Microsoft has confirmed all of the technical specifications for the Xbox Series X, as well as releasing a couple of videos that show the rather impressive loading times and quick resume feature for multiple games. Let’s start with the hardware first some of which was previously announced. When it comes to the CPU the Xbox Series X will have 8x Cores @ 3.8 GHz (3.66 GHz w/ SMT) Custom Zen 2 CPU and the GPU goes up to 12 TFLOPS thanks to a Custom RDNA 2 GPU. The systems internal memory is 16GB GDDR6 and the internal storage is a 1TB custom NVME SSD. That storage can be expanded externally with a 1TB expansion card. The systems target performance is 4K at 60fps though there is room for developers to hit 120fps. The latter is part of the HDMI 2.1 standard.
The full specs can be seen in the table below and they will allow the developers to take advantage of DirectX raytracing so lighting and sound reacts much more naturally.
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 |
In addition the specs, Microsoft has released two tech demo videos which show the Xbox Series X faster loading times as well as the quick resume feature that supports multiple games.
With the loading time the Xbox Series X gets into the game within 8 seconds while the Xbox One version lags quite a way behind. In terms of quick resume in this tech demo there are five games with one running and four paused in the background. Jumping between them is very quick and you can jumps from Forza Motorsport 7 to Ori and the Blind Forest for example. Now, we’re just waiting for Sony to spill the beans for what the PS5 will have under its hood.
Source: Microsoft
camdaz
Very impressive specs but will we be seeing it (and PS5) this year? A lot of forecasters are predicting a delay till next year and if they do release on time there’ll be very limited numbers.
Tuffcub
“1TB expansion card” – yay custom made expensive hardware add ons! No more cheap external drives.
Stefan L
Well, we don’t know what the deal is there. The specs say the USB 3.2 ports support external drives, so you’ll likely be able to archive games, but USB 3.2 is 1/4 the speed that an internal PCIe 4.0 drive is capable of, and that’s before you consider the type of drive you’re connecting through it. So a custom external connector is actually a pretty good way to let people that want more space have it. We’ll have to see about prices, though.
MrYd
Hopefully both the Series X and PS5 are just using the SSD sort of like a big cache if you connect a more traditional USB drive. Let you store everything on the USB drive and copy it to the SSD for stupidly fast loading.
And if you fill that up and play something that isn’t cached, it can get rid of the least recently played thing to make space.
Just means you might have to wait a few minutes if you try and play something that isn’t on the SSD. Or pay for expensive custom expansion cards to save you a few minutes every now and then.
And if SSD speeds mean you can save space (Sony explained that one, didn’t they? Negligible seek times for SSDs mean you don’t have to repeat data), then it’s less of a problem.
It’ll be expensive, but possibly less so by the time anyone fills up that internal storage.
camdaz
The add-on card looks a lot like the patent that surfaced a while ago for Sony’s add-on card for the PS5.