They say that with great power comes great responsibility. We’re not denying that the PS4 Pro is a powerful system. It is (at least until the Scorpio comes along, next year), the most powerful console ever. It does offer you marginally less graphics horsepower than the original $1000 GTX Titan from 2013. When you think about it that way, it’s nothing short of incredible. There’s a lot you could do with that kind of power.
Can the PS4 Pro deliver on its promise of higher framerates?
Yes and no. 1080p 60 fps has long been the idea gold standard for the best gaming experience. With GTX 970 out in 2014, and now the even more affordable RX 480, that kind of gaming is very much a mainstream possibility on the PC. But entry level PCs are substantially less bottle necked than consoles. Very few titles are so horribly optimized that they ca’t hit the gold standard at i3. Unfortunately, the PS4 Pro is lacking on the CPU front.
On the flip side, sticking to 1080p with enhanced visual effects can offer enough GPU headroom to ensure a rock solid 30 fps lock. There’s nothing worse than fumbling to aim in a shooter that keeps lagging. A reliable 1080p 30 fps lock at high graphic settings can make a far more consistent experience.
PC like visuals
4K is a lot of pixels. Even when the upcoming console makes use of checkerboard upscaling, it will be rendering games at a resolution twice that of 1080p. However, if it ran games at 1080p only, it will have a tremendous amount of GPU headroom especially when there’s a 30 fps lock. There’s still a very large capability difference between today’s consoles and high-end PCs. Most games are built with a good deal of scalability in mind, retaining core graphical assets on the PS4 Pro and Xbox One but offering PC owners drastically larger draw distances. However, PS4 Pro can utilize its hardware to get almost the same amount of graphical detail as the PC.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments.