Xbox Series X vs PS5 power comparison
That's it, it's done: Sony has unveiled all the technical specifications of its PlayStation 5. Microsoft, meanwhile, did it a little earlier in the week for its Xbox Series X. So we have all the cards in hand to organize a face to face between the two consoles. Play your games, nothing is right: between the Sony PS5 and the Microsoft Xbox Series X, which of the two consoles wins the power match?
Read also PS5: Sony finally reveals all the technical characteristics of its console
PS5 and Xbox Series X specifications
PS5 vs Xbox Series X: the most powerful is not necessarily the best
First of all, it should be noted that this is a comparison of the two consoles, focusing on performance only. Of course, we are aware that the war that the two machines will wage will also be played out and above all on many points: the richness of the toy library, the exclusive content of both, their backward compatibility, their price , their environment, the Cloud Gaming offer (why not?) or the controller (an element that we very often forget, but which is very important).
In short, it is not a question of determining which is the better of the two consoles, on the one hand because neither of them is currently available, and on the other hand because, even if they were, it would be far too early to get a real opinion. A console enriches its offer and its toy library over the weeks, and not only as soon as it is released. We saw it for the Nintendo Switch, which initially had only a handful of really interesting titles, but which saw its offer expand considerably, to become today one of the most acclaimed consoles in the history of Nintendo.
CPU: Xbox Series X is more powerful than PS5, but there is a catch
Both Sony and Microsoft consoles use an AMD Zen 2 custom 8-core processor. This is the same architecture that is currently found on Ryzen 3rd generation PC processors. However, that of the Xbox Series is clocked at 3.8 GHz, when that of the PS5 is 3.5 GHz.
Furthermore, the use of CPU resources differs from one console to another. According to Microsoft, the processor frequency of the Xbox Series is set to 3.8 GHz for games based on a single core. This same frequency decreases slightly and goes to 3.66 GHz when an application exploits several cores in multithreading mode.
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| xbox series x |
For its part, the PS5 processor operates at a variable frequency, depending on whether a game requires more CPU or GPU resources. The two chipsets adjust and support each other continuously. In this way, they should allow better heat dissipation to provide constant power, and that is rather a very good point. But the fact remains that, on paper, the PS5's CPU runs at a lower frequency than that of the Xbox Series X.
GPU: advantage to Xbox Series X
Again, the two machines are based on the same architecture. In the case of the PlayStation 5, it is an AMD RDNA 2 with variable frequency, which can reach 2.23 GHz. The GPU benefits from 36 CUs (Compute Unit) and benefits from a processing power of 10.28 TFLOPs.
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| Xbox Series X RDNA 2 |
If we look at the Xbox Series X datasheet, we find this: an AMD RDNA 2 GPU clocked at 1.825 GHz. The frequency of the chipset is therefore less than that of the PS5. Does this mean that the Xbox Series X will be poorer in terms of graphics power than its competitor? Not really. Because the Microsoft console has 52 CUs (16 more than on the PS5) and a computing power of 12 TFLOPs.
Clearly, the Xbox Series X more than compensates for the lower frequency of its GPU by a higher number of CUs and slightly higher computing power. As the Kotaku website points out, the GPU of the PS5 is equivalent to a Radeon RX 5700, when that of the Series X is close to a Radeon RX Vega 56. And in most conditions and with almost all games, the RX Vega 56 is more efficient than RX 5700. Advantage is therefore given to the Xbox Series X.
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| AMD RDNA2 |
Memory: no big differences
Between the two consoles, there are ultimately very few differences in the level of RAM used. On the one hand, at Sony, we are entitled to 16 GB of GDDR6, a 256mb bus and a bandwidth of 448 GB / s.
At Microsoft, it is also 16 GB of RAM that equips the console and a 320mb memory bus. 16 GB RAM breaks down as follows: 10 GB supporting a speed of 560 GB / s on one side (mainly dedicated to the GPU, which needs a huge processing capacity), and 6 GB at 336 GB / s on the other (for audio and small ancillary operations).
Storage: advantage to PS5
If storage and access to data could seem to be a secondary data until now, it could well play a fundamental role on Next Gen consoles. Both Sony and Microsoft have succumbed to SSD, which provides much faster speed than a conventional hard drive.
In the case of the Xbox Series X, we take advantage of a custom NVME SSD of 1 TB. It offers a transfer speed of 2.4 GB / s in RAW mode (uncompressed data) and 4.8 GB / s in compressed mode.
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| Xbox Series X SSD |
For the PS5, we are dealing with an 825 GB SSD. Admittedly, its capacity is less than that of the Series X, but the SSD of the PS5 offers a much higher speed. Sony announces a data rate of 5.5 GB / s in RAW mode and 8 or 9 GB / s in compressed.
The SSD of the PS5 will therefore be twice as fast as that of the Series X, it is a fact. How can this happen in video games? Even if Sony has not yet revealed everything about its console (we are still waiting for a real demo), we can imagine that the games will load faster and that the latency times between each level are extremely reduced, or even that it there are no more at all.
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| PS5 SSD |
And what about additional storage? Here, it's a little more complex to issue an opinion. On the one hand we have a proprietary system at Microsoft: small 1 TB keys to plug into the back of the Series X. Adding a storage medium is therefore super simple, but you will need to acquire a storage certified by Microsoft. At Sony, it will also be possible to expand the storage capacity of the PS5. The good news is that the operation is performed using a traditional M.2 SSD. The bad (for the less geeky, of course) is that you'll have to open the console to install it. Difficult to decide between the two consoles on this point, each with advantages and disadvantages.
So which is the more powerful console of the two?
If we refer to the technical specifications pure and hard, it is undeniable that the more powerful of the two consoles will be the Xbox Series X, no offense to fans of Sony. But as said in the preamble, the match will be played anyway on different fields, such as the price, the toy library, etc. On the editorial side, opinions are divided: some are impatient for the PS5, while others (they are fewer, but just as passionate) praise the Series X. And you what do you think? Do not hesitate to share your discussions with us by posting a small comment just below.
