That's why some games run better on the PS5, even though the Xbox Series X has more power

On paper, the Xbox Series X has much more powerful hardware than the PlayStation 5. Why do Sony and Microsoft's consoles often deliver comparable results? Sometimes games even run better on the PS5.

This question has been on the minds of many of you for the past few years. After speaking to several sources, including triple-A developers, DigitalFoundry finally found some answers.

Why do games sometimes run better on the PS5?

The technical specifications clearly show the superiority of the Xbox Series X, whose GPU reaches 12 teraflops, supported by a maximum memory bandwidth value of 560 GB/s. In comparison, the PlayStation 5 offers 10.23 TF of GPU power with a bandwidth of 448 GB/s. If you were to compare these specifications in the PC space, you would expect the Xbox Series X to perform significantly better.

However, this has not been borne out in reality. This generation of consoles is the most balanced ever seen, according to Digital Foundry, and for most multi-platform releases, the differences are minimal. One console can easily outperform the other and vice versa. Often, it comes down to differences in dynamic resolution scaling, which are barely visible in direct comparisons. This is in contrast to previous generations, such as Xbox One X and PS4 Pro, where the Microsoft console had a clear advantage, or PS4 and Xbox One, where Sony usually came out on top.

After speaking to developers, Digital Foundry has come up with a few explanations for this. The main one is the efficiency of the PlayStation GPU compiler, which is significantly more efficient than the Xbox one. This in turn leads to better use of the graphics hardware. Additionally, the deeper level API access in PlayStation development allows developers to get more out of the hardware.

Another reason concerns the type of GPU itself. Mark Cerny explained back in March 2020 that although the PlayStation 5 GPU has fewer compute units (36 vs. 52), it runs at a higher speed, which allows it to complete certain tasks faster. The PS5 works with a boost clock for the CPU and GPU, which is limited by a power limit. However, developers have not yet expressed any complaints about negative effects of the boost clock.

In summary, a more efficient GPU compiler, lower-level API access, and higher clock speeds allow the PlayStation 5 to match or surpass the Xbox Series X in some scenarios. However, Microsoft's approach also has advantages: standardization on DirectX 12 and the DXR ray tracing API make PC development easier, and the Xbox offers more compute throughput. Additionally, there are situations where the Xbox ecosystem offers advantages, such as variable refresh rate, which improves the gaming experience. The PlayStation 5 Pro is expected to build on and expand on those same strengths, particularly through machine learning-based upscaling, according to Digital Foundry.