Taking a Look at PlayStation’s Performance Specs Throughout its History

PlayStation

The PlayStation released in 1994 to critical acclaim, changing the landscape of gaming forever at its time. It continued selling for 11 years with 102 million units before being discontinued in 2005.

• CPU: 32-bit RISC MIPS R3000A-compatible MIPS R3051 (33.86MHz)
• GPU: 32-bit  R800A (33MHz)
• System RAM: 2 MB
• Resolution:  640×480
• Sound: 16-bit, 24 channel ADPCM
• Media: CD-ROM

PlayStation 2

The PlayStation 2 is most likely the era of gaming where many of your favorite franchises started on. One of the many things that made the PlayStation 2 stand out from its competitors was the fact that it had backwards compatibility with PS1 games. The console would later be discontinued after 13 years of production and selling over 155 million units.

• CPU: 64-bit MIPS R5900-based “Emotion Engine” (294 MHz then 299 MHz)
• GPU: Parallel  Rendinger Processor  with embedded DRAM “Graphics Synthesizer” (147 MHz)
• System RAM: 32 MB
• Resolution: 720 x 480, with certain games 1920 x 1080
• Sound: Memory of 2 MB with 48 hardware channels of ADPCM. 5.1 surround sound with full motion video then analog 5.1 surround.
• Media: CD-ROM, DVD-ROM

PlayStation Portable

The first portable console from the PlayStation lineup, it started development back in 2003 and wouldn’t make its first appearance until E3 of 2004. That would be the same year that the product went live in Japan, with North America following close behind in 2005. This mini console would go on to sell 80 million units during its 10 years.

• CPU: Sony CXD2962GG CPU based on MIPS R4000 32-bit core (333 MHz)
• GPU: Single-core (166 MHz)
• System RAM: 32 MB then 64 MB with later versions
• Resolution: 480 x 272
• Sound: Powered by Media Engine Chip’s embedded Virtual Mobile Engine. Multichannel Audio. ATRAC3 plus, AAC, WMA, and MP3 support.
• Media: 900 MB Universal Media Disc, Dual-Layer Storage Capacity of up to 1.8 GB.

PlayStation 3

The first of the PlayStation family to use Blue-ray discs and social gaming services, this third incarnation had plenty of ideas when it was released in 2006. The PS3 might be known for its slow start, but don’t let that fool you, as it currently has sold 85 million units.

• CPU: ‘Cell’ with 6-core equivalent architecture (3.2ghz)
• GPU: ‘Reality Synthesizer’ (500mhz)
• System RAM: 256 MB XDR (3.2ghz)
• Resolution: 720×480 (SD), 1280×720 (HD), 1920×1080 with full HD for only certain titles.
• Sound: A/V-Multi Dolby Digital 5.1, Analog Stereo
• Media: 25gb BD, 50gb dual-layer BD

PlayStation Vita

The next portable device, PlayStation Vita, was first released in Japan in 2011, with North America and other regions not getting it until 2012. This on the go console had an estimated 10 million units sold by the end of 2015.

• CPU: ARM quad-core (1ghz clock, 2ghz max)
• GPU: Quad-core 5XT (250mhz clock, 500mhz max)
• System RAM: 512 MB
• Resolution: OLED 960×544 (sub-HD)
• Sound: Stereo Speakers
• Media: 4 GB flash cartridge, 8 GB, 16 GB, 32 GB

PlayStation 4

The current generation’s PlayStation 4 has sold 50 million units as of 2016. There is no denying that this is the primary focus for PlayStation at the moment.

• CPU:  x86-64 AMD “Jaguar”, 8 cores
• GPU: 1.84 TFLOPS, AMD Radeon based graphics engine
• System RAM: 8 GiB GDDR5
• Resolution: 720×480 (SD), 1280×720 (HD), 1920×1080
• Sound:  Digital signal processing SIP block
• Media: BD × 6 CAV DVD × 8 CAV

PlayStation 4 Pro

The PS4 Pro is Sony’s way of ushering in the 4K era of gaming. It might not be next gen, but it certainly improves upon PS4 titles in a whole new way.

• CPU: x86-64 AMD “Jaguar”, 8 cores
• GPU: 4.20 TFLOPS, AMD Radeon based graphics engine
• System RAM: 8GB GDDR5 and 1 GB GDDR3
• Resolution: 720×480 (SD), 1280×720 (HD), 1920×1080, 3840×2160
• Sound: Digital signal processing SIP block
• Media: BD × 6 CAV DVD × 8 CAV