PlayStation consoles come with a stand that can be used either vertically or horizontally. There is no preferred placement option, since the cooling system takes in fresh air through the slots along the edges and throws it out from behind – the main thing is that the console does not rest against the blank wall of the cabinet.
There should be no problems with dimensions when placed horizontally – despite the relatively large dimensions, the PS5 is no wider and no higher than a Hi-Fi Blu-Ray player.

The “digital” version does not have a drive – if you have PS4 games on disc, you will have to buy them again from the PlayStation Store to play on the new console.

The dimensions of the Xbox Series X are 301 x 151 x 151mm.

Microsoft consoles are equipped with two sets of feet on the bottom and left side faces, they can be installed in a vertical or horizontal position without additional accessories.

The Xbox Series X is best placed vertically. The cooling system draws in cool air from below and exhausts hot air from above – there may not be enough space on the sides in the TV stand for effective cooling. In addition, a round platform-stand will be noticeable on the left (it is non-removable).

Series S can be placed on either side. However, hot air is ejected through the grilles on the right and left (mostly on the left, through the power supply), so in a horizontal orientation, heat will be dissipated more efficiently.

The Series S does not have a disc drive – the console only supports games purchased digitally. If you have discs for Xbox One, you won’t be able to play those games on the new console and you’ll have to repurchase them from the digital store.

Cooling Systems – Tower Scavenging vs. Bilateral Turbine

Sony and Microsoft have shown very different approaches to the cooling systems of their consoles.

Xbox Series X is a pipe through which a huge (by the standards of consoles) fan drives air from the bottom to the top.

The motherboard is divided into two parts and, as it were, folded in half. On the main part there is a single chip of the processor and video card, GDDR6 RAM modules and a power subsystem, and on the back (auxiliary) there is a chipset, an audio chip and external ports. Also on the side of the auxiliary board is a 315 W power supply and a floppy drive.

More than half of the main board is covered by a large vapor chamber that transfers heat to a massive heatsink.

The design of the PlayStation 5 cooling system is also double-sided, but the motherboard is one. A large double-sided turbine draws air through the slots between the chassis and side panels of the console and drives it through an intricately shaped radiator that occupies a large area on the right side.

On the “wrong side” there are RAM chips, a power subsystem and three of the six chips of the built-in SSD drive – a metal plate fits snugly against it, which at the same time serves to isolate from electromagnetic pickups and removes excess heat from the components. The VRM zone has a separate heat pipe with a copper contact pad, and the GDDR6 chips are directly connected to the backplate using thermal paste.

On the “front” side of the board there is a combined processor and motherboard chip, three more chips of the built-in SSD and a Kraken memory controller.

The radiator consists of several blocks of aluminum plates and heat pipes fixed on a copper base. Sony notes that it did not use a vapor chamber, as it was not necessary. Instead, engineers took care of more efficient heat dissipation from the hottest part – the processor.

The crystal is directly connected to the copper base of the cooler with a layer of liquid metal. A mixture of gallium, indium and tin conducts heat much more efficiently than mineral pastes, and when applied by a special machine, a layer of LM in theory can last for decades.

The airflow circulates inside the case, passes through the radiators, and is thrown out through the rear grille. Part of the airflow goes through the 350W corner PSU and also exits at the back.

At the moment, there are no reliable noise and temperature tests for PS5 and Xbox Series X, so it is difficult to compare cooling systems. However, at first glance, both options look thoughtful and quite effective.

However, the Xbox Series X is easier to disassemble and easier to service. The fact is that disassembling the PS5 cooling system is strictly not recommended – once violating the integrity of the liquid metal layer, you can destabilize the composition, as a result of which it will stick to the crystal and not only lose its properties, but can completely disable the entire console.

Connectors and connections – PlayStation 5 has Wi-Fi 6

The list of connectors for the consoles is almost identical, except for the additional USB-C on the PS5.

Xbox Series X|S

• HDMI 2.1
• 3 USB-A 3.1 (two front, one rear)
• Gigabit Ethernet port
• Slot for proprietary memory cards
• WiFi 5 GHz (802.11ac)

PlayStation 5

• HDMI 2.1
• 3 USB-A 3.1 (two front, one rear)
• USB-C 3.1 on the front
• Gigabit Ethernet port
• Internal slot for NVMe SSD
• WiFi 6
• Bluetooth 5.1

But in terms of support for wireless protocols, the PS5 is seriously ahead thanks to the support of Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1.

Wi-Fi 6 on the PS5 operates on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. When used with an appropriate router, it provides significantly higher connection stability and a wider communication channel for every device on the network. Nominally, in terms of speed, it differs little from Wi-Fi 5 GHz (802.11ac), but in fact, the speed increases due to the reduction of interference and conflicts during data transfer between the router and the device.

The main distinguishing feature of Bluetooth 5.1 is simplified mutual recognition of devices and accurate (up to a couple of centimeters) positioning of connected peripherals. Theoretically, the PS5 will be able to pinpoint where the controller is or quickly automatically recognize branded wireless peripherals and connect to them.

Also, the presence of Bluetooth may mean support for wireless headphones and soundbars, but the delay with this type of connection may be too high for a comfortable game.

Features and convenience of controllers

Sony and Microsoft approached controllers differently. The new Xbox Controller differs little from the old one – as journalists and insiders note, it has become a little smaller and lighter.

The shape of the crosspiece has changed, a button for screenshots and recording game clips has been added to the front panel, and the triggers and bumpers have received a matte textured finish. The gamepad still runs on two AA batteries.

But the only technological improvement has been a reduction in input latency – it used to be on the order of 8ms wirelessly, but now it’s “much lower.”

PlayStation has significantly redesigned its controller and even gave it a new name – DualSense. We considered in detail all the innovations in a separate article. , including vibration feedback, built-in microphones (in addition to the speaker), variable trigger resistance.

The gamepad has become more “tactile”. The developers used advanced vibration motors like those used in smartphones and Joy-Con for Nintendo Switch. In addition, the triggers support variable drag force and can realistically simulate the tension of a string, the smooth pressure on the gas pedal, or the difference between the triggers of different types of weapons.

According to journalists, the combination of detailed vibration feedback and dynamic triggers creates a feeling of deeper immersion in the game – for example, you can feel the difference between the movement of a character on sand, on mud and on snow. In Spider-Man: Miles Morales, the vibration is tied to the “spider sense” and it will be possible to easily determine the direction of an enemy attack from it 

The usability of controllers is subjective and we have yet to put them to the test. While the DualSense looks more innovative, the complex design may not be as reliable as the more primitive Xbox Controller.

The DualSense weighs 278 grams – 60 grams heavier than the DualShock 4. But it’s still lighter than the Xbox One Controller (289 grams including batteries).

Reduced latency on Xbox will work across all games and will be useful to fans of online shooters. The DualSense features require additional work on the part of the developers, but greatly improve the gaming experience in single-player projects focused on immersion and atmosphere (if they are used somewhere other than exclusives, of course).

Performance and SSD

Comparing teraflops and declared speeds of drives is now possible only theoretically, and here a lot depends on the quality of optimization of specific games.

Nominally, the Xbox Series X is more powerful than the PlayStation 5 in terms of processor and graphics system. Xbox Series S is 2-3 times behind the “older” consoles in terms of performance and is optimized for Full HD and 1440p, not 4K.

What will be the results in practice – we will find out after the release, since “power” can be measured in various ways. Here, the role is played by the graphics effects that developers will activate on different platforms ( filtering, tessellation, anti-aliasing, shadows, reflections, draw distance ), and the quality of upscaling, if applied, and frame rate stability.

After the release of the first multi-platform games, it will be possible to make a direct comparison and make a verdict – but for now, any guesses and speculations do not have sufficient evidence.

For example, despite the differences in SSD speed, the loading speed of levels may in practice be the same or differ by non-critical values ​​like fractions of a second. In addition, using the potential of the compression system and fast loading of textures requires knowledge and investment on the part of developers, so not everyone and not everywhere will use this tool.

On PS5, for example, developers can enable fewer ray-traced effects, resulting in higher and more consistent frame rates than on the more powerful Xbox Series X. So how do you choose the “better” platform?

SSD upgrade

Xbox Series X comes with a built-in 1TB SSD, Series S comes with 500GB. To expand this capacity, you will need a proprietary 1TB memory card. In the US, it costs $220, 

The PlayStation 5 comes with 825GB of internal storage, which can be expanded using “regular” PC SSDs. However, only top-level models are suitable – SSD form factor M.2 and NVMe standard with PCIe 4.0 interface. And even here, not everyone is suitable, since not all existing models of NVMe Gen4 drives meet the requirements for data transfer speed (more than 5.5 GB / s for reading).

At the time of writing, only a few drive models meet the requirements: Samsung 980 Pro , Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus , WD SN850 and ADATA XPG Indigo / Sage, most of which are not yet on sale.

A Western Digital 1TB SSD option that fits the PS5 costs $220 — the same as an Xbox Series X|S memory card. But over time, the prices of computer components will begin to decline, while proprietary console accessories usually maintain value throughout their life cycle.