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Gaming PC GPUs vs. console GPUs: What's the difference between them?

Gaming PC GPUs vs. console GPUs: What's the difference between them?

Although PC gamers have to think about it more while putting together their machine, consoles also use GPUs. Here's the difference between them.

Both have the same underlying tech, but console versions share more with the CPU.

Take the side panel off a gaming PC and the graphics card is the first thing you'll see. It's a slab the size of a hardback book slotted into the motherboard with fans bolted to it. But open up a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X and you'll see nothing of the kind. Instead, beneath the heatsink sits an AMD chip doing the work of both processor and graphics card.

Both consoles draw their pictures via the same AMD Radeon technology found in PC graphics cards. The difference is that a console GPU shares one piece of silicon and one pool of memory with the CPU, whereas a gaming PC's GPU gets a card and memory to itself. Console GPUs are also bespoke components built to order for Sony and Microsoft, with every game written for that exact hardware. The closest PC card to the one inside a PS5 is arguably AMD's Radeon RX 6700, although how close depends on the game.

Microsoft's spec sheet for the Series X lists an eight-core CPU and a GPU with 52 compute units on a single 360.45 square millimeter piece of silicon called an Accelerated Processing Unit (APU), or a system on a chip (SoC).

In brief

Both have the same underlying tech, but console versions share more with the CPU. Instead, beneath the heatsink sits an AMD chip doing the work of both processor and graphics card. Both consoles draw their pictures via the same AMD Radeon technology found in PC graphics cards. Console GPUs are also bespoke components built to order for Sony and Microsoft, with every game written for that exact hardware.

This is the opening of the story, shared with credit to Engadget. The rest of the report — with every detail — continues on the publisher’s website.

Continue reading at Engadget ↗

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