Every time a New console launches, PC gamers – like me – quickly remind the gaming community that our platform of choice offers more power and versatility than even the newest and brightest console. That’s still true this time, but things feel a little … different.
In fact, the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X are more powerful than both midrange gaming PCs in my office – which would have been unheard of in the days of PS4 and Xbox One. While the PC still has a big step in terms of performance range– that is, you can spend more to get more – the latest consoles are more similar to those of PCs than ever and reduce the performance distance more than their ancestors did.
When Sony announced the PlayStation 4, the hardware experts knew it would be on the downside. AnandTech noted that console makers don’t take processor performance seriously enough and that the GPU was the equivalent of a Radeon HD 7850 or 7870 – then $ 140 and $ 170 graphics cards. This is lower than an average price, which means you could build a PC that beats PS4 and Xbox One quite affordable – indeed, many games had lower framerates, degraded graphics, or both compared to PCs. half decent. time. (This wasn’t true on all levels – some known PC ports had their own issues – but it’s clear that even a midrange PC will give you more raw power to play with.)
Part of this was due to Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), the semiconductor company that designed the processors and graphics chips in Sony and Microsoft consoles for the last two generations. “When state-of-the-art consoles were launched, AMD was in a bad state,” said Brad Chacos, senior editor of games and graphics at PC World. “They were still developing their old Bulldozer architecture, which was a great game of chance that didn’t work for them.”
This failure made them play the second fiddle for Intel for years in the computer space, and the Jaguar processors on the PS4 and Xbox One were small, energy-efficient versions of that already weak product. So, while the developers managed to optimize the games for that set hardware, it still couldn’t keep a candle on a well-built PC.
This year, according to Chacos, AMD is “pulling all the reins,” with the latest Ryzen 5000 processors beating Intel for the first time in ten and a half years. And since those chips are also in the PS5 and Xbox Series X – unlike the old Jaguar processors almost tablets on the latest generation consoles – they can come much closer to the performance you’d find in a good gaming PC .
However, it’s not just processors and graphics chips. SSDs or SSDs have finally reached consoles as well, providing fast charging times that we have enjoyed for years on PCs. SSDs also allow for faster patch downloads and faster speeds, which are real improvements in quality of life that have made previous consoles feel old and slow down. Put it all together, and the latest consoles are very similar to gaming PCs in terms of graphics skills.
To be fair, this year’s consoles are also slightly more expensive than their predecessors – $ 500 for the top PS5 and Xbox Series X compared to the $ 400 PS4 and Xbox One (post-Kinect removal). This higher price tag gives manufacturers less room to include more powerful hardware – but Chacos notes that these consoles are still “exceptional values”, especially given that the PC’s hardware has been marked scandalous in 2020 (thanks, Covid-19). $ 500 may be more expensive than the latest generation, but it’s a compelling price for the graphics fidelity you get, and the digital PS4 reaches that old $ 400 price with the same performance as the $ 500 version. (Although I would argue that Sony offers a lower price in the hopes that you will pay more for long-term digital games.)