Sony PlayStation 3 vs Sony PlayStation 4

Every spec side by side, from each maker's published figures.

Only show differences

Better figure, where one is clearly better

Share comparison

PlayStation 3 compared with PlayStation 4

	SonyPlayStation 3	SonyPlayStation 4
Overview
Released
Released	March 2007	November 2013
Performance
Type
Type	Home console	Home console
CPU
CPU	Cell Broadband Engine, 3.2 GHz	AMD Jaguar, 8 cores
GPU
GPU	RSX Reality Synthesizer	AMD Radeon
GPU compute
GPU compute	–	1.84 TFLOPS
Memory
Memory	512 MB	8 GB (better)
Storage
Storage	60 GB	500 GB (better)
Disc drive
Disc drive	Yes	Yes
CPU
CPU	Cell Broadband Engine at 3.2 GHz, with one PowerPC-based core and seven active synergistic processing elements (Sony)	Single-chip custom processor; x86-64 AMD "Jaguar", 8 cores at 1.6 GHz (Sony and system architect Mark Cerny)
GPU
GPU	RSX graphics processor, codeveloped by NVIDIA and Sony	1.84 TFLOPS AMD Radeon-based engine; 18 compute units at 800 MHz (Sony and Mark Cerny)
Memory detail
Memory detail	256 MB XDR main RAM and 256 MB GDDR3 video RAM	8 GB GDDR5; a separate 256 MB DDR3 chip and a low-power processor for network tasks (iFixit teardown)
Storage detail
Storage detail	60 GB 2.5-inch Serial ATA hard drive, user-replaceable; Blu-ray, DVD and CD drive (read only)	500 GB hard drive, user-replaceable; Blu-ray (6× CAV) and DVD (8× CAV) drive, read only
Storage expansion
Storage expansion	Memory Stick, SD and CompactFlash card slots; USB storage	External USB 3.0 hard drives for games and apps from system software 4.50 (PlayStation)
Display and video
Maximum output
Maximum output	1080p	1080p
Built-in screen
Built-in screen	No built-in screen	No built-in screen
Video output
Video output	HDMI out; AV Multi Out (composite, S-Video, component); 576i, 576p, 720p, 1080i and 1080p on the UK model	HDMI out, up to 1080p
HDR
HDR	–	HDR from system software 4.00, including the original PS4 (PlayStation)
Audio
Audio	DIGITAL OUT (OPTICAL); Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1 and up to 7.1-channel linear PCM over HDMI (Sony)	DIGITAL OUT (OPTICAL) port; audio over HDMI
Design and power
Weight
Weight	5,000 g	2,800 g (better)
Power use
Power use	–	250 W maximum rating (CUH-1000 series; Sony)
Colours
Colours	Black	–
Connections
Ports
Ports	4 × USB 2.0, HDMI out, AV Multi Out, DIGITAL OUT (OPTICAL), Gigabit Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T), memory card slots	2 × SuperSpeed USB (USB 3.0), AUX port (PlayStation Camera), HDMI out, DIGITAL OUT (OPTICAL), Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T)
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth	Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 b/g), Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR); up to 7 Bluetooth controllers	Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 (EDR)
Controller
Controller	SIXAXIS wireless controller at launch; later bundles came with DUALSHOCK 3	DUALSHOCK 4 wireless controller with touch pad, light bar and built-in speaker
Backward compatibility
Backward compatibility	PlayStation games; the UK and European model plays some PS2 games through partial software emulation (its PS2 Emotion Engine chip was removed)	No PS3, PS2 or PS1 discs; some older games are sold as digital re-releases