Microsoft has unveiled its new Xbox One X console, which aims to deliver native 4K gaming.
The Xbox One X boasts hardware far more powerful than previous Xbox consoles, and competes against the PlayStation 4 Pro.
Sony’s PS4 Pro delivers a resolution of 3,840 x 2,160 using a combination of graphics tweaks and upscaling techniques, as the GPU in the console is not powerful enough to run titles on their maximum graphics settings at 4K.
Instead, the PS4 Pro renders more demanding games at a lower resolution, which is then upscaled to 4K.
While the Xbox One X has not yet been tested, Microsoft has provided specifications and performance metrics for the console.
We’ve compared the specifications and features of the Xbox One X against the PlayStation 4 Pro, below.
Hardware and Pricing
The PlayStation 4 Pro features 4.2TFLOPS of GPU peak compute performance and is priced at R6,999, while the Xbox One X boasts 6TFLOPS of performance at a retail price of R7,499.
Despite the gap in GPU performance, the specifications of the two consoles are similar, as both devices have 8-core AMD CPUs, 1TB HDD storage, and similar VRAM capacities.
The specifications of the PlayStation 4 Pro and the Xbox One X are detailed below.
| Console | Xbox One X | PlayStation 4 Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | 8-core custom AMD CPU @ 2.30GHz | 8-core AMD Jaguar CPU @ 2.13GHz |
| Graphics | 6TFLOPS AMD GPU | 4.2TFLOPS AMD Polaris GPU |
| VRAM | 12GB GDDR5 | 8GB GDDR5 |
| Memory Bandwidth | 326GB/s | 217GB/s |
| Storage | 1TB HDD | 1TB HDD |
| I/O | 2x HDMI, 3x USB 3.0, 1x IR out, 1x S/PDIF, 1x Ethernet | 1x HDMI, 3x USB 3.1 Gen 1, 1x S/PDIF, 1x Ethernet |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, IR | Bluetooth, Wi-Fi |
| Price | R7,499 | R6,999 |
4K Gaming
Both the Xbox One X and the PlayStation 4 Pro support 4K video and gameplay output at 60FPS, although delivering high-fidelity graphics at this framerate is challenging when using a 4K resolution.
Subsequently, the PlayStation 4 Pro commonly upscales games or lowers graphics settings to deliver their framerate and resolution targets.
The Xbox One X delivers an impressive 6TFLOPS of single-point floating performance, which is equivalent to an AMD Radeon RX 580 graphics card.
According to benchmark data from AnandTech, the RX 580 functions well at a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 and manages to deliver over 30FPS at 2,560 x 1,440.
However, delivering over 30FPS in a native resolution of 3,840 x 2,160 would require double the processing power of 2,560 x 1,440 at 30FPS – meaning the Xbox One X will have to use lower graphics quality settings or upscaling techniques to deliver a minimum of 30FPS at 4K.
Due to the optimised nature of gaming consoles, the Xbox One X could deliver greater performance than an equivalent graphics card in a PC configuration.
AMD FreeSync
The increased performance of the Xbox One X would still result in improved visual quality and performance over the PlayStation 4 Pro, and the new Xbox console boasts another useful feature – AMD FreeSync.
FreeSync eliminates screen tearing and allows for smoother gameplay on compatible displays.
This difference is especially noticeable between 30 and 60 frames per second, which the Xbox One X is set to deliver at 4K.
Both consoles also include a selection of exclusive games optimised to run well on their systems.
Despite the significant jump in performance inferred from the increased peak compute figures, the Xbox One X is only R500 more than the PlayStation 4 Pro.
This article first appeared on MyBroadband and is republished with permission.
Loading ...
For me my standard PS4 is more than enough. Frankly even the old gen consoles(xb360&PS3) would’ve been too if there were no new gen ones available. In fact the new ones are way overpriced in SA with the weak rand which makes u sick when u think a gaming console is priced at over 7k, wtf it’s absurd tbh!!!!!