This morning via both the Xbox Wire site and Twitter, Phil Spencer and his team at Xbox revealed the specs for their next-gen console Series X. Since Phil has taken over as the head of the Xbox side, he does not a lot to put gamers first. The specs in the Series X as well the features they are putting into the system are focusing on the gamers. Let’s break down the forthcoming system.
Xbox Series X
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12 Teraflops of GPU processing power - Microsoft is using a custom designed processor that is based on AMD’s Zen 2 and RDNA 2 architectures. 12 teraflops is twice that in the Xbox One X and 8 times the power that the Xbox One has.
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Variable Rate Shading (VRS) - Microsoft is using a from of their patented VRS that will allow developers to prioritize individual effects for specific characters and/or environments instead of using GPU cycles for each pixel. Per Microsoft this will lead to more stable frame rates and higher resolution.
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DirectX Raytracing - Raytracing will allow for more accurate reflections, lightning and acoustics.
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SSD Storage - Microsoft will be using a custom designed SSD. They have not stated what size the SSD will be, however if its anything short of a minimum terabyte, there is going to be some issues here with the size of games these days.
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Quick Resume - Similar to what Playstation is running on the PS4, this feature is going to allow the player to continue multiple games from a suspended state. This will allow to pick up where you left off. Microsoft has not stated how many games can be stacked up to be resumed.
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HDMI 2.1 - By using HDMI 2.1, this will allow the new system to utilize Auto Low Latency Mode and Variable Refresh Rate.
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120 fps - 120 fps will be the maximum frame rate support but this setting will allow developers to push their games above the 60fps that we are used to see in the newer games on this generation.
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Backwards Compatibility - The system will be compatible with existing Xbox One games, but they are bringing 360 and original Xbox games to the compatibility list. They will have improved resolution as well. Xbox One accessories will be compatible as well.
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Smart Delivery - This feature seems to be the most gamer friendly of all features they are putting into the system. What this means is that you are getting the right version of the game regardless of the Xbox you are using. Microsoft plans to use this on their Xbox Game Studios titles. This means players only need to buy a game once but ensures they will always have the best version of the game should the game move forward to Series X.
There are still some things that Microsoft has yet to reveal. Launch titles outside of Outriders (Multiplatform title from Square Enix) and Halo Infinite (from 343 industries). The big piece that they have not revealed is the price for the console. If the rumored cost of the Playstation 5 is comparable, the Xbox Series X will probably be north of $500 unless Microsoft takes a big hit. Overall, I really like the steps that Phil and his team are taking with the next generation to right the ship and I look forward to seeing more information as it is revealed.
