GTA VI: which console and screen to choose for the best experience
GTA VI arrives November 19 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S — but do you really need a PS5 Pro? Les Numériques break down the PS5, PS5 Pro and Xbox choices, the 150-200 GB install, and the HDMI 2.1, HDR and 120 Hz screen features that actually matter.
Do you really need the most expensive console?
GTA VI launches on November 19 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, digital-only. The 27-minute Extended Look broadcast on Netflix on August 27 triggered a rush on the PS5 Pro, now sold out at many retailers (Les Numériques). Before paying a premium, the question is worth asking: is the most powerful console really necessary? According to the French tech outlet, the short answer is probably not.
What the performance reality looks like
The gameplay shown to creators in July ran in 4K at 30 fps on a standard PS5. Digital Foundry considers a 60 fps mode unlikely even on PS5 Pro, with the Zen 2 CPU as the real bottleneck. Rockstar has also never shipped an open-world game at 60 fps: GTA V had to wait nearly nine years and a remastered edition to get there.
PS5, PS5 Pro or Xbox?
- PS5 Pro (€899.99) is the most powerful machine and carries the "PS5 Pro Enhanced" label on the PlayStation Store: Rockstar will use the extra GPU and PSSR 2.0 upscaling for a sharper image and deeper ray tracing. 60 fps, on the other hand, remains a fantasy for now (Les Numériques).
- Standard PS5 (€649.99 with disc drive, €549.99 Digital Edition) — the entire Extended Look was captured on this machine, and the result was already spectacular. For players who don't hunt ray-tracing subtleties, the €250-350 gap with the Pro is hard to justify on GTA VI alone.
- Xbox Series X (€799.99 since the August 1 price increase) sits €100 below the PS5 Pro, with raw performance very close to the standard PS5 — but without the PSSR advantage.
- Xbox Series S (€499.99, 512 GB) will run the game, but at significantly reduced resolution and settings, with critical storage.
No PC version is planned at launch.
The two blind spots: storage and TV
The official install size has not been announced, but the most credible estimates converge on 150-200 GB before the day-one patch. On a standard PS5 (825 GB SSD, about 667 GB usable), the margin is tight; the Series S drops to 364 GB usable — half of it swallowed by a single game. Preload opens November 12: plan to clean up.
On the screen side, GTA VI targets 4K HDR across all platforms, and three criteria matter: HDMI 2.1 (essential for VRR, which smooths frame-rate variations in a dense open world), HDR10 minimum (Dolby Vision as a bonus on PS5), and a 120 Hz panel for better motion handling. Recent OLEDs (the LG C5 range, for example) tick every box; budget buyers can watch Mini-LED HDMI 2.1 TVs from Hisense or TCL on promotion (Les Numériques).
Update — 2026-08-31
Console prices are moving again in France. A post on the r/jeuxvideo subreddit notes that the PS5, the Xbox and the Switch 2 have all gone up over the past five months — and that the same brand-new console can cost up to €150 more depending on the retailer. The observation is community-based and not officially confirmed, but it lines up with what this guide already flagged: the Xbox Series X jumped to €799.99 on August 1, and the PS5 Pro is still hard to find at its €899.99 list price at several French retailers.
The practical takeaway for buyers: compare prices across retailers before ordering. A €150 gap on the same new console is significant this close to launch — and official list prices and street prices can diverge, so patience and comparison shopping remain the best tools.
Three paths, not one shopping list
With two months left, Singapore tech outlet Techgoondu (September 20) reframes the question as three paths rather than one shopping list. Already own a PS5 or an Xbox Series X|S? There is nothing to buy — pre-order the digital version and let the November 12 preload do the work. Play on PC and refuse to buy a console? You are looking at "maybe over a year", the site notes, recalling that the first Red Dead Redemption took 14 years to reach PC; its advice is to make peace with the wait and clear the backlog with GTA V, Red Dead Redemption I and II, Far Cry 6, Cyberpunk 2077 or Saints Row. Own neither console and want to play on day one? Time to go shopping — and to expect a hunt.
On the hardware itself, Techgoondu uses the Xbox Series S as the floor of what will run the game: a 4-teraflop GPU, roughly a GeForce GTX 1060 or a Radeon RX 580, and an install "well over 100 GB" knowing that GTA V already takes 96 GB on PC. Its verdict on the two Xbox models is blunt — six years into the generation, the Series X is the one worth buying: 12 teraflops (the site estimates an RTX 3060 Ti or an RX 6800), a 1 TB SSD, a 4K Blu-ray drive for physical games and films, and Game Pass. The PS5 Pro stays the most powerful console on the market at 16.7 teraflops and 2 TB; the standard PS5 stays the value pick. One structural warning for physical-media buyers: according to Techgoondu, PlayStation is heading for a disc-less future by 2028, which turns the Series X's drive into a long-term argument rather than a detail.
Update — 2026-09-20
The shortage has reached Southeast Asia. Techgoondu reports that, at the time of writing, the PS5 Pro and the Xbox Series X are out of stock at Singapore's major electronics chains — Harvey Norman, Courts and Challenger — where staff take orders without guaranteeing a delivery date. Online, Microsoft's store lists the Series X as sold out, Sony Singapore shows the PS5 Pro unavailable while the standard PS5 still accepts orders with shipping "to be confirmed", and some Lazada sellers are asking above the recommended retail price.
The causes named are the ones already documented in Europe and Korea: the global memory shortage, driven by AI datacentre demand, colliding with the pre-launch rush on GTA VI hardware. The GTA VI limited-edition DualSense controllers (S$115 locally, €84.99 in Europe, out on November 19) add one more PlayStation-flavoured argument to the pile. Techgoondu's closing hope is aimed at Rockstar: that a market where willing buyers cannot find consoles might push the studio to shorten the wait for a PC version.
Bottom line
Don't panic-buy a PS5 Pro: the standard PS5 — the machine Rockstar used to capture the Extended Look — remains the sensible choice. Check your storage and your TV's HDMI 2.1 support before November 19, and remember GTA VI is digital-only: €79.99 Standard, €99.99 Ultimate (around €60 in preorder at several French retailers) (Les Numériques).
