Playstation 5 Pro

Not a big fan of the $700 USD price especially when it lacks a disc drive. You can easily make the argument of opting for a Slim at $500, but the extra terabyte of storage & stronger hardware made it worth the wait for me coming from a PS4 Pro. Pair it with a 55-inch LG B4 regularly found on sale at $1000 or as low as $600 USD like this past Black Friday & its the simplest way to game at 4K/120hz in your living room.

A gaming PC that's similar in performance or stronger costs roughly $1200 USD. And that's before you account for a high-end monitor that would cost $600 such as the MSI MAG 271QPX which runs 1440p/240hz (341CQPX ultrawide variant costs $760). Then you have to cross your fingers & hope developers actually did a good job at optimizing their game for PC when you adjust settings or else it won't even hit those frame rates.

Price increases over the past couple of years for computer parts have made me tell people to just buy a console & a good 4K display. It's less of a headache & you save a lot of time especially after a long day at work!

I'm a little late but just recently upgraded to the Pro and had the opportunity to test both the regular ps5 and the Pro, back and forth many times using the same TT event and Weekly Challenges. 

My testing was done using a proper 2.1 hdmi cable included with the ps5 on a 42" LG c4 OLED evo with the settings as per the video below:

https://youtu.be/cNnVXssFnKc?si=l84Dshq9NLAZ7GW7

My priority was to run GT7 at 120hz and the highest fps while maintaining high enough detail and focus to see the next corner and apex as early as possible. On the PS5, I was most satisfied with 120hz on with priority on RT/graphics using vrr to maintain an acceptable fps, typically 85 to 119, or somewhere in between, usually closer to 105.

Using the Pro with these same settings provided my preferred combination of detail/graphics ( not that much better than the regular ps5) but with much higher average frame rate, most of the time very much at 119 fps.

Based on my assessment, upgrading to the Pro model is only advisable for individuals purchasing their initial PS5 console or those for whom budgetary constraints are not a primary concern. While the graphical enhancements are present, the discernible difference, estimated at approximately 10% ( my guess...probably less), is subtle, even when comparing the same Time Trial (TT) repeatedly. The reduction in pop-in effects, with elements appearing further in the distance, is a minor improvement. The enhanced frame rate, consistently near 119fps at 120Hz, offers a noticeable improvement with fewer drops. Furthermore, the increased focus, potentially a 10% enhancement ( my guess..its not much) is also a marginal benefit.

Notably, I was able to improve my Deep Forest TT by 1.5 tenths within approximately 10 laps, indicating potential for further improvement.

In essence, the performance differential between the standard PS5 and the Pro model is minimal. This evaluation was conducted using an LG C4 OLED 42" display.