The Xbox One and PlayStation 4 have reached the final stage of their lives. Microsoft and Sony will soon be releasing next-generation consoles that will surely be loaded with new features as well as significant improvements in processing power to run the latest video games. None of the systems will launch before the end of 2020. From hardware to gaming, I’ve compared the Xbox Series X vs PS5 to give you a better judgment on which system to buy on launch day.
Release date
Both consoles are currently scheduled to release at the same time during the 2020 holiday season. As with the Xbox One and PS4, the Xbox Series X and PS5 will go head-to-head.
Xbox Series X vs PS5 Comparison
| Specification | PS5 | Xbox series x |
| release date | holidays 2020 | Holidays 2020 |
| Exclusive games | Godfall, Fifa 2021, Cyberpunk 2077, Marvel’s Avengers, Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, Marvel Spider-Man Miles Morales | Halo Infinite, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 |
| Support for old games | Nearly all PS4 games including PS4 Pro optimized games | All Xbox One games and select Xbox 360 and original Xbox games |
| CPU | 8x Zen 2 Cores at 3.5GHz | 8-core 3.8 GHz AMD Zen 2 |
| GPU | 10.28 TFLOPs, 36 CUs at 2.23GHz AMD RDNA 2 | 12.0 teraflops AMD RDNA 2 |
| RAM | 16GB GDDR6 / 256-bit | 16 GB GDDR6 |
| Memory | 825 GB custom SSD | 1 TB custom NVMe SSD |
| Resolution | up to 8K | up to 8K |
| Frame refresh rate | up to 120 frames / s | up to 120 frames / s |
| Optical disc drive | 4K UHD Blu-ray Drive | 4K UHD Blu-ray |
Graphics and Performance
Both Microsoft and Sony have confirmed that their consoles will support 8K gaming. Xbox Series X will support up to 120fps, while Sony has confirmed 4K gaming at 120Hz.
It’s important to be careful with the wording here: consoles can support resolutions up to 8K and up to 120 frames per second, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be playing an 8K game at 120 FPS.
Both consoles will also support ray tracing and exciting graphics rendering technique that makes lighting and reflections look almost photorealistic, literally bouncing light rays off objects’ surfaces over and over again.
When it comes to performance, the most significant upgrade for these consoles is ultra-fast storage. With the introduction of SSDs, the next Xbox and PlayStation will have blazing fast speeds and load times.
In terms of RAM, Microsoft claims that the GDDR6 memory it uses. According to the latest rumors, it will contain 16GB of RAM and 13GB will be available for games. This is a dramatic increase from the current 12GB of GDDR5 RAM in the Xbox One X. The PS5 also has 16GB of GDDR6 RAM similar RAM specs.
Since both consoles are powered by AMD’s 3rd Gen Ryzen processors, the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X is expected to have the same performance.
However, a recent rumor indicated that the console will have 12 teraflops of power, compared to 6 teraflops in the Xbox One X. While teraflops is a good indicator of raw processing power. It’s not the only thing that impacts performance. The Xbox Series X may be indeed four times the power of the current top-end Xbox.
Conclusion
It’s too early to tell who will win the next console war. The Xbox Series X looks fantastic from a visual standpoint. The PS5 will probably look amazing as well.
But beyond that, both consoles seem to be more alike than ever. The Series X and PS5 share the same architecture processors and graphics cards, robust SSDs that deliver ultra-fast boot times, same-resolution graphics power, FPS and color gamut, and floppy drives.
And of course, the PS5 will have VR. Maybe this will be the final difference? I don’t know. The technology still seems too niche despite the steady growth in demand. In the end, it seems that the biggest difference here (the only thing that matters) is games and services. Whoever provides the best exclusives and the best services wins.