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[Digital Foundry] The Witcher 3 Next-Gen - PS5 vs Xbox Series X - DF Tech Review - RT and Performance Modes Tested!

Lysandros

Member
Man, not that this is the first time or hardly surprising but still, that Eurogamer article is a near perfect propaganda piece for XSX. Attributing nearly every single advantage of this version to XSX hardware specifics, while dismissing and glossing over its disadvantages as "curiosities" and omissions. This is absolutely shameless.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?



NXG put out a new video yesterday.

Curiously he mentions that the Foliage setting on Series X (and S) is equivalent to Ultra + on PC and PS5 is somewhere between High and Ultra.

Time stamped in embed above.

Other settings like Grass and Water settings are equivalent to Ultra+ on both.
 

Bogroll

Likes moldy games



NXG put out a new video yesterday.

Curiously he mentions that the Foliage setting on Series X (and S) is equivalent to Ultra + on PC and PS5 is somewhere between High and Ultra.

Time stamped in embed above.

Other settings like Grass and Water settings are equivalent to Ultra+ on both.

He also says draw distance is further on SS and SX than PS5. Wander if there is some bug as its unusual for him not to notice something like that and DF's Tom does. Its normally the other way around.
Timestamped.

 
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adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
He also says draw distance is further on SS and SX than PS5. Wander if there is some bug as its unusual for him not to notice something like that and DF's Tom does. Its normally the other way around.
Timestamped.




Could be a difference in patches or a straight up bug. This next-gen upgrade did come in pretty hot.
 
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Saber

Gold Member
Good stuff overall for both consoles imo. Couldn't care less for stupid raytracing, useless tech imo. But I dunno if anyone noticed...but I think Xbox also has screen tearing. Not sure if I noted that on PS5, have to rewatch again.
 
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Lysandros

Member
Good stuff overall for both consoles imo. Couldn't care less for stupid raytracing, useless tech imo. But I dunno if anyone noticed...but I think Xbox also has screen tearing. Not sure if I noted that on PS5, have to rewatch again.
XSX indeed has some screen tearing while PS5 uses full Vsync according to NXgamer's analysis. This should be helping XSX FPS to some degree. Wasn't this mentined in DF video?
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Good stuff overall for both consoles imo. Couldn't care less for stupid raytracing, useless tech imo. But I dunno if anyone noticed...but I think Xbox also has screen tearing. Not sure if I noted that on PS5, have to rewatch again.


Yes they noted in the video that it tears at the very top of the screen. The kind you wouldn't notice unless you're specifically looking for it.
 
Crazy, still need updates for this update.

Looks like Xbox for ray trace mode with 30fps is that choice and for performance mode you want to go with PS5 at 60 fps.
Really surprising about the pop in on Xbox performance mode.
 

Arioco

Member
Performance mode is the way to go. I mean, I do appreciate all those ray-traced eye candy, but still... The difference is not as big as it is between 30 and 60 fps.
 

Hugare

Member
CDPR cares so much about the game that they've even remastered the experience of waiting for patches to improve performance

Truly one of the best devs

I remember waiting months for playable framerates in Novigrad/Crookback Bog. When it was finaly ok, I was already finishing the game.
 

01011001

Banned
Crazy, still need updates for this update.

Looks like Xbox for ray trace mode with 30fps is that choice and for performance mode you want to go with PS5 at 60 fps.
Really surprising about the pop in on Xbox performance mode.

the fact that it runs at a higher dynamic res while missing graphical details suggests that one of the devs that was responsible for that version just quite literally set the wrong settings. which is expected in modern game development tbh.
 

Tchu-Espresso

likes mayo on everthing and can't dance
Performance mode is the way to go. I mean, I do appreciate all those ray-traced eye candy, but still... The difference is not as big as it is between 30 and 60 fps.
I dare say it will be a cold day in hell when 30fps modes are able to overcome the massive loss in fluidity when compared to performance modes.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
the fact that it runs at a higher dynamic res while missing graphical details suggests that one of the devs that was responsible for that version just quite literally set the wrong settings. which is expected in modern game development tbh.



In Toussaint, it's the opposite. PS5 has lower distance foliage and both Series consoles (even S) has it.

Probably things that will be addressed on either in the upcoming next patch as per DF/CDPR.


ezgif-3-f31035e872wdf8k.gif
 
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01011001

Banned
In Toussaint, it's the opposite. PS5 has lower distance foliage and both Series consoles (even S) has it.

Probably things that will be addressed on either in the upcoming next patch as per DF/CDPR.


ezgif-3-f31035e872wdf8k.gif

very weird... you'd expect this to be a global setting that's used on all foliage
 

intbal

Member
In Toussaint, it's the opposite. PS5 has lower distance foliage and both Series consoles (even S) has it.

Probably things that will be addressed on either in the upcoming next patch as per DF/CDPR.


ezgif-3-f31035e872wdf8k.gif

Good ol' Tom.
The laziest DF analyst.
 

Bogroll

Likes moldy games
In Toussaint, it's the opposite. PS5 has lower distance foliage and both Series consoles (even S) has it.

Probably things that will be addressed on either in the upcoming next patch as per DF/CDPR.


ezgif-3-f31035e872wdf8k.gif
Don't know how true it is but I read that XSX has better draw distance in DLC expansions and vice versa in main game.
 

TonyK

Member
I couldn't wait and yesterday I continued playing in Performance mode. Man, it's so smooth, it plays so well. Interior lighting looks like PS3 but overall feeling is so good that I think that even if they achieve stable 30fps for RT mode I will continue playing in Performance.
 

clampzyn

Member
If this is true , it’s the best version in RT mode as it runs smoother . I thinking’s because of more CUs.

The game is buggy so maybe in some instances series x or ps5 draw distance isn't working properly, unfortunately it happened during DF's tech review and I see no reason why Series X should have lower draw distance but series s could be justifiable.
 

dr guildo

Member
In Toussaint, it's the opposite. PS5 has lower distance foliage and both Series consoles (even S) has it.

Probably things that will be addressed on either in the upcoming next patch as per DF/CDPR.


ezgif-3-f31035e872wdf8k.gif
If you look at DF video, it's because players are not at the exact same distance from this spot, so the LOD is activated or not according to that.
 
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Hugare

Member
Good ol' Tom.
The laziest DF analyst.
Going by his resume, it's more incompetence and uncontrolled bias than laziness i would say.


NXGamer tested both versions at 4.0, and Tom tested the game at 4.01. That's why there are differences.

So this is not on Tom. I agree that sometimes his analysis are kinda bad, but this one was pretty good and thorough

This is the reason why DF always wait for the day one patch before making their analysis, even if it means delaying their video compared to the rest. To avoid shit like this.

This is also one of the reasons why I preffer them over the rest.
 
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RoboFu

One of the green rats
Well while I wouldn’t put too much stock into the performance from this hack together from last gen ports update it did do one thing for me.
It really hit home just how much RT GI and Shadows can add to visuals over all.
 
On whatever the current patch is my foliage view distance looks fine on XSX. The image is soft as hell and even worse on PS5 but view distance at least is ok.

Gisr4v3.jpeg


GbHo9Ee.jpg


And here's one from way further back in case anyone thinks I was too close because of the new camera angle. It still doesn't look like the video.

6ypjarP.jpg
 
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Hugare

Member
On whatever the current patch is my foliage view distance looks fine on XSX. The image is soft as hell and even worse on PS5 but view distance at least is ok.

Gisr4v3.jpeg


GbHo9Ee.jpg


And here's one from way further back in case anyone thinks I was too close because of the new camera angle. It still doesn't look like the video.

6ypjarP.jpg
Are you on RT mode, tho?

Doesnt seem like it, judging from the lack of occlusion on the cabine to the left of Geralt
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
The second one wasn't as I toggled it off in case I accidentally experienced 30fps when I came back but here are two with RT and one is even further back again. Still nothing like the video.

lfevTgF.jpg


HIRTLQP.jpg



Cool.

Looks like that upcoming patch DF mentioned in their video has done its job. Either that or DF had a straight up bug in their session.

The image looks soft because the game has a very wild DRS range from 2160p all the way down to 1080p, so you may be seeing a 1080p image from a frame to frame.

But at least its good to see the foliage issue has been resolved.

Thanks !
 
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Darsxx82

Member
Cool.

Looks like that upcoming patch DF mentioned in their video has done its job. Either that or DF had a straight up bug in their session.

The image looks soft because the game has a very wild DRS range from 2160p all the way down to 1080p, so you may be seeing a 1080p image from a frame to frame.

But at least its good to see the foliage issue has been resolved.

Thanks !
This possibility would coincide more with the fact that no differences were seen in the NXG analysis.

In any case, it would be interesting to see the other performance aspects with the new patch. There is a lot to improve on all platforms yet.
 

Jennings

Member
60fps is literally the best reason to aplly the update, so I'm glad the bargain console stills pulls it off.
 

SF Kosmo

Al Jazeera Special Reporter
I mean yeah, Series S is gonna be a lot better than last gen but not as good as the premium consoles this gen.

Look at Cyberpunk. You wouldn't really want to play that game at all on last gen, but the Series S version, while not the best looking, is perfectly serviceable.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
- No RT mode. Includes 60 FPS Performance and High rez 30 FPS Quality mode

- Perf: Native 1080p - Quality: 1440p. DRS possible but not noted in DF testing

- In Perf mode, draw distance is reduced, otherwise all settings match

- DF thinks despite the lower resolution, 60 FPS is the way to go

- 30 FPS has long latency in response same as PS5|SX in their 30 FPS modes

- Compared to SX, loss of RT and refined SSR is the biggest difference in the 30 FPS mode with Series S having similar resolution.

- Series S Quality mode has higher foliage distance than their SX coverage but they acknowledge this is a bug (we have seen other sources show PS5|SX having same foliage)

- Series S is a big upgrade over last gen by comparison, all new-gen enhancements minus RT are present including high quantity of NPC

- PS4 Pro used CB to reach 2160p so it may look sharper but Series S's FSR 2.1 keeps the image more stable and less shimmery.

- Series S does not drop a single frame from 30 FPS in all stress testing, it runs better than both SX and PS5 in Novigrad at 30 FPS.

- In the 60 FPS mode, it can drop to 40s in novigrad, here it runs worse than PS5|SX by comparison. Other areas can also drop to mid 50s.

- Despite the above, DF still thinks Performance mode is the way to go. If you have a VRR display, the experience will be better still.
 

Banjo64

cumsessed
Watched this half an hour ago.

Looks insanely good in the 30fps mode IMO. Fantastic foiliage and draw distance.
 

Darsxx82

Member


DF analyzes the XSS version.

A big leap from the OldGen version and with some surprises when it comes to performance.

Like the XSX and PS5 versions, it still requires a patch to fulfill its purpose.

PS: The distance and amount of foliage in XSS is the same as in PS5. It is more than clear that in XSX there was a bug in the session recorded by DF. All version are the same as @Lowmoralfibre already checked.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Series S owners getting the better end of the deal as they only had the crappy One S version to rely on before.

Now they have a quality mode which runs better than SX and PS5 and a very serviceable 60 fps mode too.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Series S owners finally free from the One S code base shackles.

With all the new gen improvements to boot.
 

Darsxx82

Member
- Series S Quality mode has higher foliage distance than their SX coverage but they acknowledge this is a bug (we have seen other sources show PS5|SX having same foliage)
It is clear that it was a bug in XSX during the session recorded by DF. All versions are the same and it was shocking that other analyzes did not see these differences.

The game needs to be polished with new patches in all versions yet.
 
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