Xbox Series X - Minecraft performance: Frame drop (occasionally goes lower than 10fps)

Will the Series X output a higher Refresh Rate at 1440p than at 2160p (4K), for games limited to 60Hz or lower at 4K?

Your thinking is correct. The game is still rendering at 4K internally (or whatever the developer has set) and is then downscaled by a form of ‘super sampling’ down to the resolution the screen is in. This isn’t any different
in playing said game at full resolution on a 4K display. There are no performance benefits. It’s designed to ensure the best picture quality on multiple types of TV’s/Monitors with their varied native resolutions.

The games with full 120Hz support are games that can run up to 120 fps (frames per second). These games don’t run in 4K, they are either locked to 1080P or use a dynamic 1440P resolution. There may be some simpler Indi titles
that can run at 4K 120 (or dynamic 4K), but don’t expect AAA titles to be able to do this.

For example, a game runs at 1440p 60Hz on the Series S, and at 4K 60Hz on the X. When used with my 1440p monitor, will I be able to get an improved refresh rate/framerate at 1440p (90/120Hz) out of the Series X? Or will it still render natively
in 4K or be capped by the developer, and therefore gain no performance benefit by outputting the lower resolution of 1440p?

Depends on the game really. Not all Series games can run at 60 fps. The new Assassins Creed Valhalla for example is dynamic 4K on Series X but 1080P 30 fps on Series S and does not have any performance options. Unlike Dirt 5 that
can run at 120 fps on both consoles, albeit with graphics settings compromises. It really depends on what optimisations the developer has implemented for each platform.

There is also a lot of confusion about the other benefits of 120Hz and VRR, let me explain:

On a standard 60Hz display, you get a new image (a frame) every 16.7ms (milliseconds). This means that if your game is targeting 60fps,
but crucially, not hitting it, you have to wait an additional 16.7ms until the next frame appears. This makes a game that is failing to perform appear like it’s stuttering/juddering.

On a 120Hz refresh, the scene updates every 8.3ms. If a game has a frame ready, rather than wait 16.7ms, it does it in half the time. This isn’t the same as running a game at 120fps though, that’s a different process. But interestingly,
because the display is refreshing at a faster rate, a dropped frame stutter is effectively cut in half. And believe me, a heck of a lot of Xbox games – even on the One X – fail to hit their targeted frame rate. The faster refresh gives the impression of smoother
performance when frames are dropped, even if the game itself isn’t actually rendering any faster.

A 120Hz refresh also has a benefit even on games that have a 30fps lock. Per-frame persistence is lower, and so games still feel smoother when they drop frames – Sekiro, I’m looking at you!

120Hz doesn’t improve how a 60 fps or 30 fps game performs or how it feels, it only makes a difference when a game can’t hold its target frame rate. A locked 30 fps game (with no frame drops) will still feel as it does running
on a traditional 60Hz display.

There is one massive caveat between these two consoles that may sway you more towards Series X than S and this is storage.

Series S Internal SSD is 512GB (360 GB usable) whereas the X is 1TB (about 870GB useable).

While both support external drives, only the Internal SSD or the expensive 1TB Expansion Card SSD can run Series X/S games. External drives connected via USB can only play BC titles (Xbox One, 360 and original Xbox). You can store
Series X/S games on USB drives, but you can’t play them from here.

The Expansion SSD costs almost as much as the Series S costs. So, a Series S and an Expansion card will set you back almost as much as buying a Series X.

Hi,

There is a lot of confusion about 120Hz.



On the Xbox One X and Series S, the 120Hz option with FreeSync was added to cut down on screen tearing and provide a better perceived performance on monitors than traditional 60Hz TVs.



This is still true on Series X/S, but those consoles are also able to render games at up to 120 fps which is where this feature can really stand out. But to utilise 120Hz to its fullest, you also need to have a FreeSync compatible display. This can be done
on a compatible monitor or via a newer HDMI 2.1 equipped TV.



On a standard 60Hz display, you get a new image (a frame) every 16.7ms (milliseconds). This means that if your game is targeting 60fps, but crucially, not hitting it, you have to wait an additional 16.7ms until the next frame appears. This makes a game that
is failing to perform appear like it’s stuttering.



On a 120Hz refresh the scene updates every 8.3ms. If a game has a frame ready, rather than wait 16.7ms, it does it in half the time. This does not make a 60 fps game appear to be running better. If a game is targeted at 60 fps and is not dropping frames,
it will feel the same on a 120Hz display as it does on a traditional 60Hz display.



But interestingly, because the display is refreshing at a faster rate, a dropped frame stutter is effectively cut in half. And believe me, a heck of a lot of games fail to hit their targeted frame rate and this is still true on the Series X as well. The
faster refresh, combined with VRR gives the impression of smoother performance when frames are dropped, even if the game itself isn’t actually rendering any faster.

On the Xbox One X for me, best performance cost wise and personally for me I'll settle with lower frame rates over having to constantly update and replace my PC.

ok, so you think you are disadvantaged playing against pc players, what about those on xbox one playing against those on series x, you have better performance, higher frame rates, they better make it so they can also turn off crossplay with series x too and series s as even that has better performance than xbox one but not as good as series x so they should wall all three versions off.

don't say oh it's keyboard and mouse as people use them on consoles too.

Hi,

High refresh rates on Xbox Series X/S and even on Xbox One S/X provide two functions.

On Series X/S where a game supports a 120 fps mode, a high 120Hz connection facilitates that frame rate. If your display can't do 120Hz, you can't play a 120 FPS supported game. But, there is a possibility that a game may not be able to hit its intended
frame rate all the time and may drop frames. This is where VRR (variable refresh rate) via FreeSync and 120Hz come in by smoothing out the dropped frames and eliminating screen tearing.

But you don't need to change refresh rate to play a game that is locked to 60 fps. You can still keep your refresh and it won't affect your gaming experience. As I stated earlier, you can only get a 120 FPS on games that support that frame rate. The high
refresh will just make the experience smoother. It's up to developers on how their games perform on the console just like the options available in Dirt 5.

While the Series X can do 4K 120Hz with newer HDMI 2.1 displays you won't see many AAA titles doing this as it's way too demanding for the system.