Sony and Microsoft have finally let the cat out of the bag and released the hardware specifications of the new PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X consoles. As was to be expected, the consoles are not that dissimilar in many respects, but the manufacturers do set a few different priorities. Let's compare what's under the hood with PS5 and Xbox Series X.
It was no secret from the start that both manufacturers used the latest AMD technology with their consoles in terms of processor and graphics unit. SoC solutions are again working in the consoles, i.e. a combination of CPU and GPU instead of a dedicated graphics card. Of course, this makes sense, both in terms of space and the overall architecture of the systems. The CPU and GPU can thus be optimally optimized for one another.
Zen power for the CPU
The differences between the two consoles are rather small in the CPU anyway. Sony relies on an 8-core AMD Zen 2 generation, which also includes current processors such as the Ryzen 3000 series. That was foreseeable. Sony's CPU works with a dynamic clock speed of 3.5 GHz per core, whereby the frequency is controlled by a power budget and the thermal limits of the system. This also allows energy to be prioritized between the CPU and GPU, but should also have the side effect that very complex games also require more complex optimization in order not to create any possible bottlenecks at maximum load.
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Microsoft uses a somewhat higher clock frequency of 3.6 GHz in multithreading (SMT), or a general clock speed of 3.8 GHz. The Xbox Series X is slightly ahead of the clock, but this should hardly have any noticeable effects in practice. Hardly any title will fully utilize the CPU. At least there are enough reserves to be prepared for future high-end games.
Graphic splendor thanks to RDNA-2
Sony and Microsoft go quite different ways in the graphics unit, even if both use AMD GPUs with RDNA-2 architecture. Sony relies on high clock speeds of 2.23 GHz, also dynamic as with the CPU, but only works with 36 compute units. Sony wants fewer CUs, but they are better utilized. The cooling is interesting with the high clock rate, but Sony has not yet commented on it. Cooling will definitely be an important aspect because – as mentioned above – temperature also plays a role in energy distribution and clock rate. All in all, the PS5 has a computing power of 10.28 teraflops, which would roughly correspond to a Radeon RX 5700 XT.
Microsoft immediately misses its console a whopping 56 compute units that operate at a clock speed of 1.825 GHz. This corresponds to an output of 12 teraflops, so on paper the Microsoft console is a lot more powerful than the PS5. In reality, a lot will depend on whether the developers push the CUs vigorously or – as Sony postulates – less is more in this case. It will surely be an exciting thing. At least with both consoles there is the potential to handle 4K resolutions with 60 frames per second with appropriate optimization.
RAM and fast SSDs
Both manufacturers build 16 GB of GDDR6 in their consoles when it comes to memory, but there are also some differences. The PS5 works with a memory bandwidth of 448 GB / s with a 256-bit memory interface. The Xbox Series X splits the memory into 10 GB with 560 GB / s and 6 GB with 336 GB / s. It sounds a bit like the CPU and GPU on the Xbox Series X primarily address dedicated areas and don't simply share memory. The Xbox Series X also has a wider 320-bit interface. It remains to be seen whether and what advantages this will bring in the end. Purely on paper, the Xbox Series X also scores here with the higher possible data throughput.
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The NVMe SSD, which both manufacturers rely on, is completely different because the PS5 has much thicker balls here. With 825 GB, the custom SSD from Sony is significantly smaller than the 1 TB from Microsoft, but the transfer rates are significantly faster and thus Sony also gave a powerful presentation. Sony mentions 5.5 GB / s for raw data and 8 to 9 GB / s for compressed data. Microsoft only manages 2.4 or 4.8 GB / s. At least it is clear that we can generally look forward to extremely short start and load times in the future. The streaming of graphic data such as textures in objects in open world titles should also become much smoother.
With the faster SSD, the PS5 would also have the option of working through more detailed textures to produce better graphics quality, while the Xbox Series X, thanks to the stronger basic performance of the GPU, offers more space in the effects area. It remains to be seen which horse the development studios will rely on. The question of how strongly the difference in speed of the SSDs has an effect in practice also becomes exciting. If we assume loading times in the range of seconds, the difference is basically obsolete, because hardly anyone will notice whether his game starts in a second or in half.
Blu-ray and extensions
However, there are many similarities in the remaining components. Both consoles have a 4K Blu-Ray drive. The option of connecting external hard drives via USB also remains. The external hard drives are probably only used as a data grave for most, because the internally installed SSDs are much faster. Gaming from an external HDD doesn't sound very appealing in the end and should only be of interest for older titles from the backward compatibility.
In addition, both consoles offer the option of connecting additional SSDs externally. The PS5 has an NVMe SSD slot, which is only really interesting if there are PCIe 4.0 SSDs with the corresponding data rate. Microsoft relies on a solution with SSD-based expansion cards. Thanks to a partnership with Seagate, the first 1 TB cards should already be available for the launch. That sounds less flexible than Sony's solution, but in the end it should also be a question of price.
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So who won?
It is clear that both consoles have a lot of power and should now finally be able to handle the 4K age. It remains to be seen which concept will prevail. Microsoft wants to catch up with exclusive titles, but so far there is little tangible in sight. Services such as the already established Xbox Game Pass, which is well received, and the upcoming game streaming service xCloud are more interesting. The question of which console can become the leading platform with regard to the technical requirements in terms of performance and optimization will also be raised. The recently announced DirectX 12 Ultimate have significant improvements in the implementation of ray tracing and performance optimization.
So the console race remains exciting. In terms of announcements, Microsoft is currently a tad further with the Xbox Series X – at least we already know what the new console will look like. The design of the PlayStation 5 is currently unknown. We hope that the first Devkits are not the yardstick for the future look, because they are still too similar to a vacuum robot and could cause confusion in the living room. Perhaps the most important aspect is still outstanding anyway, namely the price. And in the end, it will probably be a decisive factor, not least in view of the fact that the Corona crisis should not make money so easy. At least it is now too early to choose a winner.
