OK, so people are confused by the price leal for the Series S. How can it be so cheap? Surely it's not as powerful as XB1 X!

It makes perfect sense actually, if the leaked specs are true. Let's look at it systematically.

The CPU in the S will be the big jump from XB1 X. The CPU in the X sucks. It's the reason you only get 30fps and games that are relatively unsophisticated when it comes to AI, physics, animation and all the other jobs traditionally handled ny the CPU.

The CPU in the Series S and X are likely to be pretty much the same and they will run core game engines the same.

The big differentiator is the GPU. The Series S is rumoured to have a 4TF GPU vs the Series X with something like 12TF. The XB1 X has about 6TF. Sitting somewhere inbetween. Which makes people think that the XB1 X is more powerful.

The thing is that you can't compare GPUs across generations like this. The GPU in the S works along a new API. It has hardware level acceleration of functions the older GPU won't and so on.

Most importantly is the target resolution. The XB1 X targets 4K. It fails at this, usually coming in at something like 1800p, but it targets resolutions as high as it can at 30fps in general. So while the XB1 X has more raw GPU power, it throws it at pushing more pixels.

4K is HARD. It's 4x1080p! If the Series S is 4TF and targets 1080p, its actually got more power per pixel than Series X. Since its 1/4 the resolution but 1/3 the power. If it were me I'd target visual setting parity and blow the extra GPU power on good AA.

The last bit is price. Having a GPU that 1/3 of the XSX is a huge cost saver. It's a lot less silicon but there's a big knock on effect. Less heat means simpler cooling. Less power means a cheaper PSU, smaller chassis and so on. 4TF GPUs are cheap as, er, chips on the PC side.

So that's how the leaked prices and specs make sense to me. Let me know what your opinion is.