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Digital Foundry: Starfield - Xbox Series X/ Xbox Series S - Performance & Graphics Breakdown

R

Raziel

Member
LXgPoTU.jpg
 
avin

avin

Member
I'm disappointed it runs so well on the S . I was hoping for graphics that would hold up on the next gen of gaming hardware. I'll still be playing this then, most likely.

And, given how work goes lately, probably still on my first run.

avin
 
P

Physiognomonics

Member
Gen.Grievous said:
Disappointing performance. Especially on PC to see the 4090 struggle to hit 60 fps at 4K while the graphics are nothing special.

I don't even own a PS5 and know that is bullshit. Spiderman and Horizon are open world games and both have 60 fps modes. The engine used for Starfield is stretched beyond it's limits and it's showing even on PC.
Click to expand...
Indeed. And a game like Death Stranding is also open world with equally impressive vistas and complex game mechanics and is native 4K 60fps on PS5. The problem is definitely the engine.
 
SkylineRKR

SkylineRKR

Member
Yeah its def an engine thing. A game with this texture work and graphical fidelity can do better than 1440p/30 on Series X. And its not like everything is seamless either, there are lots of instances where the game has to load it in. Looks kinda last gen.

Still, I like what I see. Its a big budget space opera game.
 
LostDonkey

LostDonkey

Member
SkylineRKR said:
Yeah its def an engine thing. A game with this texture work and graphical fidelity can do better than 1440p/30 on Series X. And its not like everything is seamless either, there are lots of instances where the game has to load it in. Looks kinda last gen.

Still, I like what I see. Its a big budget space opera game.
Click to expand...

It does do better on Series X. It's 2160p, not 1440p.

Edit: NVN, My bad, just seen the FSR.
 
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Mr Moose

Mr Moose

Member
LostDonkey said:
It does do better on Series X. It's 2160p, not 1440p.
Click to expand...
adamsapple said:
- Series X: 2160p, Series S: 1440 after FSR2 up-sampling.
- Series X: Internal 1440p, Series S: Internal 900p before FSR2.
- FSR2 related aliasing can be noted on finer details but otherwise no obvious signs of reconstruction.
- In practice both look sharp and detailed on 4K displays with Series S looking a bit softer
- Series S has fewer cut-backs than we typically see.
Click to expand...
 
twilo99

twilo99

Member
DeepEnigma said:
It's an old engine running in 900p/30 upscaled via FSR. Mystery indeed.


There is a 60fps mode, so we shall see what is sacrificed to achieve that.

Same CPU in the X.
Click to expand...

So there are ways to make a game look nice and play well on a sub $300 machine without any drama?

Yes, the same archaic CPU as the xss and the xsx
 
DeepEnigma

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
twilo99 said:
So there are ways to make a game look nice and play well on a sub $300 machine without any drama?

Yes, the same archaic CPU as the xss and the xsx
Click to expand...
Sure, if you build around it, and the limitations in the game deign are showing that. Load screens and menus exploration galore.
 
Riky

Riky

$MSFT
twilo99 said:
What a mystery...

Certain engines seem to work better on the XSS?

More dev time spent on optimization?
Click to expand...

It's a nice example of what Microsoft said the machine could do. Also interesting is that the VRS is so good DF didn't notice it, I wonder if that's what id helped with.
 
T

Thief1987

Member
Elysium44 said:
All I can think of when I hear anything from DF now related to Xbox games is that pic of them getting too chummy with Phil Spencer and Todd. They might be impartial but there is the impression that they probably aren't. Because Microsoft have shown what happens if you don't toe the line, you lose access. We all have bills to pay, I understand it. But you're selling your credibility.
Click to expand...
Digital Clowndry - "Starfield is a very polished experience".
Meanwhile
 
JimboJones

JimboJones

Member
Elysium44 said:
All I can think of when I hear anything from DF now related to Xbox games is that pic of them getting too chummy with Phil Spencer and Todd. They might be impartial but there is the impression that they probably aren't. Because Microsoft have shown what happens if you don't toe the line, you lose access. We all have bills to pay, I understand it. But you're selling your credibility.
Click to expand...

Does it make you feel any better that Mark Cerny watches there videos and even emails them?
And even if they did "lose access" they can simply buy the game 🙄 and then post their opinion.
 
T

Thief1987

Member
JimboJones said:
Does it make you feel any better that Mark Cerny watches there videos and even emails them?
And even if they did "lose access" they can simply buy the game 🙄 and then post their opinion.
Click to expand...
Cerny writing them emails when they are spewing uneducated garbage. They are doing this pretty regularly tbh, but sometimes it just needs to be addressed
 
Elysium44

Elysium44

Banned
JimboJones said:
Does it make you feel any better that Mark Cerny watches there videos and even emails them?
And even if they did "lose access" they can simply buy the game 🙄 and then post their opinion.
Click to expand...

Getting early access and being first with the big stories is a major advantage which they wouldn't want to give up though.
 
Bojji

Bojji

Member
rofif said:
Consoles are pretty sick if you think about what you get with 70-150watts.
Click to expand...

It's only this low thanks to FPS limit.

Alex compared Xbox to pc and found this:

plWb2rE.png


Also this:

zsc5zdq.png


I'm playing the game right now and loadings are everywhere but they only last few seconds, now I see why console users may be much more upset about them.
 
Elysium44

Elysium44

Banned
Bojji said:
It's only this low thanks to FPS limit.
Click to expand...

No it isn't, the Xbox series consoles are very frugal, especially the S. It uses 75w working flat out. If you uncapped the frame rate it wouldn't likely go any higher, or it would only be able to do so during times (if there are any) when the CPU is working less hard, to allow the GPU to take more of the power budget.
 
Bojji

Bojji

Member
Elysium44 said:
No it isn't, the Xbox series consoles are very frugal, especially the S. It uses 75w working flat out. If you uncapped the frame rate it wouldn't likely go any higher, or it would only be able to do so during times (if there are any) when the CPU is working less hard, to allow the GPU to take more of the power budget.
Click to expand...

These consoles can eat up over 200W, lower figures shows that something is limiting that.

Take any heavy PC game and limit it to 30 fps, both CPU and GPU will use much less power compared to unlimited or 60fps cap.
 
Elysium44

Elysium44

Banned
Bojji said:
These consoles can eat up over 200W, lower figures shows that something is limiting that.
Click to expand...

The Series S can't, it has a 75w limit IIRC. The Series X maybe. I've had both consoles (still have an S now) and out of curiosity tested them with a power meter I have. I tested them in Forza Horizon 5 in performance mode, and a game I play a lot of, Resident Evil Revelations. This was what I measured:

Series S, dashboard 26w, gaming: Forza Horizon 5 after leaving garage, 70w. RE Revelations raid mode stage 15, 49w.

Series X, dashboard 53w, gaming: Forza Horizon 5 after leaving garage, 156w. RE Revelations raid mode stage 15, 96w.

Series S sips power, a gaming PC of equivalent performance would be probably using at least double. Series X uses a lot more, but its GPU is much much more powerful so it's understandable. I didn't like that it forces upscaling internally even when outputting at 1080p though, which explains the higher wattage draw I think. No way to disable it manually.

Take any heavy PC game and limit it to 30 fps, both CPU and GPU will use much less power compared to unlimited or 60fps cap.
Click to expand...

Yes, (performance will be higher) if there is room in the power budget. Not if there isn't. The consoles are like laptops, especially the S. They have a very restrictive power budget.
 
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H

hussar16

Member
Im surpised for someone with digital foundry credentials they don't see the ugly piss filter on the graphics. You can remove it by mod and it looks like a vlcompelty difrent game. The game looks very realstic now and not some Sci fi show. The devs were going for nasal realism which I feel now how realstic the game tries to portray humans in space now without the filter
 
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