author: Ramzes
PC equivalent of PS5 – GPU. Build your own PS5 from PC parts
Table of Contents
The graphics processing unit is problematic, because we still don't have many Navi-based processors. Plus, they're pretty expensive, which means we have to step down a bit. A new Navi can cost as much as $400. Given the budget, we'll opt for Radeon RX 570. For about $130, we get a GPU that's more than able to cope with 1080p gaming, but won't come close to Navi-level performance.
The performance of the GPU in PlayStation 5 can be equal to that of Radeon RX 5700. Maybe, but not necessarily – because it's still a card that consumes quite a lot of energy. Again, for the want of heat reduction, we may get a trimmed version of the GPU, equivalent to Radeon RX 5600. Hardware ray-tracing support can also create an enormous gap in quality and performance between PS5 and PC.
However, at the turn of 2020 and 2021, we should witness the launch of two generations of GPUs that may bridge this gap. AMD is working on RDNA 2, and Nvidia will showcase new products from the 3000 series, Ampere. In this case, we have to be very optimistic and assume that the performance we expect from RX 5700 will be delivered via a mainstream GPU costing at most $300, which seems quite impossible.
A brief history lesson:
More than 6 years ago, in 2013, the long-awaited PlayStation 4 appeared on the market; the world of personal computers was dominated by Quad-core Intel processors. 2012 video cards comparable to PS4's chip were priced at about $350 (a slightly trimmed Radeon HD 7870). A year later, i.e. around the release of PS4, the performance of HD 7870 was offered by Radeon R9 270, which cost less than $180. There's a high probability that history will repeat with the $350 GPU in 2019 – the Radeon RX 5700 – especially if you consider two things: the advantages of the 7-nm process, and the small size of the core itself.
So, to conclude, let's assume that in 2021, the regular consumer will be able to purchase a GPU equal to RX 5700 or RX 5600 for, say, $180, no matter how optimistic it may sound.
