Sony’s next-generation game console, the PlayStation 6, is poised for a significant leap forward in ray tracing performance. Expected to launch in 2027, the console will run on an AMD-developed SoC codenamed “Orion.” This chipset is based on the RDNA 5 graphics architecture and offers significant advancements, particularly in ray tracing technology.
The PlayStation 6 will surpass the RTX 5080 in ray tracing
According to shared information, the PlayStation 6 will have the hardware power to deliver 120 FPS gaming at 4K resolution. On the graphics front, it’s suggested that the console will surpass Nvidia’s RTX 5080 desktop graphics card in ray tracing performance and could even approach the RTX 5090 in some scenarios. This performance difference will be particularly noticeable in real-time lighting, reflection, and shadow processing.
The new ray tracing cores included with the RDNA 5 architecture will deliver 5 to 10 times higher performance than the current PS5 hardware. While the RDNA 4 architecture used in the PS5 Pro offers a limited increase over the standard PS5, this difference is expected to widen dramatically with RDNA 5.
On the raster side of graphics performance, the PlayStation 6 is reportedly positioned somewhere between AMD’s yet-to-be-released RX 9070 graphics card and Nvidia’s RTX 4080 SUPER.
Details regarding the next-generation console’s processor architecture and memory system have not yet been released. However, the focus appears to be on ray tracing performance and stable frame rates at high resolutions. Sony is reportedly aiming to set a new standard for visual quality with this performance boost.
In addition, the company is reportedly working on a new portable device, codenamed Canis. This device will reportedly be equipped with an integrated graphics processor based on the RDNA 5 architecture, featuring four Zen 6c CPU cores and 12 to 20 compute units.
The device is expected to have a graphics frequency between 1.6 and 2.0 GHz. It’s expected to outperform portable gaming PCs like the ROG Ally X in terms of performance.
The official launch date for the PlayStation 6 and the portable system, codenamed Canis, has not yet been announced. Information based on Moore’s Law is Dead, a well-known source of hardware leaks, suggests that Sony is focusing on ray tracing and mobile gaming performance in the next generation.
