A leaker claims the PS6 and Xbox 'Helix' chips have been finalized, and that the Microsoft's console could be 40% more powerful than the Play Station — and gamers are worrying about what the powerful news systems will cost | Tech Radar

Overview

News, deals, reviews, guides and more on the newest computing gadgets

Start exploring exclusive deals, expert advice and more

Details

Unlock and manage exclusive Techradar member rewards.

Unlock instant access to exclusive member features.

Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards.

A leaker claims the PS6 and Xbox 'Helix' chips have been finalized, and that the Microsoft's console could be 40% more powerful than the Play Station — and gamers are worrying about what the powerful news systems will cost

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

We're patiently waiting for new console hardware (Image credit: Vfhnb 12 / Shutterstock / Future)

A regular leaker says the chips for the PS6 and Xbox Helix have been 'taped out', meaning the design is final for manufacturing

The leaker claims 56 TFLOPS of power for the Xbox Helix and 40 TFLOPS for the PS6

That compared to 16.7 TFLOPS on the PS5 Pro and 12 TFLOPS on the Xbox Series X

The launches of next-gen console hardware from Sony and Microsoft are edging ever closer, and the latest rumor doing the rounds suggests that the chips for both the Play Station 6 and what's being called the Xbox Helix are now 'taped out' — as in, finalized for submission to chip manufacturers.

This comes from well-known tipster Kepler L2 (via Video Cardz), who also predicts 40 TFLOPS of performance for the Sony hardware and 56 TFLOPS for the Microsoft hardware. That's Tera Floating-Point Operations Per Second, or how many trillions of calculations a processor can do in a single single.

While TFLOPS gives us some indication of how powerful these consoles will be, they're not the whole story, as architecture choices and memory bandwidth will play significant roles too. That said, it seems the Xbox console may have a major edge in terms of raw power — although the Xbox Series X had a 20% edge on TFLOPS over the PS5 back in 2020 too, which didn't necessarily translate into better-looking games.

Direct comparisons with current generation consoles are tricky, as so many other variables will be changing as well as TFLOPS figures, but Tweak Town reports that the PS5 delivers 10.28 TFLOPS, the PS5 Pro offers 16.7 TFLOPS (typical) and 18.05 TFLOPS (peak), and the Xbox Series X can hit 12 TFLOPS.

How are PS6 and Xbox Helix shaping up to be such spec monsters? Is RDNA 5 really that big of an architectural leap? from r/hardware

Both the Xbox Helix and the Play Station 6 are expected to be based on the AMD Zen 6 family of CPUs and the AMD RDNA 5 GPU architecture, if previous leaks are to be believed, and there has been talk of 30GB of RAM being packed inside the Sony console (no RAM predictions yet for the Microsoft one).

IGN claims PS5 game sales are eight times higher than they are on Xbox

Analysts say Sony's digital-only plan 'almost certainly guarantees that the PS6 won’t arrive until 2028 at the earliest' and won't have a disc drive

Sony CEO confirms the PS6 launch date is still undecided due to the ongoing component shortage — 'Considering that importance, we need to take some action. Otherwise, we cannot survive in this landscape'

Judging by the ongoing discussion on Reddit, gamers aren't placing too much stock in these leaked TFLOPS numbers, as they aren't guaranteed to convert directly into gaming performance. The bigger debate seems to be over how much Sony and Microsoft are going to charge for these next-generation machines.

There are mentions of "an inevitably massive price hike" while another user is prepared to "say goodbye to affordable console hardware" in this generation. As we've already seen with the Steam Machine, the ongoing shortage of memory chips is driving up prices across the board, including in gaming hardware.

As for when we might actually see these consoles, don't hold your breath: experts say a launch before 2028 is unlikely, even if the design for the main processor chips have now been finalized. We'll just have to fill the time exploring everything Grand Theft Auto 6 has to offer in the meantime.

Follow Tech Radar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.

Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on Tech Radar you'll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, Pop Sci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

'This situation is obviously unacceptable': Open AI agent allegedly hacks Australian government healthcare website

No, AI music isn't taking over the world, as new Qobuz data proves — in fact, barely anyone's listening to fake music

Test your Mob Land and The Gentlemen knowledge with this brutal Guy Ritchie quiz

Disney announces new Disney+ and Hulu price hikes — but they won't affect everyone yet

Tech Radar is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Key Takeaways

News, deals, reviews, guides and more on the newest computing gadgets
Start exploring exclusive deals, expert advice and more
Unlock and manage exclusive Techradar member rewards
Unlock instant access to exclusive member features
Get full access to premium articles, exclusive features and a growing list of member rewards