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After Xbox revealed brand new details on the Xbox Series X, it's time for Sony to do the same with the PlayStation 5. Mark Cerny will be explaining some new information about the PS5's architecture and technology, giving us an idea of what to expect when the console launches later this year. Get ready to watch the stream with us, when it begins at 9am PT, where we'll be covering all the announcements made during the broadcast.

Live Coverage

In place of their canceled GDC plans, this stream will explain Sony's goals for the PS5's hardware.

They mentioned the difficulty of developing for the PS3, saying that they made sure they listened to the developers for the PS4 and going forward. "Game creators matter".

The most requested feature of a new PlayStation made by developers was to have an SSD. The goal is to create a console that developers can easily get used to, and realize their creations faster.

Here are the specs for the PS5, compared against the PS4 on the right.

The PS5 plans to target 5 GB/s bandwidth, instantaneous seek times, and 0.27 second load times, with no load screens.

PlayStation is explaining how they use strategies to hide load times, or how developers need to compromise their game in order to fit it on a Blu-ray.

The SSD will have a size of 825GB, and those who want more storage can easily add it.

Cerny is now talking about custom decompression methods for game data, and the custom processors in the SSD.

The PS5 will ideally have 100x faster I/O over the PS4.

If you want to use PS4 backwards compatibility, it's recommended to use an external hard drive for your titles as to not encroach on the premium SSD space.

Sony will have an expansion bay for an extra m.2 drive, with supported drives and their physical sizes to be revealed at a later date.

The PS5 will have a custom RDNA GPU. They're working together with AMD.

Not every game will be supported by backwards compatibility, but Cerny says a list of the top 100 PS4 titles will likely be supported by the PS5's launch.

Primitive Shaders allow for on the fly rendering. There's a new feature called the Geometry Engine.

Ray Tracing is supported, though developers don't necessarily need to use it.

Mentioning that previous PlayStation consoles haven't always handled power consumption and overheating issues in the best of ways, the PlayStation 5 will be able to run off a constant amount of power, with the CPU and GPU varying depending on the game, rather than previous generations where systems ran on varying power consumption and a constant CPU/GPU output.

The GPU freq is capped to 2.23Ghz and the CPU is 3.5 GHz. The variable frequencies won't make the system get as hot or loud as the PlayStation 4/Pro did as often.

Audio helps immerse and enhance the gaming experience. That's why the PS5 will have 3D audio that'll assist players in making the best experience possible. In a graph detailing how humans hear sound, Sony explains how they use HRTF to create directional audio.

Tempest 3D AudioTech is what the PS5 will use.

Instead of using Dolby Atmos, Sony wanted to not be held back by licensed use scenarios and limited to the support of specific sound bars.

Audio engineers are implementing digital surround sound, for those that don't have fancier audio setups to make the most of the Tempest Audio Engine.

According to Cerny, PS4 audio sounds "flat" compared to the PS5's audio.

There will be 5 HRTFs to choose from, for players to get their best sound for their personal experience.

 

[DANTENDO]

Sure. If the noise kinda distracting me from the game it can happen. Had to pump the volume up and my g/f was about to kill me . Wasn't a very good game, tho.

Moaning about console sound lol get some decent headphones and move the console away from you

 

[RLXD]

Moaning about console sound lol get some decent headphones and move the console away from you

Bet my headphones are more than just decent...
But I like to play my single player titles without headphones and on my sound system.

 

[sarkwalvein]

Moaning about console sound lol get some decent headphones and move the console away from you

That's what I do, but you can't argue it is better when it is silent.
And the PS4 PRO is.... not particularly silent.
Actually I could imagine getting complaints from the neighbors. (nah, but it can get annoying)

 

[Foxi4]

That did not really answer my question. I know that the CPU will be variable in frequency, but I think I heard him talking about their new approach on cooling with a always max power consumption and a new cooling system to compensate the resulting thermals, without having the jet syndrome. I did replace my PS4 Pro's Delta Fan with a Nidec one, applied some thermal grizzly kryonaut on the APU and some thermal grizzly minus pad 8 on RAM etc. and still have the jet syndrome in several games i.e. GoW, Horizon, DQH2,... It's not really a thing of bad thermal compound and pads. It's a major design flaw within the whole cooling system.

Well, of course more demanding games will task the system harder, but the replacement certainly diminishes the issue. It's the same with any system, all fans ramp up as needed, however on the PS4 the noise level tends to be higher since the fan is a blower style - centrifugal instead of axial. They're known to have a much higher noise level, but they're better at directing air into a particular direction, plus they're lower profile. There's a reason why Microsoft switched from axial fans in the OG One and the S to a blower in the X, although on that system the noise is also low thanks to the vapor chamber cooler.

Regarding power consumption, the system can only draw as much power as there is load - in order to draw power something has to consume it, it doesn't just vaporise. The only way to keep the system's draw at peak non stop is to run an idle process that keeps it at max load, which is a ridiculous proposition. From a thermals standpoint it's far better for the CPU and GPU to just sleep when idling. Unless Sony devised a way to bend the laws of physics, I think you may have misunderstood the guy, but I'll rewatch the presentation to try and find the segment you're referring to.

EDIT: I didn't have to! Found the snippet you're referring to:

Mentioning that previous PlayStation consoles haven't always handled power consumption and overheating issues in the best of ways, the PlayStation 5 will be able to run off a constant amount of power, with the CPU and GPU varying depending on the game, rather than previous generations where systems ran on varying power consumption and a constant CPU/GPU output.

What he's referring to is a hard cut-off for consumption with the CPU and GPU adapting to the maximum consumption set. The system will be able to set a maximum power envelope and it's the GPU and CPU that will adjust to fit into it (throttling) as opposed to the other way around. It's not going to run at max load, it's basically stepping that takes consumption into account - neat!

The PC equivalent of this behaviour is Balanced vs. Performance setting on your average Windows computer - one will adjust frequency to the lowest necessary for the load, the other will try to stay at peak and idle as needed.

 

[Viri]

If I had to choose between the 2, I'd easily pick the Xbone super ultra X edition! I just like the idea of that + Game Pass. I wouldn't even need to buy any games, lol. I really have no interest in any of the Sony exclusives except Spiderman and Gravity Rush, but I can live without them.

But, I have a PC + Switch, so I'm good. I might buy a PS4/Xbone when the prices go down to 70 dollars, just to collect them. Maybe in 5 more years.

 

[Delerious]

From what I've heard, the PS5 sounds really good.

 

[izy]

maybe instead of trying to make the ps5 hardware as compatible as it can with the ps4, they just fucking put the ps4 hardware in there
problem fucking solved, it's what nintendo did with all their handhelds and the wii and wii u

im glad you actually watched the part where they explained the heavy costs of including a separate hardware chip that from the previous console for compatibility

which is why they removed it from the ps3 you remember how expensive that was at launch and they were even losing money

also the fact they are hard coding compatibility into the new chip


also the fact you fail to realise the wii and wiiu literally used the exact same architecture as the gamecube they just increased the performance slightly so its was compatible

and literally every handheld they did had the previous models chip inside

 

[BiggieCheese]

Really not a fan of what the backwards compatibility situation here seems to be, it sounds like only some PS4 games will be playable at launch so hopefully that’s just a poorly worded statement rather than actual fact..
If it isn’t, then that’s a real bad look on Sony given that Microsoft’s repeated that everything that’s playable on the Xbox One (All One games and back compat. Xbox/360 games) will work on the Series X several times since it was revealed back in December.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

The loading times thing I don't get. Isn't the Switch supposed to have some form of flash storage kind of like an SSD? Or is it a different kind of flash storage?

All I know is that the Spirits mode in Smash would've gone faster if not for some of the longer than necessary load times!

Unless I’m mistaken, the type of flash memory used in the Switch is very similar to the kind used in (high end) SD cards which isn’t particularly fast at the end of the day.
It’s probably roughly on par with the hard drives packed in with the PS4 and Xbox One out of the box in terms of pure read/write speeds, I’d bet. Not on the level of the kind of SSDs either of the next gen consoles will be using though, let alone a typical SATA-connected SSD.

 

[DiscostewSM]

But hardware is only have the equation, a smarter development environment can reduce the need for more powerful hardware.
Short Circuit. =]

 

[Jayro]

The Xbox SeX had better specs IMO.

Unless I’m mistaken, the type of flash memory used in the Switch is very similar to the kind used in (high end) SD cards which isn’t particularly fast at the end of the day.

I've noticed this too, load times don't really differ between my SD card digital version vs my Switch NAND installed version or the Cartridge version. They all feel equally... slow.

 

[Patxinco]

So far, IMO, Microsoft is leading, but there's not much of an extreme difference between them.
The only thing i have clear is that the price tag is going to be so high for both consoles, that their true competition will be who cuts costs faster than the other.

In the end, is always about the games, so let's wait for an E3 presentation (streaming, obviously) to see what's the final deal.

 

[wartutor]

If i recall correctly, it was public outcry which made them walk it back. It was a test to see if the public would accept it. It did not go well lol. the ps4 was also aiming to be online only, but sony wisely didn't make a big deal about it to see how viable it was. After microsoft got their butt handed to them by the public, sony just silently added support for disc. This all happened incredibly quickly many years ago, and it's hard to find concrete info about it except a few articles here and there. but sony most definitely didn't pressure them one way or the other. Folks just gave sony credit for not doing it because sony didn't announce they were (and announced afterwards they weren't).

That being said, I completely agree, I hope the competition does put a lot of pressure on them

It was public outcry but if you remember sony actually made commercials of people being able to share there games with there friends by just handing it to them. Jumped right along with it for marketing

 

[Viri]

Unless I’m mistaken, the type of flash memory used in the Switch is very similar to the kind used in (high end) SD cards which isn’t particularly fast at the end of the day.

Nand is the fastest!

Spoiler

 

[Silent_Gunner]

Nand is the fastest!

Spoiler

And is the one with the lowest amount of storage space without having some experience in soldering and a desire to get your Switch and Nintendo account banned.

 

[pedro702]

maybe instead of trying to make the ps5 hardware as compatible as it can with the ps4, they just fucking put the ps4 hardware in there
problem fucking solved, it's what nintendo did with all their handhelds and the wii and wii u

not true at all lol

nintendo expanded the architeture they didnt put it it

wii had the same gpu that the gc had and the same cpu excpet it was faster, that is why wii wasnt hd console.

swiiu had the same cpu has the wii excpet it was tricore and faster, but the wiiu had 2 gpus the wii one and wiiu one.

for gba and such they just had the same architeture and had a semi fw to alternate betwwen modes.

nintendo usualy just uses exact same architeture and just puts more power behind it so the backwards compat is very very easy to do 100%.

i expect switch 2 will have the same cpu gpu designs but faster too so its 100% compatible aswhell.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Bet my headphones are more than just decent...
But I like to play my single player titles without headphones and on my sound system.

my ps4 makes no sound except on boot up when its loading the disc, otherwise is silent as the wiiu or switch,and its on a tight corner with a xbox360 and a n64 on top of it lol, i have a release day 500gb ps4.

 

[mightymuffy]

Am I mellowing in my old age?? I just watched a presentation from Mark Cerny and didn't once feel the urge to punch him in the face.... he just talks to us on these things like we're complete fukkin morons - and his face just winds me up!

Err... anyway, bad presentation Sony! We got the specs of the PS5, fair enough, slightly less than Series X which was to be expected but it's better than I was predicting. But you didn't tell us anything MS haven't told us before, instead focusing on the benefits/inner workings of ssd that we all already know, and if we didn't, MS previously showed in a much more concise, better way, even offering video examples of various titles. (And to then tell us we're only getting 825GB, with an expansion not operating in the same speeds - wow haha)
Also the BC announcement, after what MS are going to offer day one, again with video reels showing the titles running (enhanced) - oof Sony that was a shocker!

Round 1 clearly going to MS then. But this wasn't an official public unveiling - no console pics, no rrp, no release date, no games. 'Twas almost a developer presentation really. So it matters not.... roll on E3 time when we should see them both make the real big announcements.

 

[Foxi4]

Am I mellowing in my old age?? I just watched a presentation from Mark Cerny and didn't once feel the urge to punch him in the face.... he just talks to us on these things like we're complete fukkin morons - and his face just winds me up!

Err... anyway, bad presentation Sony! We got the specs of the PS5, fair enough, slightly less than Series X which was to be expected but it's better than I was predicting. But you didn't tell us anything MS haven't told us before, instead focusing on the benefits/inner workings of ssd that we all already know, and if we didn't, MS previously showed in a much more concise, better way, even offering video examples of various titles. (And to then tell us we're only getting 825GB, with an expansion not operating in the same speeds - wow haha)
Also the BC announcement, after what MS are going to offer day one, again with video reels showing the titles running (enhanced) - oof Sony that was a shocker!

Round 1 clearly going to MS then. But this wasn't an official public unveiling - no console pics, no rrp, no release date, no games. 'Twas almost a developer presentation really. So it matters not.... roll on E3 time when we should see them both make the real big announcements.

This wasn't a presentation specifically aimed at customers - if I recall correctly, it was originally meant to be a tech-oriented presentation to be shown at the now-cancelled GDC. The console reveal is still up ahead.

 

[notimp]

Am I mellowing in my old age?? I just watched a presentation from Mark Cerny and didn't once feel the urge to punch him in the face.... he just talks to us on these things like we're complete fukkin morons - and his face just winds me up!

Keep watching.

First 10 minutes: "Hi kids, we are not as fast as the Series X, but this is how storage on your phone worked for 10 years now!"
Second 20 minutes: *Wohoo that got more complex fast!* *Am I now supposed to love a storage control chip?*
Last 10 Minutes: "So this is why you would want to buy a HiFi System from Sony - Hifi Magic, Hifi Magic!"



I strangely loved it though. Will probably buy.

Honestly can't tell if this is a reveal or a shitty IT lesson.View attachment 199937

Thats Hifi magic. Dont you see?
(6 HRTFs modelled)

Mark Cerny: *this graph*

User: Well it sounds a little better than stereo?

*I kid, I kid*

 

[AkiraKurusu]

Here are the specs for the PS5, compared against the PS4 on the right.

The original PS4? Not the Pro? I'd say a PS5/PS4 Pro comparison would be more helpful for prospective buyers, personally.

 

[AlexMCS]

Keep watching.

First 10 minutes: "Hi kids, we are not as fast as the Series X, but this is how storage on your phone worked for 10 years now!"
Second 20 minutes: *Wohoo that got more complex fast!* *Am I now supposed to love a storage control chip?*
Last 10 Minutes: "So this is why you would want to buy a HiFi System from Sony - Hifi Magic, Hifi Magic!"



I strangely loved it though. Will probably buy.

Thats Hifi magic. Dont you see?
(6 HRTFs modelled)

Mark Cerny: *this graph*

User: Well it sounds a little better than stereo?

*I kid, I kid*

This graph is kinda awesome.

Edit: HRTF - Head Relative Transfer Function, is how each person's head shape (including ear shape) changes the perception (volume, in this case) of sounds, based on the frequency of the sound source and its origin point. The presentation showed a 2D graph, but it should be 3D if they are aiming for better than one dimension simulations. Or they might assume symmetry between the Vertical and Horizontal planes, idk.

To model a moving sound source, they first calculate the start and end point of the source, based on HRTF models, probably by averaging the actual positions (the actual calculations would be much more expensive, cost-wise, since it would have to assume a spherical shell), to determine the HRTF-approximate positions, then use a Ramp Down effect on the starting position + a Ramp Up effect on the end point position to simulate the object's sound leaving the starting position and ending at the end position.

They then apply a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) in order to apply the calculations on the Time domain, since the actual waveforms are generated on the frequency domain, send the condensed output to an Inverse FFT in order to convert it back to frequency, which is the usual output format, to then generate the actual audio sent by the output device.

If you get a little of the above, you can see why it should sound much better than regular stereo.