We've spent a lot of time speculating about what the next Sony and Microsoft consoles will be like. Well, today Microsoft revealed quite a bit of information about the Xbox Series X , its next-generation console. This console will be based on AMD hardware and technology , and that's important. According to Microsoft, this next-generation console will offer up to 12 TFLOPs and, most importantly, hardware-accelerated ray tracing.
Microsoft has put the 12 TFLOP figure into context: “It’s twice the power of the Xbox One X and more than eight times the power of the original Xbox One.” The company has confirmed that they will indeed offer hardware-accelerated ray tracing. They also stated that thanks to the SSDs , content will be able to “load instantly.”
[amazon box="B07XVMKV6G"]Xbox Series X, a console with Ray Tracing?
Phil Spencer, head of the Xbox division, has written a lengthy article about the upcoming console. It details some of its features and how they intend to attract audiences to the Xbox Series X. The details he provided are relatively superficial, not going into detail about the processor and especially the graphics card, perhaps the aspect that interests us all the most. This is especially relevant because AMD doesn't currently have any products on the market that support hardware-accelerated ray tracing.
Spencer has just given some pretty cursory data. While it's interesting to know the ultimate power of the console, it leaves the door open for interpretation. The 12 TFLOPs that the console indicates will be adding processor and graphics, so it will be a matter of doing numbers.
He has also highlighted the Takehome program, a special program that has allowed several beta testers to test the console. He has not given more information about what this program consisted of. It simply highlights that they have taken into account the considerations of the users who have tried it.
Although its official presentation seems reserved for E3 2020, in June, they have given some preliminary data.
The four pillars of the console
- Power: As indicated, the console will offer 12 TFLOPs based on custom AMD hardware. There is little doubt that the CPU was based on Zen 2, but about the GPU there are more doubts. Everything suggests that it will be RDNA2 @ 7nm and that it will offer hardware dedicated to Ray Tracing, but we know nothing more. Remember that Ray Tracing in NVIDIA consumes resources and generates performance loss, and in AMD it could be the same.
- Variable Rate Shading (VRS): Open source AMD technology for improved performance when rendering games. An improvement in the FPS rate is achieved based on 'worsening' the most external aspects of the image.
- Ray tracing: Microsoft is the promoter of this technology along with NVIDIA, which is why they insist so much on it. By means of DirectX libraries and dedicated hardware Ray Tracing can be offered in games. Possibly a significant sacrifice in performance and graphics resolution.
- SSD: It was time for consoles to adopt SSDs for the most efficient loading of games. Until now they were not used due to 'high prices' and 'limited capacity', but this has been left behind. Perhaps it is the most important innovation, since loading times will be noticeably reduced.
Other platform improvements
- Quick continuation of games: Thanks to the SSD, it will be possible to continue a game that we have been able to leave in 'suspension' in an agile way, "without waiting for long loading screens"
- Dynamic Latency Input (DLI): Technology designed to minimize latency. Response time will be significantly reduced.
- HDMI2.1: It's funny how they continue to maintain such a limited standard, instead of opting for DisplayPort. It will be used because Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM) and Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) are integrated into the console. These two technologies should help in the gaming experience and offer more fluidity.
- Backward compatibility: Spencer emphasizes that you can play games from all the generations of consoles that have been released. Something that users have been claiming for a long time.
- SmartDelivery: It guarantees that the user will get the best and optimal experience on their console in any supported game. Initially these games will be Microsoft's own, such as Halo Infinite. They seek to offer the maximum performance and level of detail in the console. In previous consoles, the level of detail will be adjusted automatically, to obtain the best experience.
- Xbox GamePass: Important change in the service, increasing the importance of hardware, but also of the services that surround it.