The PlayStation 5's internal SSD offers 100GB less space for players than that of the Xbox Series X, according to preview reports. This is a significant chunk of storage for any next-gen console, as AAA games on the previous generation have been scraping against the 100GB mark for quite some time. In addition, because both consoles utilize SSDs rather than the more traditional hard drives of past generations, and because games are increasingly relying on digital releases and massive post-launch updates, the necessary costs of expanding on that storage are going to be much higher than potential next-gen buyers might expect.
Previous reports have revealed that the PlayStation 5 has 664GB of usable storage space in a 1TB SSD. For comparison, the Ultimate Edition of prominent launch title Spider-Man: Miles Morales will weigh in at 105GB of memory, taking up a full sixth of the hard drive right off the bat. Other launch games, like Sackboy: A Big Adventure, are considerably smaller, as is the regular edition of Miles Morales, but the point remains that players will likely have to juggle downloaded games on both consoles if they invest in launch hardware.
In its report on the internals of the Xbox Series X, Eurogamer's Digital Foundry went into what owners of Microsoft's console would be facing in terms of storage. The Series X compares favorably to both the 1TB hard drive in its rival as well as the drive from its predecessor, the Xbox One X. Players on Series X will get 802 GB for game installs and saves, with the rest being saved for the consoles operating system and the cache for Quick Resume save states. Players that opt for the optional 1TB expansion card will get an additional 920GB of space, as it won't need any system-critical functions preinstalled.
The inspection of the Xbox's internals also goes into power consumption tests as well as heat distribution. Rumors took to the internet in the last few weeks that the Xbox Series X ran rather hot, a huge concern for Xbox gamers still wary of the days of the Red Ring of Death. Digital Foundry found that despite reports, the machine is a quiet beast that distributes heat perfectly fine. It gets hot when stressed, but no hotter than any console currently available. As for power consumption, the console stays at the level of the Xbox One X while offering much-improved performance, which is quite the feat.
There's no doubt that the move over to SSD storage in both PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X hardware is going to be a costly transition, but it seems to have paid off wonderfully in terms of game quality. All reports indicate massive boosts in both the PS5 exclusives on display in Japan and the many backward compatible Xbox One games tested on Western shores. Hard drives will get bigger over time, but those who want to remain on the cutting edge will have to get used to reinstalling old favorites if they want to boot them up again, no matter where they game.
Source: Eurogamer