PlayStation 5 Pro Modest CPU Upgrade Is the System’s Primary Limitation; PS4 Image Enhancement Likely Uses Machine Learning to Deliver Improved Details
The PlayStation 5 Pro's modest CPU upgrade, only 10% better than the CPU powering the base model, is the system's primary limitation that continues to impact CPU-bound games such as Baldur's Gate 3.
In their in-depth analysis of the mid-generation refresh system released a few days back, Digital Foundry went over the console's CPU and how it impacts the performance of both unpatched and PS5 Pro Enhanced games. Unpatched games such as Cyberpunk 2077 do see a small performance improvement in line with the 10% CPU improvement over the base model, but still cannot keep a steady 60 FPS framerate. The situation is not much different in patched games like Baldur's Gate 3, which still struggles to run smoothly in the city of Baldur's Gate, one of the game's most CPU-intensive scenarios, even on the PlayStation 5 Pro, although it does run slightly better than on the base model. At the end of the day, the console still delivers as a mid-generation refresh, but its dated Zen2 CPU falls behind today's mainstream CPUs in the gaming space, which deliver way better performance.
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Another limitation that the PlayStation 5 Pro shared with the base model is 4K, 120Hz output, which is still limited by the HDMI controller. In turn, this also somewhat compromises 8K output, although the limited adoption of 8K display and games supporting the resolution makes it less of an issue.
Digital Foundry also took a good look at the PlayStation 5 Pro's PS4 Image Enhancement feature, which brings a variety of improvements to PlayStation 4 games. This feature is a post-processing upscaling filter likely using machine learning, which reportedly only applies to games that render to up to 1080p resolution, improving details. Unfortunately, this feature doesn't improve antialiasing in any way, so games with AA issues continue to have them. In addition, it does seem to
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