Expert Consulted: Adrian Gardiner. Years of experience building and maintaining customer PCs have allowed me to build a wealth of expertise in this field. In this article, I’ll be sharing my knowledge with you to investigate what would be the nearest PS5 Graphics Card equivalent.
With over 40 million consoles sold since it launched back in 2020, the PlayStation 5 (PS5) has firmly established itself as a favorite amongst console gamers everywhere.
The current PS5 is fitted with a custom-designed AMD Radeon RDNA 2 graphics card, commonly known as ‘Oberon’ after the name of its processor (now the Oberon Plus).
The PS5 graphics card equivalent in general performance would be the RTX 2070 Super and RX 5700 XT but is custom-designed and optimized for PS5 games. For similar PC performance, look for a GPU at least as powerful as the RTX 2070 Super or RX 5700 XT. For the best performance, consider a more powerful GPU, such as the newer RTX 3070 or RX 6700 XT.
Because direct comparisons between the PS5 and mainstream graphics cards are so tricky, I’ve gone into more detail in the following sections of this article to present as much info as possible to help decide on the best equivalent card to the PS5.
If you’re thinking of building a PC to compete with a PS5, this article is for you.
Finding A PS5 Graphics Card Equivalent for Your PC
As mentioned earlier, the PS5 GPU was custom-designed by AMD, so a direct comparison with mainstream graphics cards is not easy.
From researching online, I can see many different opinions on which is the nearest PS5 graphics card equivalent, ranging from an RTX 2070 Super (discontinued) to an RTX 3070 (this replaced the RTX 2070 Super), and including, of course, the AMD RX 5700 XT (also discontinued).
Certainly, from a specification viewpoint, anything from an RTX 2070 Super and above will fare very well against the PS5, as would a Radeon 5700 XT and higher.
The actual game played, game settings chosen, monitor resolution, and the PC specification will also have an impact on which card runs best against the PS5.
Discontinued GPU Models and Recommended Replacements
As mentioned earlier in this article, the ideal PS5 graphics card equivalent would have been the AMD RX 5700 XT or the NVIDIA RTX 2070 Super, and while you can still buy these cards if you look around, they have both been discontinued and replaced with newer models.
Any of these older cards still for sale are just the remains of the last production batch, and once they’re gone, that’s it.
GPU Replacements
The replacements for these cards are:
- RX 5700 XT has been replaced by the RX 6700 XT.
- RTX 2070 Super has been replaced by the RTX 3070.
If I had the budget, I would go for the newer cards to give a bit of future-proofing, plus also to benefit from the better performance.
GPU Specifications – Comparison
One useful approach in finding a good PS5 graphics card equivalent is to make a direct comparison between the respective capabilities of the PS5 and its nearest PC-based GPU competitor(s).
Based on the GPU equivalent mentioned at the start of this article, here are a couple of handy tables showing the key performance metrics and features for each card.
Note: The PS5’s higher 16 GB of RAM is shared throughout the console for other duties.
| GPU | VRAM Type | VRAM | VRAM Bandwidth | Clock Speed (base) | Clock Speed (boost) | TFLOPS | Shade Units |
| PS5 Radeon RDNA 2 | GDDR6 | 16 GB | 448 GB/s | 2233 MHz | – | 10.3 | 2304 |
| Radeon RX 5700 XT | GDDR6 | 8 GB | 448 GB/s | 1605 MHz | 1905 MHz | 9.75 | 2560 |
| Radeon RX 6700 XT | GDDR6 | 12 GB | 384 GB/s | 2321 MHz | 2581 MHz | 13.2 | 2560 |
| RTX 3070 | GDDR6 | 8 GB | 448 GB/s | 1500 MHz | 1725 MHz | 20.3 | 5888 |
| PS5 | Radeon RX 5700 XT | Radeon RX 6700 XT | NVIDIA RTX 3070 | |
| Architecture | RDNA 2 | RDNA 1 | RDNA 2 | Ampere |
| Ray Tracing | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Variable Rate Shading | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| DirectX | No | 12 (12_1) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) | 12 Ultimate (12_2) |
| TDP | N/A | 225 w | 230 w | 220 w |
| Suggested PSU | N/A | 550 w | 550 w | 550 w |
Game Comparisons for the PS5 vs RX5700 XT vs RTX 3060
This video includes the lower-powered RTX 3060 – expect the RTX 3070 to be at least 40% more powerful in pretty much every aspect.
From the tables above and the video, we can see that the PS5 is matched pretty well by the two other cards. While the RX 5700 loses out on ray tracing and variable rate shader (VRS), it’s still able to hold its own pretty well when compared to other more powerful and modern cards, including the PS5.
The RX 5700 XT and RTX 3070 are still available, with both having been superseded by newer and more expensive cards.
Cost of PS5 vs GPU (as part of a PC)
In comparison to the PS5 at a list price of $499.99, GPU alternatives like the RX 5700 XT at approx. $200.00 (while you can still find one!), and the RTX 3070, starting at around $400, are considerably more expensive, especially when you take into account the cost of all the additional hardware in a decent PC setup.
If all you want to do is play games, then the PS5 is an excellent and cost-effective choice.
If you want great gaming but also the ability to create all sorts of documents and run a myriad of different programs, create and edit music, videos, etc., a desktop PC is the way forward, despite the extra cost.
AMD or NVIDIA GPU?
Both AMD and Nvidia make excellent graphics cards, so the choice will ultimately come down to your specific needs, budget, and personal preferences.
Here are some key factors to consider:
- AMD GPUs often tend to provide better value for money, with very capable cards at lower price points compared to equivalent Nvidia models. They support cutting-edge features like ray tracing and Variable Rate Shading and can be competitive at high-end performance levels.
- Nvidia GPUs excel at raw gaming performance, DLSS upscaling, and more robust ray tracing support in some of the latest gaming titles. They can require more power and tend to cost a bit more. Top-end Nvidia cards like the RTX 4080 and 4090 currently outperform the best AMD has to offer.
- For most mainstream 1080p and 1440p gaming, AMD Radeon RX 6000 cards offer great performance per dollar. For 4K or high refresh rate gaming, Nvidia 40-series RTX cards are preferred. Ultimately, go for the best card that fits your budget and target resolution/framerate. Both AMD and Nvidia are great options.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are a couple of frequently asked questions with answers relating to the best PS5 graphics card equivalent.
Q1: Is the PS5 graphics upgradeable?
No, unfortunately, you can’t upgrade the PS5 graphics capability. The built-in GPU is custom-designed specifically for the PS5. However, it’s worth mentioning that Sony built in a good degree of future-proofing for the PS5 to keep it competitive for as long as possible and prevent the need for upgrading.
There are rumors of a new upgraded PS5 coming out possibly this year, called the PS5 Pro, equipped with better hardware, including a better GPU as well as a more powerful CPU and RAM.
Q2: What PC build would be comparable to a PS5?
This is a tricky question, bearing in mind the PS5 was designed purely for console gaming. However, based on specification alone, a PC running a Ryzen 7 5800 X CPU, 16 GB DDR5 RAM, and an NVIDIA RTX 3070 or Radeon RX 6700 XT GPU would be comparable to the PS5 in terms of performance.
Conclusion
To state exactly what would be the best PS5 graphics card equivalent is not an easy task, but we can give our best approximation with the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (now the RX 6700 XT) or the NVIDIA RTX 2070 Super (now the RTX 3070).
When you take into account the cost of the above-mentioned graphics cards and the additional computer hardware needed to run them, the PS5 does represent great value for money if gaming is all you want to do.
However, if you want the gaming prowess of a PS5 but the flexibility of a PC to carry out many more tasks, then the extra cost will probably be worth it.