The recent PS5 specs 'leak' is nonsense - here's why

(Image credit: LetsGoDigital)

A recent PS5 'leak' has apparently revealed the specs of the newest PlayStation 5 dev kit - but we don't believe it for a second.

An anonymous 4Chan user, who claims to work as a game tester at a third party studio, posted a list of specs that they claim are for the PS5's second, and most recent, dev kit. But we're not convinced.

Here are the specs that the poster claims the new PS5 dev kit has:

  • 12.6Tflops RDNA 1.5
  • AMD ZEN 2 @ 3.6Ghz
  • 18GB GDDR6 and 4GB DDR4
  • SSD@5.5GB/S 500GB
  • Dedicated cores for RT and 3D Audio
  • Bandwidth 576GB/S

As well, as the Xbox Series X apparent specs:

  • 11.8Tflops Rdna 1.5
  • AMD Zen 2@3.7Ghz
  • 16GB GDDR6 and 4GB DDR4
  • SSD@3.8 GB/s 1TB
  • Dedicated RT cores (<PS5)
  • Bandwidth 596GB/S

We don't think so...

(Image credit: Sony)

4Chan is infamous for being unreliable. But, regardless of that, the specs themselves are pretty much nonsense and very unlikely.

For a start, 18GB GDDR6 would essentially be a pro pro graphics card. While the PS5 is going to be a powerhouse, we don't think it's going to be (or needs to be) that powerful. This is arguably more than any home console would need - even next gen. 

In addition, the VRAM is much more than the PS5 would need. If there’s a split between video memory and system memory, like this leak seems to imply, 4GB is not a lot and it would be an odd system to implement. 

That brings us on to the AMD Zen 2 at 3.6GHz, which would basically be a Ryzen 7 3700X. This would require a lot of power and, in console form, is likely to get very hot - which goes against Sony's aim for a more eco-friendly console. Usually this could be combated in a gaming PC with a water cooling system but that's almost definitely not going to be a feature with the PS5.

However, while most of these specs seem pretty unbelievable, the SSD specs are on par with what we would expect from the PS5 - very fast. This would make sense considering Sony's aim to essentially do-away with loading times. There are also cores for ray-tracing and 3D audio, which are confirmed PS5 features.

These specs also line up with rumors that the Xbox Series X is more powerful than the PS5, although the PS5 will apparently beat it out when it comes to GPU. 

Regardless of how many aspects line up, it's likely a lot of these specs are educated guesses based on information Sony has previously released - and other rumors. Unsurprisingly, given how powerful the leak claims the next-gen consoles are and the source, we're not convinced these are the real PS5 or Xbox Series X specs.

Vic Hood
Associate Editor, TechRadar Gaming

Vic is TechRadar Gaming's Associate Editor. An award-winning games journalist, Vic brings experience from IGN, Eurogamer and more to the TechRadar table. You may have even heard her on the radio or speaking on a panel. Not only is Vic passionate about games, but she's also an avid mental health advocate who has appeared on both panels and podcasts to discuss mental health awareness. Make sure to follow her on Twitter for more.