No, the PS5 cannot hold a candle to a gaming PC on this specific point

News JVTech No, the PS5 cannot hold a candle to a gaming PC on this specific point

Ray tracing on PS5 Pro: from promises to reality

When announcing the PS5 Pro, Sony highlighted the ray tracing performance compared to the standard PS5. The manufacturer claimed that the new console would offer between 2 and 3 times the ray tracing performance of the basic version, thanks to close collaboration with AMD. This development is mainly due to the integration of a new ray tracing technology directly from the roadmap of RDNA 4, a next generation graphics architecture.

Despite this progress, some experts remain skeptical. The performance calculation mentioned by Sony is based on a combination of additional hardware (an increased number of computing units) and software improvements from previous generations. The technological leap between RDNA 2 (present in the standard PS5) and RDNA 3 (which could have been used in the PS5 Pro) is not enough to match the level of performance observed on NVIDIA GPUs.

It is important to understand that computing power is not the only factor determining the quality of ray tracing. On PC, high-end graphics cards, such as the NVIDIA RTX 4070 and higher models, benefit from a more mature software ecosystem, notably thanks to advanced technologies such as DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling) and more recently Ray Rebuild in DLSS version 3.5. These techniques not only make it possible to perform more efficient ray tracing, but also to considerably improve efficiency by optimizing graphics resources via artificial intelligence.

In comparison, the PS5 Pro, although equipped with PSSR (PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution) technology, does not achieve the same optimization finesse. PSSR allows you to reduce the native resolution of games while compensating for it with sharper rendering thanks to AI-based upscaling, but it does not match the level of detail and precision offered by DLSS on PC. As a result, even if the PS5 Pro manages to offer smooth ray tracing in certain cases, it cannot claim to compete with the solutions available on PCs equipped with the latest NVIDIA or even Intel Arc GPUs.

Ray tracing hardware vs software: the big difference

One of the major differences between the PS5 Pro and a high-end gaming PC lies in the management of ray tracing at the hardware and software level. On a PC, graphics cards like those from NVIDIA or Intel offer a complete set of hardware acceleration for ray tracing. This means that the calculation units specific to this task are more numerous and more efficient, allowing a much more realistic rendering of lighting effects in real time.

In the case of the PS5 Pro, although there is talk of new hardware features, some sources indicate that the hardware acceleration capabilities of ray tracing remain lower than those available on PC. For example, ray tracing technologies found on consoles often use a combination of software and hardware methods, such as solutions based on Unreal Engine 5’s Lumen, which is often implemented in software mode on consoles. This type of processing remains less efficient than solutions integrated into PC hardware.

A concrete example is the porting of games like Silent Hill 2 Remake to PC and consoles. On PC, games offer a more advanced version of ray tracing, with more precise reflections and shadows, thanks to full hardware acceleration. On the other hand, the PS5 version of these titles, although visually impressive, suffers from certain limitations linked to the software implementation of ray tracing, notably problems with stuttering or less detailed textures in moving scenes.

So yes, a PC remains an expensive item to only use it for gaming. Sony is trying to create a solution to compromise between new technologies and prices. But when it comes to Ray-Tracing and lighting effects in general, recent PC graphics cards are well above what we can find on consoles.

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