The demolition of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X is planned for this holiday season, and as we get closer, we will hear more technology flowers explaining why one is stronger or less powerful than another. Central to this clarification is the technical voice that is most heard teraflops.
We're here to explain what teraflops are and why you should take care of them (but not too much).
What is teraflop, anyway?
Think of a teraflop like a math test on your graphics card. According to computers, the phrase FCOP stands for "point operation." This includes any mathematical calculations that rely on numbers by numerical points, also called point-point numbers. The performance of a three-point system is much more complex than statistics involving only numbers (non-linear numbers). That makes FLOPS – "floating-point operations per second" – an effective GPU count, measuring how much GPU can perform in a very short period of time.
Since GPUs are still very powerful, they are able to perform many of these other mathematical problems per second, such as the order of magnitude. So instead of measuring these speeds in standard FLOPS, it's become necessary to measure them with teraflops, which translate to 1 trillion full-time operations per second. When Microsoft claims that the Xbox Series X has a 12-teraflop GPU, that means the GPU is capable of performing up to 12 trillion point tasks in a single second.
Do teraflops matter?
Teraflop calculations can provide quick comparisons of computational power. For example, the original Xbox One has a 1.31-teraflop GPU, while the Xbox One X has a 6-teraflop GPU; the performance gap between the two domains is easy to see. Many games are able to race at a higher level and, the prices are smooth on the powerful Xbox. The Xbox One X is also capable of rolling out a traditional 4K solution, unlike the Xbox One.
The Xbox Series X has a higher teraflop GPU than the PS5. Does that mean it's better?
The PlayStation 5 has a 10.28-teraflop GPU, and the Xbox Series X has a 12-teraflop GPU.
But that doesn't mean the Xbox Series X is "better" than the PS5. We can't make those comparisons based on teraflops alone, because there are far more factors affecting the success of the console than the green operations alone. But the most powerful console often has some benefits that we can see between the PlayStation 5 and the Xbox Series X.
For example, when the PlayStation 4 debuted with its 1.84-teraflop GPU (ahead of the Xbox One & # 39; s 1.31 teraflops), some games already worked better on the PlayStation console. For example, Assassin's Base 4: Black Flag ran 1080p on PS4, compare with 1600×900 on Xbox One. While differences like this may occur when the next generation begins, they are not guaranteed.
It is notable that the difference in teraflops is much smaller between the PS5 and Xbox Series X than it was between PS4 and Xbox One. The G5U for the PS5 is about 15% more powerful than the Xbox Series X, and the Xbox One had 29% more power than the PS4. However, because immaterial numbers are so large in general, it is difficult to say what this difference will mean.
It is also worth looking at that the PS5 may have an advantage over the Xbox Series X when it comes to storage performance. PS5's leading software developer Mark Cerny said the console & # 39; s state-of-the-art drive is so fast that it can quickly load anything on the fly, without having to store all memory (or use it to hide load times). This reduces the clamping load that must be distributed throughout the system. It should also allow PS5 engineers to increase reliability and detail in gaming, as they will not be limited by load speed limits. Although the program is impressive on paper, it is still to be seen when it works.
As a more direct comparison, Microsoft claims that the XD Series X & # 39; s internal SSD can generate 2.4 GB per second of raw data and 4.8 GB / s of compressed data. Currently, the PS5 has capacity of 5.5 GB / s for green and 8-9 GB / s. This means that PS5 storage should be twice as fast as the Xbox Series X storage.
Although both Sony and Microsoft have tapped "teraflop" to get their consoles & # 39; times sheet in the lead when they launch, it's not a metric that can tell us which console will be best when both are released. But, now, now you know what it means.