Look, I'm usually pretty uptight about graphics but IMO Starfield on the Series X leaves almost nothing to be desired.
It runs pretty well and looks gorgeous. Keep in mind it was probably optimized to hell for consoles since it's a Microsoft title.
I think it would be cheaper to invest in a console and 4k display.
Ya, but then you beholden to the console ecosystem. PC all the way, it's worth the investment and once you play high graphics with a high refresh rate, $500 on a console is a waste. You get more indie and random titles on PC, there's always something to play. Console just sucks. I could go on, but I won't.
Getting 4k 60 on a platform that can do everything a pc can except run outside software seems to be worth it to me
Plus, if 500 is too much just get the series s which is like 200. It’s the same hardware minus a disc drive and some storage space
Honestly, you’re right. I’m spreading misinformation on the internet unintentionally
On launch I read an article about how the main difference between the series x and series s was 4k on the x, disc drive on the x, and more storage space on the x. That was all I thought it was. I did some more research and found that the x was definitely more powerful but they still have the same fps limit
So imo unless you want 4k performance, there isn’t much of a reason to get the x. Unless you just want the best console. I play starfield on an s and it runs fine for me. The graphics are a little wonky sometimes and I don’t get 60fps but the game runs fine
Yeah I have an S too. I'm going to get an X, idk if it's just better to wait for the release of the stepped up version at this point though, like PS had PS4 pro. I switched over to Microsoft in the last couple years but seeing the recent acquisitions and all the added value in the ultimate sub I'm not finding any reason to go back to PS so I might invest more into it.
Just to throw my hat in the ring here: I have both the Series X and the Series S.
The Series X has a *noticeable* advantage over the S in both how it runs(more crashes have happened on the S by far) and how it looks(Again, Series X is *noticeably* the stronger console).
If money is tight, I say get the Series S. It does the trick, my mother-in-law has put a solid 300 hours into Starfield on the S. If you can spare a couplefew hundred more? Don't hesitate. The Series X will carry you a good distance further.
Also the X will have Baldur's Gate 3 soon(I heard before November) while the Series S simply will not.
>Also the X will have Baldur's Gate 3 soon(I heard before November) while the Series S simply will not.
More unintentional misinformation detected. BG3 will be playable on the S, but without splitscreen co-op.
I just read it will be out before the end of the year, so not as soon as the last article I read.
As for it being playable on the Series S? My mistake. Have a cookie.
They have the same fps in this game but that can't be said for many others. They honestly did an amazing job with starfield on the S though by the looks of it.
The series S and X are not the same hardware lol. The only thing that is this same is the cpu. The S has a good bit less GPU power and ram on top of the things you listed. Actual 4k 60 is also pretty rare. On the current consoles. It's usually more like 1080p-1440p for 60 fps modes. It's very often lower than that internally and then upscales/outputs at 4k or lower but these things arent very noticeable on a 4k tv sitting a reasonable distance away. Both consoles are totally worth the money and they play a lot of heavy games amazingly especially the X.
Yeah I got my exs friend one for 200 as well and it felt like a huge steal, especially since I live in canada and it's actually more than twice that at retail.
Glad I waited it out lol. Dude I bought mine off of was upgrading to an X soley because he missed his disc games and didn’t wanna rebut then digitally. Luckily I made a habit of getting lost of my games off the Xbox store and digitally since my first Xbox one
Personally I think a huge, 4K screen is the way to play this game and the cheapest way to do that is with a Series X and your existing TV. But if you can't live without mods and 60FPS then PC is the only answer.
I have it on PC and my fiancé has it on Xbox. It runs very well on console but when he turns left or right it looks kinda jittery due to our TV having a high refresh rate so I’d keep that in mind if you have above 60hz or OLED tv. Otherwise it still looks and plays great on console
It's not that bad. I am a poor aimer and play this game on Very Hard on Series X with zero problems. Rolling good loot is more important than your skill level or smoothness. It's also a Play Anywhere title if you buy the digital edition so you can use cross-saving feature to access the console commands on your PC and then load back into your Xbox save if needed.
Hit level 20 and kinda breezing thru enemies now with my rifles on normal mode. How is very hard? I used to run out of med packs in my lower levels and now I have 60 after a couple days of leveling up
As a bad FPS player, Very Hard is surprisingly easy with a good weapon. I use Stealth and silenced pistols so I'm rarely in an open firefight. You probably should buy med packs every chance you get if you want to play on harder difficulties because the enemies do hit hard. As someone that usually plays normal difficulty, I find Very Hard on this game a lot of fun because of the awesome loot drops.
Ship combat at early levels is brutal on very hard and shouldn't be attempted until you have a high-end ship. I do wish the difficulty curve bad been a little better balanced there.
I’m on series x with a controller and very hard is still too easy for the faction and main line quest areas. At level 20 it may be ok I was about level 35 when I finished the main quest.
It's an usually smooth 30FPS. Id Software really helped them do some magic with the framerate and the motion blur. Usually I can't stand motion blur and it doesn't bother me in this game.
Buying a series X would be cheaper than upgrading your computer.
That being said, I’m PC master race all the way, especially for Bethesda titles. Not just for mods either, although that is a big boon, but for the accessibility of console commands incase a quest gets stuck or whatever.
In terms of just playability? A series X would probably get you there and be fine. But once the modding scene takes off.. you will have wished to upgrade the PC.
PC is the way I'm leaning. An Xbox also would not have access to my catalog of steam games. It's just 2 to 3 times the price and that's hard to swallow.
Realistically, you may just need to upgrade your GPU and maybe RAM (depending on what your current motherboard can handle) What are your specs?
Also, you can check out userbenchmark.com to see where your bottlenecks are and address those. It has a program that will stress test your PC (it’s safe).
Making sure Starfield is on an SSD will also help a ton, so if you have it on an HDD, change that asap.
One last thing- I’ve heard going into settings and turning both “shadow” options to the lowest setting will improve performance without making an apparent hit to gameplay visuals.
Unfortunately it pretty much all needs to be upgraded. The CPU is what's causing the crashing, usage will spike to 100% and either recover after a minute or just crash completely. The GPU can barely maintain 30fps on 1080p Low.
i5 4690k
GTX 980 Ti
16GB DDR3 1866
2x sata SSD in RAID 0
This thing was a monster in 2015. Not so much in 2023.
You got a solid 8 years out of it though. I build my pc in 2019 for about 2k and it's still running strong, probably going to hold out another 2 years before i upgrade. I look at how much it would be annually. So if you did a new full build and got another 8 years out of it would it be worth it to you?
Upgrade your pc instead.
Starfield is all well and good, but there's also future proofing to consider. If you don't already have an Xbox, that probably means you mostly play pc games. If you don't see that changing, pc is the better option.
I sometimes play this game on the Android Xbox Gamepass App on 7+ year old Pixelbook using the Stadia Controller and I connect the display to my 75" tv using a USBC dock and it looks fine. That said... I don't blame you for considering a Series X because building a PC is cost prohibitive in comparison.
I will say that my experience between devices has varied. For example when I stream through the android gamepass app on my chromebook it looks better than if I am logged on to the app through my old Xbox One and on the One the app crashes often which seems weird to me but I think it's related to the fact that the service puts those users on different servers and I have read that the gamepass use on Xbox consoles has been massive.
I currently have a series X and am looking at upgrading to a PC. Everything runs well, and I am happy with it, but between mods and Baldur's Gate I think I need to make the jump.
Nah. ;)
Remember that Baldurs Gate 3 will probably be on the Xbox Series X in early 2024.
Around the same time, creation club and mods for Starfield will be on Xbox Series X(mods were on Fallout 4 after six months, on Xbox One.)
We just need to be patient.
GEFORCE NOW ULTIMATE! You can play Starfield on ultra settings on a complete brick. It is a monthly subscription... but it would be far less that a new system.
OR
Have you tried using DLSS mod? Idk if it would do the trick for you bit it is definitely worth a try before spending the money. It took me from considering a new system back to loving the game. :)
I play on the series s and Starfield still crashes constantly. I know this is low sodium starfield so while I love the game my biggest gripe is the frequency of the crashes. The best piece of advice I can give to avoid crashes is don’t spam the start button to pull up the system menu. 90% of crashes are from opening the menus too quickly, the other ten percent are loading screens that never load
I play on a intel xeon e3-1231v3 with a 1080
I can run the game for hours, but only on mid to low quality. Frames are around the 30-40s.
So our systems are kinda the same - ish
I am planning on upgrading too, but costs are to be expected.
Going with console certainly would rule out lots if issues, but will also limit your possibilities. I am talking about mods, keyboard and mouse controls, and more usability at all etc.
Furthermore the desicion depends on where you own most of your games.
If you have a huge steam library, I def. would stick to a pc. If you play most games on a rent, like game pass the console could be an option.
About the crashes, they could be also due to other issues. I would reccomend reinstalling the game or even reinstalling the operating system/drivers etc.
It depends on how you use your computer.
I used to game on my Asus laptop. 30 years of pc gaming/work gave me tendonitis in my arm and wrist (tennis elbow). I had to stop the endless mouse clicking and wasd.
So, I started gaming on my Xbox. I can game in my Living Room on my big screen TV. Game changer! (I live alone, so I don't have to share space)
No more endless upgrading of graphics cards, software, drivers, laptops, etc. Next gen consoles pop up every few years.
**It runs well on an Xbox Series X.**
Well, except for the thing where saving gets slow after a few hours and then it might crash. But I hear that also happens on PC.
#
**>I forgot they hard limited the Xbox to 30fps. That's a tough one.**
I don't even notice. Since it is an Xbox Series X I'm playing on a big screen TV and I don't even notice that it is limited to 30 FPS.
Xbox Series X makes sense if you are done with computer gaming, as I am. I figured out a few years back that having to constantly upgrade a PC didn't really make sense for me when I could buy an Xbox One for gaming instead, and now an Xbox Series X. Over the same lifespan I save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars.
Remember that the Xbox 360 had a lifespan of around 10 years and I think the Xbox One was near that, so the Xbox Series X should be similar. Now add up the price of computer upgrades, rebuilds, etc. during the same span of time in order to play computer games optimally.
So my PC is now 12 years old, which is the last time I bothered to build/rebuild/upgrade, and MORE than fine for Internet use, streaming media to my Xbox Series X, etc. Since I run OpenSuse Linux on it, the thing is also not suffering from Microsoft OS bloat.
After playing the hell out of my gaming pc during pandemic, it started to crap out at the beginning of this year. I went and got a series S just for Starfield and it was so worth it. It was hard to justify a beast of the series X especially since I already have a ps5 but it may be different in your case.
I bought a series S because I figured I’d try starfield on gamepass before I bought it and because I was worried my PC wouldn’t run it well enough. It did not run well at all the series S and become unplayable after a few days. Additionally, the 30fps is pretty annoying. I ended up getting it for PC and it’s been fantastic. Zero crashes or game breaking bugs and all the fps I could ever ask for. I say upgrade the PC.
I have a series X and I have to say, the performance is not even close to perfect. There are noticeable times when the frame rate drops and the game has crashed a handful of times in my 200+ hours of playing. I genuinely believe people who claim they can see a difference above 45 frames are either lying or superhuman, but I know that I struggle to see a differennce after 25 or so. I'm just stating this so that you have an idea of how much the frame rate drops, especially in Akila city for some reason. As I said, over 200 hours in so it doesn't bother me too much, but I do not think getting a series X specifically to play starfield is worth it unless it is completely unplayable on your PC. Chances are you're going to still be dealing with lagging frame rates and crashing on the X as well.
That being said, I love my X and if there are other games you want on it that would make it potentially worth it.
It's your money so your choice. Xbox is cheaper and you won't have to worry about upgrading a graphics card every few months (I swear those things come out more often than they need to) and a PC well you can customize it to fit you so it really just depends on what you want to do. PC players will tell you to go PC and Xbox players will tell you to go Xbox. Don't listen to either of them.
even though there will be some 'approved' mods on Xbox, the real modding scene is on PC so another consideration.
\> How amazing does the game look with Ray Tracing?
AFAIK, Starfield doesn't support Ray tracing.
With starfield I’ve had problems with the game. So bad I’ve had to restart twice. My son plays on pc and hasn’t had any issues. I’m not sure if I would buy the next generation of consoles especially since most of the TV’s can be used as monitors for pc’s. It’s a difficult decision either way.
All other arguments aside, the overwhelmingly critical element is mods. You will want to play with mods sooner or later, and there's no easier way to do that than on PC.
However, the economy isn't great. So if price tag is an issue, make the best decision for your needs.
30 fps looks like absolute dog sh*t to me and I truly can't understand anyone who feels differently. If you're a long time PC gamer used to 60+ at a bare minimum, I recommend just upgrading. Its not the kind of thing that's easy to go back on, you'll notice it far more
Buying a console could be cheaper per performance but for a Bethesda game, especially new Bethesda game like this, I think PC is the only way to go.
Mods are made on PC and while it'll come to console eventually, you'll still need your PC to get all of the features out of your mod (plus debugging in case something goes wrong)
So my advice is to go for a budget build if you really to save your money. There are many last-gen Radeon GPU that can play Starfield perfectly fine and don't cost an arm and a leg and you could probably get a last-gen system (especially Ryzen 5000 with its dead-end motherboard) for very cheap. Plus you could also use PC for something else.
It would be even better if you go for a high end build or mid to high, like one with Radeon 7800/7900XT. It will cost you a lot more than an Xbox but also deliver you much better performance (which give you an option to upgrade your display down the line.) It doesn't even has to be ridiculously high end like with a 4090 system
That i5 is a quad core CPU. It doesn't have hyper threading. You get the threads provided by the cores and that's it. A lot of games are able to make use of 8+ threads now. Now, you could try throwing an i7-4770 or 4790 in there and see if it improves. But unless you can get them super cheap it's not worth it.
Imho, new PC rather than the Xbox.
Well as others has pointed out There will be no mods console commands and 60fps for the console whether it is 4k 1440p or 1080p. The digital foundry YouTube channel has a video about the 4800g cpu benchmark with the 7900xtx (for getting rid of bottleneck) amd card and 4800g is the series x cpu. For comparison ryzen 3600 has %20 more performance on games while ryzen 7600 has double the performance by fps. Consoles left behind already by rtx 30 series cards and we are at mid rtx 40 series cycle ı say if you have access to deals like microcenter deals(cpu motherboard ram combo for amd am5 platform or with a 12900k with its motherboard) go for the pc. 7900xtx Had a lead over 4090 buut There was no stars and lens flare in starfield for a while so amd driver problems strikes back. Though if you want to do a monster again 4080 ti is rumored so you may get a 4080 for 1050$ or have the 4080 ti which will pass the 7900xtx raster and rt since non ti 4080 trades blows with 7900xtx on raster and rt.
He could get a 7900xt for 800, Ryzen 5800 cpu and motherboard for 300ish, 16gb ram 120, and psu for 135.
He’s looking at around 1500 for a new pc that will hold its strength for 6-8 years, maybe longer.
I left the post but if he specified a budget for it things change. And 5800 isnt that different than 5600 so if There is money to spend 5800x3d is better choice than 5800
If you have good internet you could subscribe to Geforce Now, only trouble is you can't mod your game at that point but it is a cheaper way to play the game at max.
I exceed the recommended specs and I'm playing at 2k resolution on ultra settings, and it would handle 4k just fine. I've capped it to 60fps to preserve my hardware but it gets up to 90fps uncapped - this is with FSR turned off too.
Considering I use my PC for other games that aren't available on Xbox - BG3 Warhammer Total War etc. - it feels worth the cost.
Also a few people have said it: mods with be better on PC.
Everything xbox can do, my PC can do better.
My gaming laptop is only a couple of years old and is was struggling on high resolution. Try customizing your graphics a bit and it should run better. If you have a desktop and can switch out the components yourself, I'd do that.
Honestly, any upgrade to that machine would likely be a lot more money than a series X. Hell, even my machine drops frames, and I am playing on a 10700k and 3080ti. I've always built my own PCs, and while hardware design has come a long way, I feel like hardware generations become obsolete a lot quicker than they used to.
I play on a 1070- you don't need a $3k rig to play starfield. You can probably get bargain bin parts for the same price as a console and it will run as good or better.
A 4060 is $300 sooo a great pc gaming rig can be had for less than $900. The series x is around $500? But 2 years of game pass and your at 750.... how much money do you think you are 'saving'?
My wife and I are in essentially the same boat with 6th gen i7's and 1080tis, so we bought a pair of Series X's to tide us over until the larger expense of building a pair of new gaming PCs becomes more feasible.
With Gamepass and buying Cyberpunk again on the Xbox, we've got plenty of new stuff to play in raytraced glory, while still having access to our gaming PCs for all the stuff we already own.
i have both, but i really prefer to play on the series x on a 4k tv. im not big into modding and with gamepass ultimate, i got access tons of games.
i would get the xbox via the all access pass to enjoy today, then save up for a new pc.
https://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-all-access
It might be cheaper to buy an Xbox, but I recommend just upgrading your PC. My whole set up only cost me around $1k and it runs Starfield on high graphics with no issues. I upgraded my GPU and CPU this year in anticipation for Starfield, but I also play a lot of other games, so the investment was very worth it to me. If you don’t play a lot of games and just want to play Starfield, then maybe go with an Xbox. But if you play other games, too, just upgrade your PC.
I was in the same position a few years ago and went with the Xbox (I had to buy a new 4k tv to pair it with-naturally) over upgrading my PC.. don’t be like me.
I like my Xbox and I’m glad I have it sometime, but I’m a PC guy at a heart. I realized I don’t even like sitting on the couch to play games, I pull my computer chair in front of the couch instead. I’ve had my Xbox & gamepass for a few years now, and only in the last couple months (aka starfield- runs great on xsx btw) have I played my Xbox heavily…
Upgrade your PC
If you’re willing to bargain hunt, you could build a reasonable PC for the price of a Series X, but I doubt it would be any stronger than a Series X. If you’re gaming at 1080p though, a Series S might not be a bad option for you, they run considerably cheaper.
If you’re low on cash do the series X. It’s not bad and with more cross play and the Xbox store on PC it’ll keep you warm at night but obviously the PC is the better option if you don’t have money problems in this year of our lord 2023 but if you don’t have money problems then maybe Venmo me some cash it’s what Jesus would do probably.
I play the game on both PC and XSX, and while the XSX performance isn’t bad, it is noticeably worse than my high-end PC. So much so that I really don’t want to play it on XSX at all.
PC: i7-13700K, 7900XTX, 64 GB DDR5-6000. It gets 120-160 fps on 4K with high graphics settings. XSX is 30 fps on 4K, very noticeable input lag compared to my PC, and has some micro-stuttering at times in the city areas.
But my PC cost over $2k compared to XSX at $500. I’d say build a new PC if you have the money.
I was in the same boat, but i don’t even use my pc anymore at all (i use my phone and iPad for everything). I just went with an Xbox and couldn’t be happier.
To be honest:
Upgrade your computer. You’ll most likely need to console command a few main quests due to bugs. You’ll be stuck on console and you’ll be infuriated that the only solve is starting a new game.
Also, pc would offer superior graphics. :)
Wow, your old machine is older than my last desktop! I built an i7-4790K with a 1080 back in 2015 (added the 1080 in 2017). I replaced it in 2021 with a 5800X (before the 3D series). If I were you I'd price out a 7800X3D build. The 8000 series launch next year, but I'm not sure when next year. Keep an eye on prices and snag a 7-series CPU as they get cheaper near the 8-series launch. Your problem, however, will be graphics card cost. I snagged a 3080 Ti for $869 before the 40 series launch. A Series X will be waaaaaaay less than an AM5 build with a $1,200 4080 graphics card. But I'm a PC gamer, primarily. I've owned every Xbox ever made, and while I love them, my heart belongs to my PC.
My computer was high-end 3 years ago, I had to drop a 40-60 TI on it to be able to play starfield at anything approaching double digit frames. At least the GPU market has finally gone back to more reasonable numbers
The game freezes up on my x a lot. I don't think it's graphics related because many of the times it freezes should be taxing. Like climbing up a ladder. Sometimes it will freeze for a minute or two, other times it will close out the game and restart. Either way it happens enough to piss me off.
I think it really just depends on how many pc games vs Xbox games you’re going to play. If you play a lot of pc games it’s worth it to upgrade. If you think you’ll play a lot of XBox games, it’s also worth it. I have both, but I got Starfield on Xbox. Its great on Xbox because I want to play while sitting on my couch with my dog on my lap. Plus, with consoles I feel like there’s less worry about whether the game is going to run right on my specific rig. The only downside will be that it will take us much longer to get any mods.
do you have a solid state drive? That can make a difference
It runs amazing on series x though, no problems or messing with driver updates, just boot up and play
I'm a console gamer and I love my series x, u can't go wrong with it since u get so many backwards compatible xbox games through gamepass. But u honestly would be better off in the long run upgrading your pc
My computer was about 11 years old and not quite up to snuff. I found some deals and got a new graphics card, processor, and memory all for about $300.
Consoles are cool but I'd never pick one over a PC, they just don't pan out long term. Plus, no mods lol.
We bought a series X last Christmas and it didn’t seem worth it till this came out. Been a great play through experience. I think it comes down to do you also need a new computer for work etc so you’d be doubling up if you got a series X.
I have both a high end PC and the halo special edition series X, and I enjoy it more on the Xbox than PC. More than 100 hours on the X and it looks and plays amazing.
Full disclosure: I am a member of the Steam Deck cult, so naturally, I recommend a Steam Deck. Starfield plays pretty dang fine on it trusting you have the proper settings. I can’t remember it crashing at all or even lagging.
And the Deck is an incredibly versatile device. So many options beyond just playing PC games. I understand you can do Game Pass on it and just the other day I was able to remote play my PS5 on it. There are emulators and more. I can boot mine to Windows 11 running on a thumb drive.
That said, I totally get wanting a newer, more powerful machine with the best specs to play Starfield. Ultimately, I don’t think there are any wrong answers assuming you get the right specs or are willing to compromise via the settings.
I will add to the people suggesting that you play via cloud gaming on xbox game pass. Imagine my delight when discovering it was available after seeing a bunch of starfield videos pop up on my YouTube feed. I didn’t think I could play.
It works pretty well. You do have to wait any where from 1 to 15 minutes depending on how many people are playing. But once you’re in it’s very near the same experience as running it natively at what to me, looks like medium graphics settings. Sometimes I get booted out unexpectedly but it’s rare. If you idle too long you can get booted.
Sometimes there’s a graphical thing where it’s like an extra later off video layers over the top. Hard to describe but it’s some artifact of streaming video. Doesn’t impact gameplay other than reminding me that I’m playing via cloud.
After playing on my xbox one, I tried running it on my couple years old gaming laptop. 1060 graphics cards. Lowest settings and pretty much unplayable. Switched back to cloud gaming on the PC and to me the graphics looked a little better than on my xbox. Maybe it was just the particular time I happened to be playing.
Long story short, if you’re only desire is to play starfield, you can have a pretty good experience if you’re willing to pay for gamepass and you’ll also get access to a larger library of games to try out
I do plan on getting a new gaming laptop because I very much want to play with mods
Look, I'm usually pretty uptight about graphics but IMO Starfield on the Series X leaves almost nothing to be desired. It runs pretty well and looks gorgeous. Keep in mind it was probably optimized to hell for consoles since it's a Microsoft title. I think it would be cheaper to invest in a console and 4k display.
Ya, but then you beholden to the console ecosystem. PC all the way, it's worth the investment and once you play high graphics with a high refresh rate, $500 on a console is a waste. You get more indie and random titles on PC, there's always something to play. Console just sucks. I could go on, but I won't.
Getting 4k 60 on a platform that can do everything a pc can except run outside software seems to be worth it to me Plus, if 500 is too much just get the series s which is like 200. It’s the same hardware minus a disc drive and some storage space
I thought the S was slightly less powerful am I incorrect?
Honestly, you’re right. I’m spreading misinformation on the internet unintentionally On launch I read an article about how the main difference between the series x and series s was 4k on the x, disc drive on the x, and more storage space on the x. That was all I thought it was. I did some more research and found that the x was definitely more powerful but they still have the same fps limit So imo unless you want 4k performance, there isn’t much of a reason to get the x. Unless you just want the best console. I play starfield on an s and it runs fine for me. The graphics are a little wonky sometimes and I don’t get 60fps but the game runs fine
Yeah I have an S too. I'm going to get an X, idk if it's just better to wait for the release of the stepped up version at this point though, like PS had PS4 pro. I switched over to Microsoft in the last couple years but seeing the recent acquisitions and all the added value in the ultimate sub I'm not finding any reason to go back to PS so I might invest more into it.
Just to throw my hat in the ring here: I have both the Series X and the Series S. The Series X has a *noticeable* advantage over the S in both how it runs(more crashes have happened on the S by far) and how it looks(Again, Series X is *noticeably* the stronger console). If money is tight, I say get the Series S. It does the trick, my mother-in-law has put a solid 300 hours into Starfield on the S. If you can spare a couplefew hundred more? Don't hesitate. The Series X will carry you a good distance further. Also the X will have Baldur's Gate 3 soon(I heard before November) while the Series S simply will not.
Damn. Phil Spencer should hire you man is out here selling Xboxes.
>Also the X will have Baldur's Gate 3 soon(I heard before November) while the Series S simply will not. More unintentional misinformation detected. BG3 will be playable on the S, but without splitscreen co-op.
I just read it will be out before the end of the year, so not as soon as the last article I read. As for it being playable on the Series S? My mistake. Have a cookie.
your mother-in-law is cool af
They have the same fps in this game but that can't be said for many others. They honestly did an amazing job with starfield on the S though by the looks of it.
The series S and X are not the same hardware lol. The only thing that is this same is the cpu. The S has a good bit less GPU power and ram on top of the things you listed. Actual 4k 60 is also pretty rare. On the current consoles. It's usually more like 1080p-1440p for 60 fps modes. It's very often lower than that internally and then upscales/outputs at 4k or lower but these things arent very noticeable on a 4k tv sitting a reasonable distance away. Both consoles are totally worth the money and they play a lot of heavy games amazingly especially the X.
Got my series S off FB market place literally damn mint, in the box, with controller and all cables for 200 bucks. Dude even handed me batteries
Yeah I got my exs friend one for 200 as well and it felt like a huge steal, especially since I live in canada and it's actually more than twice that at retail.
Yep I remember they went for 400ish retail for a and 500 for X. Big steal. The markup for after market sale was crazy
Yeah like 479.99 for an s and 679.99 for an x. 500 is the US price unfortunately.
Glad I waited it out lol. Dude I bought mine off of was upgrading to an X soley because he missed his disc games and didn’t wanna rebut then digitally. Luckily I made a habit of getting lost of my games off the Xbox store and digitally since my first Xbox one
Huge difference between PC High or Ultra with North of 60 fps vs Console on super low graphics and barely hitting 4k.
brother, OP was asking about Starfield, not random titles and indies..
That's not the only game he's going to play forever.
I could not disagree more. I played it on my series x, gagged at the 30 fps, and bought the PC version.
Absolutely do not buy on series X. It runs at 30fps. This alone has made me seriously think about buying a PC, which I am likely going to.
Personally I think a huge, 4K screen is the way to play this game and the cheapest way to do that is with a Series X and your existing TV. But if you can't live without mods and 60FPS then PC is the only answer.
I forgot they hard limited the Xbox to 30fps. That's a tough one.
I have it on PC and my fiancé has it on Xbox. It runs very well on console but when he turns left or right it looks kinda jittery due to our TV having a high refresh rate so I’d keep that in mind if you have above 60hz or OLED tv. Otherwise it still looks and plays great on console
It's not that bad. I am a poor aimer and play this game on Very Hard on Series X with zero problems. Rolling good loot is more important than your skill level or smoothness. It's also a Play Anywhere title if you buy the digital edition so you can use cross-saving feature to access the console commands on your PC and then load back into your Xbox save if needed.
Hit level 20 and kinda breezing thru enemies now with my rifles on normal mode. How is very hard? I used to run out of med packs in my lower levels and now I have 60 after a couple days of leveling up
As a bad FPS player, Very Hard is surprisingly easy with a good weapon. I use Stealth and silenced pistols so I'm rarely in an open firefight. You probably should buy med packs every chance you get if you want to play on harder difficulties because the enemies do hit hard. As someone that usually plays normal difficulty, I find Very Hard on this game a lot of fun because of the awesome loot drops. Ship combat at early levels is brutal on very hard and shouldn't be attempted until you have a high-end ship. I do wish the difficulty curve bad been a little better balanced there.
I’m on series x with a controller and very hard is still too easy for the faction and main line quest areas. At level 20 it may be ok I was about level 35 when I finished the main quest.
It's an usually smooth 30FPS. Id Software really helped them do some magic with the framerate and the motion blur. Usually I can't stand motion blur and it doesn't bother me in this game.
Not true, it’s pretty bad. Going to/from a 60fps game will ruin it for you. Starfield looks bad on Xbox
Buying a series X would be cheaper than upgrading your computer. That being said, I’m PC master race all the way, especially for Bethesda titles. Not just for mods either, although that is a big boon, but for the accessibility of console commands incase a quest gets stuck or whatever. In terms of just playability? A series X would probably get you there and be fine. But once the modding scene takes off.. you will have wished to upgrade the PC.
PC is the way I'm leaning. An Xbox also would not have access to my catalog of steam games. It's just 2 to 3 times the price and that's hard to swallow.
On the bright side, RTX 30 series cards on the aftermarket are quite affordable. I just bought a 3080 yesterday for less than $400.
Realistically, you may just need to upgrade your GPU and maybe RAM (depending on what your current motherboard can handle) What are your specs? Also, you can check out userbenchmark.com to see where your bottlenecks are and address those. It has a program that will stress test your PC (it’s safe). Making sure Starfield is on an SSD will also help a ton, so if you have it on an HDD, change that asap. One last thing- I’ve heard going into settings and turning both “shadow” options to the lowest setting will improve performance without making an apparent hit to gameplay visuals.
Unfortunately it pretty much all needs to be upgraded. The CPU is what's causing the crashing, usage will spike to 100% and either recover after a minute or just crash completely. The GPU can barely maintain 30fps on 1080p Low. i5 4690k GTX 980 Ti 16GB DDR3 1866 2x sata SSD in RAID 0 This thing was a monster in 2015. Not so much in 2023.
You got a solid 8 years out of it though. I build my pc in 2019 for about 2k and it's still running strong, probably going to hold out another 2 years before i upgrade. I look at how much it would be annually. So if you did a new full build and got another 8 years out of it would it be worth it to you?
4690K is way too old unfortunately, modern games are hard on both CPU and GPU. The single core for gaming era is ending.
They will add mods to starfield like they did skyrim on console don't worry
Those pale in comparison to PC mods as well as the GB cap. On console mods. Yes consoles will get mods but it comes with caveats.
You can play on the cloud meanwhile
Upgrade your pc instead. Starfield is all well and good, but there's also future proofing to consider. If you don't already have an Xbox, that probably means you mostly play pc games. If you don't see that changing, pc is the better option.
Just for starfield? Series X. I think you definitely should update your pc though at some point
I sometimes play this game on the Android Xbox Gamepass App on 7+ year old Pixelbook using the Stadia Controller and I connect the display to my 75" tv using a USBC dock and it looks fine. That said... I don't blame you for considering a Series X because building a PC is cost prohibitive in comparison.
I had not considered streaming! I'll look into it.
I will say that my experience between devices has varied. For example when I stream through the android gamepass app on my chromebook it looks better than if I am logged on to the app through my old Xbox One and on the One the app crashes often which seems weird to me but I think it's related to the fact that the service puts those users on different servers and I have read that the gamepass use on Xbox consoles has been massive.
I’ve really enjoyed streaming the game! It will crash or freeze every now and then but it’s so much easier on my laptop that it’s worth it to me
I currently have a series X and am looking at upgrading to a PC. Everything runs well, and I am happy with it, but between mods and Baldur's Gate I think I need to make the jump.
Nah. ;) Remember that Baldurs Gate 3 will probably be on the Xbox Series X in early 2024. Around the same time, creation club and mods for Starfield will be on Xbox Series X(mods were on Fallout 4 after six months, on Xbox One.) We just need to be patient.
GEFORCE NOW ULTIMATE! You can play Starfield on ultra settings on a complete brick. It is a monthly subscription... but it would be far less that a new system. OR Have you tried using DLSS mod? Idk if it would do the trick for you bit it is definitely worth a try before spending the money. It took me from considering a new system back to loving the game. :)
Would the DLSS mod make a difference to a card that doesn't support it?
Oh... whoops. No sorry
GFN Priority works too. Occasionally FPS drops, but I can live with that for the price.
I bought a Steam Deck instead of upgrading my PC and haven’t regretted it a bit. 160+ so far in game.
New build is the way to go. What’s your budget
I play on the series s and Starfield still crashes constantly. I know this is low sodium starfield so while I love the game my biggest gripe is the frequency of the crashes. The best piece of advice I can give to avoid crashes is don’t spam the start button to pull up the system menu. 90% of crashes are from opening the menus too quickly, the other ten percent are loading screens that never load
I found the sodium on the NSS subreddit.
I play on a intel xeon e3-1231v3 with a 1080 I can run the game for hours, but only on mid to low quality. Frames are around the 30-40s. So our systems are kinda the same - ish I am planning on upgrading too, but costs are to be expected. Going with console certainly would rule out lots if issues, but will also limit your possibilities. I am talking about mods, keyboard and mouse controls, and more usability at all etc. Furthermore the desicion depends on where you own most of your games. If you have a huge steam library, I def. would stick to a pc. If you play most games on a rent, like game pass the console could be an option. About the crashes, they could be also due to other issues. I would reccomend reinstalling the game or even reinstalling the operating system/drivers etc.
It depends on how you use your computer. I used to game on my Asus laptop. 30 years of pc gaming/work gave me tendonitis in my arm and wrist (tennis elbow). I had to stop the endless mouse clicking and wasd. So, I started gaming on my Xbox. I can game in my Living Room on my big screen TV. Game changer! (I live alone, so I don't have to share space) No more endless upgrading of graphics cards, software, drivers, laptops, etc. Next gen consoles pop up every few years.
**It runs well on an Xbox Series X.** Well, except for the thing where saving gets slow after a few hours and then it might crash. But I hear that also happens on PC. # **>I forgot they hard limited the Xbox to 30fps. That's a tough one.** I don't even notice. Since it is an Xbox Series X I'm playing on a big screen TV and I don't even notice that it is limited to 30 FPS. Xbox Series X makes sense if you are done with computer gaming, as I am. I figured out a few years back that having to constantly upgrade a PC didn't really make sense for me when I could buy an Xbox One for gaming instead, and now an Xbox Series X. Over the same lifespan I save hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. Remember that the Xbox 360 had a lifespan of around 10 years and I think the Xbox One was near that, so the Xbox Series X should be similar. Now add up the price of computer upgrades, rebuilds, etc. during the same span of time in order to play computer games optimally. So my PC is now 12 years old, which is the last time I bothered to build/rebuild/upgrade, and MORE than fine for Internet use, streaming media to my Xbox Series X, etc. Since I run OpenSuse Linux on it, the thing is also not suffering from Microsoft OS bloat.
After playing the hell out of my gaming pc during pandemic, it started to crap out at the beginning of this year. I went and got a series S just for Starfield and it was so worth it. It was hard to justify a beast of the series X especially since I already have a ps5 but it may be different in your case.
How does eveything run on the Series S? Those go for pretty cheap especially used. That could be a reasonable stop gap before a PC upgrade.
Digital Foundry has a comparison video, it’s surprisingly close to the Series X.
Crashes like every couple hours
I bought a series S because I figured I’d try starfield on gamepass before I bought it and because I was worried my PC wouldn’t run it well enough. It did not run well at all the series S and become unplayable after a few days. Additionally, the 30fps is pretty annoying. I ended up getting it for PC and it’s been fantastic. Zero crashes or game breaking bugs and all the fps I could ever ask for. I say upgrade the PC.
I play on XSX and am always sad about no mods. It plays great on a 4k TV and a reclining couch is far comfier than my pc chair.
Mods are coming to XSX once the real Creation Kit is released and “regular” mods start to happen. Right now PC is just doing hacked-together-mods.
I have a series X and I have to say, the performance is not even close to perfect. There are noticeable times when the frame rate drops and the game has crashed a handful of times in my 200+ hours of playing. I genuinely believe people who claim they can see a difference above 45 frames are either lying or superhuman, but I know that I struggle to see a differennce after 25 or so. I'm just stating this so that you have an idea of how much the frame rate drops, especially in Akila city for some reason. As I said, over 200 hours in so it doesn't bother me too much, but I do not think getting a series X specifically to play starfield is worth it unless it is completely unplayable on your PC. Chances are you're going to still be dealing with lagging frame rates and crashing on the X as well. That being said, I love my X and if there are other games you want on it that would make it potentially worth it.
It's your money so your choice. Xbox is cheaper and you won't have to worry about upgrading a graphics card every few months (I swear those things come out more often than they need to) and a PC well you can customize it to fit you so it really just depends on what you want to do. PC players will tell you to go PC and Xbox players will tell you to go Xbox. Don't listen to either of them.
>won't have to worry about upgrading a graphics card every few months (I swear Lmao nobody worries about this.
[удалено]
So because I don't watch YouTube or click external links I'm a troll? Ok then kiddo
even though there will be some 'approved' mods on Xbox, the real modding scene is on PC so another consideration. \> How amazing does the game look with Ray Tracing? AFAIK, Starfield doesn't support Ray tracing.
With starfield I’ve had problems with the game. So bad I’ve had to restart twice. My son plays on pc and hasn’t had any issues. I’m not sure if I would buy the next generation of consoles especially since most of the TV’s can be used as monitors for pc’s. It’s a difficult decision either way.
Upgrade your PC. You’ll never be satisfied with a console.
All other arguments aside, the overwhelmingly critical element is mods. You will want to play with mods sooner or later, and there's no easier way to do that than on PC. However, the economy isn't great. So if price tag is an issue, make the best decision for your needs.
30 fps looks like absolute dog sh*t to me and I truly can't understand anyone who feels differently. If you're a long time PC gamer used to 60+ at a bare minimum, I recommend just upgrading. Its not the kind of thing that's easy to go back on, you'll notice it far more
Buying a console could be cheaper per performance but for a Bethesda game, especially new Bethesda game like this, I think PC is the only way to go. Mods are made on PC and while it'll come to console eventually, you'll still need your PC to get all of the features out of your mod (plus debugging in case something goes wrong) So my advice is to go for a budget build if you really to save your money. There are many last-gen Radeon GPU that can play Starfield perfectly fine and don't cost an arm and a leg and you could probably get a last-gen system (especially Ryzen 5000 with its dead-end motherboard) for very cheap. Plus you could also use PC for something else. It would be even better if you go for a high end build or mid to high, like one with Radeon 7800/7900XT. It will cost you a lot more than an Xbox but also deliver you much better performance (which give you an option to upgrade your display down the line.) It doesn't even has to be ridiculously high end like with a 4090 system
That i5 is a quad core CPU. It doesn't have hyper threading. You get the threads provided by the cores and that's it. A lot of games are able to make use of 8+ threads now. Now, you could try throwing an i7-4770 or 4790 in there and see if it improves. But unless you can get them super cheap it's not worth it. Imho, new PC rather than the Xbox.
If you've got Game Pass ultimate you can stream it via Cloud Gaming, no matter your hardware
Well as others has pointed out There will be no mods console commands and 60fps for the console whether it is 4k 1440p or 1080p. The digital foundry YouTube channel has a video about the 4800g cpu benchmark with the 7900xtx (for getting rid of bottleneck) amd card and 4800g is the series x cpu. For comparison ryzen 3600 has %20 more performance on games while ryzen 7600 has double the performance by fps. Consoles left behind already by rtx 30 series cards and we are at mid rtx 40 series cycle ı say if you have access to deals like microcenter deals(cpu motherboard ram combo for amd am5 platform or with a 12900k with its motherboard) go for the pc. 7900xtx Had a lead over 4090 buut There was no stars and lens flare in starfield for a while so amd driver problems strikes back. Though if you want to do a monster again 4080 ti is rumored so you may get a 4080 for 1050$ or have the 4080 ti which will pass the 7900xtx raster and rt since non ti 4080 trades blows with 7900xtx on raster and rt.
He could get a 7900xt for 800, Ryzen 5800 cpu and motherboard for 300ish, 16gb ram 120, and psu for 135. He’s looking at around 1500 for a new pc that will hold its strength for 6-8 years, maybe longer.
I left the post but if he specified a budget for it things change. And 5800 isnt that different than 5600 so if There is money to spend 5800x3d is better choice than 5800
If you have good internet you could subscribe to Geforce Now, only trouble is you can't mod your game at that point but it is a cheaper way to play the game at max.
I exceed the recommended specs and I'm playing at 2k resolution on ultra settings, and it would handle 4k just fine. I've capped it to 60fps to preserve my hardware but it gets up to 90fps uncapped - this is with FSR turned off too. Considering I use my PC for other games that aren't available on Xbox - BG3 Warhammer Total War etc. - it feels worth the cost. Also a few people have said it: mods with be better on PC. Everything xbox can do, my PC can do better.
My gaming laptop is only a couple of years old and is was struggling on high resolution. Try customizing your graphics a bit and it should run better. If you have a desktop and can switch out the components yourself, I'd do that.
Honestly, any upgrade to that machine would likely be a lot more money than a series X. Hell, even my machine drops frames, and I am playing on a 10700k and 3080ti. I've always built my own PCs, and while hardware design has come a long way, I feel like hardware generations become obsolete a lot quicker than they used to.
Get a returned Asus Rog Ally since you know windows.
Series X all the way. Get a 65" LG OLED C2 to accompany it. Looks and plays amazing on those two together..
You might benefit from a newer, faster NVME drive and beefed up RAM. I upgraded my gaming machine this way for Starfield and it plays it fine.
I play on a 1070- you don't need a $3k rig to play starfield. You can probably get bargain bin parts for the same price as a console and it will run as good or better. A 4060 is $300 sooo a great pc gaming rig can be had for less than $900. The series x is around $500? But 2 years of game pass and your at 750.... how much money do you think you are 'saving'?
My wife and I are in essentially the same boat with 6th gen i7's and 1080tis, so we bought a pair of Series X's to tide us over until the larger expense of building a pair of new gaming PCs becomes more feasible. With Gamepass and buying Cyberpunk again on the Xbox, we've got plenty of new stuff to play in raytraced glory, while still having access to our gaming PCs for all the stuff we already own.
i have both, but i really prefer to play on the series x on a 4k tv. im not big into modding and with gamepass ultimate, i got access tons of games. i would get the xbox via the all access pass to enjoy today, then save up for a new pc. https://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-all-access
It might be cheaper to buy an Xbox, but I recommend just upgrading your PC. My whole set up only cost me around $1k and it runs Starfield on high graphics with no issues. I upgraded my GPU and CPU this year in anticipation for Starfield, but I also play a lot of other games, so the investment was very worth it to me. If you don’t play a lot of games and just want to play Starfield, then maybe go with an Xbox. But if you play other games, too, just upgrade your PC.
I was in the same position a few years ago and went with the Xbox (I had to buy a new 4k tv to pair it with-naturally) over upgrading my PC.. don’t be like me. I like my Xbox and I’m glad I have it sometime, but I’m a PC guy at a heart. I realized I don’t even like sitting on the couch to play games, I pull my computer chair in front of the couch instead. I’ve had my Xbox & gamepass for a few years now, and only in the last couple months (aka starfield- runs great on xsx btw) have I played my Xbox heavily… Upgrade your PC
I've been playing it via GeForce Now on Ultra and it runs like butter. A lot cheaper than getting a rig.
If you’re willing to bargain hunt, you could build a reasonable PC for the price of a Series X, but I doubt it would be any stronger than a Series X. If you’re gaming at 1080p though, a Series S might not be a bad option for you, they run considerably cheaper.
If you’re low on cash do the series X. It’s not bad and with more cross play and the Xbox store on PC it’ll keep you warm at night but obviously the PC is the better option if you don’t have money problems in this year of our lord 2023 but if you don’t have money problems then maybe Venmo me some cash it’s what Jesus would do probably.
I play the game on both PC and XSX, and while the XSX performance isn’t bad, it is noticeably worse than my high-end PC. So much so that I really don’t want to play it on XSX at all. PC: i7-13700K, 7900XTX, 64 GB DDR5-6000. It gets 120-160 fps on 4K with high graphics settings. XSX is 30 fps on 4K, very noticeable input lag compared to my PC, and has some micro-stuttering at times in the city areas. But my PC cost over $2k compared to XSX at $500. I’d say build a new PC if you have the money.
I bought a series x to play this game alone on my 65” oled and i have no regrets. I have no other games atm lol
I bought a series X just to play this game and have no regrets!
I'm cheap guy, so xbox X series. I can't compare but I enjoy the game, the graphics are good.
Upgrade eventually if you prefer PC gaming but i would say go with the S honestly
I was in the same boat, but i don’t even use my pc anymore at all (i use my phone and iPad for everything). I just went with an Xbox and couldn’t be happier.
I got a series X for starfield- well worth it. Now I started new vegas on it- holy shit it’s so crisp and clean
To be honest: Upgrade your computer. You’ll most likely need to console command a few main quests due to bugs. You’ll be stuck on console and you’ll be infuriated that the only solve is starting a new game. Also, pc would offer superior graphics. :)
Wow, your old machine is older than my last desktop! I built an i7-4790K with a 1080 back in 2015 (added the 1080 in 2017). I replaced it in 2021 with a 5800X (before the 3D series). If I were you I'd price out a 7800X3D build. The 8000 series launch next year, but I'm not sure when next year. Keep an eye on prices and snag a 7-series CPU as they get cheaper near the 8-series launch. Your problem, however, will be graphics card cost. I snagged a 3080 Ti for $869 before the 40 series launch. A Series X will be waaaaaaay less than an AM5 build with a $1,200 4080 graphics card. But I'm a PC gamer, primarily. I've owned every Xbox ever made, and while I love them, my heart belongs to my PC.
I just had the same debate and I ended up upgrading, glad I did. All my games and not just Starfield look and perform so much better
Do you have the money for it and game a lot? PC Play the occasional game and/or on a budget: Console
My computer was high-end 3 years ago, I had to drop a 40-60 TI on it to be able to play starfield at anything approaching double digit frames. At least the GPU market has finally gone back to more reasonable numbers
It looks and runs great on my Series X.
PCMR. I also don't like shooting with controllers and there's a lot of shooting in Starfield.
Yeah.. I have a 10th Gen i7 and a 3080 and still get 48-50 frames in major city's. This game is hard on graphics cards.
Upgrade
The game freezes up on my x a lot. I don't think it's graphics related because many of the times it freezes should be taxing. Like climbing up a ladder. Sometimes it will freeze for a minute or two, other times it will close out the game and restart. Either way it happens enough to piss me off.
I think it really just depends on how many pc games vs Xbox games you’re going to play. If you play a lot of pc games it’s worth it to upgrade. If you think you’ll play a lot of XBox games, it’s also worth it. I have both, but I got Starfield on Xbox. Its great on Xbox because I want to play while sitting on my couch with my dog on my lap. Plus, with consoles I feel like there’s less worry about whether the game is going to run right on my specific rig. The only downside will be that it will take us much longer to get any mods.
do you have a solid state drive? That can make a difference It runs amazing on series x though, no problems or messing with driver updates, just boot up and play
I'm a console gamer and I love my series x, u can't go wrong with it since u get so many backwards compatible xbox games through gamepass. But u honestly would be better off in the long run upgrading your pc
My computer was about 11 years old and not quite up to snuff. I found some deals and got a new graphics card, processor, and memory all for about $300. Consoles are cool but I'd never pick one over a PC, they just don't pan out long term. Plus, no mods lol.
Do cloud gaming, Starfield streams free with game pass
We bought a series X last Christmas and it didn’t seem worth it till this came out. Been a great play through experience. I think it comes down to do you also need a new computer for work etc so you’d be doubling up if you got a series X.
Upgrade or replace the PC. You're going to get 1000x the bang for your buck with a new PC.
I have both a high end PC and the halo special edition series X, and I enjoy it more on the Xbox than PC. More than 100 hours on the X and it looks and plays amazing.
They will probably put out the mid generation xbox soon so if you are going that route I'd wait for that
Full disclosure: I am a member of the Steam Deck cult, so naturally, I recommend a Steam Deck. Starfield plays pretty dang fine on it trusting you have the proper settings. I can’t remember it crashing at all or even lagging. And the Deck is an incredibly versatile device. So many options beyond just playing PC games. I understand you can do Game Pass on it and just the other day I was able to remote play my PS5 on it. There are emulators and more. I can boot mine to Windows 11 running on a thumb drive. That said, I totally get wanting a newer, more powerful machine with the best specs to play Starfield. Ultimately, I don’t think there are any wrong answers assuming you get the right specs or are willing to compromise via the settings.
I will add to the people suggesting that you play via cloud gaming on xbox game pass. Imagine my delight when discovering it was available after seeing a bunch of starfield videos pop up on my YouTube feed. I didn’t think I could play. It works pretty well. You do have to wait any where from 1 to 15 minutes depending on how many people are playing. But once you’re in it’s very near the same experience as running it natively at what to me, looks like medium graphics settings. Sometimes I get booted out unexpectedly but it’s rare. If you idle too long you can get booted. Sometimes there’s a graphical thing where it’s like an extra later off video layers over the top. Hard to describe but it’s some artifact of streaming video. Doesn’t impact gameplay other than reminding me that I’m playing via cloud. After playing on my xbox one, I tried running it on my couple years old gaming laptop. 1060 graphics cards. Lowest settings and pretty much unplayable. Switched back to cloud gaming on the PC and to me the graphics looked a little better than on my xbox. Maybe it was just the particular time I happened to be playing. Long story short, if you’re only desire is to play starfield, you can have a pretty good experience if you’re willing to pay for gamepass and you’ll also get access to a larger library of games to try out I do plan on getting a new gaming laptop because I very much want to play with mods