With Sony’s PlayStation 4 and Microsoft’s Xbox One consoles set to arrive on the market later this year, several gamers want a good idea which way they should go. Both consoles certainly offer their fair share of power – but is one better than the other Digital Foundry’s Richard Leadbetter likes to think so.

While the PlayStation 4 does have a slight advantage with a faster RAM and more powerful GPU, Leadbetter decided to go technical when it came to seeing how the two perform side-by-side by building equivalent PC-based test systems. For the Xbox One, he used a Radeon HD 7850 to represent its power, while the “PS4 surrogate,” as he calls it, utilized a 7870 XT. The test results indicated that the PS4 target system outperformed the Xbox One with more computational power and better frame rate.

These tests were comprised of various PC titles running at full 1080p visual settings, in which the PS4 set-up fared better overall. However, Leadbetter did state, “more computer cores doesn’t result in a linear scaling of performance.” The tests showed from 20 percent up to a 29 percent difference in frame rate on different titles, favoring the PS4 surrogate.

He was also concerned with memory, as the PS4’s uses “established technology,” while Xbox One’s ESRAM system is a “big unknown.” Though the test gave the PS4 “the benefit of the doubt” in terms of power, Leadbetter explained, “clearly this is no way guaranteed.” Final drivers and system optimizations will certainly affect the real-world results. We’ll see how the systems fare when they arrive this holiday season.

Source: Digital Foundry