One of the most anticipated moments in the lead up to any new console generation is when the two biggest rivals go head-to-head on the same game to see which ones comes out on top.
When the PS4 launched, its ability to hold a 1080p/30fps image was easily better than Xbox One’s 900p/30fps image and one that suffered from slightly lower frame rates. When the mid-generation refresh came along, the tables were turned with the Xbox One X a clear winner over the PS4 Pro on cross platform titles like “Red Dead Redemption II”.
Now the new PS5 and Xbox Series X have received their comparative analysis via the same title – “Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition” – which runs at up to 4K, is locked at a ceiling of 120fps and boasts optional ray tracing on both consoles.
Before this point Xbox Series X seemed the obvious winner on paper with higher powered specs giving it an edge over PS5, though PS5 has some custom designed elements, a boost clock and other tricks that means though it has less elements, it uses what it has more efficiently and thus would effectively close that gap.
With testing done by the guys at Digital Foundry today, that appears to be the case with the two consoles proving “broadly comparable”. Resolutions and VFX are the same on both consoles resulting in an image that looks exactly the same which means the difference then comes down to one of frame rate.
On this front the results are again comparable. In some modes Xbox has the edge, in others PS5 does and in all cases it averages out to about equal or only off by 2-3 frames out of about 90-100. Ray tracing is also a mixed bag – Xbox winning (only just) in one mode, PS5 winning (only just) in another. Same goes for loading times with the PS5 having an edge but it’s so slight that the difference is negligible.
So the good news is whichever console you buy you will be fine as the boxes appear to be at parity. That means it will come down to what the battle was always about – PS5’s numerous exclusives and PS4 back compatibility vs. Xbox’s Game Pass and multi-generation back compatibility. Both consoles arrive in stores this week.
