YouTuber Gets Native PS3 Emulation Running on PS5 Hardware

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Summary

  • A recent test conducted by a tech YouTuber proves that the PS5 can run PS3 games natively on a hardware level.
  • To test PS3 compatibility, the YouTuber used an AMD B-250 mining card, which is basically a cut-down version of the PS5 silicon.
  • PS3 games like Gran Turismo 5 Prologue and LittleBigPlanet ran well on the scaled-back PS5 hardware, and could be optimized further for much better performance.

As a seasoned gamer with decades of gaming history under my belt, I must say that the latest development in the world of console gaming has left me utterly amazed. The news about a tech YouTuber successfully running PS3 games on the PlayStation 5 hardware is nothing short of mind-blowing.

A YouTube content creator specializing in technology has successfully operated PlayStation 3 games using the hardware of the PlayStation 5. For quite some time, there’s been much discussion about whether or not the PS5 could run PS3 games natively. However, this latest test provides evidence that, technically speaking, the modern console can indeed handle it.

Currently, the PS5 is able to play games from earlier PlayStation systems like the PS4, as well as a variety of classic titles from the PS1, PS2, and PSP, thanks to the PS Plus Premium subscription service. However, there’s been a lot of talk about officially adding PS3 emulation to the PS5, which has been a topic of debate for some time. As it stands, PS3 games can only be played on the PS5 through cloud streaming. Many tech experts believe that adapting the PS3’s complex CELL architecture to work with the PS5’s x86 architecture would be quite challenging and potentially expensive for Sony, which raises questions about its financial feasibility.

Nonetheless, emulators like RPCS3 for the PS3 on PC have shown significant progress, suggesting that the console’s CELL architecture can be adapted to x86. Tech YouTuber Lowest Logan has gone a step further by showcasing that the hardware of the PS5 itself is potentially capable of running PS3 games natively. In his latest YouTube video, Lowest Logan displayed an AMD BC-250 mining card, which shares the same silicon as a PS5 and boasts 16GB of GDDR6 RAM. These cards are re-purposed from defective PS5 chip yields, resulting in them having two fewer CPU cores and 12 fewer GPU cores compared to the console.

YouTuber Proves that PS3 Games Can Run Natively on PS5 Hardware

Lower performance headroom aside, the AMD BC-250’s underlying architecture is no different to a PS5, making it a suitable testing ground for the system’s hardware capabilities. Having established this notion, Lowest Logan loaded up RPCS3 on the BC-250 and was able to run one of the best PS3 racing games, Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, with mostly minor shader glitches. Beloved PS3 platformer LittleBigPlanet also ran with little to no issues at 30fps on the cut-down PS5 silicon. Watch Dogs displayed more problematic performance, but Lowest Logan opined that it had more to do with the open-world title’s iffy optimization for the PS3.

It’s fascinating that Lowest Logan discovered the BC-250’s memory was operating at a relatively slow 450MHz clock speed, suggesting there could be significant potential for PS3 game performance when optimized for the PS5 hardware. Notably, Lowest Logan had an older Linux kernel running on his BC-250, while the PS5 operates on a custom FreeBSD system. On a hardware level, it’s evident that the PS5 is capable of natively running PS3 games. Whether Sony will enable PS3 emulation on the PS5 remains to be seen, but for now, Lowest Logan’s video serves as an effective argument against those who doubt its feasibility.

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2024-12-17 11:23