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When the PlayStation 3 (PS3) and the Xbox 360 launched in the 2000s, they sparked one of the greatest console rivalries in video game history. Both consoles had their strengths and weaknesses often making the decision for players a matter of personal preference. The PS3 boasted a free online service and a built-in Blu-ray drive, while the Xbox 360 boasted Xbox Live online gaming and a more sophisticated controller.
CPU: Complex Cell processor vs. developer-friendly PowerPC
- PS3 (Cell processor):
- Architecture: The Cell processor, developed by IBM, Sony and Toshiba, consisting of a PowerPC-based core (PPE) and eight Synergistic Processing Units (SPEs).
- Performance: Six of the eight SPEs were available to the developers. In theory, the Cell processor offered more performance for certain calculations.
- Disadvantage: The parallel architecture, new to consoles, was extremely complex and difficult to program for developers. As a result, the performance advantages could often not be fully exploited.
- Xbox 360 (Xenon processor):
- Architecture: A three-core PowerPC processor from IBM that was easier to program.
- Advantage: The simpler architecture meant that many multiplatform games on the Xbox 360 had better performance, such as more stable frame rates, especially in the early years of the console generation.
GPU: Proprietary Xenos vs. G70-based RSX
- PS3 (Nvidia RSX "Reality Synthesizer"):
- Architecture: Based on the G70 architecture of Nvidia's GeForce 7 series.
- Graphics performance: The RSX was technically weaker than the Xenos GPU of the Xbox 360 .
- Xbox 360 (ATI Xenos):
- Architecture: A custom-built GPU developed by ATI.
- Advantage: The Xenos GPU had a unified shader architecture and 10 MB of eDRAM, which improved anti-aliasing and alpha blending performance without significant performance loss.
Memory (RAM): Shared vs. Separate
- PS3: 512 MB geteilter Speicher, aufgeteilt in 256 MB XDR-Hauptspeicher und 256 MB GDDR3-Videospeicher.
- Xbox 360: 512 MB GDDR3-Arbeitsspeicher, der sowohl vom CPU als auch vom GPU gemeinsam genutzt wurde (Unified Memory Architecture).
Optical drives: Blu-ray vs. DVD
- PS3 : A built-in Blu-ray drive. This offered significantly higher storage capacity of up to 50 GB per dual-layer disc compared to the Xbox 360 's DVD . Blu-rays allowed for the storage of games and high-definition movies.
- Xbox 360: A DVD drive with a storage capacity of 8.5 GB per dual-layer disc. The optional HD DVD drive failed to gain traction. The lower storage capacity forced some developers to distribute games across multiple DVDs.
Online services: Free vs. paid
- PS3 (PlayStation Network – PSN): Free online multiplayer. However, the service suffered from stability issues in its early years and was less mature than its competitors.
- Xbox 360 (Xbox Live) : Paid subscription service for online multiplayer. Xbox Live offered a more stable and feature-rich service that was considered the industry standard.
Other technical aspects
- Controller: The wireless Xbox 360 controller was often praised for its ergonomics. The PS3 controller, the DualShock 3 , was an evolution of the DualShock design and featured motion sensing, but was often considered less comfortable by comparison .
- Reliability: Early Xbox 360 models were less reliable due to the high failure rate of the infamous "Red Ring of Death." Later hardware revisions significantly improved stability. The PS3 was generally more reliable.
- Backward compatibility: The first PS3 models were compatible with PS2 games, but this feature was later removed. The Xbox 360 offered limited software emulation for some original Xbox games.
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