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Digital Foundry || Skyrim Anniversary Edition: PS5 vs Xbox Series X/S Upgrades Tested

ILikeFeet

ILikeFeet

DF Deet Master
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
61,987


Skyrim is back once again with a new 'Anniversary Edition' that not only adds new content but also gives a bit of bespoke attention to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles - replacing the need to use user mods or FPS Boost to get the game running at 60fps. Given we were already looking at 4K on PS5 and Series X, what's changed? And is Series S still running at 1080p? Actually, no!
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  • native Series and PS5
  • native 60fps
  • 2.65s loading on PS5. 15.20s on backwards compatible
  • 4-5s for Series
  • same texture and object draw, better AF
  • Series S is dynamic 1440p, scales on horizontal axis
  • Series X is dynamic 2160p, horizontal scaling
  • alpha is 66% of 4k
  • PS5 is fixed 2160p
  • alpha is full res
  • PS5 is nearly perfect, dragon fights drops around 50fps
  • PS4 version is now 60fps
  • no haptic feedback or adaptive triggers
  • Series has fewer drops when fighting dragons
 
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chandoog

chandoog

Member
Oct 27, 2017
20,074
TL;DW

- Biggest improvement is load times. Native PS5 app: 2.65 seconds, 15 seconds on PS4 app via BC.
- PS5: 2.65 Seconds, Series X: 4.2, Series S: 4.5 seconds

- Series S gains a resolution boost to dynamic 1440p, an upgrade over the original 1080p codebase.
- Scales only Horizontally. 17xxp to 2560 x 1440p.

- Series X: Dynamic 4K. Lowest noted 2560x2160 in taxing moments with GPU sapping effects.
- Previously with 60 FPS mod/boost ran with fixed 4K.
- You may see moments now where it may run softer but hard pressed to spot in practice.

- PS5 runs with fixed 4K same as before. Not much different in scaling now vs previously with FPS mods.
- Dreaded 400% zoom can show difference in clarity between PS5 and SX in some places where SX scales dynamically vs PS5´s static 4K.

- PS5´s native 4K can cause drops to high 40s / low 50s in stress areas (dragon fights) same as before
- Outside of these areas, it runs with barely any drops.
- Anniversary update also effects PS4 version of the app, you get 60 FPS without needing mods there too.
- No haptic feedback or adaptive trigger updates unfortunately.

- Series consoles get a more obvious improvement FPS upgrade over boost/mods.
- Series X Example of dragon appearance drops to 40 FPS before now only has a quck few frame drop to mid 50s.
- Much like PS5, no issues/drops outside of stress areas.

- Series S has same ballpark performance in stress areas as before.
 
big_z

big_z

Member
Nov 2, 2017
7,799
Wasn't there another comparison a few days ago showing the series x had higher lod in some areas?
 
Cjdamon042

Cjdamon042

Member
Oct 28, 2017
2,323
Edinburgh
Windhelm is really the only place I've seen it struggle on PS5. Some very minor drops in the few dragon fights I've had so far, but Windhelm just wasn't smooth at all. Not awful, but not on par with everywhere else I've been.

Having a lot of fun going back to it though!
 
Tobor

Tobor

Member
Oct 25, 2017
28,533
Richmond, VA
I've been playing it on PS5 and it's fantastic. This is the end for Bethesda on PlayStation, but at least I have this.
 
baconcow

baconcow

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,814
Does Series X benefit from VRR in this game? I cannot remember if it is all native XSX games or just select ones.
 
Mars People

Mars People

Comics Council 2020
Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,202
Alpha effects really of the bane of video game performance.
You'd think there would be a better way.
 
CubeApple76

CubeApple76

Member
Jan 20, 2021
6,689
baconcow said:
Does Series X benefit from VRR in this game? I cannot remember if it is all native XSX games or just select ones.
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All games, not just all native games benefit from VRR afaik

Also, man how far we've come. I remember 2 minute load times back on the 360 version to just go into a shop or something. 4 second loading is a gamechanger.
 
baconcow

baconcow

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,814
CloseTalker said:
Assuming your TV supports it, every game should, it's a system-level feature. Considering how minute the frame rate dips in this are, VRR will eliminate them completely.
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QbaPL17 said:
All games, not just all native games benefit from VRR afaik
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chandoog said:
VRR is a system level feature, it would work on any game running on a SX.
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Thanks. I feel Monster Hunter World will definitely benefit from VRR.
 
FLUXCapacitor

FLUXCapacitor

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,076
So what's the story with the Gamepass vs Anniversary edition in terms of mod compatibility? Been wanting to jump back into this. Is it worth upgrading, or should I just stick with the Gamepass version?
 
Iolo

Iolo

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,902
Britain
All platforms got a boost except XSX, which is imperceptibly different in graphics and load speed to my eyes. The FPS boosted version was already perfect. Guessing the only real difference is that it can dial down the resolution a bit now to maintain framerate.
 
chandoog

chandoog

Member
Oct 27, 2017
20,074
FLUXCapacitor said:
So what's the story with the Gamepass vs Anniversary edition in terms of mod compatibility? Been wanting to jump back into this. Is it worth upgrading, or should I just stick with the Gamepass version?
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If I'm not mistaken, the GP version also gets the tech upgrade minus the Anniversary specific new content for free.
 
ejoshua

ejoshua

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,402
Is the Game Pass version of this on Series S the performance upgraded one (don't care about the extra content) — or is it a base version with no new bells and whistles?
 
Xeonidus

Xeonidus

“Fuck them kids.”
Member
Oct 28, 2017
4,279
After buying the GoTY edition way back when, getting the Special Edition for free on steam as well as buying the VR version, I'm done. Or at least I thought I was lol. Getting it on PS5 on the cheap down the line!
 
vixolus

vixolus

Prophet of Truth
Member
Sep 22, 2020
54,659
Is Skyrim getting a next-gen upgrade?

Yes! Owners of Skyrim Special Edition or the Anniversary Edition on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S will receive a next-generation upgrade for the game. The upgrade will be free and optimize the game with enhanced graphics, faster loading times and more.
-Le Monde- said:
Just to be sure. There's no free upgrade if I own the special edition on Xbox?
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ejoshua said:
Is the Game Pass version of this on Series S the performance upgraded one (don't care about the extra content) — or is it a base version with no new bells and whistles?
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ejoshua

ejoshua

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,402
vixolus said:
Is Skyrim getting a next-gen upgrade?

Yes! Owners of Skyrim Special Edition or the Anniversary Edition on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S will receive a next-generation upgrade for the game. The upgrade will be free and optimize the game with enhanced graphics, faster loading times and more.
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Thank you so much.
 
Pheonix

Pheonix

Banned
Dec 14, 2018
5,990
St Kitts
I wonder why they chose to not do any DRS on PS5 version.

and those loading times, this is what it means when both platforms are making the most of their SSDs. Expect to see PS load in about half the time.

I recall telling someone before these consoles came out though, that that could just mean PS5 loads in 2 seconds and series X in 4. Twice as fast doesn't really seem that much when we are talking about a difference of like 2 seconds lol.
 
Diarrhea Day-Lewis

Diarrhea Day-Lewis

Member
Oct 27, 2017
20,766
No dual sense features is a huge bummer but it runs better in PS5? Didn't expect that from an Xbox game, I assume it would be complete parity with X if not X have a small advantage
 
Hoggle

Hoggle

Member
Mar 25, 2021
6,114
DvdGzz said:
So barebones and this will boost sales like crazy. They did it again.
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It was basically a gimmick to sell their paid mods to a wider audience (the PS5 framerate boost was nice though, but Xbox basically got nothing). In fact, on XBOX do you need to run this off the SSD now? If so it's a downgrade.
 
JudgmentJay

JudgmentJay

Member
Nov 14, 2017
5,226
Texas
canderous said:
Yes, the Series X draw distance the best, it is even farther out than PC max settings (though on PC you should be able to duplicate it by editing config file I would guess).



Source
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I posted this in the other thread, but that's not what's happening there. If you understand how loading in Skyrim works you can see he clearly walked far enough to trigger a cell render on Series X that he didn't on the other platforms. Draw distance is the same. And yes, you can greatly extend it on PC by forcing the game to render cells further away from the player.

I don't know why people take ElAnalistaDeBits seriously. He has mistakes in pretty much every video.
 
Hoggle

Hoggle

Member
Mar 25, 2021
6,114
JudgmentJay said:
I posted this in the other thread, but that's not what's happening there. If you understand how loading in Skyrim works you can see he clearly walked far enough to trigger a cell render on Series X that he didn't on the other platforms. Draw distance is the same. And yes, you can greatly extend it on PC by forcing the game to render cells further away from the player.

I don't know why people take ElAnalistaDeBits seriously. He has mistakes in pretty much every video.
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Except you can see in the screenshot that he's pretty much in the exact same spot.
 
JudgmentJay

JudgmentJay

Member
Nov 14, 2017
5,226
Texas
Hoggle said:
Except you can see in the screenshot that he's pretty much in the exact same spot.
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Loading in Skyrim is done in chunks. Once a chunk is loaded it's loaded so long as you stay the in general area. If he took a few steps forward on the other platforms to render the chunk then moved back to the exact same spot it would look the same.
 
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bloopland33

Member
Mar 4, 2020
2,236
So the PS4 version was updated and unlocked to 60fps? Do they mention or does anyone know how high the base PS4 gets then?
 
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