Microsoft just shared a huge list of specs for its upcoming next-gen Xbox Series X console, giving us a much clearer idea of what to expect when it launches at the end of the year – and it's lining up to be a real powerhouse of a console.
The Xbox Series X is going to be powered by a custom-made 8-core AMD 3.8 GHz Zen 2 CPU, which will be combined with an RDNA 2-level GPU capable of pushing some 12 teraflops of graphical performance.
To put that in more understandable terms, Microsoft is promising four times the processing power of the Xbox One generation, twice as much graphics potential as the high-end Xbox One X, and eight times the GPU capabilities of the original Xbox.
According to members of the Xbox team speaking to Eurogamer, the Xbox Series X is going to be able to run four games to an Xbox One S standard simultaneously – it's like having four Xbox One S consoles in the same box.
Every game should be able to hit a 4K resolution at 60 frames per second, Microsoft says, with some able to reach 120 fps or 8K resolutions (though not both at the same time) depending on how the game is coded. There's 1 TB of internal SSD storage, a 4K Blu-ray drive, and a 1 TB expansion card port that could be used to double the system capacity.
"Xbox Series X will set a new bar for performance, speed and compatibility, all while allowing you to bring your gaming legacy forward with you and play thousands of games from four generations," Xbox Wire Editor in Chief Will Tuttle said in a blog post.
Through a couple of preview videos, Microsoft also showed off improved loading times (State of Decay 2 loads 40 seconds quicker than on the Xbox One X), and a Quick Resume feature that (as the name suggests) lets you jump between games much faster.
Ray tracing will also be available to game developers, which means lighting and shadow effects that are much improved from the current Xbox consoles. Through what's being called Xbox Velocity Architecture, the new Xbox Series X will be able to load in game assets much more quickly too, which should make a difference in those vast open world games.
We already knew that the Xbox Series X would be able to play games from older Xbox generations, and Microsoft has now confirmed that these titles will be able to benefit from faster load times, more stable frame rates, and improved image quality when played on the new hardware.
The entire blog post that Microsoft has put up is well worth diving into if you want to understand the specs and technology arriving with the Xbox Series X. In short, it's going to rival gaming PC rigs costing several thousands of dollars in terms of what it can do.
In the absence of the Game Developers Conference this week – canceled due to coronavirus concerns – Microsoft is expected to push out more tidbits about the Xbox Series X in the coming days. As yet there's no confirmed price, and no fixed launch date beyond the 2020 holidays.
Source: Microsoft