Xbox Series X GPU may be more powerful than NVIDIA RTX 2080 Super (update)

What you need to know

• Microsoft revealed that the Xbox Series X GPU features 12 teraflops of power.
• This puts it ahead of cards like the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super.
• It uses AMD's RDNA 2.0 technology which should give it an even greater advantage.
• Console games are usually more optimized than PC ports so that should also be considered.

Updated March 16, 2020: Digital Foundry confirmed that early benchmarks are similar to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080.

Yesterday, Microsoft confirmed that the Xbox Series X featured 12 teraflops (tflops) of graphics performance on the dot. The rumors of it being 10.8 or 11.3, or some other tflops, proved to be inaccurate. Naturally, when a high figure like 12 tflops is announced, everyone wants to compare it to existing chips on the market, but that comparison may not be that simple.

The Xbox Series X GPU uses AMD's RDNA 2.0 technology, which isn't available in any PC graphics card at the moment. This gives it the potential to surpass other NVIDIA cards in real-life use. However, even if we analyze the 12 tflops figure, it puts the Xbox Series X over the GeForce RTX 2080 Super which stands at 11.3 tflops. It's only beaten by the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti at 13.45 tflops and the Radeon RX Vega 64, at 12.66 tflops. However, the Radeon RX Vega 64 is AMD's last-generation chip so the advantages of Navi should outweigh the 0.66 tflops difference.

We'll only be able to compare the performance once the Xbox Series X lands, but it definitely seems promising. You also have to remember that generally, console games are more optimized than PC ports, so that also leads to some skewed results. Hopefully, Sony will reveal more details about the PlayStation 5 so everyone can make an informed decision come Holiday 2020.