PS5 Performs Better Than Xbox Series X Due To More Efficient Design, Say Devs

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Abdullah Waseem

At T4G, my task is to cover the latest news around the gaming globe ASAP and with the utmost precision. I adore all the games and respect all the devs behind the amazing games that we get all year. So, whether it’s a PC or a Console game, I got it all covered. 

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It’s no news that PlayStation has dominated the current generation of consoles. Despite the PS5 and Xbox Series X boasting a similar AMD Zen 2 processor with RDNA 2 graphics, the latter has a hardware lead on paper.

However, Sony’s console often produces better results in real-world gaming tests. According to analysts who have talked to various developers, the PS5 is just better optimized for most games.

Why it matters: The Xbox Series X boasts 52 RDNA 2 CUs, leading to 12 teraflops of performance. On the other hand, the PS5 GPU is limited to just 36 RDNA 2 CUs, resulting in 10.28 teraflops.

In its latest video, Digital Foundry outlines the general sentiment around the PS5 and Xbox Series X competition. The analysts have spoken to various developers and can now share a conclusive answer.

There’s no denying that Microsoft’s hardware has not lived up to its potential, and a huge reason for this seems to be that developers prefer Sony’s implementation due to its more efficient design.

As the developers explained, the PS5’s GPU compiler is faster and more optimized. It’s a complex design but utilizes the silicon much better than the Xbox Series X. Sony’s API also seems much faster than Microsoft’s DirectX.

One of the big ones that we’ve heard reference is the shader compiler. On the PlayStation side, it’s just extremely fast and optimized.

-Digital Foundry

Furthermore, developers prefer the faster clocks of the PS5 GPU. Apart from the discrepancy in compute units, the PS5’s RDNA 2 GPU runs at a variable 2.23GHz. Meanwhile, Microsoft locked the GPU at 1.825GHz.

Some games still run better on the Xbox Series X. Alan Wake 2, for example, shows how Microsoft’s console can benefit from the raw hardware improvements. However, PlayStation seems to be better or equally capable across the board.

Another reason for this surprising result could be the fact that most developers prioritize PlayStation as the lead platform.

When it comes to real-life usage, neither console is significantly better than the other. However, this is a disadvantage for Xbox Series X since Microsoft sold this console as the most powerful hardware in the world.

Abdullah Waseem

News Reporter

Abdullah is an avid gamer who primarily plays single-player titles. If you can’t find him anywhere, he’ll probably be at his desk playing The Witcher 3 for the millionth time. When he isn’t playing games, he’s either reading or writing about them.