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In addition to pricing, start dates and pre-orders, Microsoft has released the final data sheet for the Xbox Series S. Compared to the top X Series model, there are mainly differences in RAM and RDNA GPU- 2 significantly smaller from AMD. A look at Xbox One X and PlayStation 5 also helps with ranking.
The most compact Xbox of all time in detail
The Xbox Series S is Microsoft’s next-generation entry-level console. The price of 299 euros is 200 euros below the Xbox Series X, which is mainly due to the reduced memory configuration and the noticeably lower graphics performance. Also, the S Series does not have a Blu-ray drive, but it works as a purely digital console. The result is at least the most compact Xbox in the series’ history, which Microsoft says should live up to next-gen expectations despite all the compromises compared to the top model.
Compared to Xbox Series X
Microsoft has not yet announced such detailed specifications as for the X Series, but the currently available material is enough to classify the performance compared to the top model, but also to compare it to the Xbox One X and Sony’s PlayStation 5. At first, the comparison with the Xbox Series X follows.
Smaller GPU for 1440p
The biggest difference between the next two Xbox models is the graphics performance. Both consoles use an APU with AMD Zen 2 and RDNA 2, but the graphics performance of the S Series is significantly reduced. While Microsoft aligns the X Series with UHD gaming, the S version should allow a native resolution of up to 2,560 × 1,440 pixels (WQHD) at 60 FPS. In theory, 120 frames per second are also possible, but that’s not the approach. In general, this approach would come from conversations with users who would prefer FPS at a higher resolution. The S Series still supports UHD upscaling.
The S Series GPU has 20 compute units with a clock frequency of 1.5 GHz. According to Microsoft, this corresponds to 4 teraflops (TFLOPS) of raw power. For comparison: The X Series is based on 52 compute units clocked at 1.8 GHz and therefore offers 12.15 TFLOPS. The number of CUs physically available can be even higher, in the X Series there are a total of 56 processing units, four of which are not active.
Microsoft presented more details about the X Series hardware at Hot Chips last month. However, since not only the number of CUs differ, but also the clock frequency, it is currently unclear whether other data, such as cache, is comparable. Microsoft quantifies the plus performance of the Xbox Series S compared to the Xbox One in “approximately“Triple.
Almost the same CPU, completely different RAM
The two new consoles from Microsoft not only share the architecture of the GPU, the CPU part of the APU is also based on the same and is almost identical. Both consoles use eight cores from AMD Zen 2 and use SMT. On the X Series, the clock frequency is 3.8 GHz without SMT and 3.6 GHz with SMT; in the S Series these are 200 MHz lower in both cases. The Xbox One (and PlayStation 4) cores were still based on AMD’s Jaguar architecture and had a significantly lower clock speed and no SMT. Microsoft talks about four times the processor performance of the 2013 Xbox One in the S Series, but leaves the X (test) unmentioned.
Unlike the CPU segment, RAM differs significantly. The X Series uses 16 GB GDDR6, of which 10 GB are connected at 560 GB / s and the remaining 6 GB are connected at 336 GB / s. With the S Series, the RAM is not only smaller at a total of 10GB GDDR6, the connection is also slower than the slowest part of the larger model, even at its peak with 8GB at 224GB / s. The other 2 GB of the S Series are connected at 56 GB / s.
On the SSD side, there are only size changes: At 512GB, the storage space is half the size of the flagship. However, the connection is identical. Specifically, this means read speeds of up to 2.4 GB / s. In both cases, the consoles can be expanded using proprietary expansion cards of the same type.
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Xbox Series S (Bild: Microsoft)
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Another set of features is identical
There are no differences in other features such as hardware accelerated ray tracing via DirectX, variable speed shader (VRS), and variable FPS. According to Microsoft, the development tools are also identical.
More TFLOPS on the One X: Yes, but
The comparison between the current Xbox One X and the S Series is usually sought, in which the greater performance of the older GPU stands out on paper: The One X arrives with a total of 6 TFLOPS at 2 TLFOPS more than the new model basic. However, a one-to-one comparison of these numbers is not suitable for everyday use, as the GPU architectures differ too much. The One X still uses 40 CUs of the old AMD GCN architecture with some Polaris extras at around 1.2 GHz.
Since Microsoft also markets the One X for UHD gaming, while the S Series was explicitly developed for 1440p, the comparison is still interesting. The fear that the S Series will slow down the next generation of consoles seems unlikely due to the remaining hardware leaps, especially with SSDs and CPUs.
Compared to PlayStation 5
An interesting comparison is made with the Sony PlayStation 5. In principle, it competes with the X Series, but the powerful CPU stands out especially. Sony’s new console also uses an eight-core Zen 2 and RDNA 2 APU, but uses dynamic clock rates including “Boost” mode, while the X Series offers fixed clock rates. Sony mentions a maximum of 3.5 GHz for the CPU. This means that the part of the X-Series CPU with 100 MHz more clock is slightly faster than Sony’s console.
On the GPU side, Sony is retiring the S Series – the RDNA-2 GPU in the PS5 offers 36 compute units with a clock frequency of up to 2.23 GHz. According to the manufacturer, this results in 10.28 TLFOPS and thus Therefore, it is closer to the X Series than to the smaller model. The PS5 also falls away in terms of RAM and SSD. Although Sony relies on two PlayStation 5 models, unlike Microsoft, they differ only in the availability of a Blu-ray drive and not in the internals. A relevant factor could be not just performance, but the price difference between the S Series and the all-digital PS5. While Microsoft has already announced prices and dates for the new consoles, both are still pending at Sony.
