Microsoft immediately set things straight: the Series X will be an Xbox that gives pride of place to raw power, so much so that it has twice the graphics power than the Xbox One X it will replace. What is interesting is that it is based on a processor and a graphics card both coming from AMD, just like the Sony Playstation 5. The fact remains that the Japanese woman claims 10.28 teraflops, when the American boasts of going up to 12. Here is her technical sheet:
- CPU: 8 cores at 3.8 GHz (3.66 GHz with SMT technology) AMD Zen 2
- GPU: 12 RDNA 2 teraflops (52 CUs at 1.825 GHz)
- RAM: 16 GB GDDR6 (10 GB at 560 GB / s for video and 6 GB at 336 GB / s for the system)
- SSD NVMe 1 TB custom (Data rates: 2.4 GB / s (Direct), 4.8 Gi / s (compressed, with hardware decompression)
- Optical drive: 4K UHD Blu-Ray compatible
The next Xbox will include ray tracing, a technology that simulates the movement of light rays and their impact on surfaces in real time. What promise a real graphic slap and a major advance compared to current consoles, but this device is particularly restrictive for the graphics card. Anyway, Microsoft still announces that the games will run natively at 60 frames per second (ips) to ensure good basic fluidity, and that some titles may even go up to 120 ips. A good point for fans of nervous FPS, who take full advantage of a high refresh rate. But you still need to have a compatible screen to be able to enjoy it. The Series X will carry a 1TB SSD and will be able, like the PS5, to expand its storage capacity.
But instead of adding a second SSD internally, it is via an external port on the back of the console that it will have to be done. It will accept memory cards designed with Seagate but since it is a proprietary port, Microsoft will be able to charge very high prices since it will be the only way to expand the memory of the console. We can't wait to see how the two consoles behave in game, because if one seems more powerful than the other, the general fluidity of a game is mainly due to the difficulty that developers have to program on a machine and optimizing their title for this platform.
Unique design and conservative controller
The aesthetic aspect of the new Xbox deserves that we dwell on it as it clashes compared to what we had seen so far. By giving the shape of a tower to the Series X, Microsoft engineers were above all able to optimize the cooling of all the components. Instead of focusing on a classic design with all the components soldered on a single motherboard, they chose to distribute them on two cards of similar size separated by a metal support. In this way, air can circulate from bottom to top and pass over the two cards at the same time, while a 130 mm fan placed at the top of the tower takes care of extracting the heat produced by the components. A large heat sink ensures that the components remain relatively cool even after several hours of play. Microsoft announces very low noise pollution and temperatures controlled thanks to this system.
For its part, the controller is much less avant-garde. Its design is very close to that of the Elite Controller Series 2 controller already in the range of the American manufacturer. It is also inspired by the latter for its directional arrows, which are intended to be more ergonomic, while the triggers adopt a new texture for better grip. A new quick share button appears in the middle of the joypad and Microsoft announces that it has reworked the wireless link to reduce latency. If the potential of the new haptic feedback vibration motors and the adaptive triggers of the Sony DualSense is fully exploited, it may well be that it benefits from an additional ounce of immersion in front of an Xbox controller that definitely advocates change in continuity.
Backward compatibility ensured
One thing Microsoft has put a lot of emphasis on is the ability to play older generation Xbox games on the new Series X. In practice, all Xbox One games, including Xbox 360 backward compatible games and games First generation Xbox will be playable from a Series X. Microsoft even announces that some of them can be improved and benefit for example from more stable gameplay with a constant number of frames per second, a boost of their native resolution to appear visually more attractive or reduced loading times.
A new system called Smart Delivery will also allow players to buy a game only once and play it indifferently on an Xbox One and a Series X. So, if a publisher publishes a game on One before returning it available in Series X version at the exit of the console, no need to buy the title, which will be directly available for the player who has already acquired it in the past. Likewise, Xbox One accessories will work on the new Xbox.
The unknowns
We know that the new Xbox Series X will arrive at the end of the year, most probably at the same time as the PS5, a little before the Christmas holidays. What we do not yet know, however, is at what price it will be sold. Many rumors speak of a price slightly higher than that of the PS5, which would place the cursor between 550 and 600 dollars.
Regarding games at launch, we are only talking about Halo Infinite in Series X version for now. Hellblade II will be an Xbox exclusive, but will not necessarily be present at launch. Even if no announcement has been made yet, it could be that Forza Motorsport 8 will be released at the same time as the launch of the Series X, which would coincide well with the periodicity of the previous opus. Several other rumors evoke the return of emblematic franchises like Fable or Perfect Dark but it is of course still much too early to say. One thing is certain: the presentation of exclusive games on the platform will be the next logical step…
High-Tech
The controller of the next Xbox is revealed in images
Culture
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