Monday, March 16th 2020
Complete Hardware Specs Sheet of Xbox Series X Revealed
Microsoft just put out of the complete hardware specs-sheet of its next-generation Xbox Series X entertainment system. The list of hardware can go toe to toe with any modern gaming desktop, and even at its production scale, we're not sure if Microsoft can break-even at around $500, possibly counting on game and DLC sales to recover some of the costs and turn a profit. To begin with the semi-custom SoC at the heart of the beast, Microsoft partnered with AMD to deploy its current-generation "Zen 2" x86-64 CPU cores. Microsoft confirmed that the SoC will be built on the 7 nm "enhanced" process (very likely TSMC N7P). Its die-size is 360.45 mm².
The chip packs 8 "Zen 2" cores, with SMT enabling 16 logical processors, a humongous step up from the 8-core "Jaguar enhanced" CPU driving the Xbox One X. CPU clock speeds are somewhat vague. It points to 3.80 GHz nominal and 3.66 GHz with SMT enabled. Perhaps the console can toggle SMT somehow (possibly depending on whether a game requests it). There's no word on the CPU's cache sizes.
The graphics processor is another key component of the SoC given its lofty design goal of being able to game at 4K UHD with real-time ray-tracing. This GPU is based on AMD's upcoming RDNA2 graphics architecture, which is a step up from "Navi" (RDNA), in featuring real-time ray-tracing hardware optimized for DXR 1.1 and support for variable-rate shading (VRS). The GPU features 52 compute units (3,328 stream processors provided each CU has 64 stream processors in RDNA2). The GPU ticks at an engine clock speed of up to 1825 MHz, and has a peak compute throughput of 12 TFLOPs (not counting CPU). The display engine supports resolutions of up to 8K, even though the console's own performance targets at 4K at 60 frames per second, and up to 120 FPS. Variable refresh-rate is supported.
The memory subsystem is similar to what we reported earlier today - a 320-bit GDDR6 memory interface holding 16 GB of memory (mixed chip densities). It's becoming clear that Microsoft isn't implementing a hUMA common memory pool approach. 10 GB of the 16 GB runs at 560 GB/s bandwidth, while 6 GB of it runs at 336 GB/s. Storage is another area that's receiving big hardware uplifts: the Xbox Series X features a 1 TB NVMe SSD with 2400 MB/s peak sequential transfer rate, and an option for an additional 1 TB NVMe storage through an expansion module. External storage devices are supported, too, over 10 Gbps USB 3.2 gen 2. The console is confirmed to feature a Blu-ray drive that supports 4K UHD Blu-ray playback. All these hardware specs combine toward what Microsoft calls the "Xbox Velocity Architecture." Microsoft is also working toward improving the input latency of its game controllers.
The chip packs 8 "Zen 2" cores, with SMT enabling 16 logical processors, a humongous step up from the 8-core "Jaguar enhanced" CPU driving the Xbox One X. CPU clock speeds are somewhat vague. It points to 3.80 GHz nominal and 3.66 GHz with SMT enabled. Perhaps the console can toggle SMT somehow (possibly depending on whether a game requests it). There's no word on the CPU's cache sizes.
The memory subsystem is similar to what we reported earlier today - a 320-bit GDDR6 memory interface holding 16 GB of memory (mixed chip densities). It's becoming clear that Microsoft isn't implementing a hUMA common memory pool approach. 10 GB of the 16 GB runs at 560 GB/s bandwidth, while 6 GB of it runs at 336 GB/s. Storage is another area that's receiving big hardware uplifts: the Xbox Series X features a 1 TB NVMe SSD with 2400 MB/s peak sequential transfer rate, and an option for an additional 1 TB NVMe storage through an expansion module. External storage devices are supported, too, over 10 Gbps USB 3.2 gen 2. The console is confirmed to feature a Blu-ray drive that supports 4K UHD Blu-ray playback. All these hardware specs combine toward what Microsoft calls the "Xbox Velocity Architecture." Microsoft is also working toward improving the input latency of its game controllers.
128 Comments on Complete Hardware Specs Sheet of Xbox Series X Revealed
I guess there will be a lot of third party custom SSD upgrades for this thing as well, since it'll most likely require some special kind of housing for the SSD to be easy to slot in to the system.
The Nvidia 970 designers are smiling.
Any way I like the specs thus far. The extra NVMe expansion module is a great way to prevent massive games from sucking up all the space, especially if developers are going to release 4K games. Allowing a second drive and using 6GB for the system are obviously to contend with the issue of cost and I like that approach.
I will buy it at first day if so.
I'm not seeing MS selling this console for the initial price of Xbox One X, unless they lose money.
my PS3 has always needed constant fan intake and exhaust vacuuming to keep the fan on normal speed ( run run run …)
I'm actually just as surprised by the CPU 3.6 ghz across 16 threads on a console is just crazy to me 3 years ago in the desktop people were still buying quads without hyper threading.
There's no "value". There's no "how many fps you can get for your money" philosophy.
It's a console - a box that makes gaming possible. Almost like a household appliance. But it suddenly got more expensive.
I bet you wouldn't be happy if washing machines got 20% more expensive with next generation - even if I tried to convince you they're still way more efficient than hand washing.
Also, I can't believe MS would accept the risk of selling this for breakeven price. People willing to pay more for the top product, including the group that games in 4K on PCs, will accept $600+. It's still cheap compared to their flagship smartphones.
Bulk of clients will get the new budget model or hold on to / buy an Xbox One X - there's a big chance it will support future games.
Thanks M$ for creating yet another memory standard that will be sold at premium prices...
You mean the full Windows 10? With full access to software? Unlikely.
If mandatory, this would ruin the console experience (clean, easy to use with a controller).
If optional, it would seriously affect the PC market. I don't think MS partners would accept that.
Xbox One should also be able to run full Windows and it didn't happen.
As of today there isn't even an RDP client for Xbox.
That said, it seems we'll see a lot more software for MS ecosystem - including (finally) integration with Office Online.
How about NO, and gives us HBM2E 32GB 1TBs, 5nm maxed to 420mm2 GPU only, and separate 60mm2 8 core ZEN3 with separate DDR5 24GB, or forget about it.
5700 XT = 9.754 TFLOPS
This chip is 12 TFLOP...
This thing is more than double the Xbox One X.
Also, 8K support was baked into Navi. It's likely there for 8K web streams or maybe BluRays with a firmware update. Maybe ATSC 3.0 could handle it someday too. Point is, the GPU is ready and able to decode it.
Hype rising for RDNA2. If they can manage this kind of performance with semi-custom then imagine what it can do on an AIB. I'm glad I waited to upgrade.
Memory Config:
12288 MB + 4096 MB
10240 MB @ 560GB/s, 6144 MB @ 336GB/s
320 Bit / 192 Bit