PS5 GPU Will Use Brand New RDNA Architecture Developed by AMD

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New information stemming from the recent AMD Computex event revealed that Sony's PlayStation 5 will be powered by new RDNA architecture in its GPU that is a product of the AMD Navi line. Fans who had been paying close attention to Sony's PS5 reports already knew that the console would be powered by AMD Navi GPU and the Ryzen "Zen 2" CPU, which was revealed earlier in an interview with the device's lead architect Mark Cerny.

The PS5 is certainly on the horizon, according to Sony. The company recently unveiled its plans for supporting both the PS4 and its next-gen console, suggesting that simultaneous launches on both platforms were in the company's plans for at least the first few years of the next-gen offering. Even more appealing? The fact that the PS5 will be backward compatible with PS4 games, meaning the new release won't make consumer's games libraries obsolete. It's a move that Sony has publicly acknowledged as one that it hopes will lead to more early adopters of the new console, a boon that would serve the company well as console gaming continues to operate as something of an unknown in a future that also has streaming platforms like Google Stadia.

If there's an edge for Sony and the PS5, it appears it will be in the hardware department, according to news from the AMD Computex event. The reveal that the PS5's GPU architecture will host new RDNA developments from AMD is a revelatory one, once again confirming that the device will be on the cutting edge of technology whenever it releases. AMD released the following keynotes from its presentation to break down exactly what the new RDNA architecture offers GPUs:

• 1.5x performance-per-watt
• 1.25 performance-per-clock improvement over previous architecture
• New compute unit design - improved efficiency and increased IPC
• Multi-level cache hierarchy - reduced latency, higher bandwidth, lower power
• Streamlined graphics pipeline - optimized for performance-per-clock and high clock speeds

The PS5 will be using this technology, so consumers can expect roughly the same kind of performance upgrades. That being said, AMD has acknowledged that the Navi GPU for PS5 will be a custom variant, with the president of AMD referring to it as a key component in Sony's "special sauce" for its next-gen console. That means there could be variations on the above technological specs, with attention being paid to specifics Sony wanted tailored for its next-gen device.

In an era where it appears gaming will continue to become even more accessible with the advent of streaming platforms, Sony appears to be doubling down on having the most technologically-appealing device possible. The PS5 sounds, by all accounts, like a top-tier gaming PC turned into a console, and in some respects, that might be the best approach Sony has available to it. Appealing to the most hardcore gamers with a platform choice that could genuinely rival—for the first time ever—the PC platform, Sony's PS5 might be exactly what console gaming needs to look like next-gen.