Shootout: Xbox 360 Vs. PS3. Which Is The Best Console?

Submitted by Christopher Groux; December 13, 2012

Article Index
1. Shootout: Xbox 360 Vs. PS3. Which Is The Best Console?
2. Game Library
3. Processing Power
4. Network Connectivity
5. And the Winner Is

Page 1 of 5

Category 1: Graphical Power

When you're talking about the raw graphical specs of both of these systems, both offer a pretty formidable option in terms of the hardware they use. Starting with the PS3, we've got an NVIDIA RSX "Reality Synthesizer" chip. The overall clock speeds put it in at a reasonably fast 550 MHz with 256MB RAM on the card. By the 2006 release standards, this was a strong contender, and even today developers have managed to squeeze quite a bit out of it for the generation. When you're talking about how the games actually look when being output through this chip, it's going to vary between first and second place among the three major competitors. Regardless, in most cases the performance of this card remains strong, and only the most picky of gamers will venture to level much heavy criticism against it.

pxgraphics

All that being said, the only reason any criticism exists at all is because of the Xbox 360. Despite the fact that it may be clocked at a lower overall speed of 500 MHz, there is plenty of other hardcore data that suggests the ATI based processor has superior performance over the RSX. After all, it does boast a full 512MB RAM, which is going to give it just a little bit more overall punch, but that's not even the last of it. The 360 also has an additional 10MB of eRAM that adds 256 GBps of video bandwidth to Sony's 22.4GBps. From the specs point alone then, you can see why the 360 has almost almost always been considered the best in graphics for the generation. It will sometimes be beat by the PS3 for specific games, but in general it is usually the system to beat.

Winner: Xbox 360

There might be some serious discussion about the graphics of these 2 consoles but what about the library of games for each?

Back - Read Page 2 of this Story >>

Tags: ps3 games, ps3 specs, PSN, XBLA, Xbox 360 games, xbox 360 specs

I personally have never been able to get used to the XBOX controls, and I really never came across a game that was an Xbox exclusive that I "had" to play. I have and most likely will stay with Sony. But lets be honest the best console here is... The original Nintendo :D. Almost 30 years latter and some systems still work like the day they were first bought.
But seriously my preference remains with
the PS3. And to be more specific the original 60gb model. I just personally feel it is the most complete system one can buy. Even the new models have been diminished in their arsenal of what made the PS3 such an amazing system.

+1 # RE: RE: Shootout: Xbox 360 Vs. PS3. Which Is The Best Console? — Christopher Groux 2012-12-13 15:25

Agree agree agree! Unfortunately my launch 60GB has a broken BD drive so I can't load anything. Yet, my original NES is 22 years old and still plays its games with just a little work. What happened to high quality parts...

+1 # RE: RE: RE: Shootout: Xbox 360 Vs. PS3. Which Is The Best Console? — Alex_Camacho 2012-12-13 15:38

There is a guide, although its hardcore type stuff, where u can buy a ps3 blue ray and "re-marry" it to your console. It is in no way easy, but its possible.

# Bluray — paulinacio1991 2012-12-18 02:07

Bluray Drives are amazingly easy to fix. All you need to do is buy the correct model for your ps3 and search for a video tutorial on youtube

+2 # I knew that! — DaVish 2012-12-13 14:31

Long live the PS3

+1 # PS3 is good — gman_deviant 2012-12-13 14:46

i grew up with playstation, on ps2 one of my favourite games were ratchet and clank and towards the release of the ps3 i was only interested in that as well as many other exclusives such as god of war and the jak and daxter series.

The reason i loved the xbox as well was frankly because of halo, the first one i played was halo 3 multiplayer and it blew my mind, online was too much fun. there was not that same amount of fun on PSN.

but overall ps3 is like family

+1 # Well... — James West 2012-12-13 15:25

To my knowledge, the Xbox 360 is the more popular of the two. Both good consoles though.

+1 # RE: Shootout: Xbox 360 Vs. PS3. Which Is The Best Console? — Christopher Groux 2012-12-13 15:27

Sounds like a lot of you agree with me. Looks like we're a large Sony fan community here. Quite honestly when I wrote this I was expecting throngs of angry comments, but I am pleasantly surprised. Any Xbox folks want to step forward?

+1 # RE: Shootout: Xbox 360 Vs. PS3. Which Is The Best Console? — Acid_Snake 2012-12-13 15:55

using the 512mb ram as an excuse is poor since you forgot to mention that those 512mb are shared ram, which means the gpu and the cpu share it, so when it comes to actual ram being used by the gpu it's actually a lot less. The ps3 on the other hand also has 512mb, but separate, 256mb for cpu (main ram) and another 256mb for gpu (vram). So in terms of ram they both have the same, used differently, but the same.

# RE: Shootout: Xbox 360 Vs. PS3. Which Is The Best Console? — huhhman 2012-12-13 18:17

This guy is an idiot. The PS3 is more powerful than the Xbox 360. It's been proven so many times. Biggest plus for PS3 is that the cell CPU has the ability to act as a GPU, so in a sense the PS3 has 2 GPU's with a total of 512mb. Which is why the 256mb is separated and not shared like the xbox 360. The xbox 360 is a underpowered PC thrown together to compete in the market before the PS3 was release to steal some customers from Sony. It doesn't even have the ability to play HD movies.......freaking moron.

+2 # RE: Shootout: Xbox 360 Vs. PS3. Which Is The Best Console? — Shinzou 2012-12-13 18:58

This was a good read, and a fair one. Clearly written by someone who isn't an obnoxious fanboy. A fan yes, but not a fanboy.
I agree that the PS3 is the winner, but not by leaps and bounds like the fanboys would have anyone believe. The 360 has a lot to offer, but in the end the "sleekness" of the PS3 coupled with the exclusives is what makes it the winner. Still though, the 360 is the king of shooters (which helps it and hurts it) and that controller is perfect for them.

# RE: RE: Shootout: Xbox 360 Vs. PS3. Which Is The Best Console? — Acid_Snake 2012-12-14 05:24

you talking about fanboys? there is nothing more fanboyish than saying a system is better because it has more ram, even if that is complete bullshit and not even close to the facts. And what are you talking about fair? this is the most unfair article ever, he only showcased what the 360 has over the ps3, but he never mentioned what the ps3 has over the 360, how come he never mentioned that the ps3's gpu has 400 gigaflops while the 360 has 240?

# RE: RE: Shootout: Xbox 360 Vs. PS3. Which Is The Best Console? — Christopher Groux 2012-12-14 14:48

You are a legend sir!

# RE: Shootout: Xbox 360 Vs. PS3. Which Is The Best Console? — Shellshock 2012-12-13 19:31

I personally think that the xbox 360 is great due to xboxlive, though i also think that the ps3 is just as good.For one the speed is way better than the xbox 360, and two it's a more technological system if you have a older xbox.

+1 # Cinavia — Voodoo69 2012-12-13 22:16

If it wasn't for that Cinavia BS I would vote the PS3 as the best. So much quicker at indexing my movies and tv shows

# RE: Cinavia — Christopher Groux 2012-12-14 14:51

Totally agree with you there on Cinivia lol I just thought it was too small of a feature to compare.

# RE: Shootout: Xbox 360 Vs. PS3. Which Is The Best Console? — BldAgl 2012-12-13 23:20

truthfully neither one is better than the other. I have them both and am very impressed with them. Sure they both have their weaknesses compared to there competitor but there truthfully about the same.

# RE: RE: Shootout: Xbox 360 Vs. PS3. Which Is The Best Console? — Christopher Groux 2012-12-14 14:52

I agree but I thought it would be lame as the writer to call it a tie lol

# PS3 for me — Xebozone 2012-12-14 04:20

Blu-ray playback.
And the Original Xbox didn't have HDMI.
But both are good choices.

# RE: Shootout: Xbox 360 Vs. PS3. Which Is The Best Console? — Sacred Gaming 2012-12-14 09:48

My opinion isnt derived from a performance or feature aspect but, more from a hardware comparison.

As a repair tech i see quite a bit more ps3's come through my door than 360's.

The ylod is starting to catch up to the older systems and purely from a fact stand point.Transferring from a failing system is quite a bit easier on the 360.

PS3- YLOD requires you to take your system to someone and have the disc removed (most times)and if you have any hope of getting your data off the system requires the unit to be repaired.(pending that your not a premium member and have synced to cloud) Im not sure if this was intentional on Sony's part or just a coincidence.

The PS3 is also plagued with alot of hdd error's. Whether that be all out failure or corruption. This is an issue that is still to my knowledge not resolved.

From a hardware stand point the original ps3 got it right. Solid build quality lots of features however since then its gone down hill. Open up a backwards compatible 60g and then open up a 3001 slim ps3. The difference is night and day.

Without dragging it out i do prefer the 360 over the PS3. For many different reasons and perhaps i am biased because im sure that if i watched physical media the bluray alone would sway me torward the ps3. In this day and age everything is leaning more torward digital content and so that one shining point the ps3 does have is starting to become less and less of an advantage.

+1 # PS3 wins — cookiejar 2012-12-14 12:02

U forget that the PS3 has a cell procesor 7x core that does some more for that litle RSX when the xbox360 has only 3x cores and if u look at the specs the PS3 has 2.18 Tflops speed capable of runing at 1080P x2 displays when the xbox has 1 Tflop runing at 720P x1 displays.The dawnfall for the ps3 is that it has 12 Gigasamples per second using 4X MSAA when the xbox360 has 16 Gigasamples per second using 4X MSAA.

# RE: PS3 wins — kinkylogic 2012-12-14 19:51

you forgot to mention that the ps3 doesnt play any of its games in 1080p it up-converts 720p and that sony lies about every thing, remember how they said the ps2 could render so many millions polygons but the data they based it off of was rendering a black screen

# ????? — paulinacio1991 2012-12-18 02:03

Actually Xbox is the console that up converts games!! Xbox doesnt have true 1080p

# RE: ????? — kinkylogic 2012-12-19 02:14

even on games that say 1080p on the box are 1080i and if their anything like grand turismo are 1080i only in the garage (menu) and 720p upscaled in game

# Neither one wins in my book — ccfman2004 2012-12-14 19:00

Tech specs are meaningless to me. All I care about is the games. There are many games that are on both systems that run better/smoother on the 360 like Borderlands. I have all 3 systems because each one has games I want to play.

The online experience is far better on the 360 despite having to pay for multiplayer, but that is why it is better. Although I don't care for online multiplayer.

My PS3 collection is growing but nowhere near my 360 collection at over 150 games compared to my 30 or so PS3 games.

Many developers are complaining about the lack of power the PS3 GPU has.

Platform exclusives will generally look the best since they are tailored for that console. When I play a Ratchet and Clank game is looks as good as most CG movies. Games like Halo and Gears of War look beautiful on the 360.

Most important to me are the games I can play on the system, not how good they look. There are a lot of people that would tell you to buy a PC since they are the best to play games on.

# RE: Neither one wins in my book — ccfman2004 2012-12-14 19:04

My biggest issue with the PS3 is the removal of features over the years. First the remove PS2 backwards compatibility, then 2 USB ports, then OtherOS. The two thing I do like on the PS3 is the day 1 Games on Demand and the fact that you can install any size hard drive you want. My 360 hard drive only has a few hundred MBs left.

# fact — tleaf 2012-12-14 20:02

what is best ps3 or xbox 360 over all ps3 but xbox 360 has a much betta comuaty and bigger most people have xbox 360s

but my opinian is

graphics ps3
gameplay ps3
mod abilaty ps3
controler ps3
every thing ps3

bit xbox 360 wins for its online service £40 a year and everyone pays it for a good reason

# Sorry but it's the wrong method — ThinkAgain 2012-12-14 20:13

Seeing that these are now old machines. Your comparison, though trying to be fair, was simply put, too static.
You don't want to appear like a fanboy but you just look like a nice nerd measuring specs an not looking at the big picture, the whole console environment and it's evolution.

Processing or graphical power is nothing per se, it's what you make of it and around it. It doesn't matter that you could link a hundred PS3s to build an affordable super-computer, if you're only choosing to play games on it. It also doesn't matter that one is better than the other if it's not clearly shown in the games or the services available.

In a multiplatform environment, the Xbox won the best use of the developer's skills, closest to the PC it allowed the majority of multiplatform games to surpass the PS3 version in terms of pure performance (see Digital Foundry's comparison work for 99% of multi-plat games). This advantage still remains in most games today. For first party games both have made incredible use of the hardware : an Uncharted or a Halo 4 are incredible accomplishments , only in those top titles the PS3 can shine a bit ahead but not that much and even then only 4 to 5 years into the cycle.

PS3's Bluray reader is great for big storage and uncompressed audio/video but it's slow and the partial installation of PS3 games shows that weakness; 360 on the other hand has less optical disc capacity but does it really matter when the whole game can go on the HDD, giving every installed 360 game a loading speed advantage over the PS3?

Online connectivity has
been stronger on Xbox Live from the start
: cross-game chat and simpler invites put the experience ahead in terms of ease of use. Network speed, exclusive downloadable games, DLC packs (and Streaming services in the US)were also on the side of Microsoft for a good part of these last 7 years.
But Sony slowly built a case for a network that offered a great deal in terms of paid services (PS+ grew into a very compelling proposition) and a store with more promotions and access to older libraries of the Playstation brand.

....

# Sorry but it's the wrong method — ThinkAgain 2012-12-14 20:21

....
The dashboard is also important for users and while Microsoft lead the way for a while (the new PSN look is clearly inspired by the 360), sadly they have lost their touch trying to be too much of a multimedia box instead of proposing a clear interface for each type of user (gamers/movie/TV), also the ads became such a nuisance on Xbox that the antiquated cross media bar is now preferable. You will only be bothered by ads in the slowest newest Xbox looking PSN, but at least it's not all over your dashboard.

Kinect is a great prototype that will pave the way for great things in the future. Move is a precise but completely underused tool. Not really decisive this time around.

On both platform the downloadable exclusives have been in favor of the 360 until this year where both had great content to compete against each other.

I'd say that apart from exclusive games Microsoft's platform had the advantage during a good 4 years since laucnh., especially for gamers. Worldwide it only surpassed the PS3 in the US (not in Europe nor Japan) which makes a balanced result for both.

Playstation fans have favoured Sony outside of America by being faithful to the brand, not realizing that the other machine was ahead in gaming and connectivity terms. In the long run, a wider variety of exclusive (not only shooters) and the steady growth of the PSN pulled the PS3 ahead but not by much.

(Allow me to speculate a few seconds: if this year's exclusive MS titles are few an far between is probably because they are investing in their next chapter.)

In retrospect the smart "console" choice was to buy a 360 for the first four years and then get a PS3 around the launch of the slim version to benefit from Sony's exclusives, a strong catalog of affordable Bluray movies and progressively stronger PSN.

If you could only buy one today, it will depend on what exclusive you like, where you live and what's your friends' console of choice.

There is no crushing winner here, sorry kids, the Wii won the competition remember? "But not for gamers!" You say!
Well gamers have been able to play incredible experiences from indie games to blockbuster phenomenoms, making the videogame industry still above the movie industry in revenue terms.

...

# RE: Sorry but it's the wrong method — Christopher Groux 2012-12-18 15:06

Lol a lot said here and I agree with a lot of it. However we are a very hardware and spec heavy site so i was asked to compare the consoles on those lines. Seriously like the dedication shown in these two comments though. Legendary.

# Sorry but it's the wrong method — ThinkAgain 2012-12-14 21:07

...
So the gamers won in this generation!? In a way: mobile gaming, social gaming, casual gaming, online gaming, pro-gaming, stream-gaming. There is now something for everybody...

But there's another side to this: hardware failures, buggy unpolished games, patches all over the place, network hacks, online passes, online connections required to play. And let's not forget developers closing shop by dozens in the last 3 years. Without them your precious machines are just expensive paperweight.

This industry is very much alive and mutating all the time, it's much more interesting and lively than the stupid win/lose debates nerds and fanboys have on the Internet: "it has more gigaflops"... oh come on... stop wanking!

By making binary comparisons to built a simple conclusion you are missing the point: this generation was incredibly exiting. Today, digital services and digital wallets have a role that is unprecedented and will carry on to influence your choices for the next gen.

Ultimately the best console is the one that you played great games with, the one that made you happy. I will not regret buying any of those machines.

I will gladly enjoy their swan songs next year and get ready for the "next-next" gen.

+1 # Important Info On PS3 Xbox 360 Comparison — RodeThisBeatDotCom 2012-12-15 14:37

The Reason A Lot Of Games Look Better On Xbox 360 Is Because Multi-Platform Developers Choose The Xbox 360 As Main Development Box Then Port The Title Over To The PS3.

In The Recent Years They Have Been Making The Games Look Alot Better Graphically Ported Though.

Ever Think Of Why Most PS3 Exclusives Shine Like A Diamond. It's Because They Were Developed From Ground Up For The PS3 System.

# RE: Important Info On PS3 Xbox 360 Comparison — Christopher Groux 2012-12-18 15:07

That is a solid point. Still, could you still say developmental ease might make 360 win in the graphics category anyway?

# Which one? — El Alex214 2012-12-16 03:35

Lets try to compare a few more things that could make someone decide which is the best or simply the preferred one.

1-Lets start with the software in the systems it is obvious that the Xbox has a better looking dashboard in comparison with the ps3 xmb however the ps3 is less fuzzy but the win goes to the Xbox anyways.

2-Xbox live or PSN well all i could say is that more people like FREE like me but it is obvious that if you are paying for a service it should be better than the free one. I would compare this by adding the PlayStation plus and PSN since both add up to $50 a year. The winner for me would be PSN & PS Plus since i own both consoles and i haven't get much lag for a free service and a bunch of free and discounted games for the same amount.

3-The Games are pretty much even since they have their own exclusives however i will have to agree with this article and say that Xbox is all about shooters and PS3 is a bit more diverse. Therefore PS3 wins this one.

4-Kinect or PS Move the clear winner here is the kinect since just by thinking how this is possible amazes me. Ps move is basically a refined Wii remote.

# Which one? continued — El Alex214 2012-12-17 15:33

5-Which remote PS3 or Xbox360? My choice has to go with the dual shock 3 because it's so comfortable and almost everyone has held a similar one since 1997 when the psx came out. The Xbox controller just feels a bit too bulky and i don't like the way the buttons feels. Since i am trying to be bias about them i have to say that the Xbox controller were made to play shooters but what really made my decision was the fact that i don't need to buy batteries or anything extra.

6-Now lets go over to the hardware the Ps3 have always been the same system since day one and just keep getting better with just firmware updates such as including 3d by a simple update. The Cell processor is better and its being under utilized and the GPU might not be better but not by a long shot. Also no red rings if anything of the sort on ps3 it would be very slim. When the Xbox came out the Blu-ray was technology rather expensive and they didn't have a player inside it. My question is why on earth they didn't added one when they made the slim. They sure put a wireless card since people complained about having to buy an adapter for $100. Also, it’s disappointing that it took that long for Microsoft to include a web browser in their system.

6 arguments
2 for Xbox & 4 for PS3 So the winner is ........... PS3

# RE: Shootout: Xbox 360 Vs. PS3. Which Is The Best Console? — HellgunBr 2012-12-16 20:08

not to mention that on ps3 u can put ur mp3, copy unprotected videos on hdd, you have compatibility with PSP , and now PS Vita wich is amazing. we have a browser on ps3 for a long time. the controller have sixaxis, the buttons are pressure sensitive (no one seems to notice it), joystick have rechargeable batteries, you can use awesome wheel controls like the logitech G27. wich is awesome btw. My 50 bucks a year gives me free games on ps3 and psvita, not only online play. In my case, i have xbox for multiplatform games (xkey) and my ps3 for exclusives and freebies. just try to put mp3 on you xbox.....
as ppl said. evaluate it not on numbers. if we dont take numbers on it. then, the ps3 is way better than the 360. I Dont understand why is it so difficult for some ppl to understand it.

# RE: RE: Shootout: Xbox 360 Vs. PS3. Which Is The Best Console? — El Alex214 2012-12-17 15:49

What it comes down to is how much you are getting for what you paid for and i believe that PS3 is giving more for the same price as what xbox360 is giving. I understand that not always more is better because if any other console trying to compete with these two would be doing that and fail with giving us a bunch of whack content and hardware that sucks for way less price ohh there's one (???) then more is not better. The only the exclusives for that console would justify buying it.

# Al Qaidaaaa — AL Qaida 2012-12-17 20:23

PS3 hahhah?

the best ever is xbox !!!
xbox one is better then ps3 hahah

this site says all! PS3-Hacks

"PS3 when children are playing"

+1 # Xbox360 = FPS — El Alex214 2012-12-18 12:11

The only reason a lot of people say that xbox is better than PS3 is because there are more first person shooter titles. Since xbox has Halo, Gears of War, Left for Dead while Ps3 has killzone, Fear and Resistance its obvious that you have the Call of Duty and other shooters in both but those xbox titles overall will win the battle of the FPS over the Ps3. Also, since FPS is a very popular category + the better online experience of xbox live because is a paid service over PSN, the overall experience of some gamers is inclined to go with xbox. Xbox does not have a God of War or an Infamous hell even a little big planet just because a game looks childish does not mean it isn't fun. The Ps3 has more exclusive than xbox as of now but its not only about exclusives but seriously how do you compared the controller the only thing good about the xbox controller is that its the best for FPS. Good luck spending more money on battery packs for 4 controller or just batteries that will run out in 2 days.

# xbox fan — cold_cruise 2012-12-17 22:11

Guys I have to say that I own both consoles and I will stick to the xbox. The xbox live experience is a lot better than PSN, even though I have to pay for it. From a games perspective I have to agree with some of you about the exclusive games in xbox not being that good, and the reason I keep thw PS3 is exactly for its exclusive games. I still prefet the xbox online experience. There are too many bugs and hacks in PSN, which are being exploited, putting honest gamers at a disadvantage. MICROSOFT takes cheats complaints seriously and will even contact you to get info if you report someone.

+1 # RE: Shootout: Xbox 360 Vs. PS3. Which Is The Best Console? — Quinnton Taylor 2012-12-17 23:59

While I favor my PS3 more, both are good systems to own. There's shit the PS3 can do that the 360 can't, and vice-versa.

# xbox ps3 — frankie G 2012-12-18 01:25

Ps3 over all a better system, but this is a hack site and I must say xbox is more fun to toy with

# ????? — paulinacio1991 2012-12-18 01:57

Why does Xbox WIN??? Ps3 has showing games that surpass xbox such as uncharted and the new The Last of Us that looks AMAZING. The new Halo looks Awesome as well but is nothing new. I own both consoles and the only games I have for XBOX 360 is COD and the older multiplatform games since the older ones were not as great on ps3 since there was porting issues. I LOVE both consoles but I feel as if Microsoft fells to appeal to hardcore gamer like Sony does

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