the PS5 Pro’s features. Cerny has now taken a deeper dive into the technical aspects of the console in a new deep-dive video, detailing the PS5 Pro’s advanced ray tracing features, new AI-powered upscaling technology, and more. Cerny and Sony have also revealed collaboration with AMD on machine learning-based technology for improved graphics and gameplay.
PS5 Pro Technical Deep-Dive
At a seminar at Sony Interactive Entertainment headquarters, Cerny gave a “bits and bytes” speech on the PS5 Pro, highlighting technical details included in Sony’s latest console. In a nearly 40-minute presentation shared on YouTube on Wednesday, Cerny detailed a “tightly focused” approach to upgrading to the mid-generation Pro variant, keeping the work required from game developers to a minimum while bringing significant improvements. Gives priority to. For gamers.
Cerny revealed that the idea for the PS5 Pro began in 2020, the same year as the standard PS5 launched. The upgraded console, which launches on November 7 in select markets, comes with three headline performance features – an upgraded GPU, advanced ray tracing hardware, and a new AI-based upscaling technology called PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR). It is said.
Cerny explained in detail the technical aspects of the larger GPU on the PS5 Pro. The base PS5 runs on an RDNA 2 GPU, which comes with 18 sub-units, called Work Group Processors (WGPs). The PS5 Pro’s “hybrid” RDNA GPU, on the other hand, comes with 30 WGP. In the video, Cerny explained the technology behind the 16.7 teraflops “hybrid” RDNA GPU on the PS5 Pro, which combines multiple generations of RDNA technology.
“The base technology for the PS5 Pro is between RDNA 2 and RDNA 3. I’m calling it RDNA 2.x,” Cerny said. According to him, this option makes it easier for developers to port their games to PS5 Pro.
“Ray tracing uses what I’m calling Future RDNA technology. This roadmap is RDNA that is well ahead of the features scheduled today. It’s showing up here first,” Cerny said. “And machine learning is custom, or to be more specific, it is custom enhancements to RDNA,” he said.
According to Cerny, the PS5 Pro needs faster and more memory to support its larger GPU. The upgraded console’s system memory has a bandwidth of 576Gbps – 28 percent faster than the base PS5’s 448Gbps. The PS5 Pro also has over 1GB of memory available for games, which is used to integrate PSSR, add ray tracing, and increase the rendering resolution of games. To achieve this, the PS5 Pro comes with a separate slow DDR5 RAM dedicated to the operating system, thus freeing up faster memory for games.
Cerny also detailed the PS5 Pro’s “RDNA 2.x” graphics. The mid-range upgrade brings many features from RDNA 3 technology, while keeping away things that cause complications. He explained in detail the technical aspects of the improvements to the ray tracing and machine learning technology packed into the PS5 Pro.
Finally, Cerny announced the beginning of Sony’s intensive collaboration with AMD, codenamed Amethyst, with a focus on future hardware architectures for machine learning.
