We built a 'next-gen' Zen 2/Navi-based PC - how much faster is it than current-gen consoles?

Development kits are out, game makers are briefed. Sony's PlayStation 5 and Xbox Project Scarlett projects are under way - however, detailed specifications of the consoles are still a subject of much speculation. What has been confirmed is that both machines once again have much in common: both are produced in concert with AMD, both use the Zen 2 CPU architecture while the graphics cores are based on the latest Radeon Navi technology. The question is: can this deliver a full generational leap over PlayStation 4 and Xbox One?

I decided to get some idea of how these new technologies compare stacked up against the current-gen machines - specifically, the enhanced PS4 Pro and Xbox One X. The work was the basis of a presentation I delivered a couple of days ago at EGX 2019, where Asus Republic of Gamers helped out by building an AMD-based PC based on my specifications. Aspects of this unit were then tuned to match the increasingly compelling leaks based on the Gonzalo processor under development by AMD, a chip that is now almost certain to be the SoC within PlayStation 5.

After viewing the Gonzalo leak with some scepticism, I now believe the evidence to be fairly conclusive. A recent Gizmodo report gave PS5 the 'Prospero' codename, and although Microsoft refuted many of this leak's suggestions with regards Scarlett, my own sources have now confirmed the same Sony codename. Prospero is the lead in Shakespeare's The Tempest, and Gonzalo is a supporting character. Other leaks have also revealed Ariel as a component (the GPU, possibly) and again, this is another player in what many believe to be Shakespeare's last solo-written play. The Gonzalo leak suggests a 3.2GHz Ryzen CPU, with Sony itself confirming eight cores and 16 threads. The leak also suggests a 1.8GHz or 2.0GHz GPU clock. This is remarkably high, it has to be said. However, 7nm silicon is very expensive in the here and now - and getting more value from it would involve driving it faster.

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