Topic: The 'PS5 Pro is technically for me' Thread

@Ravix Yeah that answers things for the most part. I don’t have any guests using the console with any regularity, so I hope not to deal with many issues.
The recent update did say something about having a DualSense able to keep more than one connections without having to re-pair the controller every time you switch. Apparently it’s a particular perk for gamers who go back and forth from PS5 to PC as the pairing process is a small annoyance every time. So I was wondering if it was best to just have my favorite DualSense loaded with both consoles and take it back and forth. I’m not sure how it works when you do that, something about pressing a certain button when you turn it on tells the controller which device you want to use it on, but I had visions of me trying to turn on one console with my DualSense and it turns on the other one in the other room 😅. I think it might be easier to do as you say and just leave one dedicated controller in the other room.

Edit: and the PS Portal issue is also a question. I wonder if the performance is better streaming to it from a Pro vs the base PS5. I doubt it since the limiting factor is more about WiFi internet strength but I was thinking about which of the two should I pair the Portal to. Whichever I choose as primary is likely to be the default for the Portal… I think, but I wonder if I change my primary to the Pro and still want to use the base PS5 as my Portal streamer, how would that work.

Oh well, I have some time to research as I await the delivery of the Pro, so it will be a while.

@Th3solution When I played Baldur's Gate 3 earlier in the year, I do remember it getting quite sluggish late in the game. It got to the point where I initially thought the game might be crashing, but then it kept happening, so I knew it was just the game. Weird that they never ironed that out at all since there were several patches still this year for the game.

Good luck with the Pro. I have been tempted multiple times to get one, but I just couldn't pull the trigger. For one, I don't know if there's much of a point if I only have a relatively cheap 4K TV right now. Now with the $50 price hike, it's a definite no.

@KilloWertz Yeah, it’s by no means game-breaking, but I have had a couple actual crashes. One was in Grymforge I think it was, and the screen went black. I’ve had two times the audio just went silent and one time reloading did not help and another time it did. Then recently in the Shar temple when fighting the rat-guy he was glitching in and out. At first I thought he had some kind of teleporting power but then I realized I couldn’t hit him and he couldn’t hit me because he just kept flashing in and out of existence. Reloading did not help. I read about a lot of people having it online and the workaround was to try to hit him with environmental AOE and sometimes it would trigger, and it you stick with it for about 4 turns it would eventually stop and then you could proceed like normal with the fight. Thankfully that’s what happened.
Of course a lot of those are glitches rather than hardware not keeping up, but yeah, the sluggishness, hitches, frame drops, pop-in as NPC’s faces gradually render more detailed a few seconds after showing up on screen, those feel like the hardware trying to keep up with all the mountains of data the game is throwing at it to analyze. The game’s an impressive technical feat, even with the performance hiccups.

Interesting to see that even though the PlayStation store has increased the console prices buying straight from Direct, the outlets like Best Buy and Amazon are still selling their stock at the old prices. FYI for any other Americans who still want to get in on the action at the original prices. I’m guessing they are just waiting until they go through their existing stock before changing the price. So it might be days, weeks, months? 😅

@Ravix the other thread reminded me that I hadn’t posted Pro impressions and observations.

So far it’s just BG3 that I’ve spent much time with and I have noticed that the visuals do look better and performance is smoother on the Pro. Specifically the lighting is a significant improvement (ray tracing, I guess?), most notably around water. I went back into the caves with pools of water and there was some amazing reflections of the water and the light from the water bouncing off the walls, etc.

The loading time is a little better, I’d guess about 10-20% faster. The little lags that I’d noticed in the menu are also slightly better too, although they still exist. The frame rate drops I was having while walking around the busy city street of Rivington are significantly less (although also occasionally present).

Not a huge difference, but definitely noticeable. Worth $200 extra? Probably not for just this game. But I am looking forward to Alan Wake 2, Forbidden West, GoW Ragnarok, and Final Fantasy Rebirth, all games that have very significant Pro enhancements apparently. Especially Rebirth is known to really suffer on base PS5 (at least the performance mode).

So I definitely agree so far with what everyone has said — the Pro is not a life changing experience, but it’s a nice luxury so far. I also like how it’s smaller and lighter than my base PS5, and the horizontal little stand pieces are an improvement over that weird stand that came with the launch units where you were never quite sure if the console was seated correctly. 😅

@Th3solution glad it has made some small improvements so far. But like we said before, it isn't really the game for noticing much so the best is yet to come 😄 I doubt BG3 has RT, unless it had it before anyway (and then it'd get boosted), but Larian patch the game all the time so I don't know what they added since I first played, tbh.

Just wait until you play an SIE title at unlocked FPS with graphics mode quality, TLOU would be a good test for you, as it is a game you know so well.

For me, it was KCD2 (as I always planned it to be and the release window lined up nicely) and they optimised it to do unlocked fps and enhanced graphics in one mode, too. Unlocked variable makes games so much smoother than badly locked 60fps games and standard 30fps, of course. But the improvement over 60 is what makes it really work as there isn't the same graphical decline that there would be in thode old ps5 modes. And considering my despise of bad console 60fps anyway, favouring 30 and good graphics rather than worse graphics and wobbly frame rate that is rarely smooth anyway, it worked out nicely for the things I enjoy (getting a significant frame boost without the usual drawbacks)

Some devs, as we see in the news, need to do better, but I have Ghost of Yotei coming up, so there should be no issue there, and then a choice between GoW:R, Horizon FW or Death Stranding 2 🙌 all of which should also benefit in the same way. Also intrigued in the magic GTA6 can pull off. As Rockstar always release games that push consoles to their max.

You've got some good games to choose from, and the uptick from playing BG3 to an action or horror title should be quite a joy to behold in visuals and gameplay.

@Ravix Yeah, I’m tempted to take TLoU for a spin, as I’m due for a replay of that. I’ve only ever played it once and it was on PS3 when it released! And it looked great in my memory and really pushed that console to the fullest. Same for TLoU2 where I played it on PS4 and it honestly looked better than a lot of PS5 games even now. I can’t imagine what the PS5 remaster looks like. I had really planned on an Uncharted replay first though. I think UC4/LL got a significant PS5 upgrade but I don’t think they did a Pro patch.

But first I think I’ll go with HFW. Even before the Pro enhancement it has been consistently touted as the best looking game this generation, at least until Death Stranding 2 came out (which I need to play also, but haven’t bought yet)

So I just finally pulled the trigger on a Pro. In all honesty, I’ve been umming-and-ahhing about it since it released but it just seemed like the perfect-storm rn to make the decision a no-brainer.

• The straw that broke the camel’s back was the surge in RAM prices… and for how long this issue could actually go on for. PlayStation prices are sure to be affected by this eventually.
• Then there was the price - £569.99 seems a genuinely good price and I was actually surprised when I saw that’s what it was going for.
• The big PSSR update due early next year that should provide very similar improvements to FSR4.
• I’m still holding out hope that GTAVI will run at 60 fps on the Pro… even if it means the resolution takes a hit 🤞.

@graymamba welcome to the club.

I know you play a bunch of back catalogue games, but will you be making any exceptions to test out your new machine? What are you most looking forward to?

@Ravix so I have been checking out the games that have the biggest Pro impact and I do have a few in the backlog tbh. The first game I’ll play that will show it off will probably be Ghost of Yotei (which I don’t actually own yet) but I will be playing in 2026. I also have the two TLoU PS5 games, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Gran Turismo 7, Death Stranding 2, the Horizon Zero Dawn remaster, Assassins Creed: Shadows and a few others which apparently get a pretty big boost. I have no immediate plan to play any of them though in all honesty.

More than anything, I’m most intrigued by how the PSSR update pans out, as I have Lies of P and Black Myth: Wukong both of which I think I’ll love… but I have heard about various issues with the latter at least. I’m hoping that this upcoming update will take BM: W to a level akin to a decent rig running it. I’m also quite into Borderlands atm, so hoping that it will take BL4 on Pro to that of it when using FSR4 on PC.

Honestly though, more than anything it’s a decision of insurance against any potential issues with my launch PS5. As if that faulters in the next couple of years, it could become very expensive to replace. Also, I will now have a PS5 Pro in my gaming room (and a 4 and 3) and a PS5 in my lounge. So I can not only be a bit freer in where I game in that respect… but also, I have a media centre output in the lounge, so I can have a wired internet connection now, which in turn will enable me to get the most out’ve my Portal. Then theres the additional 2tb storage too. It’s just a bucket-load of wins for only £569.99… and I basically couldn’t turn it down.

edit. I completely forgot but I’m pretty excited about Cyberpunk 2077 on the Pro. I’m still to actually even try the game but am pretty confident that I’ll love it. I’ve heard the visuals are incredible on Pro, so that could actually be the one to showcase it!

@graymamba sounds a decent plan. Yōtei is my current game, Death Stranding 2 is most likely my next. But I might attempt a rare duel effort and start Clair Obscur, too. DS I feel I can slow play to the extreme and it might need breaking up with something else.

Oh, Sh**, you've also reminded me I've still not finished Cyberpunk to it's conclusion 😂 it does look great on Pro, however, even if they could still do one more update to really take it to the extreme. But I imagine they are fully locked in to working with UE5 at this point. So further utilising PSSR on Red Engine might be a bit of a wasted venture.

I also fully agree with the stance of upgrading a console to cover potential issues with older consoles, too. I will very rarely keep a console until it no longer works or runs into slight issues, as they either become secondary/casual lounge consoles that get less use, or get sold on as they keep their value surprisingly well (I look after my sh**, which helps). This is why I always ponder the cost argument people make. If I can sell a 4 year old PS5 console that i've had plenty of use out of for near the price I paid, then that has basically been rented for next to nothing for all that time, and the price of the pro is greatly reduced from that transaction alone. At one point I nabbed a second hand PS4 pro, used it for ~1 year, and ended up selling it for more than I paid when the PS5 was finally available 🤷‍♂️ I could probably chart the actual total cost spent on consoles weighted vs prices i've sold them for too, but that would be boring. It won't be far off the real cost amounting to cheaply renting consoles for all those years, though, I imagine. The Xbox on the other hand, that may be in landfill soon enough... unless... unless it soon becomes a rarity and the second hand market goes wild🤔 heh heh

It will be cool to see what PSSR v2 adds to those games that struggled, too. And those that could simply push their graphics settings even further in their already well optimised 60fps or unlocked mode games.

@graymamba Cyberpunk is pretty much the go-to tech showcase game. And just a fantastic title to boot!

I played it on the Switch 2, and even on the weakest hardware on the market, it's a pretty legitimately stunning game! Having also seen it running pretty much maxed out on a powerful PC, though, I can tell you the bar is so high for these visuals.

@Ravix Well done on your console purchase to sale ratio!

I always used to sell my old consoles but since I’ve gotten back into gaming in a big way, I really regret not keeping them. So I made a decision to keep them all from now on. I’ve even kept my launch day phat ps3, which has been broken for around 12 years. I just keep it in my gaming room as some kind of… um… decoration I guess 😅.

One day… if we move and I get a bigger room dedicated to gaming I’d like to buy all the old consoles and have them in clear displays. We can but dream eh? 😁

@Ralizah I can only imagine how it looks on a rig that cost a few grand that allows path-tracing etc. I’m relatively confident in what this £570 box can achieve will punch above its weight though. I probably won’t play Cyberpunk until the next PSSR update neither, so it might well be a little better by that point too 🤞

@graymamba The PS5 Pro can definitely sing in the right hands.

Yeah, hopefully PSSR can achieve FSR 4-esque results in terms of image quality improvement. A part of my will probably always be sad it doesn't have access to DLSS, though. Imagine the image quality gains.

@Ralizah yeah I don’t think it’s likely that Sony will ever go NVIDIA, given how cosy they seem with AMD. Obviously never say never… but it’s probably never tbh.

@Ralizah @graymamba

We just have to hope that the ever so meme-able Mark Cerny has unlocked some kind of new power within Sony and AMD's project amethyst. They may have been behind the 8-ball on upscaling and RT for a while, but with Cerny by their side, they may just get the knack.

@Ravix 🤣 well they’ve already made a huge leap forward with FSR4 to decrease NVIDIA’s lead with DLSS. My two cents… I kinda think that NVIDIA will always have their nose in front though.

Anyways, Steams own user survey results show that 72% of PC gamers are gaming on equipment less powerful that the impending Gabecube… which in turn is around the same power as a base PS5 and is rumoured to cost a lot more. So… the amount of PC gamers using rigs less powerful than a Pro is even higher than 72% (not worth guessing that figure without further info). Therefore, what people can get at the moment for £569.99 is simply an incredible deal.

It begins (again)

Instantly everything looks far more detailed, better textures, sharper images and it has fixed the fizzies from those games that weren't working as well with old PSSR.

Also, Cyberpunk with PSSR is going to be a thing, too. The game they definitely won't update gets another update, I guess 😁

I wonder if Sony do a soft-relaunch ad campaign. I know I would. And maybe just stop making PS5's without PSSR the by time PS6 is out.

@Ravix As a Pro owner this is what I’ve really been waiting for. Exciting times and I anticipate that the split public opinion on the Pro will calm down as there will cease to be games that look or play worse on it. Crimson Desert and GTA6, among others will change perceptions as well.

What’s interesting from what I’ve seen so far is that the PSSR technology seems to be making the Quality mode obsolete. It seems like the image fidelity and ray tracing are basically the same in the 60 fps modes as in the 30 fps modes of the base PS5. I was one who would often choose the fidelity/quality mode because I wanted the ray tracing and 4K image but now you get that with Performance mode too.

One question I had (and I’m not very knowledgeable with the technical aspects) is whether the first party games will benefit from PSSR. My understanding is that the Decima engine stuff has its own upscaler and doesn’t use PSSR, so I would suspect Horizon Forbidden West, Death Stranding 2 would not really change any with this update. Not sure about Insomniac’s games like Spider-Man 2, Rift Apart, and upcoming Wolverine, etc. I don’t know if they have a proprietary upscaler too.

It really seems like the third party games are the ones getting the big benefit.