The PlayStation 5's method for SoC boost allows for dramatic increase in GPU clocks much higher than PCs, no matter the ambient temperature

[Redaktion]

Sony offered details into how the boost clocks of the Zen 2 CPU and RDNA 2 GPU in the PS5's SoC are regulated. Sony's approach of using a constant power but varying frequency should allow all PS5 units to process data in the same manner irrespective of ambient temperature. It also allows the GPU to boost way higher than anything that is available from AMD in the PC space.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/The-PlayStation-5-s-method-for-SoC-boost-allows-for-dramatic-increase-in-GPU-clocks-much-higher-than-PCs-no-matter-the-ambient-temperature.458471.0.html

[Kirill]

"all PS5 consoles process the same workloads with the same performance level in any environment, no matter what the ambient temperature may be."
But how is this possible?

[Vaidyanathan]

"all PS5 consoles process the same workloads with the same performance level in any environment, no matter what the ambient temperature may be."
But how is this possible?

Consoles will be used across a wide range of geographies. A person living in the tropics wouldn't want his or her console to throttle clocks just because ambient temps are high. Normally, the CPU would try to sustain at the rated freq by changing the input power as needed. Here, Sony has given the SoC fixed power based on the cooling system (which we don't know yet) and let the chip decide the freq depending on the workload. So your criteria to boost is now the activity on hand instead of temperature alone.

[Aastra]

This is a great feature which laptops and PC's should have.

[Vaidyanathan]

This is a great feature which laptops and PC's should have.

May be we will as long as it is not a Sony patented feature.

[_MT_]

Having a power limit is not the same as running at constant power. Why would you run at constant power with variable frequency? It would be wasteful. And how would it even work? How would you keep power constant while reducing frequency? Do you even understand what determines power consumption of a chip?

This is pretty much how laptops work. That's why CPU temperature can spike during initial boost to, say, 99 °C and then settle at 75 °C. A simple continuous power limit will achieve this. It's a pretty standard behaviour for laptops. Of course, if ambient temperature gets too high (or the heat exchanger gets too clogged with dust), you might trip a thermal limit.

Yes, it's possible to ensure that everybody has the same experience. Electronics have operating limits. There is a maximum temperature and you're not allowed to use the equipment when it's exceeded. If you cap your power budget so that your cooling can dissipate that much heat under the most unfavourable conditions, everybody should get the same experience. The disadvantage is that people with better conditions are going to leave unused headroom on the table. The cooling system would be able to take more heat in those circumstances increasing the power limit. There is no such thing as free lunch. Either you leave performance on the table or you'll have to throttle when conditions get worse. I guess fairy tales sound better.

[Alonso]

Read about AMD's smartshifting technology.

[_MT_]

Read about AMD's smartshifting technology.

SmartShift changes nothing about what I wrote. It's just a common budget with variable distribution between chips. All I wrote still applies.

[AjrAlves]

Meanwhile now we have Navi 22 (closest DGPU chip with 256 extra shaders, but trades 8 memory controlling units to 6 and 96MB of cache) boosting to upwards of 2800MHz