PlayStation 5 Pro Specs Detailed, ‘FLOPflation’ Myths Addressed by System Architect Mark Cerny

Just yesterday, PlayStation shared a captivating video featuring Mark Cerny delving into the technicalities of the PS5 Pro at the Sony Interactive Entertainment headquarters. As the mastermind behind the system’s architecture, Cerny gave an in-depth exploration of the PS5 Pro’s cutting-edge hardware while taking a moment to address some swirling rumors about the console. He tackled the topic of “FLOPflation,” which stemmed from a misunderstanding due to a leaked “33.5 TFLOPs number” that wasn’t accurate. This figure was mistakenly derived by someone interpreting the hardware as using a more intensive RDNA 3-inspired architecture.

In truth, the PS5 Pro has a computational strength of 16.7 TFLOPs, up from the PS5’s 10 TFLOPs. On another note, a more on-point leak revealed that the PS5 Pro hits 300 TOPS when handling 8-bit calculations, while 16-bit calculations reach 67 TFLOPS. Mark clarified that the PS5 Pro leverages RDNA 2.X, a customized version of AMD’s RDNA 2 technology, integrating several elements from RDNA 3 while retaining enough of the original design to ensure developers don’t have to rewrite code for the new hardware.

During the seminar, Cerny emphasized the PS5 Pro’s improved Ray Acceleration structure, which uses BVH8 (Bounding Volume Hierarchy) and enhancements in “Stack management in hardware.” These advancements lead to more streamlined, effective graphics shader code that is better managed and executed on the new system.

For those scratching their heads over BVH, it’s a technique in 3D rendering that uses bounding boxes to simplify complex graphics calculations, such as reflections. The PS5 utilized BVH4, grouping bounding boxes in sets of four for ray tracing, whereas the PS5 Pro ups the ante with BVH8, doubling the boxes used in calculations. Furthermore, the Ray Intersection Engine has made significant strides, now analyzing rays against eight boxes and two triangles, compared to the four boxes and one triangle setup of the PS5.

These enhancements in ray tracing, made possible by the extensively tailored RDNA 2 GPU architecture within the PS5, provide notable performance boosts, particularly for intricate lighting effects on curved and textured surfaces. However, the gains are less pronounced for shadows and flat reflections.

For tech enthusiasts craving more in-depth knowledge, I recommend watching the full 37-minute presentation. It offers fascinating insights into the console market dynamics and the cutting-edge technologies needed to thrive within it.