We have seen a lot of rumors about the next hardware version of Microsoft's Xbox game console in the past few months. This week, IGN reports, via unnamed sources, that the console will have a graphics chip that will be based on AMD's Radeon 6000 series. The article further claims that the graphics chip will have hardware specs close to the Radeon HD 6670, which currently sells for $79.99.
According to IGN, the graphics in the next Xbox console will be six time as powerful as the current Xbox 360. Furthermore, it is expected that the next Xbox will be 20 percent more powerful than Nintendo's upcoming Wii U console which is expected to launch sometime in 2012. The article adds that Microsoft is targeting an October-November 2013 launch for the next Xbox.
Just a few days ago, rumors hit the Internet that the first processors made for the next Xbox had started being produced. However, IGN claims that mass production of the next Xbox's GPU won't happen until the end of 2012. Development kits with the console's final hardware specs are supposed to be delivered to game developers and publishers sometime in August 2012, according to IGN.
It's looking more and more likely that Microsoft will make some sort of announcement regarding the next version of the Xbox at E3 in June, much like how Nintendo previewed the Wii U for the first time at E3 2011.
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