Clash of the Titans : X-Box One vs. PS4

If gaming is in your DNA and the virtual arena is your playground, then gaming consoles are most probably what you have grown up with, and it is also likely to be your main entertainment source.

The gaming console giants, Xbox and PlayStation are here with their much awaited gaming consoles, the Xbox One and the PS4 (respectively). The disparity between the two consoles is really narrowing, and many are facing in Sheldon Cooper’s “ The Indecision Amalgamation” (The Big Bang Theory Season 7, Episode 19) dilemma, of which one to buy.

So which one to buy?

Lets look at the some facts to begin with:

• Both PS4 and Xbox one have a 500GB Hard Drive.
• They both have a custom AMD APU ( Accelerated Processing Unit), with an 8 core Jaguar CPU, in combination with a Radeon 7000 series GPU.
• The CPUs are almost identical, where PS4’s is clocked at 1.6GHz, and Xbox One’s is at a slightly higher 1.75GHz.

While the Xbox One’s GPU is clocked slightly higher than PS4’s (853MHz Vs 800MHz respectively), it is just a compensation for PS4’s superior GPU. In addition to PS4’s advantage is that the Xbox One has 10% of its GPU reserved for Kinect, which means the graphics on the PS4 will be better, so much so that PS4’s GPU is almost 50% better!

• The RAM is where the discrepancy between the two consoles is quite evident, while both use an 8GB RAM, Xbox uses the older DDR3 RAM, while PS4 has a GDDR5 RAM which gives PS4 more than just an edge over the Xbox One.The Xbox One’s RAM will give you a bandwidth of 68.3 GB/s whereas the PS4 gives you 176 GB/s, which is a colossal difference. What Xbox’s developers have done to bridge this gap is ad a 32MB super fast embedded SRAM, which contributes 102GB/s in each direction, totaling up to 204GB/s!
• The other specs which include the Blu-Ray/ DVD combo drive, HDMI port, USB 3.0 ports, WiFi, and others are practically the same.

Now that was a whole lot of numbers and technicalities to look into, but finally, what it really comes down to is, which one gives better gaming and overall experience. While the numbers may seem to favour the PS4, while in use the difference is not really visible (sitting at a distance of about 10 feet, or 3 metres), but the gaming experience is better on the PS4.

The confusion strikes in mostly because of the Kinect which is bundled with the Xbox One, which attributes to a better overall experience, since, for instance you could control your entertainment center using voice commands.

And even though the numbers may indicate that the PS4 must have a colossal edge in terms of graphics vis-a-vis the Xbox One, the difference is not so significant, so as to base your decision on it.

It is more practical to buy a console which gives a more wholesome approach, hence the scales tip a little more towards the Xbox One, even though it costs about Rs.7,000 more on an average (price ranges from Rs.42,000 on eBay to Rs.55,000 on Snapdeal), than the PS4, which costs Rs.39,990 on Flipkart.

Ultimately, it’s a matter of choice really. The X-Box is an all round performer, but slightly more expensive than the PS4. And the PS4 comes with the legacy of Sony. Which one will emerge as the winner in the clash of the titans? Let’s wait and watch!