In an exclusive interview with GameSpot this week, Microsoft shared the first real specifications about the next generation Xbox, Xbox Series X.
If you missed it last night, The Game Awards started off with a bang as Microsoft chose to reveal the final name of Project Scarlett as Xbox Series X. A trailer debuted on stage giving us a first look at the console’s design. They also dropped a stunning in-engine trailer for the next game from Ninja Theory, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2.
Head of Xbox Phil Spencer indicated the Xbox Series X will feature “eight times the GPU power of the Xbox One, and two times what an Xbox One X is.” More tech-savvy people than I indicated that this means the Series X will feature around 12 teraFLOPs of GPU power. At launch the Series X will include support for ray tracing.
Spencer continued on to describe the CPU capabilities of the console. Without getting too specific, Spencer said the Xbox Series X, in relation to what’s presumably the original Xbox One, will “have four times the compute power on the CPU in Project Scarlett.” The console will also feature “GDDR6 memory inside of the box to ensure that the memory itself is able to keep up with the CPU, GPU, and the bandwidth requirements,” said Spencer.
Both Microsoft and Sony are pushing for games to be as seamless as possible in terms of load times. To do this, Spencer says that Microsoft has “invested in NVMe solid-state drives… (to) try to virtually eliminate load times.”
Post-launch, Microsoft says the console is “accounting for” 8K resolution and 120Hz refresh rates.
The design of the console may look a bit odd, but Microsoft is aiming for the console to be as quiet as possible. As the owner of an Xbox One X, I hope they make good on that promise as my current system sounds like a jet engine when running more graphically intensive games.
We also got a look at the new Series X controller, which is pretty much the same design as the current controller, but there is a convenient new share button right in the middle at the top that has been a requested feature for years over on the Xbox subreddit.
The Xbox Series X is targeting a holiday 2020 release date. Stay tuned for more details on the console as Microsoft reveals more about it in the upcoming year.
