PlayStation 5 will use AMD's Zen CPU, Navi GPU - report

According to a new report, AMD's Navi GPU architecture was specifically designed for Sony's PlayStation 5.

Forbes is reporting, as per unnamed industry sources, that the upcoming PlayStation 5 will use AMD's Zen CPU architecture, as well as Navi tech for its GPU.

The report is interesting on its own, but this is the second time we've heard about PS5 possibly using AMD's Zen, most commonly known from the Ryzen desktop CPUs.

As for Navi, the report says the architecture was created for Sony. This collaboration has been going on for a while, apparently, during Radeon Technologies Group boss Raja Koduri's tenure at the company. So much so, in fact, that AMD's RX Vega project suffered.

This particular revelation makes sense, as some reports indicated Navi won't be aimed at the high-end market when it launches.

If Navi was indeed designed with Sony's input, it would make sense for not to be aimed at competing with Nvidia's high-end, desktop market.

As the site notes, it's not clear whether AMD will build a custom Zen chip with a unique SoC (system on a chip) for Sony, or simply use separate parts for both.

This also doesn't tell us if the Navi-based GPU will be discrete or integrated. AMD has a long history of creating decent GPUs that draw less power than you'd expect, something both platform holders relied on for PS4/Xbox One.

Strangely, though, the Forbes report does not mention Microsoft's involvement in the development of Navi, which could indicate that Microsoft is ditching AMD for the next Xbox, code-named Scarlet. The more likely situation is that Microsoft may simply be interested in a different design, possibly involving Vega and a more traditional Ryzen CPU.