The fresh Sony PlayStation 5 Pro is expensive, especially in the EU market where its price reaches 800 euros (including VAT), without even the vertical base included. So, is it time for users to spend a bit more to get a highly capable PC and leave behind consoles? Time to find out. Read the full review.
Sony released the PlayStation 5 Pro, but its high price has disappointed many users, including me. While with 500 euros/dollars, which is the current price (give or rake) of the PS5 Slim, it is impossible to build a capable gaming PC, at 800 euros, you are not that far from this goal, although the CPU and GPU prices went sky-high the last years. Having the 800 euros price point of the PS5 Pro, I will try to build a gaming PC as close as possible to this price point and compare it in several games with the PS5 Pro. I won’t consider, of course, the prices of used parts, but only new ones.
PS5 Slim vs PS5 Pro (Specs)
As a reminder, the main specifications of both PS5 Pro and PS5 Slim consoles are below.
| PS5 Pro | PS5 Slim | |
| Price | $699.99 / £699.99 / 799€ | $499.99 / £479.99 / 519€ |
| CPU Architecture / Clock Speeds | 8x Cores / 16x Threads – Zen2 @ 3.5GHz/3.85GHz | 8x Cores / 16x Threads – Zen2 @ 3.5GHz/3.85GHz |
| GPU Compute Units / Architecture | 60 CUs, RDNA 3 | 36 CUs, RDNA 2 |
| TFLOPS / GPU Clock Speed | 16.7 TF / 2.35GHz Max | 10.28 TF / 2.23GHz Max |
| Upscaling | PSSR (PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution Upscaling) | N/A |
| RAM | 16GB GDDR6 @ 18Gbps / 2GB DDR5 | 16GB GDDR6 @ 14Gbps |
| RAM Available for Games | 13.7GB | 12.5GB |
| Memory Interface / Bandwidth | 256 bit / 576 GB/s | 256 bit / 448 GB/s |
| Connectivity | WiFi 7, ethernet, Bluetooth 5.1 | WiFi 6, ethernet, Bluetooth 5.1 |
| Storage expansion | M.2 NVMe SSD slot; external storage via USB | M.2 NVMe SSD slot |
| Storage capacity | Custom 2TB SSD | Custom 1TB SSD |
| Ports | 1 x HDMI 2.1, 1 x Ethernet, 2 x USB-C, 2 x USB-A | 1 x HDMI 2.1, 1 x Ethernet, 2 x USB-C, 2 x USB-A |
| Weight | 6.8lbs / 3.1kg | 7.1lbs / 3.2kg |
| Dimensions (HxWxD) | 15.2 x 3.5 x 8.5in / 388 x 89 x 216mm | 14.1 x 3.8 x 8.8in / 358 x 97 x 224mm |
The improved GPU is the main asset of the PS5 Pro, which, thanks to the increased number of Compute Units and the faster memory that supports it, can improve rendering performance by up to 45%. Moreover, the newer generation RDNA 3 GPU offers better ray-tracing support, and there is also the AI-driven PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR), which allows the PS5 Pro to deliver increased performance and higher graphics quality without sacrificing performance. The second most crucial aspect of the PS5 Pro, besides the better GPU, is PSSR, which allows developers to fully exploit the hardware’s upscale capabilities and offer better graphics without a heavy impact on the frames per second. Lastly, the SSD’s storage space is doubled now, a welcome feature because 1 TB of storage in this PS5 Slim can quickly fill up if you install several games.
The last notable improvement is the support of Wi-Fi 7, meaning quicker downloads as long as you have a compatible access point. Continuing with the console specs, it makes an impression that although the PS5 Pro is taller than the PS5 Slim and the differences in width and depth aren’t that high, it still weighs about 100 grams less. Despite the stronger GPU, its cooling system is not beefier than the PS5 Slim.
