Which AMD CPU Is Equivalent To The One In The PlayStation 5 Pro?

The PlayStation 5 Pro is the most powerful console on the market. Not only does it have more blazing hardware that allows gamers to experience the latest games at high resolutions and framerates, but it also comes with special features like PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution to further enhance visual clarity.

Building a PC that matches the PS5 Pro is tough since the console has a fully custom set of AMD hardware inside, but there are definitely similar components you can buy if you know what to look for. The closest AMD CPU match to the PS5 Pro is the Ryzen 5 5600x, which can keep pace with the PS5 Pro's framerates in most games. It's not a one-to-one comparison since the PS5 Pro has a fully custom processor designed to handle different things, but the Ryzen 5 5600x can keep up with the Pro and drive games past 60 Frames Per Second (FPS) with a compatible display. 

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X delivers nearly identical performance to the PS5 Pro in most scenarios. Most of the PS5 Pro's benefits come from graphical improvements that would be handled by a dedicated GPU on a PC, so it doesn't actually take a top-of-the-line CPU to keep up with Sony's flagship console.

Cyberpunk 2077 is the best example of this. Now that the game has a dedicated PS5 Pro patch with an unlocked framerate and boosted graphics, both processors can be tested under intense loads. On PS5 Pro, for example, Digital Foundry found that Cyberpunk 2077 can reach as high as 90 FPS in performance mode, but the framerate dips in heavy-use scenarios. You can see nearly identical benchmarks with the 5600X on PC, averaging just below 90 FPS and dipping down to 60 as a worst-case scenario in ProYamYamPC's testing.

The comparison still holds up with ray tracing enabled. There are multiple ray tracing modes in the PS5 Pro version of Cyberpunk 2077, but the primary one enables most ray tracing enhancements while keeping the frame rate locked at 60. ProYamYamPC found that the Ryzen 5 5600X can maintain an average of 60 FPS with ray tracing set to Ultra. Ray tracing performance will largely depend on your graphics card, but the 5600X won't be a bottleneck in a PC equivalent to the PS5 Pro.

Of course, there are high-end options that can outperform the PS5 Pro if you're willing to spend some extra cash. With the PS5 Pro's price hike to $900, however, these expensive CPUs are becoming a much more attractive option for gamers looking to upgrade.

The Ryzen 7 9800X3D is one of the best gaming CPUs on the market, and it easily outclasses the PS5 Pro in most games. Looking at Control Resonant, the PS5 Pro and Ryzen 5 5600X run at 60 FPS with frequent dips in heavy scenarios. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D, meanwhile, can reach triple-digit framerates in the same scenes, according to benchmarks run by Testing Games.

Even less expensive AMD CPUs like the Ryzen 7 7700X3D — priced at $329 compared to $479 for the 9800X3D — outperform the PS5 Pro. Taking another look at Cyberpunk 2077, Digital Foundry testing shows that the 7700X3D averages over 100 FPS in most areas and only dips as low as 90 FPS in crowded scenes. That's better than the PS5 Pro's performance mode, and you'll be able to maintain those framerates with advanced graphical settings if you have a PS5 Pro equivalent GPU or better.