The time has come for console powerhouses, Microsoft and Sony to release their best new technology for gamers. With Xbox releasing their successor to the Xbox One changes will include new designs, more powerful graphics, great responsiveness, and more. There’s a lot of other hardware upgrades and the consumers will benefit greatly from all these exciting changes upcoming.
Microsoft’s Double Release
Microsoft is releasing both the Series X and S on the same date, November 10th. The Xbox Series S will come at a price of $299, and the bigger, more powerful Series X will sell for $499.
Usually if a company in this specific industry releases two models simultaneously, it’s a small variance such as less storage, fewer ports, or previously it’d be wired controllers and no wireless options. But this year, the Microsoft gave their Series X many more capabilities than the S. For example, the X will run 60fps at a full 4K resolution and the S will run 1440p resolution at 60fps. This will make buyers make a decision right away, while in other cases the companies would wait to release the more powerful consoles.
The Series X has a max clock speed of 3.8GHz, and the S has a 3.6GHz maximum. But their similarities include expandable storage of up to 1TB via an expansion card, the same audio technology.
But the similarities are quite limited. The Series X has twice the amount of internal storage, nearly double the RAM and much better graphics architecture. As well as that, it boasts a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray drive, while the Series S is digital-only. The size of the Series X is considerably bigger, the S is Microsofts smallest ever. The Series S is definitely a budget version, but it limits the upgrade from previous generations as it’s not taking full advantage of the new technology.
A Comparison of the Consoles
| Categories | Xbox Series X | Xbox Series S | PS5 | PS5 (digital-only) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | 8-core AMD Zen 2 CPU @ 3.8GHz (3.6GHz with SMT Enabled) | 8-core AMD Zen 2 CPU @ 3.6GHz (3.4GHz with SMT Enabled) | 8x Zen 2 Cores @ 3.5GHz with SMT (variable frequency) | 8x Zen 2 Cores @ 3.5GHz with SMT (variable frequency) |
| GPU | AMD RDNA 2 GPU 52 CUs @ 1.825GHz | AMD RDNA 2 GPU 20 CUs @ 1.565GHz | AMD RDNA 2 GPU 36 CUs @ 2.23GHz (variable frequency) | AMD RDNA 2 GPU 36 CUs @ 2.23GHz (variable frequency) |
| GPU Power | 12.15 TFLOPS | 4 TFLOPS | 10.28 TFLOPs | 10.28 TFLOPs |
| RAM | 16GB GDDR6 RAM | 10GB GDDR6 RAM | 16GB GDDR6 RAM | 16GB GDDR6 RAM |
| Performance Target | Target 4K @ 60 FPS. Up to 8K. Up to 120 FPS | Target 1440p @ 60 FPS. Up to 120 FPS | Target TBD. Up to 8K. Up to 120 FPS | Target TBD. Up to 8K. Up to 120 FPS |
| Storage | 1TB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD (2.4GB/sec uncompressed, 4.8GB/sec compressed) | 512GB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD (2.4GB/sec uncompressed, 4.8GB/sec compressed) | 825GB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD (5.5GB/sec uncompressed, typical 8-9GB/sec compressed) | 825GB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD (5.5GB/sec uncompressed, typical 8-9GB/sec compressed) |
| Expandable Storage | 1TB Expansion Card | 1TB Expansion Card | NVMe SSD Slot | NVMe SSD Slot |
| Backward Compatibility | “Thousands” of Xbox One, Xbox 360, original Xbox games. Xbox One accessories. | “Thousands” of Xbox One, Xbox 360, original Xbox games. Xbox One accessories. | “Overwhelming majority” of PS4 games | “Overwhelming majority” of PS4 games |
| Disc Drive | 4K UHD Blu-ray | None | 4K UHD Blu-ray | None |
| Display Out | HDMI 2.1 | HDMI 2.1 | HDMI 2.1 | HDMI 2.1 |
| MSRP | $499/£449/€499 | $299/£249/€299 | $499/£449/€499 | |
Both systems will have reverse compatibility with supposedly thousands of games. So regardless of the decision you make nearly all previous generation games can still be played. Pre-Orders for the console have already began and will begin selling on November 10th so stay tuned and make sure you get your orders in.