The recent PlayStation 5 gameplay reveal gave us an indication of just how powerful the upcoming console will be. While amazing graphics are always a plus, having to wait a few hours for the game to actually load takes the fun right out of gaming. According to Sony gamers should be fine with the PlayStation 5, as it will allegedly process data 100 times faster than the PlayStation 4.
PlayStation 5 SSD
Loading into say, GTAV, is a terrible experience for any eager gamer. Sure, loading screens generally offer some (superficial) insight into the game, or at least an interesting image to gaze at while waiting. But that’s obviously not why you launched the game for. Luckily, PlayStation 5 will feature an insanely fast SSD storage solution.
Judging by the specs, Sony definitely prioritized fast loading times for their upcoming console. Not a bad call, given the fact that the current-gen consoles are painfully slow when it comes to loading times. When comparing the PS5 with the PS4, “5.5GB/s (Raw), Typical 8-9GB/s (Compressed) IO throughput” sounds pretty impressive. But not quite as dramatic as ‘a 100 times faster’.
Sony: For example, through a custom‐designed high‐speed SSD, we plan to realize game data processing speeds that are approximately 100 times faster than PS4.
More gaming, less waiting
With those speeds, loading into big open worlds shouldn’t be a hassle anymore. Take GTAV’s loading times for example. The sheer size of the game alone makes a loading time of 1 to 3 minutes quite common. With a 100 times faster loading times, that same game would theoretically load up within 0.6 to 1.8 seconds!
Of course, not everything the PlayStation 5 has to offer is a hundred times faster than the PS4. Loading a game is a process that also involves things like rendering environments, loading the RAM, and calculating all sorts of stuff. Still, the PlayStation 5 having files ready almost instantaneously is awesome. Especially when loading a huge open world game.
We’ll have to wait until the holidays of 2020 to see how the console actually performs. Needless to say, it should at least be marginally faster than the PS4.