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GDC isn't happening this week, but Microsoft is still releasing a ton of news around its upcoming Xbox Series X console, which is slated to arrive this holiday season. That includes a full spec sheet for the next-generation gaming console.
Here are the specs:
| 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) |
| Expandable 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 |
“While the Xbox Series X will deliver a massive increase in GPU performance and continue to redefine and advance the state of art in graphics with new capabilities such as hardware accelerated raytracing,” said Jason Ronald, Director of Product Management on Xbox Series X, “we don’t believe this generation will be defined by graphics or resolution alone.”
Microsoft said that its focus was on performance, speed, and compatibility. And that last part is important, because this new console will be able to play all of the games that you can play on your Xbox One, including Xbox and Xbox 360 games that are available through the Backward Compatibility program. This is also part of the reason that the company is using an AMD chip again, so there aren't any compatibility issues.
And a big focus in the performance department was 60fps. Microsoft wants the Xbox Series X to be able to run at 4K 60fps all the time with no compromises, and to do that, it's targeting 120fps.
Another thing boosting speed and reducing latency is that the Xbox finally comes with an SSD, one with 1TB in fact. This is a major performance boost over the HDD that we've seen in previous generations. And game states will be saved on the SSD too, with Microsoft claiming that one user unplugged his console for a week and then was still able to pick up right where he left off.
Moreover, Microsoft says that all of these improvements will enhance your experience on older games. So, the one thing that we still don't know is how much it will cost, but presumably, we'll find out soon.
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