Which PS4 did you go with? PS4 Slim or PS4 Pro and why?

[Zyre]

Hey forum,

 

I'm thinking of getting a PS4, but don't know which of the two I should get. I can get the PS4 Slim for €288,- while the PS4 Pro is €388,-.

My plan is to hook it up to my 1440p MG279Q pc monitor. I'm only going to play the exclusives. Multiplatform games will be played on my PC.

 

I've read that the Pro won't have any advantage because it will stick to 1080p. I also find €388,- a lot of money just for a couple exclusive games.

On the other hand i believe the PS4 Pro runs games better and sharper?

 

What would you guys recommend? Also, which PS4 did you go with? Why did you buy the PS4 Slim over the Pro, or the other way around.

[Daniel644]

Xbox One S because it has a 4k Bluray Drive and the PS4's DON'T. I was all totally planning to get a PS4 Pro and a PS VR then they drop the bombshell about no 4k Disc support and I was all like well F you to Sony. But I don't buy consoles strictly for gaming, I bought my PS3 because at the time it was the cheapest Bluray player and my PS2 because it was the cheapest DVD player (at the time), just like how at the time of ordering the One S (with the deal I got) was the same price as the cheapest stand alone 4k bluray player so I said, same cost, why not, after I heard support for Atmos was coming in an update (which was my only real worry about getting the xbox and why I was initially going to skip it)

[TheRandomness]

-Thread moved to Console Gaming. 

[Techicolors]

24 minutes ago, Zyre said:

I've read that the Pro won't have any advantage because it will stick to 1080p. I also find €388,- a lot of money just for a couple exclusive games.

On the other hand i believe the PS4 Pro runs games better and sharper?

the PS4 Pro is an interesting console, to say the least. I think I'll do a brief write-up about it and post it here in the forums. but to answer: 

 

no, the PS4 pro will not stick with 1080p. Sony intended the Pro to be a 4K console. developers can choose to stick with 1080p, and instead opt for 60fps gameplay. there's already a couple of games that do this, either by default, or with a toggle via in-game settings. 

 

games will run just as well as the OG ps4. just the ps4 pro version will look better, or you can opt for smoother FPS the OG ps4 does not have. however Sony intended for OG ps4 owners not to be left behind, so assets remain the same 

 

34 minutes ago, Zyre said:

What would you guys recommend? Also, which PS4 did you go with? Why did you buy the PS4 Slim over the Pro, or the other way around.

i went with the OG ps4, but that was before the pro and the slim were announced. 

 

but to simplify this, the Pro seems best if you have a 4K TV. otherwise get the Slim. 

[Zyre]

Thanks for your thought Tech. Someone just messaged me that a online store has the PS4 Slim 500gb for €188,- today only. Probably a special deal. 

The white model is €200,-

 

I'm really tempted to buy it and ignore the Pro.

 

Will it still look good on a 1440p monitor, because it will stretch the 1080p output.

[Techicolors]

Just now, Zyre said:

Thanks for your thought Tech. Someone just messaged me that a online store has the PS4 Slim 500gb for €188,- today only. Probably a special deal. 

The white model is €200,-

 

I'm really tempted to buy it and ignore the Pro.

 

Will it still look good on a 1440p monitor, because it will stretch the 1080p output.

that's a pretty good deal. is that a bundle? 

 

i have a 1440p monitor as well, and i've tried playing on it with my OG ps4. it looks okay, but it doesn't look as good as on a 1080p or 4K panel (i say 4K panel because 1080p scales evenly with 4K, due to an even pixel ratio). also may run into a problem with overscan, but you should be able to dial it out in the monitor OSD settings. 

[Zyre]

1 minute ago, Technicolors said:

that's a pretty good deal. is that a bundle? 

 

i have a 1440p monitor as well, and i've tried playing on it with my OG ps4. it looks okay, but it doesn't look as good as on a 1080p or 4K panel (i say 4K panel because 1080p scales evenly with 4K, due to an even pixel ratio). also may run into a problem with overscan, but you should be able to dial it out in the monitor OSD settings. 

It only consist of the console. No game is included. 

 

If I where to get a PS4 Pro, then I would imagine games would look better because it down samples from 4k to 1440p in my case?

[ElZamo92]

I went with PC because PS4 sucks in all of it's variants. 

[Techicolors]

Just now, Zyre said:

It only consist of the console. No game is included. 

 

If I where to get a PS4 Pro, then I would imagine games would look better because it down samples from 4k to 1440p in my case?

yeah, games on the PS4 Pro would look a tad better on a 1440p panel. not sure though, cause i haven't tried it myself yet. but i would still plug the Pro into a 4K TV 

 

[Zyre]

31 minutes ago, Technicolors said:

yeah, games on the PS4 Pro would look a tad better on a 1440p panel. not sure though, cause i haven't tried it myself yet. but i would still plug the Pro into a 4K TV 

 

I see. Personally you would just recommend to use this deal on the PS4 Slim? I really like the price. Besides, I'm only going to use it for the exclusives. If I had no PC, and would only use the PS4, then I would see getting a PS4 Pro would be the better purchase.

[Exprima]

I've had a PS4 since a few months after launch. Don't see any reason to get a Pro because I don't have a 4K TV.

[SteveGrabowski0]

I went with the Slim because it was half the price for me vs the Pro. Eg I paid $230 for the PS4 Slim + Uncharted 4 bundle when Pro + Uncharted 4 would have cost me $460. And Uncharted 4 is one of the main reasons I even bought a PS4, so I think it's fair to include it in the price when comparing the two. I also went Slim because Pro still uses the same junk cpu (but with a 30% higher clock) so I'm still going to be stuck at 30 fps. On a 1440p monitor either the Slim or the Pro will run at 1080p. Even though the Pro renders most games with Pro patches at 1800p or 1440p internally its only output is either upscaled 4k or downsampled 1080p.

[SteveGrabowski0]

3 hours ago, Zyre said:

I see. Personally you would just recommend to use this deal on the PS4 Slim? I really like the price. Besides, I'm only going to use it for the exclusives. If I had no PC, and would only use the PS4, then I would see getting a PS4 Pro would be the better purchase.

That was another reason I went with the Slim: because all I play on PS4 is exclusives. And those tend to be much better optimized for the Playstation hardware than do multiplatform games. If I bought my PS4 to be my main gaming portal I would almost certainly have bought the Pro. But I don't have any worries about Sony's studios like Naughty Dog, Sony Bend, Guerrilla Games, and Santa Monica Studios being able to put out a game with a steady framerate on base PS4. At least not now nor for the next couple of years.

 

Since you're in Europe don't you have the Horizon Zero Dawn bundle available to you with PS4 Slim? That's actually one of the games that does leverage the PS4 Pro hardware for more than resolution gain. For instance, you get better anisotropic filtering on the Pro, which you can definitely see in action based on the comparison video the Digital Foundry youtube channel put out a couple of days ago. The game looks great on base PS4 but it definitely looks a little better on the Pro even at 1080p. Like the difference between high and ultra in a PC game.

 

But the framerate was shown to be no different for Horizon. The only game I have seen that tends to significantly benefit framerate wise is The Last Guardian, which struggles like hell in an unsuccessful effort to hit 30 fps on base PS4 but can be run at a nearly locked 30 fps on PS4 Pro provided it's in 1080p mode. Team ICO is known for really bad framerates in their games though: Shadow of the Colossus was a mess on PS2 performance-wise (great game though, but so much better on PS3). If The Last Guardian is a game you're really into, get the PS4 Pro because the performance is a mess on base PS4.

 

However a lot of the time those high framerate 1080p modes end up just uncapping framerate and not being anywhere close to 60 fps. For instance, Final Fantasy XV is a mess. The newest patch forces an uncapped framerate when using the PS4 Pro at 1080p, so you're getting 40-45 fps instead of a smooth and steady 30 fps. As much as I'm not a fan of 30 fps (I would kill for a 60 fps Playstation and would buy one for sure if they released one based on Ryzen cores instead of Jaguar), I would take a steady 30 fps over a 45 fps mess any day. Since 45 fps means roughly 2 out of every 3 frames will be rendered in 16.7 milliseconds (eg 60 fps) while 1 out of every 3 will be rendered in 33.3 ms (eg 30 fps). So when that 1/3 of frames gets rendered in twice the time the previous frame has to be displayed twice, creating a stutter. Some people are ok with an uncapped framerate like that but I HATE it.

 

And that uncapped framerate is mostly what you get with high framerate modes on PS4 Pro. That's what happens in Rise of the Tomb Raider. You put it on high framerate mode on PS4 Pro and you're getting pretty close to 60 fps in the easy to render Siberia and Syria levels at the beginning of the game, but then you get to Geothermal Valley and you're back at your jittery and uneven 40 fps.

 

I do think there is one major advantage to the PS4 Pro even for 1080p though: at the tail end of the PS4's lifetime I imagine there will be well-optimized exclusives that may not be able to run at 30 fps. Think The Last of Us for PS3. That's one of the best optimized games I have ever seen and I cannot believe how far Naughty Dog was able to push the PS3 for this game. But it had parts of the game that rendered at say 27 fps instead of 30 fps. As the PS5 is nearing release I imagine we'll see the same happen again. And that 30% higher cpu clock in the PS4 Pro might be just enough to get you from 27 fps to 30 fps when it happens.

[ionbasa]

As someone who has a PS4, this is what I did:

I currently have a PS4 Pro. I had the original PS4 launch version, but sold it to get the pro. My main interest was due to the PSVR. 

 

Some people do not like the lack of a 4K UDH Blu-ray player, but this doesn't affect me per say. my PS4 Pro is hooked up to a 1080p monitor. My only 4k TV in the house is in the living room, and I absorb most of my 4k content over Netflix. None of my gaming consoles are ever hooked up to the living room TV with the exception of when I throw house parties and we play Smash, Brawl, etc, or any multiplayer games.

 

Secondly, in some titles, the PS4 Pro outputs a higher FPS or scenes are rendered in more detail (higher res textures). There's a list here: http://www.ign.com/wikis/playstation-4/PS4_Pro_Game_Upgrades_and_Differences

and here: http://www.gamespot.com/articles/every-ps4-pro-game-that-is-and-isnt-getting-an-upg/1100-6443385/

 

You also get support for HDR.

 

In the end, it comes down to what you want. The lack of a UDH Blu-ray player doesn't affect me. I'll probably buy a standalone UDH player for the living room anyway.

[SteveGrabowski0]

23 hours ago, ionbasa said:

You also get support for HDR.

All versions of PS4 support HDR.

[Gamerguy207]

PS4 pro cuz higher frame rates on games that were not updated and 4K for games that were. Plus u also get more hard drive storage which is good because I only have 10 games and used almost all of it up and in upcoming update 4.50 they will be adding a boost mode which boosts performance in games.

[linuxs]

for low budget gamer like me, better go with PC :3 because you can play whatever game. oot