- For better or for worse, the console wars are back ahead of the launch of PS5 and Xbox Series X.
- Some PlayStation, Xbox, and PC fans take any opportunity to defend their platform of choice.
- A PC fan questioned the merits of Epic CEO Tim Sweeney’s praise for the PS5 SSD on Twitter and it didn’t end well.
For better or worse, console wars are back in the lead up to the release of the PS5 and Xbox Series X. Or should I say, platform wars – PC gamers want a piece of the action too.
Enthusiasts jump on every opportunity to defend and praise their favored gaming platform. Some even don’t hesitate to take on the big wigs of the gaming world in the process. And there’s plenty of ammunition for those looking for it.
PS5 Bespoke SSD Is ‘Best-in-Class’
Recently, Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney waxed lyrical about the PS5’s ultra-fast SSD touting it as the very best storage tech regardless of platform, surpassing even the most ‘state-of-the-art, highest-end PCs you can buy’.
In a talk following the stunning Unreal Engine 5 tech demo, Sweeney proffered superlatives such as ‘best-in-class’ and ‘absolutely world-class’ on Sony’s tailor-made SSD.
Music to the ears of PS5 fans as nothing quite inflates the ego of console enthusiasts than words from a respected developer throwing shade on the historically dominant PC.
PC Fan Takes On Epic CEO
PC fans weren’t going to let this one slide. In a recent Twitter exchange, what appears to be a self-avowed PC fan took aim at Sweeney’s PC comments.
They pointed out that commercially available PC SSD’s are ostensibly already outclassing Sony’s bespoke PS5 storage solution.
Hey @TimSweeneyEpic, what was it that you said about storage speed? “The PS5 is far ahead of anything you can buy on the PC”? PS5: 9 GB/s LQD4500: 24 GB/s This product was announced back in August 2019. It’s available now. Seems like PC is about 2.7 times ahead. Just FYI 🙂
Sweeney quickly retorted:
I’m referring to actual speed, not theoretical specs. PS5 can transfer and decompress textures and geometry from storage directly into video memory without CPU decompression and driver abstraction overhead, which makes the overall perf much higher than PC.
Back For More
Seemingly intent on holding their ground, this PC fan doubled down:
Not theoretical. It’s PCIe 4.0 x4 VS x16. And you WERE referring specifically to storage, even saying “SSDs are going to need to catch up with this.”. The raw facts is that a PS5 uses PCIe x4 lane for the SSD, but PCs have PCIe 4.0 x16 cards like the LQD4500. No competition.
Once again, Sweeney emerged to defend the merits of the PS5 SSD:
Into video memory in its native GPU format without driver translation overhead? Or are we just pumping a milkshake through a firehose?
Finally, this PC fan conceded that the PS5 has an edge, albeit reluctantly:
I won’t argue that Sony has a pipeline to take the data, once received from the NAND flash, and efficiently distributes it to other parts of the system. Sure, great work. I am saying that PCIe Gen 4 x16 is more than x4, and PC has had that since 2017. No “catching up” required.
The moral of the story is that if you plan on taking on Tim Sweeney, you’d best have your facts straight beforehand. As for whether the PS5 SSD is as marvelous as Sony and Sweeney say, it all depends on what camp you’re rooting for.
This article was edited by Samburaj Das.
