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PlayStation (Games) Games Hardware Technology

PS5 Teardown Video Confirms Faster Wi-Fi and USB Ports Than Xbox Series X (gamesradar.com) 56

Sony's recently-released PS5 teardown video gives us a closer look at the PS5, and confirms that the speed of the console's Wi-Fi antenna and USB ports are faster than those available in the Xbox Series X. GamesRadar+ reports: As spotted by VG247, the teardown confirms a few new hardware details about PS5. For starters, we know the console's Wi-Fi antenna supports the new Wi-Fi 6 standard, which allows for a new maximum speed of 9.6 Gbps -- more than twice the 3.5 Gbps ceiling for Wi-Fi 5. This doesn't mean your PS5 will be able to use all of that to send your download speeds through the roof. The practical benefit is that Wi-Fi 6 routers can better distribute all that speed to a bunch of devices at once, and to maintain their performance over time. So if you have a Wi-Fi 6 router and a home full of connected devices, there's a good chance you will notice the improvement. For reference, the Xbox Series X Wi-Fi antenna supports Wi-Fi 5.

As for the USB ports, we already knew that PS5 has a USB-C port and a USB-A port on the front. The teardown video confirms the type-C port will support 10Gbps transfer speeds, and it confirms that the two USB-A ports on the back will as well. The type-A port on the front isn't as quick, so if you plan to plug in an external PS5 SSD make sure you use one of the ports on the back. Xbox Series X doesn't include any type-C ports, and all of its type-A ports run at the standard 5gbps speed. If you know that fast connection speeds will make a big difference to your play experience, you may want to lean toward PS5 -- but as always, the biggest deciding factor should be what games you want to play and how well each console plays them.
The Verge also notes the PS5 includes removable sides, dust catchers, and storage expansion.
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PS5 Teardown Video Confirms Faster Wi-Fi and USB Ports Than Xbox Series X

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  • by johnjones ( 14274 ) on Wednesday October 07, 2020 @05:44PM (#60583106) Homepage Journal

    hopefully, someone can make a case to allow it to be boxy but good...

  • by danbob999 ( 2490674 ) on Wednesday October 07, 2020 @05:49PM (#60583126)

    none of this will improve the gaming experience

    • Except Xbox had to build a proprietary connector for external ssd instead of using usb
      • by Luthair ( 847766 )
        It is, though their launch prices for the SSDs are comparable with high-end nvme drives. As long as they track that though the life of the console it doesn't appear to be a problem.
        • by DrXym ( 126579 )
          Both consoles suffer from a storage tax that I don't think people have realise yet. Games are getting bigger and bigger and the cost of storing them has suddenly become 4x as expensive. I expect external storage will be a popular choice to avoid some of this cost.
          • USB external storage is not fast enough for new games. The PS5 built in SSD peaks at 5.5 GB/s. USB 3.1 peaks at (theoretically) only 1.25 GB/s. Unreal Engine 5 has already shown it will utilize all of that built in bandwidth to load assets in real time. The PS5 has a PCIe Gen 4 M.2 port for "internal" expansion though. Pop in a Samsung 980 PRO and it will keep up at 7.5 GB/s.
            • by DrXym ( 126579 )
              I never said it was. The external storage would be for moving games off the internal storage to play other games, rather than forking out whatever outrageous sum Sony / Microsoft want for their larger storage cards.
              • The PS5 is user upgradeable with an additional standard NVME drive. Sony is supposedly to release a list of drives they tested as compatible with the needed speeds. The PS3 and 4 also had upgradeable storage using a standard 2.5" SATA HDD. The only limitation was the physical height of the drive but most worked.

                That's always been weird compared to how Sony was with forcing their own memory sticks on the PSP and Vita.

      • by Z80a ( 971949 )

        You can use it's USB ports for storage as well.
        The SSD is for the 3GB/s+ required for the next generation of games, which on the sony side is solved with an actual M.2 slot, which is what you should be asking for.

    • by Luthair ( 847766 )
      Wi-Fi 6 claims less latency which would be nice for gaming, the USB-C port seems irrelevant though since they aren't usable for storage.
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • by DrXym ( 126579 )
      Potentially it could have a huge difference, e.g. if Sony produce a VR headset that plugs straight into the USB-C like the Oculus Quest does. Or even wirelessly.

      And it would be an improvement for regular quality of life things like juggling games between primary and secondary storage.

      • by DRJlaw ( 946416 )

        Potentially it could have a huge difference, e.g. if Sony produce a VR headset that plugs straight into the USB-C like the Oculus Quest does. Or even wirelessly.
        And it would be an improvement for regular quality of life things like juggling games between primary and secondary storage.

        Plugging your USB 3.1 Gen 1, 5 Gbps Oculus Quest [oculusvr.com] into a USB 3.2 Gen 2 10 Gbps port isn't going to make it go any faster.

        • by DrXym ( 126579 )
          I said like the Oculus Quest, not necessarily the Oculus Quest.
          • by DRJlaw ( 946416 )

            I said like the Oculus Quest, not necessarily the Oculus Quest.

            Like the Oculus Quest would be like the Oculus Quest. You haven't even shown a need for a USB 3.2 Gen 2 speed VR interface. So you're speculating a future technical need for a product that may never exist in order to justify a feature that has no other practical use.

            I said that. Are you going to address it, or quibble about elements of your language that I did not raise?

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Faster USB ports means faster loading from external drives. From what I've read it looks like you will be able to use external drives to hold game libraries, with the internal SSD used as more of a cache.

      Ditto for the wifi, just today Buffalo announced a new line of NAS products designed for use with the PS3 via USB or wifi.

      Good thing too because the latest Call of Duty is over 250GB.

  • by random_nb ( 2453280 ) on Wednesday October 07, 2020 @05:57PM (#60583146)
    Wired ethernet is for reliability. If you care at all about having a connection grade above "it's fine", run a cable.
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • by edwdig ( 47888 )

      Sure... but 99% of the users are going to be using WiFi. The WiFi experience is what people are going to judge the system by.

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Games are already making wifi users second class citizens. For example Mortal Kombat and related games have a "wifi filter" that blocks wifi users so you only play against people on ethernet. I expect they will introduce a Starlink filter when that becomes widely available too.

      Reason being that for ranked online matches where the result counts for something people don't want to play against people with dodgy connections.

    • by DrXym ( 126579 )
      That's great but most people don't use wifi any more for their consumer kit. And aside from that, for all anyone knows Sony is planning to use that bandwidth to produce a wireless VR headset or some other high end use.
    • by khchung ( 462899 )

      Wired ethernet is for reliability. If you care at all about having a connection grade above "it's fine", run a cable.

      So true. For mission critical stuff like playing online games, using wired connection is common sense.

      Unlike a notebook or iPad, the game console isn't going to move most of the time, it is worth the trouble to setup a lan cable for it.

  • by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Wednesday October 07, 2020 @06:06PM (#60583182)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • Isn't it also the first time that consoles get a feature before PCs?

      • by Z80a ( 971949 )

        It's going kinda the same time.
        But consoles are quite useful for PC people as the consoles set in stone which features the developers can count on, as there will be millions of machines supporting those.
        PS5/Xbox Series are setting SSD and raytracing as standards the developers can count on.

      • by vux984 ( 928602 )

        "Isn't it also the first time that consoles get a feature before PCs?"

        Not really; for example, stuff like 'nintendo mode 7' or even the original NES' sprite and 2D background handling hardware let you do things that were pretty much impossible to do with contemporary PCs of the day.

        Playstation 3's cell processor would be another example of tech that didn't really arrive in PCs until later (in the form of modern GPUs). (Although the Cell, didn't really prove to be a great general purpose CPU so being 'first'

        • Not really; for example, stuff like 'nintendo mode 7' or even the original NES' sprite and 2D background handling hardware let you do things that were pretty much impossible to do with contemporary PCs of the day.

          That's true, I'm so used to GPUs by now that I forgot how much games sucked before the 3Dfx. I remember seeing Quake software rendering and 3Dfx rendering, side by side. Our minds were blown. Not that there weren't 3D games before that, but the CPU had to do everything and it showed.

  • The linked video is in Japanese. A version with English subtitles and dubbed voiceover translation is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
    • The linked video has subtitles for English and seven other languages.

  • by scdeimos ( 632778 ) on Wednesday October 07, 2020 @06:34PM (#60583260)
    You finally get a sense of scale when you put the console in a video with a person. The PS5 looks as big as a curvy desktop PC from the 1990s and more than half the volume seems to be taken up with heatsinks and airflow ducting.
    • It could probably be smaller if people wouldn't stuff them into the smallest spaces they'll fit into.

    • This is a good sign, they fucked up the cooling in the Ps4/Ps4 pro big time.
      First of all the original PS4 almost had no servicability of the fans/grills, which caused
      dust gathering (hence the ps4s became louder over time)
      To make matters worse, their method of and goo and headpads they applied for thermal conductivity were subpar.
      Only 30% of the ram was covered by the thermal pads, the rubber they applied as thermal goo on the processor was not very condcutive, but they applied even more of it to make up wit

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      It's huge but at least they seemed to have learned from making consoles with marginal cooling and thus poor reliability. Actually Sony consoles generally have not been too bad compared to Microsoft ones.

  • how many usb buses on both? and is wifi on usb?

  • by thegarbz ( 1787294 ) on Thursday October 08, 2020 @02:40AM (#60584068)

    You should be buying a console based on which game you want to play.

  • by SuperDre ( 982372 ) on Thursday October 08, 2020 @07:06AM (#60584486) Homepage
    I think the Wifi6 is for use with the new PSVR2 headset which is said to be wireless.. Wifi6 has specific enhancements for lowlatency VR.
    • I've tried the Sony VR headset on a PS4 and while it's not the best, I'm very curious to see what their PSVR2+PS5 combo will be able to deliver. At the very least, it's putting the new Xbox in second place in my list.

      In the end it's probably going to be PS5 + PSVR2 vs Valve Index + new Ryzen 5000 PC and I'm already leaning toward the PC.

      Actually, does anyone know if Valve is interested in porting Half-Life: Alyx to the PS5+PSVR2?

      • Hell, I guess even the PS5 with the PSVR will already be a major improvement.. Hope I can get a free adaptor for the camera so I can finally easily connect it to the PC, haha.
        • That's another idea... could Sony have designed the PSVR2 for both PS5 and PC? They have to know that most PC gamers will never buy a PS5, but at least selling them a PSVR2 would be an option.

          • I doubt they'll support the PC, as they also could have done it with the dualshock 3, Move controllers, PSVR, but they never did..
            • Aren't their controllers using Bluetooth? They could have used a proprietary wireless protocol/chip/etc, but AFAIK they didn't.

              And the PS5 is a regular PC (as far as parts are concerned) so maybe they're also going to use existing PC standards for the PSVR2.

              • Yes they are kinda regular bluetooth devices, but even bluetooth devices need drivers on the PC to be fully used, and Sony never officially provided such drivers, so you'll have to use third party software, just like with the PSVR which you already can connect to your PC, but it requires third party software to use..
  • It certainly bears little resemblance to anything logical or practical.

    WiFi is not used for serious gaming and WiFi5 is more than enough for causal uses

    Xbox SX does not use USB ports for gaming. The internal drive is only capable of 4.8GB/s so why would it need a USB port that's faster than the internal drive? Guess what, PS5's internal drive is 5.5GB/s so it won't be able to take advantage of that 10GB/s USB speed either.

    Lets talk real practical matters, adding storage with NVMe SSD. Xbox SX is a simple

  • Just take my money sony. Play Station is the best game console ever.
  • The real reason to buy a system is because the USB port is faster, or even the WiFi!!

    Nothing to do with games or such.

  • Ok, we've seen the teardown now, and they do actually have some kind of liquid metal as a TIM between the processor and the heatsink.

    But absolutely noone has talked about what the metal is.

    Mercury is liquid at room temperature. Caesium, rubidium, francium and gallium are liquid just above room temperature.

    The only one of those they could get away with would be gallium? So is it pure gallium, or some kind of alloy? Galinstan, maybe? Pretty corrosive, though.

    • Ok, we've seen the teardown now, and they do actually have some kind of liquid metal as a TIM between the processor and the heatsink. But absolutely noone has talked about what the metal is.

      As long as it's not a chunk of T-1000, I'm fine with it.

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