Here’s how Microsoft’s $500 Xbox One X compares to a PC
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Several weeks ago Microsoft lifted the covers slightly off its new next-gen console, codenamed Project Scorpio. Today, the software giant took the full wraps off what is now called the Xbox One X, which launches this year for $500. Here’s the lowdown on how powerful Scorpio is, and how it compares to a gaming PC.
In its livestream today, Microsoft went over some of the advanced capabilities of the Xbox One X, including Dolby Atmos audio support and HDR video. The Xbox One X will supersample existing Xbox One games, which is useful if you don’t have a 4K TV. It will run them at 4K resolution, downsampling to a 1080p resolution for a sharper picture.
Microsoft also announced that the Xbox One X is its smallest Xbox console ever, which makes for a pretty damn compact box if it’s smaller than the Xbox One S.
Here are the specs for the Xbox One X:
Microsoft has built this console for 4K gaming, something we’ve found demanding on PC without top-end hardware. So how does the Xbox One X compare to a gaming PC? Here’s our breakdown.
All of the money in the Xbox One X is focused on graphics, though its CPU has gotten a boost over the standard Xbox One.
Compared to a desktop CPU, the Xbox One X’s CPU will be a substantial bottleneck. The eight Jaguar CPU cores will offer one-half to one-third the performance of AMD’s new Ryzen CPUs. As we wrote when the Scorpio specs were first revealed, all eight cores working together will maybe roughly equal the performance of an Intel i3 CPU.
Scorpio’s GPU has 40 customized compute units clocked at 1172MHz; and Scorpio boasts a generous 12GB of GDDR5 RAM with a memory bandwidth of 326GB/s—substantially higher than the 8GB and 256GB/s of AMD’s RX 580 PC graphics card. To get that kind of memory on a PC graphics card, you’ll have to step up to a GeForce Titan Xp.
Keep in mind, however, that on the Xbox One X the memory is split between GPU and system, with Microsoft recently saying developers will be able to use 9GB of the GDDR5 RAM .
But don’t mistake the GPU specs in Scorpio for equivalent PC power. There is no chance in hell the Scorpio’s graphics power is anywhere near that of a Titan Xp just because it has the same amount of memory. If you were to buy something equivalent, expect an AMD RX 580 or GeForce GTX 1060, but those desktop graphics cards have less video memory.
Scorpio’s generous RAM capacity and high bandwidth come into play because Scorpio is poised to do 4K gaming—although we’re not sure if this will apply across all titles. You’re essentially looking at up to 15-percent better performance from Scorpio than a plain RX 480. We figure performance will be close to the RX 580, but with more bandwidth.
This bandwidth allows the Xbox One X to do higher resolution 4K gaming, as long as the developers don’t go overboard on things that rely on computational performance.
With desktop hardware, an RX 580 wouldn’t be enough to do 4K gaming. But remember that as a console, both software and hardware are tightly integrated and optimized. The operating system is much more optimized than it is on a standard PC. Having a fixed spec also allows game developers to hone in their code, since there’s no need to support a wide variety of configurations. Tight integration has always been the console’s strength, in exchange for upgradeability.
In terms of desktops, at $500 the Xbox One X competes with our cheap gaming PC build guide . And for the price, the specs are pretty similar. Our rig has a 3GB GTX 1060, which is about on par with the power level described above (though with significantly less GDDR5 RAM, as mentioned). Our rig also doesn’t account for the price of Windows, but the trade-off there is you get a fully-functioning PC, as opposed to the locked ecosystem of a console. And, of course, the ability to upgrade down the line.
The Xbox One X is an impressively powerful small form factor system, with graphics power that rivals a decent PC graphics card and a CPU that falls short of what we’d expect from a gaming PC.
It would be hard to build a gaming PC this compact at the same price, but as always, a gaming PC will be a more versatile system.
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Tuan is the Editor-in-Chief of Maximum PC, and loves all things tech. He’s been building PCs and ruffling feathers in the industry for 20 years, and isn’t afraid to call out bad products and services. In fact, it’s very common to hear the words «this is shit» escape his lips. If you want to know if something is «Kick-Ass» or not, email or tweet him.
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- Gaming consoles are great as they allow you to play games at their highest potential.
- But some users want to build an equivalent PC to be able to perform other tasks as well apart from gaming.
- This guide explains you what is the GPU inside the Xbox One X and how can you match it on a PC.
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While the first Xbox console came equipped with a 233MHz Custom NVIDIA NV2A GPU, the latest Xbox Series X has a custom-designed GPU based on AMD’s latest RDNA 2 architecture. You might be interested in knowing what the PC equivalent of the GPU used on the Xbox One is to build you one gaming PC.
If that is the case, then in this guide, we will share with you all the information that you need to know about what graphics card is in the Xbox one. As GPUs are the heart and soul of a gaming PC, if you wish to build a PC equivalent to the Xbox One, then this guide is very important for you.
What are the GPUs used in different versions of Xbox consoles?
To understand it better and also to know about how the GPUs have evolved in Xbox consoles, let us take a look at a comparison table below:
| Xbox versions | GPU |
| XBOX | 233MHz Custom NVIDIA NV2A |
| XBOX 360 | 500MHz custom ATi design |
| XBOX One | AMD Graphics Core Next (GCN) GPU |
| XBOX One X | AMD Scorpio graphics processor |
| XBOX One S | Durango 2 graphics processor |
| XBOX Series S | Lockhart GPU based on TSMC’s 7nm process node |
| XBOX Series X | Custom-designed based on AMD’s latest RDNA 2 architecture |
What graphics card is in the Xbox One?
Since the Xbox gaming console was introduced by Microsoft, it has been using AMD’s GPU for most of its generations.
On the Xbox One, there was an AMD Graphics Core Next (GCN) GPU.
The latest and the most powerful Xbox gaming console that you can purchase as of now is the Xbox Series X. The Xbox Series X console makes use of the custom-designed based on AMD’s latest RDNA 2 architecture, a significant Xbox One graphics card upgrade.
Speaking of the specifications, it can deliver up to 12 Tera Flops or TFLOP of peak performance and is considered to be the most powerful console GPU to be ever created.
To understand, TFLOP is a mathematical measurement of a computer’s performance which is expressed as the ability to perform 12 trillion floating point operations in one second.
Apart from such an impressive GPU performance core, the Xbox Series X also features advanced AMD Radeon Rays tracing acceleration technology. This ensures real-time lighting and shadowing in supported games.
On the other hand, the cheaper Xbox Series S features a Lockhart GPU based on TSMC’s 7nm process node.
Its PC equivalent is the NVIDIA GTX 1060 3GB GPU or the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT.
For those wondering about the Xbox Series S’s TFLOP numbers, it can output up to 8.013 TFLOPS, making it slightly slower than the NVIDIA GTX 1660. However, it features ray tracing, which is absent on the PC equivalent.
What graphics card is comparable to Xbox One X?
Microsoft has replaced the Xbox One X with the Xbox Series X console. To build a PC with Xbox One X equivalent GPU, you must install NVIDIA RTX 2060 Super.
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You can play games on 4K with ease, as it can give you an output of up to 30FPS on certain native 4K games.
Xbox One X has 6 Teraflops, while the NVIDIA RTX 2060 Super has 7.2. For AMD users, you can opt for the AMD RX580.
If the Xbox One graphics card is going bad, you should consult our guide on how to detect GPU failure.
Nevertheless, you can find the Xbox One graphics card on PC, minus the Ray Tracing feature, so you need to know what to do.
What graphics card is comparable to Xbox Series X?
As mentioned in the table above, the Xbox Series X comes with a Custom-designed based on AMD’s latest RDNA 2 architecture. Since it is the most powerful Xbox console, you will get unprecedented performance from this gaming console.
If you wish to build a PC equivalent to the GPU inside the Xbox Series X, then install the NVIDIA RTX 3060 Super. The NVIDIA GPU is at par with the Xbox Series X performance as it can output 13 TFLOPS.
Speaking of the AMD equivalent, you need to install AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT also has a similar performance output of 12.4 Teraflops. The performance of NVIDIA RTX 3060 may seem similar to Xbox Series X on paper, but in reality, you may feel a lot of differences.
It would be better if you would go for the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT for 1440p gaming, as both the Xbox One X and Radeon RX 6700 XT are based on the same RDNA 2 architecture.
But in the real world, the NVIDIA RTX 3060 and AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT aren’t a match for the Xbox Series X GPU, as they cannot handle modern 4K titles in 60FPS unless the in-game settings are tweaked significantly. The difference is that individual games are optimized for consoles since it is easier compared to differently-spec PCs.
For optimal 4K gaming, we recommend you use the NVIDIA RTX 3080 and 3080 Ti that come with 10GB and 12GB of RAM, with a throughput of 29.77 TFLOPS. In the AMD, you can opt for the Radeon RX 6800 XT, which comes with 16GB of GDDR6 RAM.
So, now that you have a clear mind of what is the PC equivalent of the Xbox Series X GPU, if you are facing an Xbox error update, worry no more as you can check out our guide and resolve the issue.
We also have a guide to help you with the Xbox ventilation error for smooth gameplay.