Xbox Series X PC Equivalent – Thorough Explanation

There are two types of gamers, console gamers, and PC gamers. The latter refer to themselves as the master race, but that is arguable.

So we are now at the 9th generation of gaming consoles and since gaming consoles generally define the gaming industry and the hardware needed for the current generation of games, many of you who wish to stick with the master race may ask what is Xbox Series X PC equivalent.

Well in order to figure out the PC equivalent to Xbox Series X, the two main ingredients that trails carolina investigation we need to figure out are the CPU and GPU. We can do this by using some clever techniques of deduction as well as by looking at the official specs of the gaming console.

But to give you a glimpse, a custom-made PC that is equivalent to Xbox Series X would feature the likes of AMD Ryzen 7 3700X, NVIDIA RTX 3060, 16GB of RAM, 1 TB NVMe Gen 4 SSD, and a 600W PSU. The entire custom-made PC can easily cost you about $1000 or twice as much as an Xbox Series X.

So without further ado, let us get a starter.

A Note on the CPU and GPU Benchmarks

Generally, when we want to figure out how well a CPU or a GPU performance, we use benchmarks such as Passmark, Cinebnech, Geekbecnh, G3DMark, etc.

These are great tools to tell you where your CPU or GPU stands in the overall performance hierarchy.

The reason we use benchmarks is that the normal technical specs such as the core count, clock speed, etc of CPUs and GPUs are not enough to tell how good they are. 

Take for instance the AMD Ryzen 5 3600X and AMD Ryzen 5 5600X, they both have the same core count, the same cache as well as almost a similar clock speed, but the latter is 15% more powerful than the former.

However, the biggest bone of contention here is that we can ONLY use these benchmarks with PC components.

These utilities cannot be installed on Xbox Series X to determine how well they score.

Therefore, we are left with nothing but the power of deduction to figure out what are the PC CPU and GPU equivalent to the Xbox Series X, but to do this, first, we need to get a thorough understanding of the Xbox Series X specs.

The Xbox Series X Specs We Know

According to the official specsheet, Xbox Series X has the following CPU and GPU installed:

CPU in Xbox Series X

The important point to note here is the architecture of the CPU, which Zen 2 in this case. This plays a very important role in determining when it was released and what PC-based AMD CPU the CPU in Xbox Series X can be equivalent to.

GPU in Xbox Series X

The important metric to note here is the number of Teraflops. This is a metric that determines the raw computational power of the graphics card.

It is 12 in the case of Xbox Series X, we can use this in order to determine where it stands in terms of Teraflops compared to PC CPUs.

So What is Xbox Series X PC Equivalent?

Let us look into each component separately:

CPU Xbox Series X Equivalent to PC

We know from the information above that the CPU in Xbox Series X has the following specs:

• Architecture: Zen 2
• Lithography: 7nm
• Number of Cores: 8
• Clock Speed: 3.8 GHz
• Release Date of Xbox Series X: November 2020

We can use the release date information as well as the architecture to determine which PC-based AMD CPUs were released at the time with Zen 2 architecture.

So the two CPU series that closely match the release date with Zen 2 architecture are the AMD 3000 and AMD 4000 series. They were released in 2019 and 2020 respectively.

It is absolutely important that the CPU equivalent for Xbox Series X be from the Zen 2 architecture. AMD Zen 3 and Zen 4 CPUs cannot be used for comparison since they are advanced.

There is only one PC-based AMD CPU that closely matches the specs:

• AMD Ryzen 7 3700X: 8 Cores (16 Threads) / 3.6-4.4 GHz / 7nm / Zen 2

It has the same number of cores, uses the same process (7nm), and has the same architecture i.e. Zen 2 (albeit it does have an edge in terms of clock speed).

The CPU has a Passmark score of 22,663 and such is equivalent to Core i7 10700K on the lower end and Core i7 11700K on the upper end.

GPU Xbox Series X Equivalent to PC

Here we can use the Teraflop metric to determine where the Xbox Series X GPU stands in comparison to PC GPUs:

Device	Teraflops
PS4	1.84
NVIDIA GTX 1650	3
Xbox Series S	4
PS4 Pro	4.2
NVIDIA GTX 1660	5
AMD RX 5500XT	5.2
NVIDIA GTX 1660Ti	5.4
AMD RX 6500 XT	5.76
Xbox One X	6
AMD RX 5600 XT	7.19
AMD RX 6600	8.93
NVIDIA RTX 3050	9.1
AMD RX 5700 XT	9.75
PS5	10.28
AMD RX 6600XT	10.6
NVIDIA RTX 2080	10.6
NVIDIA GTX 1080Ti	11.3
AMD Radeon RX 6700	11.29
Xbox Series X	12
NVIDIA RTX 3060	12.7
AMD RX 6700XT	13.21
NVIDIA RTX 2080Ti	14.2
NVIDIA RTX 4060	24
NVIDIA RTX 3080	29.8
NVIDIA RTX 4090	100 Power Overwhelming

So here I have a list of different PC CPUs and their corresponding Teraflops. From the table above, we can clearly see that the GPU in Xbox Series X is equivalent to NVIDIA RTX 3060.

Of course, using teraflop as a metric only gives us a rough estimate of a GPUs performance and it is NOT the definitive measure. 

As far as comparison to AMD RDNA 2 based GPU goes, there isn’t quite an equivalent GPU because the RDNA 2 based 6700XT has 40 CU and RDNA2 based 6800XT has 72 CU. Xbox Series X has 52 CU

What About the Rest of the Components

As far as the rest of the components go, Xbox Series X features the following:

• Memory: 16 GB GDDR6

It should be noted that unlike on PCs where we have separate memory modules, the memory in Xbox Series X is shared between the GPU as well as the rest of the components.

• Storage: 1 TB (PCIe NVMe Gen 4 SSD)

While Xbox Series X hasn’t disclosed the details of their SSD, given its speeds, reviews, and the SSD found in its close rival PS5, we can deduce that is based on the Gen 4 PCIe speeds.

• Recommended Power Supply Unit: 600-650W

This is based on the typical power supply requirement as suggested for NVIDIA RTX 3060. If you choose to go for a lesser or a more powerful GPU, the exact PSU requirement may differ

• Blu-Ray Drive

A Sample Custom PC Xbox Series X PC and Its Cost

So we know that Xbox Series X costs $499. How much would a custom-built PC based on the details above would cost you?

The following table explains. Note that the prices mentioned are NOT MSRP and instead are based on the current market.

A few important notes:

I have chosen AMD Ryzen 7 5700X here because the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X is actually more expensive. Older CPUs tend to get expensive as they go obsolete and their supply depletes.

I have chosen an AMD X570-based motherboard because it is the only one that can support Gen 4 SSDs for AMD 3000 and AMD 5000 Series CPUs.

So, an Xbox Series X PC equivalent will cost you about $950 AND this is WITHOUT the Keyboard and Mouse.

Xbox Series X, on the other hand, does come with a controller. So you can add about an extra $50 for a basic mouse and keyboard.

Also Read: Xbox Series S Equivalent PC

PC Twice as Expensive as Xbox Series X

This gives you a final cost of about $1000 for the PC Xbox Series X equivalent.

So, an average equivalent gaming PC is EASILY twice as expensive as the Xbox Series X IF you want to have a similar experience.

Also Read: Does Xbox Series X Support FreeSync?

Final Words

You don’t have to build an equivalent PC by yourself, you can often get a prebuilt equivalent PC on the market.

But whether a PC is a better deal as compared to an Xbox Series X is a matter of personal opinion.

While a PC is definitely more expensive, it is far more flexible. Compared to a gaming console, it is just not limited to gaming and multimedia, PC is a also a workstation. In addition to that, the upgradeability factor cannot be emphasized enough.