Sony has just shared a bunch of new information on the PlayStation 5 (PS5). Alongside the previously announced SSD (Solid State Drive), Sony dived more into what the UI will be able to do, a quick look at what will presumably be called the DualShock 5 controller, and some added information on the horsepower of the hardware itself. Oh, and there’s a 4K Blu-Ray Player packed in there too.
There’s a fair bit to unpack, but Sony hasn’t laid all its cards on the table just yet. We don’t have an exact release date or price, nor do we have a final design for the hardware. There are other technical aspects that could change between now and when the console completely releases, such as a potential microphone on the controller that Sony refused to confirm or deny.
Anyway, we’re digressing. Now that we have a few more details on what the PS5’s hardware will be made up of, we decided to take a stab at predicting the PS5’s price.
To do this, we’re going to be taking a look at the going rate of current technology and the components that would go inside it. We’ll come to a final total, and then discuss other factors that will likely influence price, before coming to our final prediction. So, let’s dive in.
Before we do, please note that this is a very rough estimation based on current consumer prices for various bits of hardware on its own. As Sony is a giant multi-national company, you can bet your bottom dollar they’ll have cost-cutting techniques.
We’ll factor these in at the end of the post, but we’re just giving you a heads-up so you don’t think we’re completely away with the fairies.
Ray-Tracing Hardware
One of the most exciting details we know about the PS5 right now is that it’ll have ray-tracing hardware. This means that developers can implement complex lighting and sound within 3D environments. Just take a look at the puddle and shotgun shells in the image above. Doesn’t it look splendid?!
Offering some clarification on exactly how the PS5 would utilize ray-tracing, system architect Mark Cerny told Wired “There is ray-tracing acceleration in the GPU hardware, which I believe is the statement that people were looking for.”
Right now, the cheapest ray-tracing GPU for a PC clocks in at about $359.99 for an aftermarket Zotac RTX 2060.
Of course, we know that the PS5 will now be powered by a CPU based on AMD’s Ryzen line and a GPU based on the Navi family. Considering AMD hardware tends to be cheaper than Intel and NVIDIA’s CPU and GPUs respectively, don’t go worrying about an astronomically-priced PS5 just yet.
