We compare the now fully unveiled Xbox One X to Sony’s PlayStation 4 Pro to determine which premium console is right for you.
Update: After Microsoft’s E3 2017 conference, we went back through and revised sections with new information on the Xbox One X. We added additional spec comparisons, a price section, and a winner for each section.
E3 2016 marked what many considered to be the beginning of the end for the traditional game console cycle. Both Sony and Microsoft revealed substantially upgraded versions of their flagship consoles, which provide a far greater leap in technical performance than any previous iteration that wasn’ t an entirely new console. But at last, something entirely new is coming.
The PlayStation 4 Pro has been in our hands since November, and by the time the Xbox One X launches, the Pro will have had a year’s head start. That may not mean much given the sheer power of the Xbox One X. We already knew most its specifications thanks to an exclusive report from Digital Foundry in April, and Microsoft’s E3 2017 showing gave us a more complete picture. From its official name Xbox One X (previously code-named Project Scorpio) , to its price, to its physical size, we know almost exactly what to expect com November 7.
With those numbers in hand, let’s compare the two souped-up consoles side by side, considering all major factors. It’s our hope that this guide will help you decide between a PS4 Pro and an Xbox One X.
Under the hood, the most stark differences between the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X are in their memory and GPUs. Xbox One X’s GPU clocks in at an impressive 6 teraflops, with 40 customized compute units at 1,172MHz, greater than the PS4 Pro’s 4.2 teraflops, with 36 improved GCN compute units at 911MHz. In terms of raw power that makes the Xbox One X more comparable to PC GPUs like the Radeon RX 480. Memory is also significantly boosted at 12GB of GDDR5 RAM vs. the PS4 Pro’s 8GB of DDR5, pushing the Xbox One X’s memory bandwidth up to 326GB/s over 218GB/s on the Pro. The difference in CPU power is much narrower, but the customized Jaguar cores in the Xbox One X may squeeze out better performance in testing.
With such a gap between GPU and memory, it’s a safe bet that, all things being equal, third-party cross-platform games should feature more detailed textures on Xbox One X than on the PS4 Pro.
Winner: Xbox One X
One of Xbox One X’s overarching promises is to run games in 4K resolution at a steady 60 frames per second, which we expect to see showcased in many of Microsoft’s first-party titles such as Forza Motrosport 7. All Xbox One games, including third-party and those running at 1080p or lower, will purportedly be able to run at native 4K. The Pro’s record has been spotty, with developers using techniques like checkerboarding to improve visuals, but not consistently hitting 4K in practice. Digital Foundry’s demo included a Forza demo running in 4K while using only 65 percent of the console’s power, suggesting that the hardware is capable of obtaining native 4K with plenty to spare.
Xbox One X will also provide better support for users without 4K televisions. Microsoft will require that all games which are natively at higher resolutions use super-sampling with 1080p displays. This means regular HD televisions will get richer images than with a standard Xbox One. Support for this feature has been inconsistent with the PS4 Pro, even in first-party titles, such as The Last Guardian.
With that being said, at least as promised, the Xbox One X will outperform the PS4 Pro in terms of resolution and frames per second.
Winner: Xbox One X
