Why do many games run better on the Sony console?

Three and a half years after the launch of the PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles, the technology experts at Digital Foundry have examined the technical differences and highlighted the advantages of each system.

The specific question was why games often run better on the PS5, even though the Xbox Series X is the more powerful hardware on paper. The Microsoft console's GPU reaches 12 teraflops, complemented by a maximum memory bandwidth of 560 GB/s. The Sony console has 10.23 TF GPU processing power and 448 GB/s bandwidth.

Sony's development environment brings advantages

DigitalFoundry spoke to experts to understand why there is no performance advantage. One theory is that the Xbox Series X's split memory configuration (560 GB/s bandwidth for “fast” memory, 336 GB/s for “slow” memory) could impact performance.

Apparently, there is another main reason: developers are pointing to Sony's development environment. More than one important AAA developer has told Digital Foundry that the PlayStation GPU compiler is significantly more efficient than Microsoft's counterpart. This means that the graphics hardware can be better utilized.

“In general, we believe that the lower-level API access granted in PlayStation development means game makers get more out of the hardware,” said one of the technology experts.

Another reason cited by developers is the nature of the GPU. It has fewer processing units than the Xbox Series X (36 vs. 52), but runs faster, meaning certain tasks are completed faster. This harmonizes better with some game engine designs.

“The extent of this benefit was always unknown, as the PS5 operates with a boost clock on both the CPU and GPU – the maximum clock speeds are limited by a power limit on the processor,” says Digital Foundry. However, there have been no complaints from developers about a negative impact on GPU performance in this regard.

Figures were provided by the developer documentation of the PlayStation 5 Pro, which was leaked this year. Will the CPU boost option activated, the clock frequency increases by ten percent, while the GPU performance only drops by one percent.

Microsoft's hardware also scores points

Digital Foundry goes on to point out that Microsoft hardware also has advantages. In the end, a comparison between the PS5 and Xbox Series X results in the following situation:

• The combination of a more efficient GPU compiler, lower-level APIs, and higher clock speeds results in PlayStation 5 performance that matches or exceeds the Xbox Series X in certain scenarios.
• Microsoft's approach of standardizing on DirectX 12 and DXR ray tracing API benefits game makers due to the similarities to PC development.
• The Xbox Series X has a higher processing throughput, which brings advantages for game engines that use it.
• The Xbox ecosystem and feature set can pay off in certain situations. For example, “Elden Ring” runs faster on the PlayStation 5, but because of Sony’s limited implementation of variable refresh rates, the experience on the Xbox Series X is smoother and more consistent.

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