Microsoft reveals crazy powerful Xbox Series X’s specifications
Microsoft reveals crazy powerful Xbox Series X’s specifications
Simply put, the specifications of Microsoft’s Xbox Series X are breathtaking, exceeding that of most high-end gaming PCs. Better still, Microsoft has expanded this further with new software and hardware features that will help gamers get even more from their systems, making the Xbox Series X more than just a hardware upgrade.Â
For starters, Microsoft has revealed the specification of their custom Zen 2 and RDNA 2 processors, which will handle CPU and GPU workloads respectively. The CPU on the Xbox Series X sits close to AMD’s Ryzen 7 3700X, a processor that costs over £260 at the time of writing. Microsoft has also added new features to its Xbox Series X to minimise CPU workloads for some tasks, which will ensure that the Xbox series X will get more out of its processor than its raw specifications suggest. For example, DirectStorage will reduce the CPU overhead of I/O operations.Â
On the graphics side, we have an AMD RDNA 2 based graphics component that offers 12 TFLOPs (Tera-floating point operations per second) of compute performance, packing a 2x improvement over the Xbox One X. Even better, AMD’s latest graphics architecture deliver more real-world gaming performance per FLOP of raw computational power, making the performance improvement much higher than the TFLOPs numbers imply. On top of this, Microsoft has confirmed hardware support for MESH Shaders, DirectML, DXR raytracing and Variable Rate Shading.Â
Microsoft does not just promise beefier hardware with its Xbox Series X, they promise features that will allow developers to get more from their hardware than ever before. When compared to the baseline Xbox One, Microsoft has doubled their memory capacity to 16GB and has moved to faster GDDR6 modules. Add to this support for Sampler Feedback Streaming (SFS), and the Xbox series X will be able to make more efficient use of its memory for textures, acting as an “effective 2x or 3x (or higher) multiplier on both amount of physical memory and SSD performance.”
Below are the full hardware specifications of Microsoft’s Xbox Series X, and they will knock your socks off!
| Xbox Series X Hardware Specifications | |
| CPU | Eight Custom Zen 2 CPU cores at 3.8GHz (no SMT) or 3.66GHz (with SMT) |
| GPU | Custom Radeon RDNA 2 Graphics Card with 12 TFLOPS of compute performance over 52 CUs at 1825MHz clock speeds |
| Die Size | 360.45mm squared |
| Process | 7nm Enhanced |
| Memory | 16GB of GDDR6 memory over a 320-bit memory bus |
| Memory Bandwidth | 10GB @ 560 GB/s 6GB at 336GB/s |
| Internal Storage | 1 TB Custom NVMe SSD |
| I/O Throughput | 2.4GB/s (RAW), 4.8GB/s (Compressed, with custom Hardware decompression block) |
| Expandable Storage | 1 TB Expansion Card (Identical to Internal Storage) |
| External Storage | USB 3.2 External HDD Support |
| Optical Drive | 4K UHD Blu-Ray Drive |
| Performance Target | 4K at 60 FPS, up to 4K at 120 FPS |
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Additional FeaturesÂ
Upgrades to older Xbox Games
The Xbox Series X will be able to play existing Xbox Games with “SDR to HDR Conversion” to enhance older titles with HDR support without developer intervention. Furthermore, the Xbox Series X will be able to upscale selected Xbox One titles to 4K, even if the games weren’t originally designed to support it.Â
Some games will receive updates for Xbox Series X which will upgrade their resolutions, visuals and framerates (up to 120 FPS) to deliver a better gaming experience. Microsoft’s upgraded memory and storage configurations will also help ensure that loading times are minimal and that games are more responsive than ever. Â
Project Acoustics
The Xbox Series X is designed to deliver AAA gaming experiences and stellar hardware performance. Project Acoustics is a sound model which allows Microsoft to create complex audio effects without putting much strain on the user’s CPU. Project Acoustic will have plug-in support for both Unity and Unreal Engine and will utilise custom audio hardware to minimise the feature’s performance impact on other areas of the system.Â
DirectML
We have spoken about DirectML before at OC3D, and we always knew that it would be a “next-generation game-changer” (read more here). Now, Microsoft has confirmed that the Xbox Series X will support DirectML, offering up to 97 TOPS of 4-bit integer performance and 24 TFLOPS of 16-bit float performance through the Xbox Series X’s graphics processor. Machine Learning can be used across a wide number of applications, from resolution upscaling to improving AI, animations and other aspects of a game’s graphical quality. Â
With Microsoft revealing the Xbox Series X’s specification today, we can be sure that team Xbox is confident that they can surpass Sony on the hardware side. Only time will tell how well these new consoles will be priced, but given the hardware cost of “equivalent” PC parts, we can expect Microsoft’s Xbox Series X to be very expensive.Â
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