PlayStation 5 Pro vs. RTX 5060 Ti: Real Gaming Performance Compared

PlayStation 5 Pro has been on the market for over 2 years, and its performance continues to match much of what was promised when the console was introduced. It delivers improved visuals at 60 fps, with FSR 4.1 providing better image quality than on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, though performance could be better.

However, the console still delivers performance comparable to current PC hardware. When comparing the PlayStation 5 Pro with a PC, the CPU doesn't need to be high-end to compete with the console.

PlayStation 5 Pro uses Zen 2 cores, similar to the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, so the CPU doesn't change much. We can therefore use a relatively inexpensive CPU, such as a Ryzen 5 5600, which can cost around $150.

PlayStation 5 Pro CPU and Memory Requirements

Digital Foundry reported that PlayStation 5 Pro delivers performance close to the RTX 5060 Ti or Radeon RX 9060 XT. Benchmarks show that the PlayStation 5 Pro comes close to these graphics cards, though it doesn't always match their performance. These GPUs are now positioned as budget gaming cards on PC rather than high-end models.

That makes the comparison useful because it shows what level of PC hardware can provide performance close to the PlayStation 5 Pro. Digital Foundry tested several games with unlocked frame rates because this allows comparison of maximum performance against PC hardware.

A game with a locked frame rate does not show the maximum performance that the hardware can deliver. The PC systems were also tested using graphics settings close to those used by the PlayStation 5 Pro. The settings were not always 100% identical, but they were close enough for a fair comparison.

Black Myth: Wukong Performance

The first game tested was Black Myth: Wukong. On the PlayStation 5 Pro, the game does not maintain a locked 60 fps even in performance mode. It runs at 60fps for most of the time, but demanding scenes can push the frame rate lower. The test focused on demanding scenes to compare the performance. 

Radeon RX 9060 XT delivered around 56 fps, while the PlayStation 5 Pro reached around 50 fps. RTX 5060 Ti reached around 59fps. We also need to consider that Black Myth: Wukong is not well optimized on consoles, so it should be treated as an outlier that doesn't represent every game. It remains useful because the game provides an unlocked frame rate.

Another tested game uses a locked frame rate, but the comparison still falls close to the PC results. The graphics settings were similar, and the PlayStation 5 Pro can reach 60 fps without issue.

There are also a few additional frames available in some situations. RTX 5060 Ti also delivers performance in the 60-70fps range, keeping the difference relatively small between the console and the PC graphics card.

Alan Wake 2 Performance

Alan Wake 2 provides another useful comparison because it places a significant graphics workload on both consoles and PCs. The PC was tested with settings similar to those offered by the PlayStation 5 Pro, and the results were around 60 fps. The difference between the systems is small.

PC graphics cards deliver a few more frames in some cases, but the difference is small. Ray tracing would have provided another comparison, but PlayStation 5 Pro uses ray-tracing settings below the Low preset available on PC.

Because PC games cannot go below Low, we couldn't reproduce the same settings directly. The small differences in the results suggest that performance at a ray-tracing setting below Low would also be close between the PlayStation 5 Pro and the tested PC graphics cards.

We also need to consider that GPU performance can vary between games. Developers can optimize games differently for different graphics hardware, which can make one GPU perform better than another even when the hardware is otherwise close. The same applies when comparing PlayStation 5 Pro with PC hardware.

Game optimization can change the results, so no single graphics card will match the console in every game. If you want a PC setup that delivers performance similar to the PlayStation 5 Pro, the RTX 5060 Ti and RX 9060 XT are the main graphics cards to consider. RTX 5060 Ti typically costs around $350-$400, depending on the model and market pricing.

With a CPU such as the Ryzen 5 5600, 16GB of memory, and one of these graphics cards, you can build a complete PC with new components. We can therefore consider a PC costing around $1,000 to be capable of delivering performance close to that of the PlayStation 5 Pro.

PlayStation 5 Pro remains competitive with mid-range PC gaming.

This comparison does not rely on second-hand components, which are sometimes used when comparing PC hardware with consoles. PlayStation 5 Pro now delivers performance comparable to a mid-range PC gaming setup. That is expected, as the console has been available for over 2 years while new PC graphics cards continue to arrive.

The comparison will change further as new GPU generations arrive. RDNA 5 and new NVIDIA GPUs are expected to reshape the PC performance landscape again, while future consoles will eventually adopt newer architectures as well. For now, the PlayStation 5 Pro sits around the level of the RTX 5060 Ti and RX 9060 XT in the tested games.