Leaked Sony documents show PS5 Pro will have 2-4 times improved ray tracing performance

Cal Jeffrey

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Why it matters: There is little to no doubt that Sony is preparing to launch an upgraded PlayStation 5. Whether it comes this year or next remains to be seen, but rumors strongly suggest a Holiday 2024 release. The latest leaks suggest it should be an exciting upgrade over the current regardless of when it arrives.

Sony has remained tightlipped on a midlife refresh. In fact, it hasn't even announced its intention to launch a PlayStation 5 Pro SKU. However, history and numerous leaks assure us that "Project Trinity" (PS5 Pro) is coming - and soon.

Last December, RedGamingTech provided some raw PS5 Pro specs, suggesting Sony is considerably upgrading its console. The leak was speculatory, and there was no evidence other than word of mouth supporting it. Insiders said the PS5 Pro should have an 8-core Zen 2 CPU, 30 WGP GPU (60 compute units), 16 GB 18 Gbps RAM, and a 256-bit memory bus.

Last night, reliable leaker Tom from Moore's Law Is Dead revealed internal Sony documentation that confirms the RGT rumors and provides a bit more information on performance. The memo appears to be a summary presentation of various selling points Sony shared with its partners.

The PS5 Pro's APU allegedly has a more capable GPU, providing a 45-percent performance boost over the standard PS5. It's not as substantial as the 50-60 percent previous rumors suggested, but Sony says the GPU is 2-4 times faster when handling ray tracing. This claim jives with an earlier leak claiming that ray-tracing would be twice as fast.

The upgraded machine also has 300TOPS of 8-bit integer machine learning and 67 TFLOPS/16-bit floating point performance. The current PS5 churns out 10.28 TFLOPs/32-bit. So, by comparison, the Pro should have more than three times the floating point performance (33.5 TFLOPs when adjusted for bit difference) than the PS5 and just under 3x against the Xbox Series X (12 TFLOPs. Granted, floating point performance does not necessarily translate across architectures, but apples-to-apples, the Pro model should have a 200-percent boost against the standard SKU.

Sony also introduced a proprietary super-resolution tech. PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) is Sony's answer to DLSS. The document describes it as a "temporal anti-aliasing upscale" that leverages machine learning. It is similar to DLSS and FSR and supports full HDR and dynamic resolution.

Sony designed the tech to upscale PS5 games to 4K resolution, but the document mentions 8K support in the same breath. Since virtually nothing from PlayStation takes advantage of 8K yet, MLID speculates that PSSR is not just a "one-off" that Sony threw in as PS5 Pro marketing. It appears this will be a tech that the company plans to iterate and improve on for future consoles.

As always, take your daily dose of salt with rumors. Although MLID is reliable and the papers appear legitimate, it's still a pre-release document. Things can change, and forgeries sometimes happen. However, if things pan out, Sony could be about to sink Microsoft's Xbox ship.

Image credit: Trusted Reviews

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The question is...
Who would really invest in buying a PS5 pro when Sony would be hard pressed on releasing a PS6 due to Microsoft releasing a potential Xbox follow up by the end of next year.

That would make Sony gamers quite troubled in choosing to buy or to skip the PS5 pro.
 
The question is...
Who would really invest in buying a PS5 pro when Sony would be hard pressed on releasing a PS6 due to Microsoft releasing a potential Xbox follow up by the end of next year.

That would make Sony gamers quite troubled in choosing to buy or to skip the PS5 pro.
The thing is, Microsoft really didn't sell all that well this round, so the chances of Microsoft rushing the next Xbox to market seems low in my eyes.

I could see them doing something about the PS5 pro a year down the line, a "Series Z" or something that slightly outperforms the PS5 Pro in no meaningful way and the world stays exactly as it is today.

I would expect PS6 / Next Xbox to be earliest 2028 but probably could hold on till 2030 realistically with the Pro consoles being released.
 
The question is...
Who would really invest in buying a PS5 pro when Sony would be hard pressed on releasing a PS6 due to Microsoft releasing a potential Xbox follow up by the end of next year.

That would make Sony gamers quite troubled in choosing to buy or to skip the PS5 pro.
Probably the GTA6. I would say that game alone will probably make the ps5pro sell out and the state of the gpu market now being a shyte show.
This 4x number reminds me of frame generation. So 2x from ai upscaling and 4x from frame generation.
 
Probably the GTA6. I would say that game alone will probably make the ps5pro sell out and the state of the gpu market now being a shyte show.
This 4x number reminds me of frame generation. So 2x from ai upscaling and 4x from frame generation.
For starters GTA 6 won't be PS5 Pro exclusive and second of all people that play GTA wouldn't care about specs, they would play that game even on the Switch if it was offered.
 
The thing is, Microsoft really didn't sell all that well this round, so the chances of Microsoft rushing the next Xbox to market seems low in my eyes.

I could see them doing something about the PS5 pro a year down the line, a "Series Z" or something that slightly outperforms the PS5 Pro in no meaningful way and the world stays exactly as it is today.

I would expect PS6 / Next Xbox to be earliest 2028 but probably could hold on till 2030 realistically with the Pro consoles being released.
Perhaps you have missed Phil Spencer's latest interviews in which he clearly said that he is not interested in providing a "pro/upgrade" this time around, but rather bring brand new hardware to the market instead, which ties in with the official announcements of Xbox working on a new console to be revealed sometime this year.
 
For starters GTA 6 won't be PS5 Pro exclusive and second of all people that play GTA wouldn't care about specs, they would play that game even on the Switch if it was offered.
I'll admit I was looking at this through a pc enthusiast perspective but if we can extrapolate its potential to the ps4 pro sales which sold about 14.3 million units. So console gamers due tend to upgrade for visual quality based on previous generation. Also while gta6 will not be Sony exclusivity is console exclusive for the first year. So out of all the consoles available it will be the most powerful at the time of launch. Lastly while some PC gamers only play on PC others delve in Console gaming as well. If the ps5 pro launches at an in one package for $499 the it might be very attractive to PC gamers tight on money who can't build a PC for $499 with similar gaming experience.
 
The question is...
Who would really invest in buying a PS5 pro when Sony would be hard pressed on releasing a PS6 due to Microsoft releasing a potential Xbox follow up by the end of next year.

That would make Sony gamers quite troubled in choosing to buy or to skip the PS5 pro.

Someone to whom the £500 of a console is not a significant spend on something they enjoy. Also people who don't have a PS5 at all, and don't feel like waiting another year or more to get one. Also a bunch of other people. Mis-cycle refreshes are totally normal and have been around for ages.
 
Perhaps you have missed Phil Spencer's latest interviews in which he clearly said that he is not interested in providing a "pro/upgrade" this time around, but rather bring brand new hardware to the market instead, which ties in with the official announcements of Xbox working on a new console to be revealed sometime this year.

Almost definitely will be a portable Xbox / Switch type console released before the end of this year. Built in screen and specs similar or better than a Steamdeck. Sounds tempting already..

I really don't think gamers really GAF about higher specs right now, or really ray tracing TBH.. but something a bit different that allows you to play anywhere, whilst plugging into your TV/monitor/projector when at home definitely seems like a good step forward.

A PS5 Pro is likely to be a massive flop. Who is actually asking for such a thing?
 
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For starters GTA 6 won't be PS5 Pro exclusive and second of all people that play GTA wouldn't care about specs, they would play that game even on the Switch if it was offered.

it will be the same as with Red dead redemption 2.

it will be console exclusive for the first few years, and at release it will be marketed as "plays best on ps5 PRO/Xbox One Pro"(whatever that console is called now)

reviewers will be in awe of how incredible GTA6 looks and plays - on a pro console.
 
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Perhaps you have missed Phil Spencer's latest interviews in which he clearly said that he is not interested in providing a "pro/upgrade" this time around, but rather bring brand new hardware to the market instead, which ties in with the official announcements of Xbox working on a new console to be revealed sometime this year.
So you seriously believe they're going to start a "next generation" of console every 4-5 years? Its way to early for a new generation, we haven't even seen the latest consoles fully utilized if we're being honest.

But if you believe all the speculation and rumours, sure, I'm sure that's good business sense to replace your barely used, didn't sell very well console this frequently.

Probably doesn't help that GPU tech also hasn't exactly increased leaps and bounds since the PS5 and Xbox Series launched, and Microsoft's insistence on games running on the silly little S console.

But lets ignore all that, they'll release the next gen console in a year or two :cool:
 
Ray Tracing was introduced to games too early... PS5 era consoles shouldn't be bothering with it at all IMO. Higher, consistent framerate is more important.
While I 100% agree with you, we are the very very very very very very very very vast minority when it comes to this. The average gamer doesn't even realize that 30fps is bad, as they have never seen anything better. Hell, it took them until like 2021 to start making PS5 games that had a performance mode that actually hit a stable 60, and since the majority of people that buy video games are using last gen (aka XBO/PS4) they still haven't a clue about anything over 30fps.

The fact that consoles continue to perform for **** with all the shinies turned on is the reason that I still play on PC and will continue to for the forseeable future, but this PSSR really has peaked my curiousity and hope for a great future on the horizons for consoles; hopefully Nintendo gets on the bandwagon soon, because 720p30 in 2024 is just ****ing laughable; same with the Crapdeck, it is just a pile of **** and really took like 20 steps backwards for console gaming imo.
 
How long will it last before it goes back to 30 FPS? Ray tracing is just not viable on a console, or anywhere else for that matter. It's made so zoomers can jerk off to pretty reflections.
 
How long will it last before it goes back to 30 FPS? Ray tracing is just not viable on a console, or anywhere else for that matter. It's made so zoomers can jerk off to pretty reflections.
Spoken like a person who can't afford to buy the equipment to get a good framerate with said 'pretty reflections' turned on. Instead of being butt-hurt on here, go out of your parent's basement and better yourself.
 
When Sony makes a version of the PS5 that LOOKS as good as the PS4, I'll buy one. I'm not buying this ugly AF system. The design team at Sony must have been on wacky drugs when they created this thing.. Great hardware, no doubt, terrible chassis.
 
When Sony makes a version of the PS5 that LOOKS as good as the PS4, I'll buy one. I'm not buying this ugly AF system. The design team at Sony must have been on wacky drugs when they created this thing.. Great hardware, no doubt, terrible chassis.
Sorry hold up, you think the PS4 is a GOOD looking console?
 
Sorry hold up, you think the PS4 is a GOOD looking console?
Yes, I do! It was very stylish and had a good look that fits in with the rest of my entertainment system. It didn't stand out like an awkward looking sore thumb. The looks of the PS4/PS4Pro kicks arse. The PS5 does not and is ugly as runny doggy doop. And no, I'm not an XBox fan. I don't and will not have one of those either.
 
Spoken like a person who can't afford to buy the equipment to get a good framerate with said 'pretty reflections' turned on. Instead of being butt-hurt on here, go out of your parent's basement and better yourself.

This is a pretty needlessly antagonistic and sad attempt at dunking on someone. Everyone without a $2000 GPU just needs to get out of their parents' basement? Really?
 
This is a pretty needlessly antagonistic and sad attempt at dunking on someone. Everyone without a $2000 GPU just needs to get out of their parents' basement? Really?
I'm pretty agnostic when it comes to "Platform supremacy," I don't think original [Jar] commenter understands that the meta for most games for the past while has been to push the absolute hardest when it comes to the visual clarity of games, and that usually comes at a cost of AAA devs forgetting optimization and returning back to that 30 framerate standard that has existed for some time on some consoles.
Spoken like a person who can't afford to buy the equipment to get a good framerate with said 'pretty reflections' turned on. Instead of being butt-hurt on here, go out of your parent's basement and better yourself.
I have [been gifted] a 3070 and at 9700k and what do I play? People Playground, Factorio, GarrysMod, and many other compute-unintensive games, while someone may have a powerful graphics card doesn't mean it precipitates someone being a better or harder-working person. Ray tracing is a cutting-edge [style] technology. Most of the modern world still would prefer to not use it as it just eats up frames that you could be using to shoot others in competitive games or not feel like you're playing a microsoft powerpoint. I feel its suitable case is refreshing the feeling for those linear, optimized games like Portal, Doom, and many other big time old game titles that run fine already, which makes them the best candidate to show the best results of RTX and how Ray-Tracing works so well with PBR. I feel like ray-tracing has had better success at driving people to buy cutting edge consumer-grade graphics and compute devices rather than actually use the technology, because for some its just such a hassle to use and fully enjoy unless you buy the two grand prebuilt off of Best Buy or Newegg. The only big game I probably play is VRChat, but yet again, that game is free-to-play, and the DLC is how good of PC and VR hardware you have to enjoy and immerse yourself into the community-built experience, cutting edge technology isn't compatible there because community built shaders and content couldn't possible be accounted for with RTX, it just wouldn't be possible. Sony are using controlled statistics leaks and artificial frame technology to inflate their console performance metrics, its just very poorly put together attempt to appear as the best with frame generation and upscaling that is going to have visual artifacts more likely than not.
 
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PS5 era consoles shouldn't be bothering with [ray tracing] at all IMO. Higher, consistent framerate is more important.
If high framerates are so important, why are Hollywood films -- which always vastly exceed videogames in graphical realism -- released at 30fps?
 
Spoken like a person who can't afford to buy the equipment to get a good framerate with said 'pretty reflections' turned on. Instead of being butt-hurt on here, go out of your parent's basement and better yourself.
Lol, you seem pretty upset. Go look at some puddles at 30 FPS to calm down.
 
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