The launch of the XBox Series X might be a few months away (it’s expected sometime in the 2020 holiday season) but that hasn’t stopped Microsoft from giving away a whole bunch of details over the past few months. They’ve now revealed some more details, and this new console sure is shaping up to be one heck of a device. So here’s what all we know about the XBox Series X, and it comes straight from the horse’s mouth!
AMD architecture? Of course
The XBox Series X sticks to AMD hardware. This time round, it’ll be based on Zen 2 architecture (seen in AMD’s Ryzen processors), and AMD’s upcoming RDNA 2 graphics family. With 12 teraflops of processing power, the XBox Series X is theoretically twice as fast as the XBox One X and on par with top-of-the-line multi-million-dollar supercomputers from the late 1990s. Also there will be a 1TB SSD and a ‘parallel’ cooling architecture that utilizes multiple streams of air. Microsoft has also gone for a split-level motherboard for better heat management, and the heatsink is an integrated part of the chassis.
Impressive backwards compatibility with 120fps HDR
The XBox Series X will offer 120fps frame rates, but not just for newer games – Microsoft is promising its new console will allow certain older titles to run at double the original frame rate. That means 30fps games could be played at 60fps, while 60fps titles might get a boost to 120fps. In a blog post, X Box Series X development head Jason Ronald also confirmed that older titles will get access to every last bit of the Series X’s performance, with no downclocking. Older games will also be playable in HDR, without any intervention required from developers. This is thanks to, in Ronald’s words, “a new, innovative HDR reconstruction technique which enables the platform to automatically add HDR support to games”.
A new controller
There’ll be a new controller coming alongside the Series X. This is expected to feature a new hybrid D-pad, better sculpted grips, new textures, and rounded corners to enable comfortable usage for a wider range of hand sizes, a share button for a better social gaming experience, Bluetooth Low Energy for those who’d like to use these with other devices, and USB Type-C connectivity. Behind the scenes, there’ll be performance enhancements, with lower latency thanks to something Microsoft calls Dynamic Latency Input.
