Does the most powerful games console make sense as a secondary gaming rig?

Xbox Series X review from a PC gamer's perspective

Xbox Series X specs

8-Core AMD Zen 2 CPU @3.8GHz

GPU

CPU

RAM

Performance target

Storage

AMD RDNA 2 GPU 12.15 TFLOPS

16GB GDDR6 RAM

4K @60FPS, up to 120FPS

1TB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD

Its specs are mostly excellent

Microsoft hasn't messed around with the component makeup of Series X. The impressive console houses an eight-core, 16-thread CPU from AMD, paired with a RDNA 2 GPU. This is a machine purpose-built for 4K gaming, and it runs rings around the Xbox One X. 

No longer is the console experience universal for all players. Series X and the less powerful Series S present different levels of tech, which allows devs to put more choice in front of gamers. Choosing between image fidelity or higher framerates offers a very PC-like choice.

This is the most PC-like console we've ever seen

Aside from Watch Dogs: Legion's ray traced reflections, none of Series X's launch games support DirectX Raytracing. Though early support is poor, the console's RDNA 2 GPU has built in ray tracing support, so the tech should be well showcased in the future. 

Ray tracing support is lacking so far

With Halo Infinite missing launch, Series X hits the market without any next-gen exclusives. At least the likes of Forza Horizon 4 and Gears 5 now run at 4K/60fps thanks to Series X optimizations.

It's launching with no real exclusives

Series X's launch games don't take advantage of its full power. It means we're waiting for that in-your face, 'this is next-gen' moment. Right now, the increase in fidelity over Xbox One X is incremental, not game-changing.

We're still waiting for that next-gen moment

Apart from a share button and textured grips, the new Xbox Wireless Controller looks identical to Xbox One's pad. That said, its haptic feedback is more convincing than that of the pricey Elite Series 2 controller in Forza Horizon 4. 

The pad beats the Elite Series 2 in certain areas

If you're a PC gamer with a system from the last five years, we can't recommend the Xbox Series X as a viable purchase, whether as a replacement or a secondary machine. Take that $500 and drop it on an RTX 3070 instead. 

The verdict

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