General

As most know, the new generations for the Xbox  and Playstation gaming consoles are coming out soon, less than a week from now for both of them. The official release dates for these consoles are November 10th for the Playstation 5 and the 12th for the Xbox Series X. The new names for this gen of consoles are Xbox Series X and Playstation 5. This spring, when the release was announced, users were ecstatic because the last generation of the Xbox and Playstation was over 7 years ago with the Xbox One and Playstation 4, respectively. The new generations of these consoles include higher resolutions, frame rates, and just being more powerful overall.

Playstation 5

This new console from Sony is expected to be the most powerful ever and the specs definitely back that claim up. I am not sure what they all mean, but here are the specs for the PS5:

• CPU: AMD Zen 2-based CPU with 8 cores at 3.5GHz (variable frequency)
• GPU: 10.28 TFLOPs, 36 CUs at 2.23GHz (variable frequency)
• GPU architecture: Custom RDNA 2
• Memory interface: 16GB GDDR6 / 256-bit
• Memory bandwidth: 448GB/s
• Internal storage: Custom 825GB SSD
• IO throughput: 5.5GB/s (raw), typical 8-9GB/s (compressed)
• Expandable storage: NVMe SSD slot
• External storage: USB HDD support (PS4 games only)
• Optical drive: 4K UHD Blu-ray drive

Along with this, the new Playstation 5 is expected to have the ability of backwards compatibility which means that games from the last gen (Playstation 4) will be able to be played on the new Playstation as well. This feature has been unavailable in the past generations. Another cool feature for the PS5 is that it will have 3D audio. With the new “Tempest audio technology” for the audio, users will be able to hear audio at a whole new level. According to Sony, an example of this would be a game with raindrops. On the old ps4, users would hear all raindrops clumped together, but on the new ps5, audio for raindrops would be individual. This basically just means that audio will be improved dramatically. Playstation will also be continuing with their upgrades to their Virtual Reality capabilities. Another notable feature is the capability for the PS5 to run at 120 frames per second, which I discuss further for the Xbox.

Xbox Series X

Along with the Playstation 5, this new gen for Xbox will be the most powerful ever. Here are the specs for the Xbox Series X:

• CPU: 8x Cores @ 3.8 GHz (3.6 GHz w/ SMT) Custom Zen 2 CPU
• GPU: 12 TFLOPS, 52 CUs @ 1.825 GHz Custom RDNA 2 GPU
• Die Size: 360.45 mm2
• Process: 7nm Enhanced
• Memory: 16 GB GDDR6 w/ 320b bus
• Memory Bandwidth: 10GB @ 560 GB/s, 6GB @ 336 GB/s
• Internal Storage: 1TB Custom NVME SSD
• I/O Throughput: 2.4 GB/s (Raw), 4.8 GB/s
• Expandable Storage: 1TB Expansion Card (matches internal storage exactly)
• External Storage: USB 3.2 External HDD Support
• Optical Drive: 4K UHD Blu-ray Drive
• Performance Target: 4K @ 60fps, Up to 120fps

Along with the specs, the new Xbox has some really exciting new features. One of these being the notably faster loading time and overall speed compared to the past generations. According to console testers, games where loading times were 20-30 seconds on the old Xbox One S have been reduced to 10-15 seconds which actually makes a pretty big difference if you are loading in many times. Another key feature that fans are excited about is the option for 120 frames per second in many games. In past years, the maximum frames per second was 60. Doubling the amount of frames per second is actually pretty significant and it makes the games super smooth and clean. Along with the PS5, the new Xbox will also have backwards compatibility for many games. Opposite to the Playstation, Xbox has had this feature for many years now.

Which is the Better Buy?

My personal opinion on the best to buy this fall is the Xbox. Although I could be biased because I have had the Xbox One S for a few years now, I really think it is the more powerful and better console. Although the PS5 has cool exclusive games and features including the new Spiderman games, the Xbox nailed it this time around. In all of the categories that are tested between them, the only one that the PS5 has better is the loading speed. Also, the generation of Xbox after the initial release of the Xbox Series X which is the Xbox Series S is releasing as low as $300. This would be crazy because the initial prices for the Playstation 5 and the Xbox Series X are both $500. Although it would have less power and slightly worse specs, it definitely could be worth the buy because of how cheap it is. I don’t think you can go wrong this fall buying either the Xbox Series X or the Xbox Series S considering that the Series X is the most powerful console ever and they Series S is a close second but with a much lower price tag.