Microsoft decided to refresh their Xbox lineup and after the successful Xbox One, the result is the Xbox One X: a new version of the Xbox One with a similar design, but new options and increased graphical power for mid-generation ‘refresh’.
But what’s the difference between the Xbox One X and the “regular” Xbox One? How does it compare to the PS4 Pro? Is it worth it? Let’s try to get to a conclusion.
Xbox One X Release Date and Price
The Xbox One X will be released next November 7, 2017. The street price will be of $499/£449/€499.
Xbox One X Preorder
Microsoft has announced the Xbox One X Project Scorpio Edition for preorder, available in very limited supply. You can currently pre-order the Xbox One X Project Scorpio Edition at some online retailers, like the Microsoft Store. The updated console will cost you $499 in America.
Why the Xbox One X?
While PCs and televisions were embracing 4K resolution without many problems, Sony and Microsoft both struggled to get games running at the native 1080p resolution and/or 60 fps. It’s not uncommon for consoles to be a step behind on the tech curve, thus the producers decided to introduce what is now known as “mid-generation refresh” consoles.
That is, more powerful versions of the base product, but not so advanced to be considered “next generation”. Sony’s mid-generation refresh was the PS4 Pro, announced and released in 2016, while Microsoft’s refresh is the upcoming Xbox One X.
One of the most chatted-about topics about the new Microsoft console is, “how powerful it is?”, or “Is it more powerful than both Xbox One and PS4?” The specs talk aloud. Here you have the Xbox One specs:
CPU: Eight custom Jaguar-series x86 cores at 1.75GHz
GPU: 12 GCN-series at 853MHz
RAM: 8GB of DDR3 with 68GB/second bandwidth, and 32MB ESRAM with 204GB/second bandwidth
Hard drive: 500GB at 5400rpm
Optical drive: Blu-ray
And now, the Xbox One X specs:
CPU: Eight custom x86 cores at 2.3GHz
GPU: 40 custom compute units at 1172MHz
RAM: 12GB of GDDR5 with 326GB/second bandwidth
Hard drive: 1TB hard drive at 5400rpm
Optical drive: 4K UHD Blu-ray
To sum it up, it’s possible to calculate a console’s power with an index called “floating operations per second,” or “flops.” The Xbox One scores 1,310,000 megaflops, while the Xbox One X reaches 6,000,000 megaflops. That’s four times more.
Xbox One X vs PS4 Pro
We can do the same for an Xbox One X vs PS4 Pro comparison. Here you have the PS4 Pro specs:
CPU: Eight custom Jaguar-series x86 cores at 2.1GHz
GPU: 36 GCN-series compute units at 911MHz
RAM: 8GB of GDDR5 with 218GB/second bandwidth
Hard drive: 1TB hard drive at 5400rpm
Optical drive: Blu-ray
This translates in 4,200,000 megaflops for the PS4 Pro against 6,000,000 megaflops by the Xbox One X. This means that the Xbox One X has an advantage of about the 30 percent of raw power against the PS4 Pro. Both PS4 Pro and Xbox One X boast HDR support, and once again both consoles can use all your existing accessories and games.
Only the PS4 Pro, for now, features support for a virtual reality headset, while only the Xbox One X plays 4K UHD Blu-ray movies and discs (a feature inherited from the Xbox One S).