The console wars continue to rage on. Ever since the PlayStation 3 arrived on the market to challenge the Xbox 360 in 2006, gamers have argued about the merits of each system. Even as console-exclusive game titles have become less and less common, gamers remain convinced that their system of choice is the superior one.

We've decided to examine the war from a technical perspective, comparing which system sports more power under the hood and which offers a superior set of features. We've broken the console war into ten technical categories, including CPU, GPU, hard drives and so on.In the end, only one system can emerge victorious.This throwdown is based on the most recent versions of both consoles – the 'Slim' variations of both the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, disregarding previous feature sets.

Xbox 360 PS3 3.2 GHz Xenon processor 3.2 GHz Cell processor 3 dual-threaded cores 7 single-threaded cores (plus 1 backup core) Maximum 77 GFlops Maximum 230 GFlops

Note – Gigaflop performance numbers determined by Forbes.com The processors for the Xbox and PS3 are unique enough in their respective architectures that it can be difficult to make direct comparisons. However, the numbers don't lie.The two CPU chips run at the same GHz speed, but the PS3's seven individual cores beat out the Xbox's three dual-threaded cores. And in terms of performance measured in gigaflops, the PS3 tops out at nearly three times that of the Xbox.Interestingly, the new combined CPU/GPU chip used in the new Xbox 360 is theoretically faster than the individual chips in older models. But in order to ensure proper functionality, Microsoft was forced to install a "frontside bus replacement block" that introduces latency and forces the chip to run at the same speed as the older model. This new combined chip may edge out the PS3's CPU in terms of reliability and temperature control, but no long term tests have been performed yet.PlayStation 3

Xbox 360 PS3 ATI Xenos NVIDIA RSX "Reality Synthesizer" Up to 512 MB GDDR3 RAM (shared w/ system RAM) 256 MB GDDR 3RAM (additional 224 MB can be shared w/ system RAM) 10 MB eDRAM 21.6 GBps bandwidth (256 GBps via eDRAM) 22.4 GBps bandwidth

Both the Xbox 360 and PS3 rely on custom-designed graphics cards. The Xbox's Xenos card features more video RAM, but this RAM is shared with the console's system RAM. The PS3 has 256 MB of dedicated video RAM in addition to being able to share up to an additional 224 MB from the system RAM.In terms of bandwidth, the PS3 slightly edges out the Xbox. However, the Xbox has the advantage of 10 MB of eDRAM. When relying on the eDRAM, system bandwidth jumps up to 256 GBps.Ultimately, while the PS3 GPU shows higher general performance numbers, we're inclined to give this category to the Xbox based on the peak performance of the eDRAM and the general versatility of this setup.Xbox 360

Xbox 360 PS3 512 MB GDDR3 RAM (shared with GPU) 256 MB XDR RAM 700 MHz speed 3.2 GHz speed 22.4 Gbps bandwidth 25.6 Gbps bandwidth

Once again, the Xbox's total amount of RAM is slightly misleading, as the system RAM and video RAM are shared. The PS3's XDR RAM is also far more fast and efficient than the Xbox's GDDR3 RAM, running at a speed of 3.2 GHz compared to 700 MHz.Final bandwidth numbers prove PS3 is the victor in this category.PlayStation 3

Xbox 360 PS3 250 GB HDD or 4 GB SSD 160 or 320 GB HDD 5400 rpm 5400 rpm User replaceable w/ proprietary HDD User replaceable w/ standard HDD

One of the changes made to the Xbox 360 'Slim' is that arcade models now include a 4 GB SSD drive for data storage rather than requiring gamers to rely on memory units. With the PS3, a hard drive is included in both models. The HDD units in both consoles are largely similar, both running at 400 rpm and now offering several hundred GB of storage. The high-end PS3 models offers a 320 GB HDD compared to the Xbox's 250 GB version.However, the PS3's true advantage is its support of standard 2.5" SATA notebook hard drives. Users can upgrade the PS3's hard drive with drives that have higher capacities and faster rpm speeds, while the Xbox only supports Microsoft's proprietary HDD model.PlayStation 3