Media outlets in the US got their hands on the Xbox Series X in order to test out the console’s performance and so far things are looking good. Multiple sites have praised the console’s speedy loading times in games. In addition, sites praised with the console’s Quick Resume feature that lets gamers switch from one open game application to another without closing the one they are playing. Keep in mind that all these tests were conducted on games without optimization for the Xbox Series X. This gives us hope that come launch, things are going to be even better and faster.
READ MORE
Mass Effect N7 Trilogy is Called ‘Legendary Edition’ and is Coming in 2021
For starters, the Xbox Series X is snappy and boots up within a few seconds. According to IGN, the console boots up in about 10-12 seconds from being completely turned off. This is a day and night difference compared to the Xbox One X which takes close to two minutes to turn on. Also, if you were wondering, the button makes the same sound as the current consoles.
IGN claims that the Xbox Series X may face some troubling storage issues due to its SSD. According to the user, while the console includes a 1TB SSD, only 802GB of that is actually usable. The rest is locked away for the OS, Quick Resume and other fancy system features. Speaking of Quick Resume, the site claims that switching between games takes a few seconds. They played Red Dead Redemption 2 and switched to Control. The switch only took around 10 seconds to go from one open playable game to another. You don’t need to wait through the boot screen or anything.
The Verge tested out the Xbox Series X loading times in a lot more depth than IGN and the results spoke for themselves. Red Dead Redemption 2 loaded in 52 seconds on the Series X compared to 1 minute 35 seconds on the X. Destiny 2 (which is one of the slowest games around) took 43 seconds compared to 1 minute 52 seconds. Here’s a full breakdown of some games below courtesy of The Verge.
Xbox Series X Load Time
| Game | Xbox Series X | Xbox One X |
|---|---|---|
| CoD: Warzone | 16 seconds | 21 seconds |
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | 52 seconds | 1 min, 35 seconds |
| The Outer Worlds | 6 seconds | 27 seconds |
| Evil Within 2 | 33 seconds | 43 seconds |
| Sea of Thieves | 20 seconds | 1 min, 21 seconds |
| Warframe | 25 seconds | 1 min, 31 seconds |
| AC: Odyssey | 30 seconds | 1 min, 7 seconds |
| No Man’s Sky | 1 min, 27 seconds | 2 mins, 13 seconds |
| Destiny 2 | 43 seconds | 1 min, 52 seconds |
When it comes to the performance of these games, all sites praised the console for its raw power while running current titles. Again, keep in mind that these games have yet to be patched for the console but the performance boost was present in most games. Monster Hunter World hit 60FPS on the Series X whereas it was stuck between 30 and 40 FPS on the One X. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice also saw an improvement maintaining 60FPS even in some of the most demanding scenes.
In general, the Xbox Series X managed to give these unoptimised games a great performance boost which is just the start of things to come for the console. It is still very early to tell how these games will benefit from the actual updates made to improve the experience for the console. Not to mention when actual Xbox Series X games are tested too.
