The gaming world has been eagerly anticipating Sony's latest console iteration, and now that the PlayStation 5 Pro has arrived, we're seeing a mix of impressive performance gains and some technological growing pains. This mid-generation upgrade promises enhanced gaming experiences, but comes with some interesting caveats in its upscaling technology.
Performance Improvements
The PS5 Pro demonstrates a remarkable 30% performance boost over its predecessor while maintaining surprisingly efficient power consumption. With its enhanced 16.7 TFLOP RDNA-based GPU and 10% CPU clock speed increase, the console delivers notably smoother gameplay in both optimized and standard titles. Games like Elden Ring showcase this improvement clearly, maintaining frame rates above 50fps where the base model struggled in the 30fps range.
PS5 Pro Key Specifications:
- GPU: 16.7 TFLOP RDNA-based
- CPU: 8-core Zen 2 (10% clock speed boost)
- RAM: +2GB DDR5 over base PS5
- Power Consumption: 228-240W under load
- Price: $699.99
Power Efficiency
Despite the significant performance uplift, power consumption remains remarkably controlled. Digital Foundry's testing reveals the Pro consumes between 228-240 watts during demanding gameplay, compared to the base PS5's 200-218 watts. This modest increase in power draw for such substantial performance gains represents an impressive engineering achievement.
Performance Comparison:
- Frame Rate Improvement: 30-35% in non-optimized titles
- Power Increase: ~15% over base PS5
- Resolution Upscaling: PSSR vs DLSS/FSR 2
PSSR Technology Challenges
Sony's proprietary PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) upscaling technology shows mixed results in real-world applications. When handling games with low internal resolutions like Alan Wake 2, PSSR struggles to deliver true 4K quality output. Compared to NVIDIA's DLSS and AMD's FSR 2, PSSR currently falls short in producing sharp, stable images, particularly with effects like SSAO, SSR, and volumetrics.
Value Proposition
Priced at $699.99, the PS5 Pro commands a $200 premium over the base PS5's launch price. While this represents a significant investment, buyers receive the most powerful console currently available, with 2GB additional DDR5 RAM and enhanced ray-tracing capabilities. However, the effectiveness of these improvements varies significantly depending on game optimization and implementation.
Future Potential
Despite current limitations in PSSR technology, there's optimism for improvement. Drawing parallels to NVIDIA's DLSS evolution, experts suggest that PSSR could see significant enhancement through future updates, potentially closing the gap with competing upscaling technologies.