Should I upgrade to the X - Controller? Right now I’m still using the gsheild. What are the benefits?
- The gshield use stepper drivers that can not supply enough amps to fully utilize the Nema23 sized steppers.
- The gshield have three stepper drivers, one for each axis => since Y have two steppers they only get 50% of available power each.
With the Xcontroller you´ll have:
- Current rating of stepper driver is 4A which is more than the Nema23 need/want.
- One dedicated stepper driver per motor, no sharing for the Y´s.
I have built my own CNC from scratch and the one thing I learned from that, through my iterations, is that each upgrade expose the next weak link. I dont say this to discourage you at all 
Your next weak link will be the stock belts so I´d factor that in as well if you decide to upgrade.
This will allow you to go faster/harder and with less chance of missing steps/failed carved due to insufficient power The Xcontroller support all the functionality built into Easel which is nice.
If you want to reduce cost to a minimum you can basically build your own “Xcontroller” using an Ardunio UNO or Micro and 4x TB6600 stepper drivers - which powerwise = Xcontroller.
I built my own controllers, first one is with TB6560 and 24V PSU and the 2nd (current) is Leadshine DM556 / DM856 and 48V:
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