Yesterday, PlayStation shared an intriguing video featuring Mark Cerny at the helm of a PS5 Pro Technical Seminar, held right at the heart of Sony Interactive Entertainment headquarters. As the system architect, Mark provided an in-depth look at the new hardware powering the PlayStation 5 Pro, addressing some swirling rumors about the upcoming console. He took the opportunity to tackle the topic of “FLOPflation,” explaining that a mistakenly leaked figure of 33.5 TFLOPs arose from a leaker’s misunderstanding, presuming a more extensive utilization of RDNA 3 features than was actually the case.
In truth, the PS5 Pro clocks in at 16.7 TFLOPs, a notable increase from the standard PS5’s 10 TFLOPs. One accurate early leak did highlight two impressive metrics: the PS5 Pro’s 8-bit calculations boast 300 TOPS, and it manages 67 TFLOPs for 16-bit calculations. Mark made it clear that Sony’s customized RDNA 2.X architecture, derived from AMD’s technology, incorporates various RDNA 3 enhancements while keeping true to its roots. This approach ensures developers won’t need to rewrite existing code for the new platform.
Mark explained that the PS5 Pro’s standout features are largely attributed to a new Ray Acceleration framework, which uses BVH8 (Bounding Volume Hierarchy) technology. This, combined with better “Stack management in hardware,” contributes to making graphics shader code more efficient and easier to handle on the new console.
To clarify, BVH is a method that applies bounding boxes, crucial components in 3D rendering, to execute graphics tasks like reflections more efficiently. While the PS5 relied on BVH4, grouping bounding boxes in sets of four for real-time calculations, the Pro version takes advantage of BVH8 for a more advanced approach. Likewise, the Ray Intersection Engine’s capability has been doubled, meaning it now checks rays against eight boxes and two triangles, compared to the four boxes and one triangle setup of the PS5.
These notable advancements in the PS5 Pro’s ray tracing hardware, realized through a highly customized version of the RDNA 2 GPU architecture, offer significant performance enhancements for detailed and dynamic light reflections. However, improvements in shadows and flat reflections are more moderate.
For those eager to dig deeper into the tech specs, the full 37-minute video is a treasure trove of insights and technical details. It offers a fascinating look at the ever-evolving console market and the cutting-edge technology needed to stay competitive.
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