Sony’s PlayStation 5 received numerous updates when it was introduced in November 2020. Sony needed to find a means to stay up with the rising graphics-heavy nature of games. That required beefing up the PS5’s GPU. GPUs are graded using a variety of parameters, including frame rate and onboard processing, which is required for functions such as raytracing. However, because consoles do not use video game graphics cards like gaming PCs, it is difficult to find an accurate equivalent in the PC/Mac market.

But don’t get it twisted: the PS5 is equipped with powerful hardware. The PS5 features a GPU rate of 2233 MHz, a memory clock of 1750 MHz, and 16 GB of storage capacity thanks to its Oberon GPU.

Because of its durability, the PS5 can run most games at 120 fps (frames per second) rather than 60 fps. On the PS5, Destiny 2, Devil May Cry 5, and Call of Duty: Black Ops can all run at 120 frames per second.

The normal PC with a basic GPU would be unable of achieving such a feat, which is one of the benefits of purchasing this console. So, what in the PC world is similar to the GPU in the PS5? How do they compare? Does it make a computer as good at gaming as the PS5? Or does the PS5 have the upper hand?

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 is the graphics card closest to the PS5’s Oberon GPU. The RTX 2070 has 2304 GPU cores, 448 GB/s memory bandwidth, and 45T RTX-OPS. Most games can run on the RTX 2070. They have become more expensive recently due to the recent shortage of computer parts.

Why bother comparing GPUs on PCs and the PS5? What is the closest equivalent to the PS5’s GPU?

Is the PS5 better than some of the RTX graphics cards out there? Are you playing Spider-Man with lower resolution and a slow processor just because that’s what Sony gave you? Read on to learn which graphics card the PS5 GPU is most like.

Is PS5 GPU better than RTX? Well, the RTX 2070 pretty closely parallels it. It is a fairly average graphics card with some respectable raw specs:

• 45T RTX-OPS
• 2304 GPU cores
• 448 GB/s memory bandwidth

Despite being close in GPU performance capabilities, the RTX 2070 has the benefit of being something you can swap out and upgrade for higher resolution later. With the PS5, you cannot do that. Consoles are designed to be closed environments that you cannot modify. 

In the future, you could buy a much more powerful version of the RTX that has better performance than the PS5’s Oberon GPU. But, for now, this is about as close as it gets. 

Multiple metrics factor into what makes a GPU powerful. You must consider that a GPU has its own speed, bus speed, and memory. 

To understand how powerful a GPU is, you need to consider its teraflops. In computing terms, a teraflop is the most basic unit for measuring power since it measures how many operations a computer can perform within one second.

Read Also: Why is PS5 so Hot?

In the old days of computers, you’d be doing good to get a few flops. These days, though, a computer can perform thousands and thousands of functions in a mere second. This gives you a good idea of how much raw processing power a computer possesses. However, the overall system can have some caveats. 

Even with excellent CPU and GPU, a computer’s onboard memory can be limited, so some processes might still run slowly. When calculating how much power the PS5’s GPU has, it comes out to about 9.2 to 10.28 teraflops (with a 9.2 rating for real-world performance and theoretical performance rated at 10.28). 

For a console, this is pretty strong. And the RTX 2070’s nine teraflops is certainly nothing to scoff at.

Equivalent Graphics Cards to PlayStation 5

Teraflops can be used as a pertinent metric for comparison to contrast the PlayStation 5’s GPU with other GPUs. Teraflops measure the number of operations a computer can perform per second. For example, the PlayStation 5 has a potential 10.28 teraflops, but this number drops to 9.2 during real-world usage. 

The AMD RX 5700 XT, the RX 6800XT, and the NVIDIA RTX 2070 are suitable comparisons.

These comparisons are based on real-world teraflops usage, graphical resolutions, settings, and frame rates. The specifications are detailed below:

• AMD RX 6800 XT

The AMD RX is a great GPU option that provides a 4k resolution. It has about 16GB of VRAM, the same as a PlayStation 5’s GPU. In addition, it has a game clock of 2015 MHz and a boost clock that goes up to 2250 MHz.

The AMD RX 6800 XT is a potent equivalent, which provides an enormous number of 20.47 teraflops. This is more than twice the number of 9.2 teraflops that a PlayStation 5 possesses. In addition, it includes ray tracing and provides a high-quality rendering output. It also has 16 GB RAM that parallels the PlayStation 5. All the above features indicate that it is the best equivalent of a PlayStation 5’s GPU. The only downside to this GPU is the exorbitant price. Its cost is more than double the cost of a PlayStation 5.

• RX 5700 XT 

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT is the graphics card that comes the closest to a PlayStation 5’s GPU. It has a lower RAM of only 8GB but a power of 9.8 teraflops, which even trumps the PlayStation’s 9.2 teraflops. It also has a more significant memory clock of 14 GHz. 

The downside to choosing this graphics card is that it does not support ray tracing. Ray tracing emulates the real-life behavior of light, so the rendering output from an RX 5700 XT might not have high quality compared to the PlayStation 5. 

• RTX 3070

The RTX 3070 is one of the best graphics cards for video game enthusiasts. Its 4K resolution and great ray tracing performance stand out from the competition.

It has a GPU of around 12 teraflops, higher than the PlayStation 5. It is also much more affordable than all of the options mentioned above. In addition, its speed is 30 times faster than the RTX 2070 Super and about 40 times more than the RX 5700 XT. These features make this graphics card stand out and rival the PlayStation 5’s GPU. 

• RTX 2070

From NVIDIA, the RTX 2070 Super is a strong contender. It has many specifications that parallel the GPU Oberon. It has the same cores and a memory bandwidth of 448 GB/s. Most of the games on PCs run on this graphics card. 

There are also several ray tracing operations that the RTX 2070 can conduct, which places it over the RX 5700 XT. The RTX 2070 also has 45T RTX-OPS, which is the number of raytracing operations that occur within a second, making the graphics card comparable to the PlayStation 5.  

In the case of teraflops, the RTX 2070 has a higher number, a total of 9.5 teraflops in real-world usage. There is a total of 8GBs of graphic memory, which is smaller than the PlayStation 5. 

However, even in the PlayStation 5, only 12GBs out of the given 16GBs are allocated to games, so the gap is not that wide. 

While the RTX 2070 does offer many advantages, it is still not as powerful as the PlayStation 5 due to the console’s constitution. This means that the PlayStation 5 is a more stable environment that does not change. 

PlayStation 5 GPU Specification

The PlayStation 5 has a GPU called Oberon. It has:

• 16 GB GDDR RAM
• Memory clock of 1750 MHz 
• GPU clock of 2233 MHz 
• It has a total of 2304 cores and a real-time graphical power of 9.2 teraflops.
• It can run some games on up to 120 frames per second, which is twice the standard of 60 frames per second. 

Frame rates can often be modified while playing certain games. With all these stellar specifications, it might not be easy to compare a PlayStation 5’s GPU with graphic cards for a PC. However, some exceptions do rival the PlayStation 5’s performance. 

While the PlayStation 5 is a more tailored gaming device as opposed to a specialized PC, there are some marked differences in functionality. Thus, it is important to make an informed decision before purchasing either device.

PC GPU Specifications

The GPU within a computer is not just tailored for gaming, so it has specifications catering to several functions, like video and photo editing. GPUs are also used for other tasks like rendering and machine learning. Computer GPUs have a separate RAM pool. Gaming is an additional feature that a PC GPU caters to. 

• PlayStation 5 GPU Specifications

Compared to a PC’s functionality, a PlayStation 5 has a GPU that is more tailored to gaming and power efficiency. In addition, a PlayStation 5 has a shared RAM pool. Since consoles are closed systems, games are easily optimized by developers. This is why a console will always reign supreme in terms of the cinematic experience of fun.

• Comparison of Frame Rates

Another significant comparison between the two is the frame rate per second. A console can display as low as 30 frames per second, but a PC cannot. Thirty frames per second on a PC gives a jittery output, and structures may not refresh even with 3 or 4 refreshes. For smooth gameplay, 60 frames per second is a necessity. 

• Comparison of Costs

Building a PC that is the GPU equivalent of a PlayStation 5 will be more expensive than a PlayStation 5. A general rule of thumb is that for each teraflop of performance, you will need to pay about 150 dollars. This is because additional RAM and CPU elements need to be purchased with the GPU. This comes out to be a total of 1500 dollars for a ten-teraflop PlayStation 5 equivalent. 

A PlayStation 5, on the other hand, as of 2021, costs a mere 499.99 dollars with the 9.2 teraflop GPU. 

What is a GPU alternative to the PS5?

If we’re looking for GPUs that might be considered equivalent to the PS5 – we need to find a graphics card capable of 4K at 120 FPS. This is quite a tall order, as most PCs aren’t actually equipped for this. The reason the PS5 can game this well is due to the console’s system-on-a-chip (SoC) nature. As all of the components are designed with each other in mind and are optimized to run on the same PCB circuit, there’s very little room for them to underperform.

Similarly, the PS5 operating software is specifically designed for optimization with this hardware in mind.

If you’re looking to build a PC with similar capabilities, you’ll almost certainly need to get your hands on an RTX 3070 or better. This GPU will be capable of running at 4K – however, 120FPS will not be a regular occurrence in all games. There are very few graphics cards aside from the RTX 4080 and RTX 4090 that would be able to achieve this, though they can’t really be considered equivalents to the PS5 as they can be almost three times the price.

The RTX 3070 was released in 2019 and is an Ampere architecture Nvidia GPU. This is roughly equivalent to the RDNA 2.0 architecture GPU inside the PS5, however, the RTX 3070 is slightly beefier. The RTX 3070 has an 8nm process size, a clock speed of 1500Mhz, and 5888 shading units. It’s got 8GB of GDDR6 memory, which is half what the PS5’s Oberon GPU has.

On a fully optimized PC with the best CPU, you might be able to game at 4K and 120 FPS, though you’ll likely need to tune your game settings to lower quality. While you won’t be able to game at the absolute highest settings, you can definitely replicate the PS5’s quality with an RTX 3070.