We tell you all about Xbox Series X, the new Microsoft console that will go on sale next November 10 at a price of 499 euros
[Actualización – 9 de septiembre]
Microsoft has released the final price of both Xbox Series S and its smaller model, Xbox Series X. In the case of the former, the machine with which Phil Spencer’s team intends to make the leap to the new generation of consoles, will be 499 dollars or 499 euros, Spain included, with a release date scheduled for November 10.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will be a fundamental part of the console, a service powered by more than 100 games – many of them exclusive – and a great novelty: EA Play, the equivalent service from Electronic Arts that joins Xbox Game Pass at no additional cost . North American users will be able to pay for the console in installments with Xbox All Access, but Spain has been left out.
Microsoft’s new console, Xbox Series X, reveals new details. Not only does it show a technical demo with some of its functionalities, but we can also see the console for the first time, by the hand of youtuber Austin Evans. Through an entry on the Xbox website, the Redmond report on the latest news. The team maintains that from the beginning, the intention with Xbox Series X was to offer the most powerful Xbox system for their video games. “In past generations, potential was defined primarily by graphics innovation.” However, they consider that today players demand something more than 60 frames per second and high definition.
“Although Xbox Series X will deliver a massive increase in GPU performance and will continue to redefine and advance the state of the art in graphics with new capabilities, such as hardware-accelerated ray tracing,” begins Jason Ronald, principal and Xbox Series X Product Manager. “We don’t think this generation is going to be defined by graphics and resolution alone.” Anyway, the North American company has offered the complete technical specifications.
Technical specifications
- CPU: 8x Cores @ 3.8 GHz (3.66 GHz w / SMT) Zen 2 Custom CPU
- GPU: 12 TFLOPS, 52 CUs @ 1.825 GHz RDNA 2 Custom GPU
- Pad size: 360.45 mm2
- Processor: 7nm Enhanced
- Memory: 16GB GDDR6 w / 320mb bus
- Memory bandwidth: 10GB @ 560 GB / s, 6GB @ 336 GB / s
- Hard Drive: 1TB NVME SSD Custom
- I / O throughput: 2.4 GB / s (Raw), 4.8 GB / s (Compressed with custom hardware decompression lock)
- Expandable Storage: 1 TB Expansion Card
- External storage: USB 3.2, allows external HDD
- Optical reader: 4K UHD Blu-Ray Drive
- Performance target: 4K @ 60 FPS, Up to 120 FPS
AMD chips: “The biggest generational leap”
The team was aware that a next-gen platform had to be built that would run at 60fps at 4K resolution, but developers had to have room to handle. They also knew they could go the extra mile and deliver 120fps on some competitive products. However, those aspects are highly developer-dependent. Xbox Series X will ensure that the system can host blockbuster, competitive and independent games.
The Americans continue their long-standing relationship with AMD, which has been working on Xbox for 15 years. “Xbox Series X is the biggest generational leap in SOC (System on Chip) and API design we’ve made at Microsoft so far; and it is truly an honor for AMD to have Microsoft’s trust as a partner in this endeavor, ”said Sebastien Nussbaum, Corporate Vice President and Product Technology at AMD.
According to Nussbaum, “Xbox Series X is going to be a show of leadership in technical innovation for this generation of consoles and will spread innovation throughout the DirectX ecosystem both this year and next year,” he adds.
Speed, one of the most important characteristics
Microsoft highlights speed as the key point of Xbox Series X, a characteristic that can be defined in many ways, depending on the company. In the field of video games, this new generation system will allow you to enjoy the titles with greater speed thanks to the SSD hard drive. The development team has taken load times into account when designing the architecture of the console, in order to ensure that gamers “spend more time playing and less waiting.”
The development group invested in improving speed levels through Xbox Velocity Architecture, which offers full integration between hardware and software. It is optimized for streaming game resources. The release specifies that this will unlock capabilities that have never been seen before in game development, allowing 100GB of game resources to be immediately accessible to developers. “The components of Xbox Velocity Architecture combine to create a more effective multiplayer in physical memory,” they highlight in the information.
“The CPU is the brain of the new console and the GPU the heart, but Xbox Velocity Architecture is the soul,” explains Andrew Goosen, Microsoft’s technical department on Xbox Series X. “The Xbox Velocity Architecture is much more than speed. of loading times. It is one of the most innovative parts of our new console. It’s about revolutionizing the way games can create larger and more compelling worlds. “
Despite the fact that in the present generation of consoles progress has been made in the creation of open worlds, Microsoft asserts that to design more dynamic and improved universes it is necessary to increase the processing capacity and the function of streaming resources more quickly. This in order not to break the dive, for example, with elevator trips that serve as a patch to hide loading times. “Developers will be able to eliminate loading times between levels or create faster fast trips.”
Goosen also focuses on latency: “Competitive players and the best gaming experiences demand precise controls.” The Xbox team has set out to eliminate latency and has maximized its efforts to “identify any opportunities” to reduce latency.
Xbox Series X will implement a new technology called Dynamic Latency Imput, which will use HDMI 2.1 to add 120hz and other additional features. The team has also worked with television companies to ensure televisions are properly prepared.
On the other hand, Quick Resume technology was advanced previously and consists of the possibility of changing games quickly and instantly, without the need to close the software you are using at the time. “Since the games will be stored directly on the SSD, they persist even if you turn off the console, unplug it completely, or update the system. One of the testers on the team unplugged it for a week, then updated it, and it was still possible to continue where it left off, ”they comment.
Backward compatibility in a big way
For months, it has been official that Xbox One video games will work on Xbox Series X. What’s more, many of them, like Cyberpunk 2077, will have additional improvements. “The team came and told us about Xbox Series X,” says Peggy Lo, Head of the Backward Compatibility team. He says they were asked what they could do with more power, so they saw it as a challenge. “They gave us Xbox One X and we saw it as a playground; then we got Xbox Series X and it was like we had the whole amusement park to play with. “
Gamers will benefit from improved load times, while enjoying a more stable framerate, higher resolutions, better picture quality, and HDR effect even in early Xbox games. The developers continue working on improving their techniques in order to continue pushing this functionality to the limit. In addition, backward compatibility includes the ability to use all Xbox One accessories, not to mention moving the progression to the new platform.
When it comes to backward compatibility, there is a lot to be said and added to behind the story this May from Microsoft’s Jason Ronald. As he explained, all his studios are “working hard” to create “the best catalog of exclusives in the history” of the platform. “We are extremely excited to show many of the games that are in development for Xbox Series X soon,” he says. Thanks to more than 100,000 hours of testing by the same team that made the Xbox One backward compatible, Xbox Series X is guaranteed to have “thousands” of launch compatible games.
And yes, backward compatible Xbox Series X games will also have reduced load times compared to their original wait times. “Our NVME SSD is responsible for powering the Xbox Velocity Architecture.” To that we add Quick Resume, HDR and the possibility of achieving improvements from 30 to 60 FPS or even going from 60 FPS to 120 FPS in backward compatible titles.
Source | Microsoft
