Usually, an article like this would start with something along the lines of it being the long awaited, scheduled, and expected the arrival of a new console. A new generation of gaming. However, with Sony’s introduction of the PS4 Pro, the standard rules of upgrade go out the window. Simply because this isn’t a full console refresh, simply a spec bump
Of course, we aren’t saying that the spec bump isn’t worth the upgrade…
CPU
Traditionally, a console’s power comes from its Central Processing Unit (CPU). The 2013 and subsequent 2016 releases of the PS4 came with a hefty 8-core AMD chip running at 1.6GHz.
With the PS4 Pro, the CPU sees an increase, keeping the 8-core AMD infrastructure but bumping the speed up to 2.1GHz. As you can imagine, this is more than sufficient to handle all of the tasks the PS4 performs, be it gaming, watching Netflix, or even using the browser to shop on the Groupon Coupons page for Jos A Bank.
GPU
However, these aren’t traditional times for a console, are they? The main purpose for the PS4 to exist is to provide a platform for gamers to enjoy 4K games in their native resolution. No upscaling and no buffering. These are the types of tasks handled by the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU.
As with previous PS4 CPUs, the GPU in both the 2013 and 2016 release of the PS4 came with an AMD Radeon chip running at 1.84TFLOPS. To accommodate 4K resolution and VR gaming, however, Sony kicked this up to a whopping 4.2 TFLOPS on an AMD Radeon chip!
4.2 TFLOPS! What an increase!
As you can expect, nothing is going to trip up this chip anytime soon. However, it’s important to note that there is not a large selection of games or apps available which run and display native 4K content. So while this extra power allows for more advanced gaming, don’t expect your entire game back catalog to be immediately (or ever) available in 4K.
What Else?
While it can be easy to get caught up on the ridiculously great improvement in the GPU, there are some other, smaller changes, which happened.
USB2 ports have been replaced with USB3.1
If you are coming from a 2013 model, expect the inclusion of the AC wireless standard along with access to the 5GHz spectrum
1 gigabyte additional RAM for non-gaming services
Bluetooth 4.0 (up from the 2013 edition)
So What’s It Gonna Be?
Whether you decide to upgrade your console mid-cycle is a decision only you can make. On the one hand, if you 4K graphics are important to you, then this upgrade is almost a necessity. However, if you are happy to wait for the real cycle upgrade (in a few years) and aren’t in a hurry, then it might be worth saving your money.
Of course, it’s you’re a serious gamer, there’s no reason why you can’t do both!