PS 3

by Samuel Reid

Created on: December 31, 2010   Last Updated: January 02, 2011

The question on gamer's minds everywhere. "Which console should I buy, PS3 or Xbox 360?" Well, there's only one answer to that. Hands down, the PS3 is the much better console. The specs of the PS3 are better than those of the Xbox in nearly all important aspects.

First, the processing systems of each console. While both consoles have a 3.2GHz processor, the PS3 consists of 7 single-threaded cores and one backup core, whereas the Xbox 360 only has 3 dual-threaded cores. Also, in terms of performance, the PS3 is nearly three times as fast. And so, in terms of processing, PS3 wins :D.

Next, we have the graphics system. The PS3 allows for a 22.4 GBps bandwidth, while Xbox 360 only has 21.6 GBps. While the Xbox 360 graphics card has up to 512 MB of GDDR3 RAM, this is shared with the system RAM. The PS3, however, has 256 MB of dedicated graphics RAM, as well as 224 MB of shared RAM. However, the Xbox 360 has a 10 MB eDRAM which can boost bandwidth to 256 GBps. This means that, while the PS3 is the winner in terms of general performance, the Xbox 360 wins due to its peak performance with the eDRAM.

In terms of RAM, the PS3 is once again the winner due to its 25.6 GBps bandwidth, 3.2 GHz speed and its dedicated RAM. The Xbox 360 has only its shared RAM, and a measly 700 MHz speed. PS3 wins again.

When we consider hard drives, the PS3 is once again the clear winner due to its 320 GB (high-end model) HDD which is user replaceable with any standard HDD, whereas the Xbox 360's 250 GB HDD can only be replaced by proprietary Microsoft HDDs.

Score so far: PS3 = 3, Xbox 360 = 1.

For disc space, while the Xbox 360 is better due to its faster read speed (12x for DVD's) compared to the PS3 (8x for DVD's, 2x for Blu-ray), once again the PS3 wins due to its much higher disc storage capacity of 25 GB, which for gamers is much more important than read speed.

In terms of video support, the PS3 supports 1080p HDMI, whereas most games for the Xbox only require 720p. Many more games for the PS3 make use of the much better 1080p resolution, without even considering the PS3's support for Blu-ray and 3D gaming. And so, PS3 wins this round.

With sound, the winner depends on how the sound system is connected to your console. For gamers with an analog system, the Xbox 360 is better with Dolby Pro-Logic II, but for digital sound systems, the PS3 is better by offering both 5.1 Dolby Digital surround and 7.1 LCPM surround. With many gamers using digital surround sound, the PS3 wins again.

Now we quickly look at controllers and connectivity. While the PS3 has a maximum of 4 USB ports (some models only), the Xbox 360 has a maximum of 5, plus a Kinect port. Both systems can have up to 7 controllers connected to the one console. However, the PS3 controllers are by far the better by involving motion sensors and wired recharging. If someone is in the middle of a game on Xbox 360 and their controller dies, then they need to go get new batteries, but for PS3, when we see that the controller is running low, we simply plug it in and continue playing. Also, considering the PS3 involves Bluetooth 2.0, we can see that once again the PS3 wins the round.

Regarding networking capabilities, the winner depends on whether gamers are going to rely on wired or wireless connection. For wired connections, the PS3 wins due to the 1 GBps ethernet compared to the Xbox 360's 100 MBps ethernet. However, the Xbox 360 wins in terms of wireless networking, and considering the growing popularity of wireless Internet, we have to give this round to the Xbox 360.

Now, for the final score. With the PS3 winning 7 rounds, and Xbox 360 winning 2, we can see that the PS3 is once and for all the best console. Now anyone reading this who owns an Xbox 360, get up, go outside, and buy yourself a PS3.

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