While the Xbox One X is a more powerful machine than the PS4 Pro, the PS4 Pro does have some tricks up its sleeve that the Xbox One X does not. One of these tricks involves 2X16-bit operations, which is something that the PS4 Pro can handle- but the Xbox One X simply cannot.
Given this deficiency in Xbox One X’s ability to handle these operations, does the PS4 Pro have an advantage over the Xbox One X in this regard? Speaking to GamingBolt in an exclusive interview, Haemimont CTO Ivan-Assen Ivanov noted that while it is true Xbox One X can’t handle these, it has various other advantages that more than make up for this omission.
“There are many aspects to GPU performance, and the rate of execution of arithmetic operations is only one of them; the Xbox One X has other advantages in other areas that more than make up the differences,” he said. ” That said, special handling for 16-bit values, including increased throughput (how many operations are executed simultaneously) and decreased register usage (registers are a precious resources, and you can fit two 16-bit values in one 32-registers on some architectures) is something coming (back!) to PCs, and I expect it to be gradually more and more used in the coming years.”
This, of course, makes complete sense- and is, indeed, just a reminder that modern computers are so intricate and nuanced, that just a straight, side by side comparison of any set of numbers is never an accurate representation of how two might stack up to one another.
Stay tuned for our full Surviving Mars interview with Ivan-Assen Ivanov in the coming days.