Microsoft has recently revealed the specs of the upcoming Xbox Series X console in its own stream. And soon afterwards it seems like the new console website made a mistake and revealed the release date. The release date which has now been reverted to Holiday 2020 briefly showed Thanksgiving 2020 which means November 26. Following this the company has said that this was a mistake and that the revealed date is incorrect. “An Xbox product page in some regions inaccurately listed the launch date for Xbox Series X as Thanksgiving 2020,” a Microsoft representative told Business Insider. “We are committed to launching Holiday 2020.”
Microsoft Xbox Series X: Specifications
Microsoft is using an 8 core AMD Zen 2 CPU and an RDNA 2-class GPU in the new console. Each cores of the CPU is clocked at 3.8GHz each while the GPU with 12 teraflops and 52 compute units is clocked at 1.825GHz each. The console itself will be 301mm tall and 151 mm in depth and width.
Microsoft mentions that it is using two mainboards on the Xbox Series X to ensure that the compact design. In terms of cooling, Microsoft is using a 130mm fan on the top of the unit. This will be drawing in cool air from the bottom and pushing it out from the top. As for the system, the devs will be splitting 16GB total memory with 10GB for fast GPU optimal memory, 3.5GB for standard memory, and 2.5GB for the OS. Microsoft is adding support for a new 1TB expansion cards in the rear panel. Besides this there will be support for USB 3.2 external HDD and it also has a 4K Blu-ray drive.
Microsoft says that the target performance for the Xbox Series X is overall performance at 4K 60fps, with up to 120fps. But the biggest improvement probably is the addition of an SSD which will cut short the loading times on the console. It shared a tech video of the loading time on the console which shows State of Decay 2 loading up 40 seconds quicker than on the Xbox One X. Xbox is using a new ‘Xbox Velocity Architecture’ which apparently improves the ability of the hardware and software to stream assets. For example this would mean that open world games will be able to load the world quicker in a more dynamic manner.
The use of SSD will also be helping resume games quicker than before. To this effect the devs have shared another tech video showing how multiple games can be switched to on the fly. The game states will be stored on the SSD and players can return to them any time they want. Microsoft has added Ray Tracing capabilities to the new console as well which enables more realistic lighting, shadows and effects in the games.
Microsoft writes that the next generation of consoles will support 8K gaming with frame rates up to 120FPS. It has also partnered up with HDMI forum and TV manufacturers to bring Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) and Variable Refresh Rate (VRR). This is part of the HDMI 2.1 support. As for the Xbox controller, courtesy to all these features it will have less latency now. The controller now uses USB-C connections with AA batteries, and supports Bluetooth Low Energy. It features a share button to share clips and screenshots to friends.
