Cross-Gen Face-Off: Xbox Series S vs SSD-Enhanced Xbox One X

Microsoft choosing to release a lower power Xbox Series console coupled with a prolonged cross-gen transition period has led to a fascinating head-to-head as the vintage 2017 Xbox One X manages to hold its own in some regards up against the brand new Xbox Series S. Just how close is the contest, and can adding an SSD to the legacy machine help? Oliver Mackenzie delivers this deep dive.
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[@ricioly]

I upgraded my One X with an SSD late last year: best decision I’ve ever made for this console. Beyond the load times, what impressed me most was how the main menu became fast, fluid and seamless: no more infinite loadings and stutters everywhere… feels like it was made to run in a ssd.

[@alksdng97834y]

It is crazy how incredibly slow the older console menus are because of the hard drive. Even if the SSD doesn’t improve the gameplay, it’s worth it just for menu and download speed lol

[@Gamer-df9xt]

I put a SSD in a couple years ago. The dashboard still felt sluggish. But that combined with the latest revision of the dashboard it works great.

[@polymatrix]

I put an SSD in my Xbox One (non-S) a month ago and I can confirm the dashboard is way smoother for me, as well. Haven't benchmarked game loads but it's got to be 2-3x as fast, depending on the game.

[@Youraveragegamer_97]

external ssds for the one x didnt help much at least compared to the ssds of the series x anx s, ik cuz i had a 540mbps seagate ssd, the fastest xbox one can support since it doesnt support usb 3.2

[@fcukugimmeausername]

Yup. This is why if you're ever building your own PC, always make sure the O/S is installed onto the SSD and not a mechanical HDD. The instant response that an SSD provides is significant and the improvements an SSD provide go way beyond just load times.

[@TailsGuy72]

People need to properly optimize games for this console. Look at RE8, it's a perfect example. 1440p 60fps with RT off AND on.

[@dtf.editzz]

Exactly!

[@UncannyXander]

I mean, with RT on it's like 20fps.

[@TailsGuy72]

@@UncannyXander Depends on where you are in the game.

[@VictorRuan285]

40 fps with ray tracing

[@TailsGuy72]

@@VictorRuan285 Yeah that's more like it. Outside, anyway. I've seen in the castle that it's around 60.

[@therobwood]

00:00 Intro 01:55 Overview 04:20 Comparing Games 17:35 Loading Performance 20:25 Backwards Compatibility 28:13 Verdict

[@mufdannzig6698]

Thx

[@ABasicMuslim]

Thank you

[@doomslayer_spyrofan3943]

You get this👑

[@carbsncaffeine9254]

nice work

[@h0llyw00dhoward7]

Achievement Unlocked 💎

[@chadfridley6677]

I've always wondered what the differences were. This is the first coverage I've seen of detailed and tested information about the differences between the two consoles. Thanks guys!

[@andegallagher6645]

I have an external ssd on my one x and pro it's definitely worth using far faster load times and reduced pop in

[@andegallagher6645]

I just kept the internal hhd empty apart from the system software and had all games on an external ssd for main games and hdd for other games.

[@claytonyoung1351]

Series s shows how important cpu and gpu synergy is. Both sony and Microsoft misunderstood this in previous generations. I still play on my one x. No reason to upgrade till i can get a series x at msrp.

[@oneandonlyjark]

@@claytonyoung1351 and by the time MSRP prices return, we'll know their plans for mid-generation products and revisions. I never understood why a huge portion of consumers buy OG versions of hardware when they could hold out for a better version of the same essential product for a competitive price. It's more efficient on the wallet.

[@andegallagher6645]

@@oneandonlyjark definitely going to be pro models the specs of the psvr2 give that away in vr the hardware has to render two images and psvr 2 resolution is higher than the valve index so the ps5 base model won't be able to max it out.

[@RallyCarDelta]

Most of this makes sense, though it is heavily dependent on the targets the devs designed each game to hit on each machine. But, back to the original point: The One X GPU component is still fairly decent at displaying 4k images, while the Series S will clearly win out in CPU processing dependent components (like trying to push 60 fps, or trying to draw tons of in-motion building / people). The jaguar cores have aged terribly, but if a game can avoid a ton of CPU processing, the One X is still a fair console to run games.

[@JudeTheYoutubePoopersubscribe]

this makes sense. series s targets a lower resolution because of the weaker gpu but then usually targets 60 frames instead of 30 on the one x because of the massive improvement to cpu. its really tough to say which one is better tbh.

[@JudeTheYoutubePoopersubscribe]

@Hronis Kostopoulos series s was designed to be small and efficient yet powerful. the whole system is using under 80w when its pushed to its limits. there isnt much more they can get out of it i think.

[@MaxIronsThird]

@@JudeTheKZbinPoopersubscribe Series S and One X GPUs are about the same.

[@JudeTheYoutubePoopersubscribe]

@@MaxIronsThird it's really hard to tell because most games go for only 30fps on one X but in series S you get 60 or 120fps depending on the game. In the case of far cry 6 for example and metro exodus I'd rather play them on series S because I can't play a first person game at 30 frames anymore. But in others like guardians of the galaxy it's clearly better on one X probably due to poor optimisation on the series S. I think this year with titles like stalker 2 and starfield we will see what the S is capable of as those games aren't coming out on last gen.

[@Ovan61]

@@MaxIronsThird The Series S GPU performance is closer to the PS4 Pro GPU performance with similar amount of video memory which is less than One X's video memory. In old game engines that don't take advantage of Series S current generation architecture, it will perform similar to the PS4 Pro. Cross-gen has render that fancy RDNA 2 architecture useless. In conclusion 4tflops (Series S) = 4tflops (PS4 Pro) which is a huge flop for Series S owners thanks to Microsoft ineptitude in delivering a casual console. The Series S should've been 6tflops with 12 gb of memory at the least inorder to upheld the promised 1080p up to 1440p at 60fps to 120fps.

[@swayamkrishnan8273]

This is a very interesting comparison. The "weakest" of the next generation consoles vs the best of last gen. Stronger GPU, higher memory bandwidth vs Faster CPU and faster Storage. GCN vs RDNA 2. Jaguar vs Zen 2.

[@vandammage1747]

X1X GPU is not stronger, but perhaps a bit more suitable for "last gen games". Both offer great value though

[@chriswright8074]

I think the one x could be ahead if it had a zen 2 just because it can 4k and 4k checkerboarding zen 2 would help

[@Keysco35]

series s 60 fps > one x resolution all day every day.

[@ZackSNetwork]

@@vandammage1747 The Xbox One X GPU has much more bandwidth and more raw compute power.

[@backsoy6647]

@@Keysco35 and you my friend are 100% correct, I’ll take FPS over resolution any day and not only that but higher framer rates can trick your brain into thinking the game looks better so yea

[@J2digital]

It's a bummer they didn't just go for it and replace the internal HDD with a SSD. I did a few years ago and it made a world of difference. Still cool to see but it'd cool to see that extra bump from being off SATA instead of USB.

[@uusrikas]

Exactly i but 2tb in yesterday and it feels brand new super fast

[@denerribeiro5881]

Same here mate, I exchanged the HDD for a Samsung Evo 1TB SSD; it feels like an “ Xbox One X 2.0, “ haha. I honestly don't see a reason to change it to an XS.

[@rebeccasam3434]

@@uusrikas How do you replace the hard drive, I thought it wasn’t user replaceable? It would be hard to get it, and even if you do you’d have to do weird stuff to get it to accept a new drive?

[@escopetadoce]

@@rebeccasam3434 you can run the OS in the internal drive (still slow start up though), but run the games from the external SSD... Loading is a big difference, specially if you look at a game like FFXV. That's how I played my games on X1X until i got XSX, and I still play games off SSD with the XSX (minus the X-enhanced games, which requires the internal ssd). Internal SSD Vs external on 1X, loading a game is not significantly different (look at other Digital Foundry videos on this).

[@JerameatC]

@@rebeccasam3434 it's not supposed to be but it's actually really easy. There are multiple guides on youtube to show you how to do it. I've got both an one s and X with internal ssds. Microsoft even has a "osu" file that basically reinstall the Xbox os Via flash drive so you don't have to worry about trying to image it.

[@xirxes]

As someone that's running a One X with its stock hard drive, this is all great news. I won't be able to upgrade to a new console this year, but I can probably afford to get an SSD to install internally and see real gains. I really feel like the One X was a good purchase personally.

[@ultimategohan1551]

You might be able to sell your one x for 250 or heck even GameStop was offering 300 for it lol.

[@Wally17.]

It’s a great console. I’ve got a Series X but I’m still keeping my One X. No point in getting rid of it for me because it’s another Xbox that can be used. Plus it has things the Series X doesn’t. It can play 3D media, has HDMI-In, and optical audio out which I wish the Series X had. My surround sound system uses optical audio and I have a 3D TV.

[@milkmade22]

@@ultimategohan1551 That's what I did. Traded my one x for a series s. I feel like it was a good deal since I got my one X for $300 so it was like a free upgrade I hope.

[@philcooper9225]

You can just use one externally and see similar gains

[@ShinyMooTank]

If I remember correctly there was barely any difference between internal and external SSD for xbox one x because the CPU limitations and bandwidth

[@cun7us]

Having 4K resolution is nice, but for me, frame rate is more important. I don't know about anyone else but I almost always go for performance mode. Once you experience 60fps or higher it's hard to go back, especially for fast paced games where there's a lot of movement.

[@devinforman8213]

So true man. It's hard going back to 30fps on any game.

[@UltimateInkling]

@@devinforman8213 i agree!

[@mikem2253]

Agreed. I don’t play 30fps anymore.

[@XR4turbo]

Lighting quality & framerate > resolution

[@andymontanez56]

You guys are weird. 30 fps is perfectly playable, I take quality mode everytime on singleplayer games or campaigns.

[@biglevian]

One important note: the One X has a 4k blu ray disc drive. This gives it much better multimedia features and opens up a way to much cheaper gaming. Additionally with xcloud you have a way to still play some of current gen games, be it over the cloud with all the restrictions.

[@TheKayliedGamerChannel-YouTube]

Yes, for a BC solution the 1X wins. it's capable of running all your older one disc titles and any other x360 OGXbox that were made BC, plus those enhancements... 🤠

[@hepwo91222]

backward compatibility with your 360 and OG game discs too. If you already own a One X, Series might not be worth it. But if you were to purchase one of these two now, Series S is a way better value and better framerates. One X is still expensive.

[@Lavoss05]

Very good point that was not metioned here in the Video.

[@Minmataro718]

Saving $200 > Getting a blu ray drive.

[@dyslectische]

The Xbox one s have a 4k drive and output and hdr . Only the 1e Xbox one not

[@13adhunter35]

This was a fantastic video! Not that I’m an expert but I feel like this video is only missing one major point of discussion. The quick resume feature has immense time saves past the gains of SSD. It would be interesting to compare switching from one game to another (and then a third) and comparing the time losses there. Again, this video was absolutely fantastic. It was incredibly thorough and covered such a vast spread of material. Fantastic!

[@xBINARYGODx]

Are you really that surprised that DF makes convenient (to some) decisions when they talk about this sort of stuff?

[@oneandonlyjark]

Quick Resume doesn't work smoothly more often than not -- until it is closer to 100% reliable I think that's why DF didn't mention it. (Also, I think their goal was to provide as close to an empirical test as possible, and XB1 generation only had a precursor to quick resume that worked even less than it didn't).

[@TaimatCR]

@@oneandonlyjark this thank you, usually this types of hybernating modes be it on ps5, Xbox or pc are not great, personally I always avoid them regardless of platform

[@UncannyXander]

Quick Resume sucks, it causes most games I've tried it with to bug out or crash, it's a serious waste of effort.

[@JeffHawthorne]

I agree. Quick resume is so good. Not mentioning it is huge.

[@Generalkidd]

This is quite fascinating actually. I do wonder how much more of an improvement to loading game content there would be if they had swapped the internal HDD with the best SATA SSD out there. As far as I'm aware, the One X should be using SATA3 which is still quite a bit faster than USB 3.0.

[@Lavoss05]

So after watching this Video i have done more research into this and i went ahead and orderd a internal SSD to install on my One X Given i have decided to keep this console till they come out with a replacement for the series X, Sata 3 runs at 6 gb/s while USB 3 runs at 5gb/s my external SSD has speed up to 540 GB/S so its pushing past USB 3 the internal SSD i got is 560/GB/S and all of that will be able to be used on SATA 3 but with those small numbers difference it might be a little faster but im also doing a internal for faster booting times and also having the dashboard a bit snappier and to complete my One X build to my understanding there is no 6 GB/S rated SSD that can match the rull SATA 3 spec.

[@Lavoss05]

I dont think the SATA bus on the one X is 2 cause game load times are very close or a little better then a SSD connect to the USB 3.0 ports which supports 5Gb/s, SATA 3 supports 6Gb/s so the two are very close if the One X had SATA 2 which is rated at 3Gb/s then games loading times would always be slower internally compared to a SSD connected to a USB 3.0 port and thats just not the case with anyone's testing ive seen here on KZbin.

[@Lavoss05]

@@rockapartie I did the internal SSD upgrade with a 870 EVO and boot up times are better and shut down is way faster....also I changed the thermo paste with Artic MX5 and a noticeable difference then the MX4 that it replaced One X running great and would recommend both products to any gamer.

[@Lavoss05]

ok i get what your saying and your right...thanks for explaining that for me so not only do the SATA interface matters also the CPU as in decompressing the data.

[@alexsilva28]

Yo General Heed! Nice seeing you here

[@qualityesports7802]

Halo Infinite in Performance Mode on One X is VERY impressive, especially considering it's basically an RX 580 equivalent under the hood. Dynamic 1440p with target 60fps, with medium/high settings mix. Meanwhile on PC with my 3080 ti I have everything set to low at 1440p 90% render scale just to get a locked 120fps. Considering the vast difference in power between a One X and 3080 ti, it's clear where they spent a majority of their optimization time and resources. Hoping they improve PC performance A LOT over the lifespan of the game.

[@HorseheadNebula85]

Yeah, I was slightly underwhelmed with what my 3090 was pulling. I left it at 4K with everything maxed and I think it was hitting around 70-80 fps. With G-sync on an LG OLED the fast response time makes that 70-80 feel perfectly acceptable, though.

[@odedra01]

Same I have a 3070 laptop variant, and I struggle at 1080 60fps at high settings, it doesn’t scale well with nvidia cards but I got a series x so been playing it again on there

[@williamcrms]

Haven’t played the game on PC, but after watching all of the related DF videos, it’s clear that the new engine for Infinite doesn’t deliver good performance considering the visuals it’s pushing. Compared to idtech or the 4A Engine, 343’s new engine is a bit of a mixed bag. Still a great game despite its technical flaws.

[@cregangames]

On my 3080 on DF's optimized, I barely pull 80-100 with frequent drops to 60 and

[@travisc123]

This is really good to know. Since I got my ps5, my OneX has pretty much just belonged to my daughter, but I think I'm going to blow the dust off it and play Infinite on Gamepass!

[@jcfan1979]

I put a 2TB SSD internal to the One X and it's so much better. That console needed an SSD from the start. Texture pop-in and load time reductions make it worth it. Plus just navigating the system is so much faster. You guys should install one to your One X for future tests like this.

[@kieran.grant_]

That would be a nice QOL improvement for digital foundry, but wouldn't be totally fair for comparisons due to them not using a stock one X.

[@jamezxh]

First thing I did when I bought my One X Internal 1tb ssd and 2tb external ssd . Made a Massive Difference

[@kieran.grant_]

@@jamezxh why not put the bigger SSD as the internal storage?

[@paulj5336]

I almost didn't see the point of this video if an ssd isn't installed internally.

[@kieran.grant_]

@@paulj5336 It'll still make the games installed on the SSD load faster, and it's way easier for those who aren't tech and hardware savvy. With that being said, just crack the damn console open! The console itself will boot up faster, and make less noise as well. I love having a large external hard drive for my PS5, but never again will will I put up with having a HDD as anything more than secondary storage.

[@neighborofthedevil]

I think this video really emphasises that many of these differences are determined by game devs and how they optimise their games to take advantage of each console, rather than the hardware itself being "better" or "worse". I think the matrix unreal tech demo really shows off what next gen can really do when you build something next gen from the ground up.

[@aleksmeister92]

Having had both, I eventually sold the newer series s as I couldn't stand the worse graphics and inconsistent improvements over last gen, not even for faster load times or quick resume. I modified the one × with an internal SSD and it will do until a series x is worth buying (games that actually make sense for the new gen).

[@MJTH]

I think this is probably the best video that Oliver has made so far for DF! Great job, keep up the good work and quality content!

[@JRPGGUY]

Wanted this comparison for a while

[@glenmcl]

I didn't. Jaguar processor vs Zen2 ? Come on.

[@phaedrussocrates7636]

@@glenmcl damage control enters the ring ring ring

[@Kretenn]

@@phaedrussocrates7636 $499 console vs $299.... Destiny 2 or Wreckfest XSS destroys it.... What’s PS5s excuse?

[@mxmstrj]

Just wanted to acknowledge the effort put into this video! I've definitely wondered how the two stack up for different titles!

[@michaeljohn2826]

The SeriesS should have aimed for at least the same combined GPU and ram bandwidth as the OneX, that combined with the velocity architecture would have been a true entry point to next gen.

[@paradiseb5950]

well if they only used textures from one x versions it would be a much better experience, but playing mostly one s versions of games is unacceptable given how little new gen games there are

[@michaeljohn2826]

@@paradiseb5950 exactly, the SeriesS is definitely capable of running X1X enhancements, maybe not the 4K in all instances but the enhanced textures, effects and lighting should translate over to SeriesS no problem, they seriously need to look into this, OneS code simply isn't good enough and is one of the biggest reasons for buyers regret when it occurs.

[@JorgieTV01]

@Xbox Gaming 😂😂 exactly, others make it seem so simple

[@shiny460]

The entire point of the Series S hardware was to be able to price it at $300 and be a super cheap entry point for casual gamers, and it's incredibly amusing to watch enthusiasts totally fail to understand this

[@Web720]

It's not, the GPU's power of the XSS is on par with the X1X. It's purely dev lazyness, ie Warzone using BASE X1 code for XSS.

[@griffgames9538]

Remember, even if you put the ultimate hot rod SSD in a One X or PS4 Pro, the game will not install/create cache in a fully optimized fashion like a native Series or PS5 game. You won't get that advantage, and the One X/Pro still rely on 'passive' OS/CPU overhead for loading and decompression. There's simply no comparison. You'll always hit hard limitations with SSD on last gen consoles, despite some speed gains.

[@ShinyMooTank]

Agreed. The improvements for an External SSD are still worth wild for hardcore gamers but with the bottle cap of the CPU and sata 3. Microsoft thought it would be too expensive to put ssd in one x because the price of SSD and the limits of the CPU wouldn't be able to fully use the SSD bandwidth. I paid $175 for a Samsung T5 external SSD in early 2019. I could have bought a cheaper one or made my own with an SSD enclosure but for some reason I still bought the expensive one...

[@pesfreak18]

True but you still get the advantages of an SSD which is faster loading times. Not as fast as Series S/X but faster than before. For me I would make that upgrade since loading times cutting in half seems like a good idea.

[@igorbeuk6298]

Not only hardware limitations but software too because fantastic game have been made on last gen with good optimizing and even I have to always optimize sound in music production so sound can translate to all sound devices, low and high end amps and speakers , I can not afford to relay on listeners HiFi power and let only top HiFi handling sound and there are ISO standard similar to last gen consoles, they could make 30fps and keep the graphics , pedestrians and improve popping so players can enjoy instead they ruined expectations and started a " day one fear " . Cyberpunk is terrible piece of software.

[@jaysonbird3975]

Read this then smashed my new ext ssd I got.. dang thought I had something decent. Thanks gosh

[@pobbityboppity1110]

Also worth noting: recent lower budget titles might have series s improvements, but not one x improvements. A bunch of smaller game pass titles recently dropped are basically Xbox one titles on the x.

[@EfecanYSL]

Yeah because One X outperforms Series S. And Xbox cant afford that.

[@MT_Real_]

That's why i bought series X because it has one X games in compatibility

[@Somethingaboutthat]

@@EfecanYSL pretty sure Microsoft would be happy either way. The game makes them money, selling you new hardware doesn’t.

[@ajaakola2]

@@EfecanYSL For now yes, but considering the archetype of both consoles, series s is better and will scale higher later on

[@oneandonlyjark]

@@MT_Real_ and also a disc drive and larger storage space; The extra few hundred bucks for the Series X really makes a compelling case against S.

[@nategg481]

This is what I've been waiting for. As an owner of the 1X with external Kingston 256GB SSDs and two Sabrent bridges, I've always wanted to see a comparison like this. The Descent is no where as bad as John's video with the internal as an example or Prey for that matter.

[@AndreThompson925]

I own all three consoles One X for my son in law, Series S for my 14 year old and Series X for me. I will take the resolution hit on Series S for the speedy load times and 60fps gameplay (in most cases).

[@d0x360]

@@AndreThompson925 I would too. My wife is getting into gaming and in our bedroom is a x1x and a modded original Xbox. I could have just left the setup alone but I bought her a series s for Christmas. She's playing on a 1080p60 LCD that's probably 12 years old at this point... Although we do now have a 65inch LG CX sitting in the basement in it's box because I upgraded the living room to a C1 with the intent of selling the Cx for like $1k. Anyways I'd take the series s over x1x any day, even with differences in some games. Plus if we ever leave the previous gen behind then both the series consoles will shine a little brighter than they currently do...

[@anaholamakai623]

We "upgraded" to the Series S from our One Xs and regretted it. Wait for the Series X.

[@ReptilianRichardRamirez]

@@anaholamakai623 why the quotes? Series S has a wayyyyy faster CPU, faster RAM and an ssd.

[@jimmelton5846]

Own all 3 and Series S is a better console than the 1X and was half the price.

[@wastelandwanderer2693]

I had my One X for nearly 3 years until I just recently picked up the Series X a few days before Christmas. Played a few cross gen games on 1X that came out over the past 6 months and the difference of the SX and 1X is just amazing, load times and frame rates on the SX are just awesome.

[@Saturn2888]

This was a neat video, something I thought Richard would do. You did a great job, and the topic was really interesting. Answered a bunch of questions I had watching other DF console comparison videos.

[@existentialselkath1264]

The one X is designed to run last gen games as beautifully as possible, while the series S is designed to run all next gen games at all. Its definitely an interesting comparison but as time goes on newer games will require the extra cpu power and the one X will be left behind

[@Spokker]

COVID probably hurt the Xbox Series S. I'm sure a lot of truly next-gen games have been delayed that could only run on Series S.

[@techsamurai11]

I'm not sold on that - I think the Series S is going to be a big drawback on Series X, sort of like an anchor. It's the bottleneck and it requires extensive optimization to hit 30 fps and 60 fps. All that time and effort could be spent optimizing the Series X versions which as Alex Battaglia has been saying aren't always properly optimized. They go the resolution route as opposed to the visual detail route.

[@chazzilla8919]

@@techsamurai11 I doubt that, I think the series s isn't very far behind other than the graphical capability of the x but speaking about CPU and most of the tech they are very, very similar. Just gotta wait and see I guess

[@shock_me]

The concern is that the Series S is already being left behind in some notable ways as well. The sentiment that it's going to get stronger as the generation progresses is a misguided one. In the grander scheme, performance against previous gen consoles is of no great consequence. All that matters is how it fares against increasingly demanding games. And it's already buckling under the strain in that regard.

[@Spokker]

@@shock_me We have a Series S in the bedroom and while it ran that Matrix demo it looked awful at the distance I like to game at. It reminded me of late gen 360 and PS3 games that were buckling under the weight of modern games at that time, and looked like shimmering messes. I do like to sit a little closer to a 55 inch OLED (halfway between computer desk distance and couch distance) and soak in details. That's why I got the One X and now the Series X. It's nice to think of the Series S as an entry level casual game system, but here's hoping it doesn't hold back Series X.

[@adamthompson6669]

Love being a DF fan great work team, always doing the lords work :):), I had a Xbox one X great console and I traded it in for my Series X (which i was lucky to get day one) :) Going to be a big year for DF cant wait for all the content and great games coming this year :) thanks Team DF

[@theafrorambo5081]

Great content! I was looking for this comparison

[@TheMelonFarmers123]

This is the most mixed bag comparison I’ve ever seen from you guys. Really interesting

[@matthewrichardson8162]

I love the One X. Got it day one 2017 and loved being able to play games in 4k/30fps or 1080p/60fps. FYI, even an external SSD shaves a little time off the loading.

[@rock2k14]

10:42 It's kind of interesting that in the side by side here, the lower res of the Series S actually has a more realistic picture, the branches all look normal, where as the One X they're floating in the air and super thin

[@Al-fi3nt]

It's really not hard to swap out the internal 1tb 2.5 in hdd inside the one x for a 1tb 2.5 in ssd. I've done it on several consoles and with most decent 1tb ssds on the market costing only around $100 it's an easy choice.

[@CarolinaPride95]

I want to butt I don't know shit about doing it xD

[@johnny2peeks800]

I love this comparison! Great work DF, as always.

[@Doberminator]

You had to insert the SSD as a system disk, then the pleasure of using the console increases significantly, and loading times are even faster

[@EduardoVasquezMedina]

Interesting exercise. I installed a Samsung QVO 1TB SSD to my ps4 Pro about 2 years ago (just before covid started ) and I saw a lot of performance gains and better stability on the OS in general. Taking screenshots or saving clips was faster than using the old 5400rpm hard drive and the loading times on games like Spiderman was really short. Not PS5 levels but a lot less than the stock drive. Now I'm using the same SSD as an external drive on my ps5/ps4 Pro and the load are still fast for games like Warzone or Vanguard when I play on different rooms, just take the drive and works like a memory card.

[@ZackSNetwork]

That’s because a 5400 laptop harddrive in the PS4 is the slowest ever modern hard drive. I tested a 7200rpm harddrive and SSD and the gap in speed was not that big of a deal.

[@DJ_Dopamine]

@@ZackSNetwork Well, maybe in an old console with a 'weak' CPU (decompression times are CPU reliant, also streaming into system memory) but when that's not the bottleneck (example on a decent PC) then there is a big difference between a (good quality) SATA III SSD and a 7200/10000 rpm mechanical drive.

[@ZackSNetwork]

@@DJ_Dopamine We’re did my comment or the OP ever mention PC? We are talking about the PS4 Pro.

[@random_gamer_guy82]

My stock ps4 pros screenshot and video capture is way way slow, snails pace. Like 10 seconds behind even now

[@TheZoenGaming]

I did something similar, though I used an 860 EVO since it had about 15% better performance than the QVO drives. FFXV load times went from 5 minutes to about 25 seconds. LOL

[@M_LittleRivers]

What an amazing analysis. Thank you for your work.

[@Nekudza]

This "30" speed limit sign when you speak about One X limitations in performance was a great little detail! ;)

[@guybrushthreepwood8174]

I'll take 60ish fps and 1080p over 30fps + any resolution 90 % of the time.

[@ThisIsVeto]

This is the way

[@Rumteldat]

Preach brother.

[@MGTOW89]

but console players have been saying for many years, since ps3 and xbox360 generation, that the human eye can only see 30 fps max, so 60 fps is an overkill. why would you take it over 30 fps??

[@DaBuffNerd]

@@MGTOW89 it's definitely noticeable

[@johnbishop2536]

@@DaBuffNerd I think he's Joking, a fanboy defending 30fps because Horizon was an exclusive and claiming that the human eye can't see above 30fps and that playing games at 30fps were the way they are meant to be played.

[@halcyondaystunes]

You guys must have read my mind 😂 I have an Xbox One X and I've been looking at loads of videos as I'm tempted to get a Series S while I wait for more Series X to hit the shops as I'm getting pretty tired of the load times on Forza Horizon 5 and I'm sure they are getting longer as each week passes. But I'm worried the down grade in resolution will be too noticeable for me. So this is perfect. Thank you 😃

[@mattjudy6780]

The resolution is horrible on most BC games

[@nothing2see315]

I have SS and XB1X and some games like Dirt Rally 2.0 and the lower res go unnoticed because the X has a lot of screen tearing for DR2. Red Dead Redemption 2 looks better on the X. BF1 looks better on the S and runs a lot smoother. It’s kind of all over the place, but Red Dead is running on XB1S settings so it’s just a matter of changing that, should be easy but hasn’t happened yet.

[@Trevorischillin]

I'm still using a 1080p screen so the series s has been a great pickup for me. Dont play a huge amount of games so the small storage isnt a big pain and have been enjoying fps boost on xbox one and especially now 360 era games. The 360 version of Fallout NV might have issues but man does it feel so much better at 60 and you just can't get that on last gen. Loving the series s rn.

[@deathtrooper2048]

@@nothing2see315 That's physically impossible, BF1 on xbox one x runs at 4k most of the time while on series s it's 900p cause it uses the base xbox one settings so it can't look better than the xbox one x

[@jubei20111]

quick resume alone is worth the upgrade. I'm switching between 4-5 different games on a regular basis with only a few seconds of load time to get back to exactly where I left off last time.

[@damonh8823]

I replaced my One X HDD with a 2TB Solid State Hybrid Drive (which only cost me 80 CAD). After a loading a game a few times, the hybrid drive load times are essentially equal to a regular SSD (I don't jump between multiple games typically). Something to keep in mind if the regular SSD prices are bit too much of an investment for a last-gen console.

[@ginmit3383]

Thank you for nicely comparing the two in such impeccable detail. ❤️

[@kodaiyoung]

As a player who has both consoles I must say that FPS boost is game changing. There is not a single tittle who has FPS boost that I would prefer to play at a high rez but on 30 fps on one X. Recore, Fable, Lords of the fallen... all of them became better to play on Series S. My one X now is just for older games that have no improvements except 4k resolution.

[@EndlessFunctionality]

Lords of The Fallen. Yup. I remember trying to play it on OneX and how horrible the framerate was. Now on Series X. You play it the way it was intended.

[@phil_75]

Microsoft have canned that now too along with back compat and dev mode.

[@environm3ntalist549]

@@phil_75 dev mode is still here and always will be. As for back compat and fps boost the body of work is already there. No particular need to go to town on adding loads more.

[@RemixerUltimate]

@@phil_75 dev mode's never going anywhere. You need to check your sources.

[@mandrews6282]

Yah I mean I have a Series X but if I had to choose between a One X and a Series S I’d go Series S everytime. FPS Boost, hardware accelerated ray tracing, quick resume, ssd storage, higher framerates, and a significantly better CPU win out over a good amount but not all games in 4K with a dated CPU and 30 fps. People get so focused on resolution that they forget how outdated the cpu is. If the One X could hack it with next gen they would just keep that, but the One X is being phased out and the Series S remaining a next gen console for a reason. Even with an SSD installed in a One X, which in itself is a pointless upgrade since that would cost more than a Series X, and the One X coming in at 100 dollars more than the Series S as is, the S wins out. It is an interesting comparison though as I see a lot of people bicker about this in various forums as to which is better.

[@BusyDadGaming]

Loved the comparison. One thing to keep in mind is that if you don’t have a One X already, the value proposition is much harder. Used right now you’re looking at $350 to $400 in the U.S. and the cost of the SSD. For a last-gen console, that’s a high ask. However, if you already have a One X, getting an SSD makes total sense and wait for a Series X to become more readily available.

[@MostlyPennyCat]

The BC loading times for X360 games on XSS are incredible. I replayed Binary Domain and the load times are sub 1 second, feels about 600ms. Incredible

[@MatSpeedle]

Replacing the internal drive in my One X was a game changer so glad I did that many years ago. Still a great bit of kit. It wasn't the easiest process at the time but there are great guides out there to get you through it and bypass that usb3 limitation and get everything you can out of it.

[@ShinyMooTank]

USB 3 vs sata 3 isnt a big deal because your still limited by the CPU and the xbox doesn't use the built in cache on the SSD. Only true gain from an internal SSD over an External SSD is the OS booting up faster and the xbox home menu being more snappy.

[@leonfrancis3418]

The One X was such a beast of a console for its time and even now. Now with Xcloud Gaming MS is giving it more life, and the ability to play current gen games. It's amazing what a company can do when it's not shackled by the constraint of needing hardware sales to push its business model forward.

[@PadaV4]

No it wasn't. Every single last gen console was underpowered and struggled to maintain 30 fps.

[@WaveForceful]

@@PadaV4 Only certain games could do 60fps and they had to make compromises.

[@bauer9101]

I moved from One X to Series S. I prefer the Series S due to quick resume and more 60fps locked games. I decided to take the resolution hit. Also I have little money right now for gaming so the Series S suits me fine.

[@Imadeyourun]

I also have the Series S, and a One X, and I play my games most on my Series S on a 1440p monitor. After playing on the Series S, it's hard to go back to the One X.

[@ZackSNetwork]

Going from a One X to Series S is the definition of a side grade.

[@bauer9101]

@@ZackSNetwork Yeah I got a good price for my One X so it was just a swap in reality. It helps I don't own any physical games.

[@mantis2831]

@@ZackSNetwork go play sea of thieves or destiny 2 on a one x compared to a SS and tell me it's a side grade

[@pixeljauntvr7774]

@@mantis2831 The exactly what it is though. An upgrade in performance at the cost of fidelity.

[@danielcowen2311]

Very interesting video. The part that jumps out to me is that a portable drive is used. The reason I'm considering this is because the portable drive could be used for games to play on both my One X and Series X from the same drive. Or at least to park games and move them as well.

[@danielhobbs7904]

Great information thanks DF.

[@mitchboland9591]

This video made me realize just how good the one x was when it launched. I switched to pc around the time it released, but the one x offers a decent gaming experience even in 2022.

[@nightdriver7216]

It was a monster! It could match and even beat the GTX 1070 in quite a few games. Series X is not as impressive IMO. Still powerful, but much less difference to PS5 and compromises to run 4K60.

[@parallax8207]

I also switched to PC mostly because some doom 2 mods, but I'm somewhat considering going back to the simpler but powerful Xbox one x

[@WaveForceful]

Same I went to PC too, I run an RTX 2060 and I can run most of the newer games at 1440p at 60fps pretty well. Bioharzard Village is one such game that I was very suppirsed about. I was worried my PC would struggle but that game is very well optomized to run on weaker systems. Lookign forward to see how it runs the biohazard 4 remake too.

[@destroyermcw626]

Facts!

[@jeremybrown9611]

After getting the SS for Xmas, the only upgrade from there for me is the SX, I prefer the SS over the 1X ultimately!

[@TheSwartz]

Excellent video. Since I can't get a second XB Series X easily, I was thinking of getting an Series S for a second room. Looks like I'm better off just putting my older XB One X in there instead.

[@stevec00ps]

Very interesting video - thanks!

[@LucasTheBard]

I have an xbox one x where I replaced the internal HD with an SSD, very happy with it. I do want a series X at some point, but I'm not too worried with it until I can get one at MSRP.

[@The_MEMEphis]

They are finally starting to get easier to find depending on your location, give it a couple more months

[@LucasTheBard]

@@The_MEMEphis Here in Germany I see them at ~ 590 Euro on Ebay. If in a few months it slides down to 500 ish I'll be probably getting one.

[@ScrapKing73]

How is your internal SSD performance vs. the USB SSD performance shown in this video? How hard was it to do the upgrade?

[@underflip2]

Its funny. We are one year in to the newest generation and I still haven't seen a ps5 or xbox irl

[@carlosmolina6073]

Thank you for posting what everyone was thinking!

[@JonathanTacoman]

He'll of a video DF... I have been waiting for something like this

[@kubev]

I do think an SSD "upgrade" for Xbox One X (or even Xbox One S) makes sense for anyone who's eventually planning to upgrade to Xbox Series X or S, as that same SSD will serve as sufficiently fast storage for games not specifically designed for Xbox Series X and S. Great video, though it would've been interesting to test the same external SSD on Xbox Series S. I'm almost positive Xbox Series S would've loaded games much faster from the same SSD compared to Xbox One X.

[@pblchldy8082]

yea but that makes no sense if someone has an xbox one x and upgrades to an SSD which is inevitably cheaper than upgrading to a series S/X. Then from a cost perspective viewpoint its a minor upgrade to the S for possibly better FPS. Might as well keep the one X with an upgraded SSD and it will continue to thrive for many years to come without needing to upgrade to the new consoles.

[@kubev]

Xbox One X will only see support for as long as developers are supporting base Xbox One.

[@Gyousel]

@@pblchldy8082 I cant imagine developers would want to continue support of consoles from 2013 for that much longer

[@GarveyMustangMan]

@@pblchldy8082 the bottleneck then becomes only the CPU.

[@solid_justice5855]

@Klumsy Kameleon most MS exclusives releasing this year won’t come to x one though. Only through streaming

[@JamieKristopher]

How about replacing the internal drive of the One X with an SSD for an even deeper comparison between the two generations? When I changed out my One X's internal for an SSD, it made a massive difference.

[@kojot0976]

Excellent test. Would like to see it with internal SSD upgrade on One X/One S in comparison to Series S/X.

[@RobRuiz805]

About 2 months with my XSS and I love it. That little box packs a solid punch. Soon as I get an X I'm passing it on to my nephews

[@jasonlc3221]

These are definitely strange times, as the One X might be favorable to some ppl over the Series S. Even tho One X is older tech, it's just crazy times we live in right now, where I can find Series S on store shelves for MSRP, while One X used on ebay was more than the price of Series S just a few months ago. It's calmed down a bit now, you can bid on One X and probably win for under the price of a Series S right now. It definitely makes sense why Xbox was so quick to stop production of One X a couple years ago, but at the same time, I kinda wish they would've kept it in production and just let consumers have a choice (hence part of the idea that I'm sure gave rise to this video). Again, I understand their reasons for ending production, just would've been interesting and kinda cool had you still been able to buy a One X off store shelves over a Series S

[@forzasgd4284]

Well, in Germany it's really easy to get a Xbox One X on eBay for less then 200€. After launch of NextGen consoles I sold my old PS4 Pro for 260€ and bought a One X Gold Rush Special Edition for 180€. Since that eBay always showed me One X consoles as recommendations and the average price didn't really change since late 2020. Edit: Series S price is here at 299€.

[@lassesuurmunne8340]

I have all three strangely enough, just found a series x finally this week. One X is definitely not a winner in all cases since Series S often has the edge with performance and graphical features. It depends on the game so much. Playing last gen games, say like Resident Evil 2 Remake or 3 Remake, they look nicer on One X but are 60fps on Series S. But that’s also because you’re often getting the One S version and you’re not getting a version optimized for Series S. Of course now owning a Series X as well it’s the best of all worlds. But insanely hard to find, I just got lucky that a local store got some in. You had to physically go to the store and ask at the counter, no online purchases or reservations. But anyway it’s not a simple comparison to compare One X to Series S. I have both, Series S is better on a lot of titles if you care about 60fps and next gen graphical features. Series S is often slightly softer but better actual graphics. But sometimes for sure One X wins. Depends on the title. But there is no clear winner. And depends a lot on what’s important to you. The bigger problem is that cross gen will soon be over. But one x will remain a good system for last gen and backwards compatibility. Having said that Series S is not a clear upgrade from One X, it is and is not. I’d recommend trying to find a Series X if possible for One X owners. Just because those people tend to want state of the art. Series S is for people who just wanna play the games, but it is at times crazy impressive. Resident Evil Village looks virtually identical on Series S and X, I’ve tested both. That title shows that Series S can punch, and One X is 30fps. Series S is the clear winner with that game easily. But Halo, you might prefer One X. It’s a strange comparison, not that simple.

[@Marc28031984]

One X now became a rare collectible 😂✌🏼

[@Lavoss05]

I definitely agree with you on this that they should have kept the 1X as a budget console and maybe slammed it down for a better price and then have the series X as a premium console the point here would be is to continue with 4K gaming at a minimum and also continued Xbox One support with a premium console like the X

[@rosacemvila7521]

@@Lavoss05 you have cloud now and we need true next gen game

[@Shoota722]

Great video, I moved from an X1X to an XSS (until I can find an XSX) and I am quite happy with it despite the trade offs and sometimes worse BC (but sometimes better). Having quick resume, faster load times, 60 fps BC games, and 60 fps Forza Horizon 5 haven’t made me regret the move. I actually sold my X1X with a bunch of 360 discs for more than I paid for the XSS.

[@JustAnotherGamerUS]

Good job, dude. Solid video

[@jorgeadame5019]

Great video guys

[@BruceRichwineJr]

I wish they would of taken this a step further and replace the internal HHD with an SSD. I did this with my One X a couple years ago and the difference in performance was night and day. Loading times and fast travel in games were cut in half and maybe even more than that. I was constantly waiting for friends to load into games and load during fast travel scenarios.

[@josephshin9297]

Thanks for making this video. I was considering picking up a Series S last week, but decided not to because of lack of disc drive. This video definitely makes me feel like waiting for a Series X is the right choice for my needs/wants.

[@techsamurai11]

Definitely, wait for the XSX, the XSS is an old gen console regardless of when it was released. Cloud gaming on your XO is a better choice until you fin a XSX. The issue is that XSX owners all have to pay a penalty for the XSS since it requires more optimization to hit 1080p…. The developers could use those hundreds to thousands of hours optimizing the XSX version but they can’t because the XSS is drowning them with underperformance. I’m sure as they are optimizing games, the resolution drops to 540p and to maintain the frame rate and then they have to chop more features and rinse and repeat until it hits 720 or 900p.

[@Miag_vip]

@@techsamurai11 can you provide a link to where the series s drops to those resolutions?

[@techsamurai11]

@@Miag_vip Digital Foundry does a lot of pixel counts and I'm sure I've heard them mention low resolutions in the 720p and 900p.

[@codezero7981]

@@techsamurai11 the Series S never drops to 540p, stop lying

[@paulmidgley8040]

Series s is a brilliant console. I have both s and x but I tend to use the s more. It's just a bit sexier.

[@sanjivsujeebun118]

Swapping the internal hdd for a ssd in the pro or one x benefits in reducing pop ins and delay in texture loading as tested in a bunch of games... Which is a big plus as well as cutting loading times by half..

[@Lilyomtm]

great video!! Always wanted to know if the upgrade is worth it.

[@andrewmartel916]

Yep this sort of thing is more reminiscent of PC upgrades than any gen before it. Think of the S line up as low / mid range cards and the X line up as the high end cards. If you were wanting an upgrade of your base Xbox one s, than the series s is that and more. If you wanted a big upgrade from the one x, series x is definitely what you’re going to want. That being said both the series s and x provide certain features that neither the one s or one x did. Sort of how 10 series misses out on RT and more importantly DLSS of the 20 and 30 series cards. As an example

[@mr.pinckney]

It feels like a lot of features are being cut out of newer x1x versions of games so that the series s version still has an advantage in order to push console sales. X1x could run 60 fps in many games with dynamic resolution scaling but they are only giving that option to the new consoles. Until the series console releases many x1x games started utilizing performance or graphics options that aren't being offered in newer releases.

[@prich0382]

No that's false, no amount of dynamic resolution will help ONE X frame rates, the limiting factor is CPU, the CPU is extremly slow hindering framerate stability. There are many games on ONE X with choice for performance or Quality, and almost every single one fails to maintain stable 60 cus the dog shit CPU.

[@user-jg8eh8fw5z]

Your best video of recent times. I enjoyed it.

[@averagesuperman316]

I just bought a T7 for my One X so this video is almost providential. Great work guys!

[@mathewdavies6472]

I went from an old second (possibly third) hand basic Xbone to the series S and thought the difference between those was amazing but recently managed to get a series X and it blows the S out of the water, for a casual gamer the S is a good purchase but for someone that really does enjoy their gaming then it's worth getting the series X

[@JGarrison51285]

I'm having a absolute blast with mine so far, when I went from the one S to the series X this past month it's a night and day difference

[@mathewdavies6472]

@@JGarrison51285 I can imagine a jump like that would be great. Noticed a huge difference in a lot of games, the nights and neon lights in Cyberpunk just look incredible, the ray tracing and textures in a plague take are just so sublime I've spent half an hour just looking at wood lol

[@adonizss]

@@mathewdavies6472 ı think there was no big diffrence series s and x ı jump ps4 to series s and so good graphics

[@russellgreen3656]

@@adonizss your wrong . If you play on a 4K 144fps monitor you’ll see a huge jump between the series x and s

[@adonizss]

@@russellgreen3656 ıf ı have 4 k 144 hz monitor ı buy rtx 4090 gaming pc why buying 300 or 500 dollar console

[@Jayhawker2000]

The problem with this comparison is that you are assuming the user will be playing on a 4K TV.

[@johnconnorpliskin7184]

Even on my 42 in 4k tv the Series S looks great. I’m sitting like 8 feet away from it and while lower resolutions are noticeable, they eventually fade away as I am focusing on the undeniably better performance in most games.

[@rockhunther0209]

Alex would crucify him for his pronounciation of Wolfenstein LOL Great video, tho! Looking forward to more content made by you. A fine addition to the DF, I feel!

[@AndruComedy]

Nice! finally a comparison that affects me. I threw a cloned SSD in my x1x 2 years ago and it's a beast. My one S is great but doesn't have the 4k stuff on back-compat.

[@nicholas123lotr]

After I got my Xbox One X I immediately opened it up and installed an internal 2 tb SSD. It runs so much better. It’s super easy to do this upgrade and the gains you get are pretty mind boggling. Most games are instantly loading or I have to way just a couple of seconds. Internal SSD upgrade is IMHO the best thing you could to for your xbox one x and for yourself. Everything is faster. Downloading, installing or upgrading games is soo much faster. For people that don’t know how to upgrade internal HDD to an SSD just youtube it. It’s super easy to do. I recommend you also change CPU thermal paste if you’re opening your xbox. Xbox power!

[@amysterysnack7949]

Something that I find fascinating is the comparisons of new and old releases on current gen consoles. Over time, the comparisons between Xbox and Playstation was no difference on presentation and performance. That still applies with Series X and PS5, but the addition of Series S brought that curiosity back, since now we're dealing with Two powerful consoles and a less powerful, but still impressive console. It's thanks to Series S that I find this videos exiting because how much possibilities there are, and will be, to compare videogames, resolution and performance like in this awesome video.

[@REMEDY-REPAIRS]

I always wanted to see a comparison video between these 2 consoles 😁😁💯🤜🏾👍🏾

[@Progressive.G]

Great video!

[@garydiamondguitarist]

It's a bit of disappointing surprise that the usually thorough Digital Foundry didn't change the internal HDD for an internal SSD. The One X is a surprisingly easy machine to get into, it's time consuming sure as it's very tightly packed in the chassis, but it's well labelled and the screws aren't impossible to get out. I had my One X upgraded with a 2TB SSD, which really cut a lot of game load times in half. Not as impressive as how they are on the Series X which I traded it in for, but it's certainly noticeable, and also helps minimise pop in from streaming assets while the game world is loaded, too. Running an SSD by USB is really kind of a waste when the internal SATA-3 bus is so much better suited for the job.

[@ScrapKing73]

THIS is the video I've been waiting for since the Series S came out. :D I own both a One X and a Series S. However, I only use my Series S. Why? It's the quality of life stuff: the Dashboard is far faster on Series S, and you lose out on Quick Resume on the One X. The resolution bump on One X probably would be worth losing JUST the higher frame-rate, or JUST the QoL improvements, or JUST the faster Dashboard, or JUST Quick Resume, but not all four, at least not for me.

[@fantherailsbc]

Would like chapters on these long videos so I don't have to skip around to see the stuff that I want to see. Thanks.

[@ntrdvneb9616]

Just like that you have helped me to decide what to do with my last 2tb ssd .. one for the laptop , another went to my PS5 and well was debating to use with my X-1x but now that bad boy is going into X-seriesS .. Good shiitt awesome video !!!

[@sloeginandsleep1170]

About 18 months ago, the HDD died in my One X. No Biggie, I had really got my money from it, so I didn't mind cracking on. I opened it, cleaned everything, new thermal paste, 1TB internal SSD and all back together. Best upgrade I ever made. Smooth UI, buttery general performance, 2/3 times faster loading times. It's a win win. I now have a Series X & S in the house, so my teen son has been given it for his bedroom until he's got his own X. It's working beautifully, despite how much Cyberpunk he's been playing.....if it still had its old thermal paste and HDD, I bet it would have melted through the TV unit. No regrets and can really breathe new life into a old console.

[@dom4591]

I've been using a Series X as my main console for the the last year. Sometimes I still use my One X on the downstairs tv and it's such a struggle to use. I didn't realize how damn slow the One X is, it's almost unusable at times. How the hell was i gaming on that thing for a few years lol? I would take a Series S over the One X any day because of the SSD and better frame rates if i had to choose.

[@revelator3665]

You can put internal SSD in One X...Is very Easy i have do it

[@dom4591]

@@revelator3665 I would if i didn't have a Series X already. I should have did that when the one x was my main. My buddy did and it made a difference for him. I would just buy a Series S now instead of getting an SSD for my One X. I prefer higher frame rate over resolution anyway

[@Capricorn_IV]

@@revelator3665 still not as fast as a series s, although better than the standard one X hardrive

[@fightnight14]

I wish the Switch also get SSD upgrade. I’ve been playing too much Xbox Series X that when I play my Switch it just saddens me how the loading time takes.

[@Logsi27]

I sold my Scorpio One X and straight swapped it for a Series S for the office. Don’t regret it one bit! Admittedly the TV in there is a 1080p set but that is ample for that room.

[@kyronroberts7941]

Excellent video.

[@JeremyRiedel]

Has Digital Foundry done a similar video comparing the PS4 Pro w/SSD and the PS5? I recall a couple videos wherein they covered the Pro w/SSD, but a direct comparison like this would be great.

[@michaeljohn2826]

I still use the OneX regularly for the likes of RDR2, metro exodus, final fantasy 15 etc as I value the visual experience of these games and the oneX knocks that side of things out of the park.. I then go to my SeriesS for gamepass and absolutely everything else now because it just makes everything feel so dammed good, I love it way more than anything I've ever had before. Yes the SeriesX would be nice eventually but their is just something about the crazy neat little S that really scratches a geek itch or something.

[@wollzman]

A friend gave me his One X so i have some questions. My TV is a 1080p so are the games targeting 1080p or still targeting and super sampling to 4K. Its baffling im having frame drops on games that i know that on 1080, One X can run them super fine. For example Apex Legends. I get frame drops as low as 44fps where on ps4 pro.. it' never goes below 50

[@lf170]

Playing on a 1080p screen, I really love the higher FPS on the Series S. However, I got the Xbox One X at release so owning both currently works out as well: for games where I prefer a higher frame rate to better image (not to mention, much faster load times), I go for the XSS. For games that already load decently enough (with an SSD, I may add), or where a high frame rate mode isn't available or doesn't matter and image quality is noticeably better (even with 1080p, the upscaled 4K image produces a better image), I use the One X - and also for titles I only own on disc. Lately though, I've been picking up digital titles of games I already have own on disc if the discount is deep enough, just for the convenience of not having to replace discs and also for the super quick performance of the Series S (Quick Resume is an incredible feature).

[@BONES9972]

I've been loving my Xbox X since launch. Got Halo Series X for Christmas and for the most part still playing on my One X. One X is a rock solid system ! May get a SSD for it. Now rocking a external that's faster than internal drive but not a SSD.

[@donaldthompson4044]

The increased CPU speeds also contributes to the faster loading times. Also, the Series S will load lower quality textures which will reduce the load times as well.

[@LucasTheBard]

I believe we could have a test with a unit with its internal drive switched with a good SATA SSD. That should be a little bit faster and would provide yet another comparison point. (Yes I do know there is no way to compete with the NVMe SSDs that the series consoles sport, but the internal drive SSD is not too difficult to pull off if the owner of the console is minimally tech savy).

[@JustinHixson]

Usb 3.0 is rated for 5 Gbps whereas Sata 3 is rated for 6 Gbps, the difference between the two interfaces is not very large, and is a bit offset by the fact that the "slower" external drive also doesn't have to serve OS data. There are many videos in KZbin that compare load speeds between internal and externals SSD's on Xbox one x and the result is that there is virtually zero real world difference between the two. The reality is that once you get into these SSD speeds the bottleneck becomes the CPU. You can see this by noting a dramatic improvement in load times when comparing a One X with an external SSD and a Series X/S with the exact same external SSD. The games load dramatically faster with the faster CPU even though the storage speed is exactly the same, demonstrating the CPU to be the bottleneck, not the storage.

[@RascalCatify]

@@JustinHixson Except that the One X has a SATA 2 bus for the HDD. So putting a drive in the console would, technically, be much slower than using it externally via USB 3.0

[@FilippoRossano]

Of course One X is more suited for 4K but i don't think the majority of the owners of the Series S are using it on a 4K set, it would be odd. Imho the biggest mistake on Series S is the memory set (amount and speed of the RAM), with a proper RAM set it would be perfect as a 1080p machine for this generation, and 1080p is still a super popular resolution in gaming monitor/TVs. I think that a One X owner should target a Series X, so it's more convenient to stay put on that and wait for the very first next gen only titles, as of now is still a really capable machine if you can pass over loading times.

[@keithnmoore2]

I use a Series S on a 4K tv, mainly because it’s hard to find a reasonably priced Series X at the moment, so I have a PS5 and a Series S right now, but I’m enjoying the Series S though at the moment

[@davidandrew6855]

The RAM set for the Series S is just fine for 1080p gaming, you have 8GB of higher bandwidth for graphically intensive I/O, not sure how much of that is actually set aside for games. The bandwidth is still higher than the PS4 Pro, and that system was certainly a capable 1440P gaming system, 4K with CBR. Personally, and I can't stress that enough, I believe the Series S will be fine at 1080p moving forward, once all the features of the system are utilized. The jump in CPU power alone is extremely important, not to mention the SSD/Velocity Engine tech. The only thing I would have changed if I was Microsoft would have been 26 CUs in the Series S, exactly half of the Series X, but perhaps that was just not a possibility for reasons i don't understand. Yields may have been one of them...

[@thedude8128]

@@davidandrew6855 no it's not. It's struggling to stay at 1080p/60. Gotg drops to 900p in a lot of the scenes. Series s is trash and will become weaker as games become full on current gen. Only MS games will run decently since they'll spend years to make it optimized for SS. Don't waste your money on subpar previous gen quality gaming. Save the extra cash and get the current gen console.

[@mikem2253]

@CJ P. Sure. But the ones you actually want to play on aren’t. Or are, depending on your budget.

[@davidandrew6855]

@@thedude8128 Sorry but I disagree with your assessment. I own one and it is performing fine for me and I think it will only get better as this generation goes on and we lose the shackles of last generation cross-platform gaming. As for GotG I would not base the performance of Series S on a game that has had no less than 8 versions of the game released. If memory serves even the Series X and Ps5 have to run performance mode at 1080p, hardly what I call stellar performance for such robust systems. I don't expect it to ever compete with the Series X and PS5, but it will do fine for 1080p. It has the CPU and SSD technology that is more important for current generation than TF ratings. Just my opinion, feel free to disagree.

[@ScrapKing73]

For some people, the fact that the One X supports Kinect would be key. There are those who still use Kinect, even in 2022, believe it or not. In addition to older Kinect software, Just Dance still releases a new version on the system every year, and still supports Kinect. And some people still use Kinect voice commands, and the IR blaster in the Kinect, to control the TV (and other A/V equipment). Some nice quality of live improvements there, in full fairness to the Kinect. :)

[@bob23301]

I loved my XBX, but it became quite obvious once i grabbed a S that i was going for the S, and that became clear with the fact when i saw massive difference in visual assets missing on the XBX version, plus no MSFS on the XBX.

[@veeetox]

Microsoft said from the beginning that the Series S is a 1080p/1440p machine, so saying that the One X is better because it has 4K is totally pointless

[@mehhhblehhh1561]

The series s looks horrible in too many games. The one X is better.

[@veeetox]

@@mehhhblehhh1561 One X can't even do 60fps for most games, and don't have fps boost mode like Series X/S

[@rainsthetic]

try play gta 6 in one x in 2025. then u bark okay? ​@@mehhhblehhh1561

[@randyrrs7028]

​@veeetox and the series s cant even do 1440p 60fps on halo infinite, one x is better

[@SystemicLE]

The problem with Series S is that it runs last gen games like it was just an Xbox one, with blurry graphics and low resolution, for example in Mafia or Ryse

[@Hazmatt36000]

The One X is was a monster when it was released.

[@Slinger184Paintball]

I’ll just say this, I had a one x and I currently have both series x and s. I’m on a Gears Marathon and noticed that One X, even with its One X 4k enhancement, Only played at 30 FPS. Then I continued on my Series S and largely preferred the 60 FPS thanks to FPS Boost. Frame-rate is king. After that I realized the days of using my One X are over.

[@deathtrooper2048]

The one x has a 60 fps mode with higher settings.

[@Slinger184Paintball]

@@deathtrooper2048 in some games, yes but not all. Gears of War games happen to be the ones that don’t. Gears 1, ultimate edition, 2, 3, and judgment are only capable of 30 fps. Series S can play WAY more games at 60 or higher than the One X. Not to say the One X isn’t powerful enough to do it, Xbox probably did this on purpose so people have a reason to buy the new consoles.

[@Viscel2al]

Have been looking for a video like this ever since the gameplay for Halo Infinite was the same between both of said consoles.