Microsoft Xbox 360 vs Sony PlayStation 3

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Xbox 360 compared with PlayStation 3

	MicrosoftXbox 360	SonyPlayStation 3
Overview
Released
Released	December 2005	March 2007
Performance
Type
Type	Home console	Home console
CPU
CPU	IBM Xenon (PowerPC), 3 cores, 3.2 GHz	Cell Broadband Engine, 3.2 GHz
GPU
GPU	ATI Xenos, 500 MHz	RSX Reality Synthesizer
Memory
Memory	512 MB	512 MB
Storage
Storage	20 GB	60 GB (better)
Disc drive
Disc drive	Yes	Yes
CPU
CPU	IBM PowerPC-based tri-core Xenon CPU at 3.2 GHz (Microsoft)	Cell Broadband Engine at 3.2 GHz, with one PowerPC-based core and seven active synergistic processing elements (Sony)
GPU
GPU	ATI Xenos at 500 MHz with 10 MB of eDRAM frame buffer memory (Microsoft)	RSX graphics processor, codeveloped by NVIDIA and Sony
Memory detail
Memory detail	512 MB GDDR3 at 700 MHz, shared by CPU and GPU (Microsoft)	256 MB XDR main RAM and 256 MB GDDR3 video RAM
Storage detail
Storage detail	Detachable 20 GB hard drive on the standard console (none on the Xbox 360 Core); 12× DVD drive	60 GB 2.5-inch Serial ATA hard drive, user-replaceable; Blu-ray, DVD and CD drive (read only)
Storage expansion
Storage expansion	2 × Memory Unit ports; USB storage	Memory Stick, SD and CompactFlash card slots; USB storage
Display and video
Maximum output
Maximum output	1080p	1080p
Built-in screen
Built-in screen	No built-in screen	No built-in screen
Video output
Video output	AV port only on the first models, with composite, RGB SCART, component or VGA cables; up to 1080p after the autumn 2006 software update; HDMI on later 2007 models (Microsoft)	HDMI out; AV Multi Out (composite, S-Video, component); 576i, 576p, 720p, 1080i and 1080p on the UK model
Audio
Audio	Analogue stereo or Dolby Digital 5.1 through a suitable AV cable (Microsoft)	DIGITAL OUT (OPTICAL); Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1 and up to 7.1-channel linear PCM over HDMI (Sony)
Design and power
Weight
Weight	3,500 g (better)	5,000 g
Colours
Colours	White with a grey DVD tray	Black
Connections
Ports
Ports	2 × Memory Unit ports, 3 × USB 2.0 (2 front, 1 rear), Ethernet, AV port, DC IN	4 × USB 2.0, HDMI out, AV Multi Out, DIGITAL OUT (OPTICAL), Gigabit Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T), memory card slots
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth	Wireless controllers; Wi-Fi through a separately sold Xbox 360 Wireless Networking Adapter (Microsoft)	Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11 b/g), Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR); up to 7 Bluetooth controllers
Controller
Controller	Xbox 360 controller, wireless or wired	SIXAXIS wireless controller at launch; later bundles came with DUALSHOCK 3
Backward compatibility
Backward compatibility	Selected original Xbox games through software compatibility; requires the hard drive (Microsoft)	PlayStation games; the UK and European model plays some PS2 games through partial software emulation (its PS2 Emotion Engine chip was removed)