Digital Foundry: Xbox Series X Backwards Compatibility Tested - And The Performance Is Extreme

Moosichu · Sep 28, 2020

Interestingly, for this PS4Pro titles which performed poorly, the PS5 should be more technically capable at running them at full framerate compared with Series X *in theory*, because the jump in GPU power from PS4Pro to PS5 is larger than from One X to Series X.

However, the majority of One X games seem to hit their full framerate on Series X anyway. and the downside of this is the fact that Series X gets native 4k BC games as opposed to checkerboarding or otherwise subnative on the whole for PS5 BC games.

Tagyhag · Sep 28, 2020

I'm so glad to see MS continue to care about improving BC. It's something that all consoles should do.

A lot of console-only owners don't realize how amazing it is to go back to a crappy performing game and have it play like a dream with stronger hardware, but they're about to.

pg2g · Sep 28, 2020

I kinda wish Microsoft mandated that developers do things that make them scale up well... Dynamic resolution, unlocked frame rates, etc. With BC and mid gen refreshes, there is no reason developers should lock things so much.

ShinAmano · Sep 28, 2020

This is awesome.

Yerffej · Sep 28, 2020

pg2g said:
I kinda wish Microsoft mandated that developers do things that make them scale up well... Dynamic resolution, unlocked frame rates, etc. With BC and mid gen refreshes, there is no reason developers should lock things so much.

Are you talking about MS owned devs? Because you can't mandate shit to third parties.

Deleted member 11008 · Sep 28, 2020

rajinus said:
If someone hasn't "gotten around to" a title released 8 months ago for a console they own, that implies they had very little interest in the game in the first place, and that cannot be simultaneously true with being super hyped about being able to play it at a higher framerate in the future

Hi, I am interested in Sekiro and Control but those run horrible at my PS4. Even a game like MHW run better. Thanks to this news is pushing me to want a XSX this year and not until 2021.

sangreal · Sep 28, 2020

Yerffej said:
Are you talking about MS owned devs? Because you can't mandate shit to third parties.

a lesson MS learned after trying to mandate 720p on 360

harz-marz · Sep 28, 2020

Dumbass question - for games with a locked FPS like 30, can a developer easily unlock this and roll out a patch? Or does it mess things up and be more complicated than that?

pg2g · Sep 28, 2020

Yerffej said:
Are you talking about MS owned devs? Because you can't mandate shit to third parties.

I know they wouldn't actually force it (im sure they could as part of the certification process) but it would be nice haha. XGS devs should definitely be doing it, especially when they are supporting PC as well.

rokkerkory · Sep 28, 2020

"you are getting full 12TF of XSX GPU power thrown at BC"

awesome

CloudsFromSpace · Sep 28, 2020

rajinus said:
If someone hasn't "gotten around to" a title released 8 months ago for a console they own, that implies they had very little interest in the game in the first place, and that cannot be simultaneously true with being super hyped about being able to play it at a higher framerate in the future

I think the lens of being on an enthusiast forum warps this conversation pretty severely. I can absolutely imagine a scenario in which someone puts off playing a title that they were excited for, which released on a platform they own, and that the same person is extremely excited to play the game at a higher frame rate or resolution in the future. There's a whole universe of scenarios where this could apply that have nothing to do with games or the sufficiency of someone's hype or the broad utility of BC improvements.

Maybe someone really wanted to play the game, but they were moving to a new city, or just had a kid, or changed jobs, or started school, etc. People delay purchases, even ones they're extremely interested in, for any number of reasons. Those same people can be just as excited to play an improved version as anyone else.

Equanimity · Sep 28, 2020

asagami_ said:
Hi, I am interested in Sekiro and Control but those run horrible at my PS4. Even a game like MHW run better. Thanks to this news is pushing me to want a XSX this year and not until 2021.

Good luck with finding XSX this year. Better keep tabs on Xbox Twitter to see if preorders will open again.

sangreal · Sep 28, 2020

Nephtes said:
Did they say in the video when they're going to perform the same benchmarks on Series S?

Do they have one? I think MS just sent out Series X (not counting the shells they sent previously)

Jumpman23 · Sep 28, 2020

As a consumer, Microsoft is making all the right moves right now. This backwards compatibility boost is quite impressive. It's like when I get a new GPU for my PC.

Bradbatross · Sep 28, 2020

rajinus said:
If someone hasn't "gotten around to" a title released 8 months ago for a console they own, that implies they had very little interest in the game in the first place, and that cannot be simultaneously true with being super hyped about being able to play it at a higher framerate in the future

This could not be more wrong. Plenty of people don't play games they're interested in for a variety of reasons. I have a long list of games that I'm interested in that I haven't gotten around to playing.

Yerffej · Sep 28, 2020

pg2g said:
I know they wouldn't actually force it (im sure they could as part of the certification process) but it would be nice haha. XGS devs should definitely be doing it, especially when they are supporting PC as well.

Oh I bet there's more than a few going the extra mile on the XGS side.

Deleted member 11008 · Sep 28, 2020

Equanimity said:
Good luck with finding XSX this year. Better keep tabs on Xbox Twitter to see if preorders will open again.

I know lol First I want check how good will be work for the rest of the year, but if anything I will try my best to get one before summer 2021.

ArchedThunder · Sep 28, 2020

Damn, was hoping they'd show unpatched AC Unity.

dantx said:
rewatching the video from DS and saw this
ugh
i really wanna see games with the next gen patches

At least the games that still have issues seem to stay with in the typical VRR range.

YukiroCTX · Sep 28, 2020

Very happy with the performances on a lot of the games. Using X mostly for BC games and GP at the moment so going to go through a lot I've never tried before.

Equanimity · Sep 28, 2020

asagami_ said:
I know lol First I want check how good will be work for the rest of the year, but if anything I will try my best to get one before summer 2021.

Sorry, what do you want to check?

The Bookerman · Sep 28, 2020

My question is how will the ps5 backward compatibility work. Could we get better results since it has 36 cu's like the ps4 pro(double the regular ps4) but a much faster clock? I'm super curious. Then there's the ssd.
Can't wait to see. Super good results on series x

Blessed by Horus · Sep 28, 2020

Equanimity · Sep 28, 2020

rokkerkory said:
"you are getting full 12TF of XSX GPU power thrown at BC"

awesome

No wonder One X enhanced games are running so well.

Gustaf · Sep 28, 2020

asagami_ said:
I know lol First I want check how good will be work for the rest of the year, but if anything I will try my best to get one before summer 2021.

do you think we gonna face trouble finding XSX here in mexico?

Deleted member 11008 · Sep 28, 2020

Equanimity said:
Sorry, what do you want to check?

Sorry for my awful selection of words. I mean, if I still have work, I want save enough like if I can get a XSX and to survive if the worst case happen. Otherwise I will wait until 2021.

NediarPT88 · Sep 28, 2020

Disappointing Sekiro performance, I assumed XSX would be able to do locked 60fps without problem :\

Now I fear for the PS5 version lol

Landy828 · Sep 28, 2020

JusDoIt said:
This is a bit sobering, seeing next gen still struggle to hit a locked 60 on current gen games. My expectations for next gen have been appropriately adjusted.

This has completely taken the Series S out of the equation for me, though.

This made me chuckle.

You do realize these are games running in a Backwards Compatible mode, right?

They're not native games built for the system. It's new hardware brute forcing a game built for a different hardware (and even adding things like HDR on top). I think it takes a total lack of understanding of what is being done here, to not be impressed.

NediarPT88 said:
Disappointing Sekiro performance, I assumed XSX would be able to do locked 60fps without problem :\

Now I fear for the PS5 version lol

While your post isn't the same as the one above, it's similar.

If you're getting this kind of performance from a pre-release build running BC games, I'd think there's no-where but up from here.

Lunchbox · Sep 28, 2020

This kinda stuff is pushing me to get an Xbox first next gen.. I need to upgrade my S before my Pro.

Deleted member 11008 · Sep 28, 2020

Gustaf said:
do you think we gonna face trouble finding XSX here in mexico?

I dont't know. I think PS5 will be more limited but who know if Microsoft will have enough units to meet the demand.

ArchedThunder · Sep 28, 2020

Landy828 said:
This made me chuckle.

You do realize these are games running in a Backwards Compatible mode, right?

They're not native games built for the system. It's new hardware brute forcing a game built for a different hardware (and even adding things like HDR on top). I think it takes a total lack of understanding of what is being done here, to not be impressed.

Yeah, Xbox One X can't even run GTAIV smoothly and look at what that system could do.

nitewulf · Sep 28, 2020

harz-marz said:
Dumbass question - for games with a locked FPS like 30, can a developer easily unlock this and roll out a patch? Or does it mess things up and be more complicated than that?

Depends on how the game was coded. Okami HD is locked at 30 for instance. The game breaks if the framerate is unlocked. Like you will have problem timing action because of how it was actually made. But games from the last (current) gen are probably not coded that way.

delete · Sep 28, 2020

takriel said:
Can anyone summarize how Dark Souls 3 and Sekiro run on the Series X?

Dark souls 3 has a 30fps limit, only the ps4 pro got an unlocked framerate option. Sekiro mostly runs at 60 fps but does dip to low 50s.

SteviaRelievingYa · Sep 28, 2020

This sucks because now I don't want to do any gaming at all until I get my Series X

Wet Jimmy · Sep 28, 2020

rajinus said:
If someone hasn't "gotten around to" a title released 8 months ago for a console they own, that implies they had very little interest in the game in the first place, and that cannot be simultaneously true with being super hyped about being able to play it at a higher framerate in the future

This has to be a parody account, right?

RedRum · Sep 28, 2020

Tagyhag said:
I'm so glad to see MS continue to care about improving BC. It's something that all consoles should do.

A lot of console-only owners don't realize how amazing it is to go back to a crappy performing game and have it play like a dream with stronger hardware, but they're about to.

Absolutely. It should not be a viable option for people that don't want to keep their old systems to have to do so. Especially considering past digital versions. Being able to sell my old systems for new toys is awesome, while the games of yesteryear are upgraded to almost remaster shape..

..for no additional cost.

Andromeda · Sep 28, 2020

delete said:
Dark souls 3 has a 30fps limit, only the ps4 pro got an unlocked framerate option. Sekiro mostly runs at 60 fps but does dip.

Yes Dark Souls 3 will be 1080p 60fps on PS5. And I expect Sekiro to run at locked 60fps on PS5. It's already running better on Pro.

Mars People · Sep 28, 2020

I am glad console players can finally play Sekiro at 60fps.
I played on PC and every frame counts in that hard ass game.

Wet Jimmy · Sep 28, 2020

rokkerkory said:
"you are getting full 12TF of XSX GPU power thrown at BC"

awesome

Important to note this distinction though - it's 12TF of last-gen GCN-based console with Zen 2.

When running in Backwards compatibility, it's been confirmed by Microsoft as not using any of the RDNA2 features of the CPU/GPU;

Equanimity · Sep 28, 2020

asagami_ said:
Sorry for my awful selection of words. I mean, if I still have work, I want save enough like if I can get a XSX and to survive if the worst case happen. Otherwise I will wait until 2021.

Wish you all the best for the future.

Serpens007 · Sep 28, 2020

Fabtacular said:
Yeah, that's what I was assuming with my prior post.

But the person I was replying to cited a line from the DF writeup that seemed to suggest otherwise. That at least the Series S might run BC games as-well as the One X.

Current Xbox One games probably won't be the X versions in resolution and the such, but they will probably have other improvents over XBX

nanskee · Sep 28, 2020

Dantero said:
This is how Xbox Series S backwards compatibility really works

UPDATE: For the authoritative take on Microsoft's new flagship console, Digital Foundry's full Xbox Series X review is …

www.eurogamer.net

This is good to hear. If resolution could be boosted for Xbox one games, even better. 1080p would be fine

thecaseace · Sep 28, 2020

rajinus said:
If someone hasn't "gotten around to" a title released 8 months ago for a console they own, that implies they had very little interest in the game in the first place, and that cannot be simultaneously true with being super hyped about being able to play it at a higher framerate in the future

Lol, have you posted here before?

Backlogs, backlogs everywhere...

A lot of enthusiasts will make use of these upgrades, I've been meaning to complete Sekiro, I'll have a reason to seamlessly reload my save now.

zoodoo · Sep 28, 2020

SteviaRelievingYa said:
This sucks because now I don't want to do any gaming at all until I get my Series X

lmao
I've been playing wii and ps3 the past month

zoodoo · Sep 28, 2020

rajinus said:
If someone hasn't "gotten around to" a title released 8 months ago for a console they own, that implies they had very little interest in the game in the first place, and that cannot be simultaneously true with being super hyped about being able to play it at a higher framerate in the future

How long have you been on era?
Backlogs threads are the norm here

cyrribrae · Sep 28, 2020

Moosichu said:
Interestingly, for this PS4Pro titles which performed poorly, the PS5 should be more technically capable at running them at full framerate compared with Series X *in theory*, because the jump in GPU power from PS4Pro to PS5 is larger than from One X to Series X.

However, the majority of One X games seem to hit their full framerate on Series X anyway. and the downside of this is the fact that Series X gets native 4k BC games as opposed to checkerboarding or otherwise subnative on the whole for PS5 BC games.

This is actually something I'm interested in too. Specifically, how does PS5 BC handle games that were checkerboarded. Dynamic res is easy to scale up with more hardware. But, checkerboarding seems like it wouldn't necessarily scale up the same way, or at least would be kind of wasting some of that effort. But I could totally be wrong.

Equanimity said:
Sorry, what do you want to check?

If we can afford it, I assume.

Edit: Ahh, yep. That was it.

Wet Jimmy said:
Important to note this distinction though - it's 12TF of last-gen GCN-based console with Zen 2.

When running in Backwards compatibility, it's been confirmed by Microsoft as not using any of the RDNA2 features of the CPU/GPU;

Yea, without a patch at least. If you wanted to make any use of the RDNA2 features, I assume you'd need to patch anyway. Unless that includes something like the inherent power efficiencies of RDNA2 over GCN (which I'm assuming, perhaps incorrectly, is not what is meant there? But perhaps!)

delete · Sep 28, 2020

Has there been any indication that games with an uncapped framerate can go above 60fps when plugged into a 120hz display?

t67443 · Sep 28, 2020

Jroc said:
Sony has two completely separate consoles with completely separate games that are sometimes linked together using an entitlement program.

Xbox One and Xbox Series games on the other hand are functionally the same. Although it isn't mandatory, Microsoft encourages smart delivery and sees it as an extension of their backwards (forwards?) compatibility strategy. Whether Yakuza 5 on next-gen is a "Series X game" or a "One X game with a patch" largely comes down to semantics. That's why it's part of the general back compat discussion.

This seems absolutely correct.

Green · Sep 28, 2020

delete said:
Has there been any indication that games with an uncapped framerate can go above 60fps when plugged into a 120hz display?

This is what I want to know. I saw some 63-65, etc. fps here and there in some videos, but unsure if that would output externally to the high hz displays. Some old 360 games such as Bioshock should be able to do 4K120 as they're unlocked.

rokkerkory · Sep 28, 2020

Wet Jimmy said:
Important to note this distinction though - it's 12TF of last-gen GCN-based console with Zen 2.

When running in Backwards compatibility, it's been confirmed by Microsoft as not using any of the RDNA2 features of the CPU/GPU;

wow even more amazing

thanks

delete · Sep 28, 2020

NediarPT88 said:
Disappointing Sekiro performance, I assumed XSX would be able to do locked 60fps without problem :\

Now I fear for the PS5 version lol

On ps4 pro the uncapped frame rate was higher than on the xbox one x, as shown in the DF video. The PS5 doesn't have as big a gap to reach locked 60 as the series x does, will be interesting to see once DF get their hands on a ps5.

Digital Foundry: Xbox Series X Backwards Compatibility Tested - And The Performance Is Extreme

Prophet of Regret

User requested account closure

Prophet of Regret

User requested account closure

Uncle Beerus

Prophet of Regret

User requested account closure

ƃuoɹʍ ʇᴉ ƃuᴉop ǝɹ,noʎ 'ʇɥƃᴉɹ sᴉɥʇ pɐǝɹ noʎ ɟI

User requested account closure

Uncle Beerus

Newbie Paper Plane Pilot

Comics Council 2020

Well, Tosca isn't for everyone

Prophet of Truth

Chicken Chaser