Checkpoint: Xbox Series X Is Apparently More Powerful Than PS5 (Or Is It?)

Somewhat unexpectedly, a recent AMD leak recently provided us with a whole bunch of new information with which to fill in some of the blanks in regards to the technical makeup of Sony’s next-generation PS5 home console.

For example, we now have a fairly solid idea of the Teraflop capability of the machine, the type and speed of memory that has been implemented and the manner in which the PS5 will leverage backwards compatibility with PS4 games.

The leak however, has two sides to it.

Xbox Series X Spec Leak — Though the PS5 AMD spec leak had substantial amounts of data and testing to verify its veracity, the Xbox Series X AMD leak had nowhere near the same amount of credible evidence.

In addition to conveying new information about the PS5, so too did this leak yield an apparent treasure trove of information for Microsoft’s Xbox Series X, too – with the subsequent reveal being that the Microsoft’s next-gen offering could be more powerful than Sony’s next PlayStation.

Chiefly, the Xbox Series X is touted to have faster RAM than the PS5 (GDDR6 at 560GB/s versus GDDR6 at 512GB/s on PS5) and a combined processing performance of 12 Teraflops versus 9.2 Teraflops. However, it would seem that the quality and quantity of testing information that validates these figures for Microsoft’s Xbox Series X console is nowhere near that of the data which corroborates the new data regarding the PS5’s specification.

Speaking on this very subject, Digital Foundry’s Richard Leadbetter was doubtful as to the veracity of the Xbox Series X specs based on this leak, stating:

If the leak is remarkably specific about the PlayStation 5’s basic GPU specification, where does this leave Xbox Series X? As we understand it, the documents consist of fragments from a much larger data set that we don’t get to see. There is mention of a processor referred to as Arden, which is a highly likely candidate for Xbox Series X silicon. However, there is nowhere near as much testing done on this – or the data simply isn’t up to date enough to include Arden validation testing of any note. Alternatively, the Sony and Microsoft semi-custom designs may be tested in a different way with a different set of criteria.
A lot of AMD’s validation testing for the PS5 ‘Oberon’ processor is in the leak, whereas the Series X data is best described as somewhat patchy by comparison. If the PS5 specs are to be taken with a pinch of salt, have an armful of the stuff ready when looking at the table directly above with mooted Series X specs.

Of course, the other side to this is that *if* those unlikely Xbox Series X leaked specs turn about to be true, then the price premium that will be passed onto the customer will be substantial, and arguably much more than whatever Sony decides to charge for the PS5 when it releases in holiday 2020.

Don’t worry folks, the game is early yet.

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