PlayStation 5 vs Xbox Series X
To play some games, you only need to choose a website: you do not need to think about the device model. For example, if you want to play online roulette in Malaysia, all you have to do is decide which site to play on. But when it comes to console games, you have to consider both the game and the console on which you can play it. PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X are the most powerful consoles on the market right now, and each has strengths and weaknesses against the other. So, if we put these two consoles against each other, which one would be the winner? We answer this question below.
CPU Power
There is no significant difference between the two consoles in terms of CPU power. Both PS5 and Series X use the Zen 2 processor made by AMD. This octa-core processor has 16 threads and can reach 3.5 GHz speed with SMT. (3.6 GHz in Series X.) When the consoles were first released, this simple difference of 100 MHz was of some importance, but now we can say that the two consoles are almost equal in terms of CPU power.
GPU Power
Both consoles have GPUs made by AMD using the RDNA 2 architecture. This time, however, the difference is more obvious: the PS5 GPU has 10.28 teraflops, while the Series X GPU has 12.155 teraflops. The difference is more than 18%. Also, Series X can distribute computation among different CUs, while PS5 offers higher clock speeds. Although the Series X GPU is leading in benchmarks, some game developers consider the PS5 to be more developer-friendly due to its higher clock speeds. All we can say objectively is that the Series X offers a higher GPU power in terms of pure numbers.
Hardware
We can show the other differences in terms of hardware in a list:
- Both consoles have 16GB of GDDR 6 RAM, but the PS5 uses a 256-bit bus while the Series X uses a 320-bit bus. The memory bandwidth is fixed at 448 GB/s on PS5 and between 336 and 560 GB/s on Series X.
- PS5 has a custom-made 825 GB SSD. Series X uses a 1TB NVMe SSD. The storage space of both consoles can be increased.
- I/O throughput values are 5.5 GB/s (raw) for PS5. For Series X, it’s 2.4 GB/s (raw).
If we evaluate these data, we can say that Series X is ahead in terms of pure horsepower. But that’s not a huge difference, and the truth is, benchmark numbers aren’t the only thing you should pay attention to when choosing a console. Both consoles have their own ecosystems and exclusive games: you have to decide which one to choose based on these. For example, the Xbox Game Pass system can provide you with access to a large number of games at a very affordable price. However, you can find some games, such as Spider Man and God of War, only on the PS5 platform.
The smart decision would be not to get hung up on hardware features and numbers, as Nintendo Switch, for example, is much weaker in pure power than PS5 and Series X. However, there is almost no difference in terms of sales figures, and there are times when the Switch sells more. This means that when buying a console, you should decide based on the experience you will get, not the hardware power.
Ideally, it would be best to get both consoles, but if you can only afford one, then decide by looking at the ecosystems of the consoles, not their hardware. For example, check out the Game Pass system for Series X and the games included in it. For PS5, look for exclusive titles and consider how important it is for you to play them. Comparing consoles by hardware power is something only fanboys can do: As a smart consumer, you should do more than that and choose the console that suits you best based on your personal criteria.
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