Even with a ton of uncertainty regarding the release dates of next generation consoles due to the coronavirus pandemic impacting the world right now, fans remain eager for any information on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Microsoft first the first shot when it revealed its next console in a trailer at The Game Awards and once more, the company has beaten Sony to the punch by fully revealing the console's hardware and tech specs.
In a new blog post, Microsoft confirmed all of the technology and features powering the Xbox Series X. As revealed in the blog, the upcoming console is focused on three characteristics of Power, Speed, and Compatibility. To really push that idea, the console aims to deliver a massive increase in GPU performance as well as feature capabilities such as hardware accelerated ray-tracing, which the blog post shows off in Minecraft.
The console can not only run games in 4K at 60 frames per second, but Microsoft has also confirmed that 120 FPS will also be possible for the most demanding titles. Supporting this is a brand new custom designed processor from AMD, an 8 core AMD Zen 2 CPU and an RDNA 2-class GPU. Sebastien Nussbaum, Corporate Vice President & Senior Fellow, Semi-Custom Products and Technologies at AMD, confirms that this is the biggest generational leap of System on a Chip and API design that they've done with Microsoft.
At long last, fans can finally see the full list of technical specifications for the Xbox Series X:
- CPU: 8x Cores @ 3.8 GHz (3.66 GHz w/ SMT) Custom Zen 2 CPU
- GPU: 12 TFLOPS, 52 CUs @ 1.825 GHz Custom RDNA 2 GPU
- Die Size: 360.45 mm2
- Process: 7nm Enhanced
- Memory: 16 GB GDDR6 w/ 320mb bus
- Memory Bandwidth: 10GB @ 560 GB/s, 6GB @ 336 GB/s
- Internal Storage: 1 TB Custom NVME SSD
- I/O Throughput: 2.4 GB/s (Raw), 4.8 GB/s (Compressed, with custom hardware decompression block)
- Expendable Storage: 1 TB Expansion Card (matches internal storage exactly)
- External Storage: USB 3.2 External HDD Support
- Optical Drive: 4K UHD Blu-Ray Drive
- Performance Target: 4K @ 60 FPS, Up to 120 FPS
Tech sites like Digital Foundry were able to go hands-on with the Xbox Series X and they found some very promising results. Latency and screen tearing have been virtually eliminated thanks to new Dynamic Latency Input technology, major changes to the way game's load data, a new Quick Resume feature, and an SSD that can be used as virtual memory allowing gamers to store game states, even letting developers store up to 100GB of assets there as well. Will not only be able to The company also managed to nail down the mysterious port in the back of the console which is a proprietary external 1TB SSD for additional storage.
Microsoft also confirmed a few more interesting details including a free Gears 5 upgrade for Series X owners as well as a curated list of Xbox one games also getting enhanced. The Xbox Series X is also capable of applying HDR style effects to games that weren't originally designed with it in mind including older games like Halo 5 and even the classic Xbox party game, Fusion Frenzy.
All eyes now move to Sony, who's current silence is deafening. While the company has lightly teased information in the past, there are still a great many things that are still unknown about the PlayStation 5. Sony has yet to even show off what the system looks like with new rumors and speculation arriving nearly every day to attempt to fill in the numerous gaps. With how hard Microsoft has been pushing lately, perhaps Sony will be spurred into action sooner rather than later.
Xbox Series X is scheduled for release Holiday 2020.
Source: Microsoft; Digital Foundry