In-Depth Look at PlayStation 5 Pro Specs and Mark Cerny’s Debunking of ‘FLOPflation’ Myths

Yesterday, PlayStation dropped a video featuring Mark Cerny delivering an in-depth PS5 Pro Technical Seminar at Sony Interactive Entertainment’s headquarters. As the system architect, Mark took this opportunity to detail the new hardware innovations in the PlayStation 5 Pro and address some circulating rumors. He particularly focused on clarifying the noise around “FLOPflation”, stemming from an allegedly leaked “33.5 TFLOPs” figure. This mix-up apparently originated from a leaker who misunderstood the hardware, speculating a more extensive use of RDNA 3-inspired architecture.

In truth, the PS5 Pro hits 16.7 TFLOPs, compared to the PS5’s 10 TFLOPs. A correct leak did point out that processing 8-bit calculations on the PS5 Pro reaches 300 TOPS, while 16-bit calculations can reach up to 67 TFLOPs. Cerny elaborated on how Sony’s AMD RDNA 2.X architecture is a tailored version that incorporates many RDNA 3 features while preserving enough of the original RDNA 2 to ensure existing code remains compatible with new hardware.

Mark highlighted the PS5 Pro’s significant enhancements, notably the sophisticated Ray Acceleration structure using BVH8 (Bounding Volume Hierarchy), which improves “Stack management in hardware.” This advancement means that the graphics shader code is now more effectively managed, making it simpler and more efficient on the new hardware.

To add a bit more context, BVH refers to the use of bounding boxes in 3D rendering to boost graphics calculations, especially for tasks like reflections. On the PS5, BVH4 was used for these calculations, which involved groups of 4 bounding boxes. Now with the PS5 Pro, BVH8 is utilized, allowing it to manage 8 bounding boxes for its calculations. The Ray Intersection Engine also sees a boost, doubling its capacity from handling 4 boxes and 1 triangle on the PS5 to 8 boxes and 2 triangles on the PS5 Pro.

These upgrades in the PS5 Pro’s ray tracing capabilities, achieved through an extensively customized RDNA 2 GPU architecture, result in substantial performance enhancements for curved and bumpy light reflections. However, improvements in shadows and flat reflections remain moderate.

For those interested in diving deeper, the complete 37-minute video offers a treasure trove of technical insights, providing a look into the console market and the cutting-edge technologies necessary to thrive in it.