The GPU within the scorching new PlayStation 5 Pro is usually fairly outdated tech. But it does preview the ray-tracing upgrades which might be coming with AMD’s new RDNA 4 graphics chips for PC players.
That’s the low down from the identical PS5 Pro deep dive that additionally revealed Sony went its personal means with AI {hardware} within the console fairly than utilizing AMD know-how.
Sony’s lead architect for its PlayStation consoles, Mark Cerny, has defined that the GPU within the PS5 Pro remains to be RDNA 2-based at its core, similar to the unique PS5. The motive for that’s simple, compatibility.
By largely carrying over RDNA 2 know-how for the shaders within the PS5 Pro’s GPU, sport builders can compile a single code path and have it run on each the PS5 and the PS5 Pro.
However, the PS5 Pro shouldn’t be equivalent. “The base know-how for PS5 Pro is someplace between RDNA 2 and RDNA 3,” Cerny says. For starters, whereas the shaders are RDNA 2, elements of the geometry pipeline are from RDNA 3.
Those geometry pipeline parts are quicker however primarily invisible to a sport engine. You can use the identical code on each consoles, it is going to merely run higher on the PS5 Pro.
However, had Sony gone for, say, the doubled-up floating level math functionality from RDNA 3, that may require two code paths to be compiled, one for PS5 and one for PS5 Pro. That wasn’t a burden Sony needed to place onto sport devs for what’s a mid-life refresh fairly than a correctly new console era.
The PS5 Pro’s GPU is usually RDNA 2 tech, however the ray-tracing {hardware} has been upgraded to “Future RDNA” spec which very possible means RDNA 4. (Image credit score: Sony)
But from a PC gaming perspective, simply probably the most intriguing side of the PS5 Pro’s GPU includes ray tracing. Cerny says the upgraded ray-tracing {hardware} is sourced from a “future RDNA” era.
Cerny is non-specific, however he’s clear that this know-how is “exhibiting up first” within the PS5 Pro and isn’t at the moment out there in another AMD chip. Given we’re anticipating RDNA 4 to get replaced by an architecture-branded CDNA, that actually solely leaves RDNA 4.
Whatever, Cerny goes into some element concerning the upgrades. You can watch the video for the total particulars. But the brief model includes doubling up the BVH efficiency and including new stack administration {hardware}.
The BVH efficiency increase provides broad-based enhancements in ray-tracing efficiency, whereas the brand new stack administration engine significantly helps with complicated reflections.
So what affect does which have on efficiency? “It’s tough to cite an actual pace up as a result of it’s totally depending on specifics of utilization. But we generally see the calculation of the rays occurring at double or triple the pace of Playstation 5,” Cerny says.
However, that efficiency increase consists of the straightforward affect of getting a 67% bigger and extra complicated GPU in PS5 Pro versus PS5. Cerny reckons that alone tends to translate right into a real-world efficiency increase of round 45%.
Sony says the PS5 Pro GPU’s new stack administration engine is especially useful for accelerating complicated ray-traced refelctions. (Image credit score: Sony)
So, taking into consideration Sony is claiming ray tracing is often round 100% to 200% quicker on the PS5 Pro, it is clear that the majority of that enchancment is architectural fairly than merely a consequence of including 67% extra useful items.
That bodes fairly properly for RDNA 4 GPUs. Currently, AMD has comfortably the weakest Ray-tracing efficiency of the three foremost GPU distributors for the PC.
Intel’s new B580 GPU has fairly respectable ray tracing throughput, but it surely’s Nvidia that is within the lead. Based on the improved ray tracing within the PS5 Pro, we would anticipate AMD to shut most if maybe not all the hole to Nvidia.
Of course, Nvidia may have its personal new GPU structure arriving early within the new 12 months alongside AMD’s RDNA 4. Known as Blackwell and prone to be branded RTX 50 collection, it is going to little question deliver its personal ray tracing increase. Odds are, then, that AMD will stay at a transparent drawback.
But hopefully, RDNA 4’s ray tracing may have improved sufficiently to make it extra usable than that of current RDNA 2 and RDNA graphics playing cards for the PC, the place enabling high-quality ray tracing in video games like Cyberpunk 2077 can actually hammer body charges. Watch this area…