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Xbox Series X will have 12 teraflops of GPU power, support backwards compatibility back to original Xbox games, include hardware accelerated raytracing, supports up to 120 frames per second, and supports quick resume for multiple games simultaneously.
Those are just some of the technical specs of the new console listed by Head of Xbox Phil Spencer in an Xbox Newswire blogpost today. The post goes into detail on several key themes for Series X: power & speed, instant immersion and game compatibility. Much of what's being discussed has been touched on previously, but this is a more definitive, technical rundown of the console than in previous statements from Microsoft.
On power and speed, Spencer points out the Series X's custom AMD processor, capable of 12 teraflops of GPU performance, which he says will result in higher framerates and larger worlds. Alongside that, variable rate shading support will allow developers to prioritise how effects are applied to their games, resulting in "more stable frame rates and higher resolution, with no impact on the final image quality." Spencer also says that hardware-accelerated DirectX raytracing will be a first for consoles.
On instant immersion, Spencer points to the console's solid state drive (replacing the hard disc drives of previous Xbox consoles), which should improve load times. The console will also have a Quick Resume feature that allows you to re-enter suspended games with almost no wait times. Latency is seemingly being improved for both controllers and HDMI, and the console will support up to 120 frames per second.
On game compatibility, Spencer promises that all Xbox One games – as well as 360 and original Xbox games already supported by Xbox One – will work on Series X, and will benefit from the better hardware, with no developer work required. Spencer also announced Smart Delivery, which will allow games to be bought once and work across all compatible consoles, despite being technically different versions of the same game - this will apply to all Xbox Game Studios titles, and developers can even apply it to games they release on Series X later than Xbox One. Xbox Game Pass will continue to feature first party games at launch, and that includes Halo Infinite.
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This news seemingly confirms a past leak that said Series X would have 12 teraflops. That leak also said that the PS5 would reach 9.2 teraflops (although that latter point remains unconfirmed). It's a jump from existing platforms: PS4 Pro has 4.2 teraflops, Xbox One X has 6, and Google Stadia is capable of up to 10.7 (but that's tempered by your internet speed).
Teraflops are a measure of trillions of Floating Pointing Operations Per Second (FLOPS). Essentially, this is a measure of how many complex calculations your machine can handle every second, allowing for more high-quality graphical output - in theory.
This is just one measure of console power, however, and doesn't take into account storage speed, CPU power or RAM - essentially, teraflops are a useful way of indicating an element of console power, but not the be-all and end-all. If you want a more complex rundown on just what a teraflop is and how, er, floppy(?) previous console generations have been, IGN Executive tech Editor Bo Moore went into more detail in a recent episode of Next-Gen Console Watch:
We still don't know how many terfalops the PlayStation 5 is packing, but you can see a full Xbox Series X vs. PlayStation 5 comparison chart that's continually updated with everything we know so far.
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/07/next-gen-console-watch-how-powerful-ps5-xbox-series-x-may-be"]
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On instant immersion, Spencer points to the console's solid state drive (replacing the hard disc drives of previous Xbox consoles), which should improve load times. The console will also have a Quick Resume feature that allows you to re-enter suspended games with almost no wait times. Latency is seemingly being improved for both controllers and HDMI, and the console will support up to 120 frames per second.
On game compatibility, Spencer promises that all Xbox One games – as well as 360 and original Xbox games already supported by Xbox One – will work on Series X, and will benefit from the better hardware, with no developer work required. Spencer also announced Smart Delivery, which will allow games to be bought once and work across all compatible consoles, despite being technically different versions of the same game - this will apply to all Xbox Game Studios titles, and developers can even apply it to games they release on Series X later than Xbox One. Xbox Game Pass will continue to feature first party games at launch, and that includes Halo Infinite.
[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=xbox-console-power-levels-compared&captions=true"]
This news seemingly confirms a past leak that said Series X would have 12 teraflops. That leak also said that the PS5 would reach 9.2 teraflops (although that latter point remains unconfirmed). It's a jump from existing platforms: PS4 Pro has 4.2 teraflops, Xbox One X has 6, and Google Stadia is capable of up to 10.7 (but that's tempered by your internet speed).
Teraflops are a measure of trillions of Floating Pointing Operations Per Second (FLOPS). Essentially, this is a measure of how many complex calculations your machine can handle every second, allowing for more high-quality graphical output - in theory.
This is just one measure of console power, however, and doesn't take into account storage speed, CPU power or RAM - essentially, teraflops are a useful way of indicating an element of console power, but not the be-all and end-all. If you want a more complex rundown on just what a teraflop is and how, er, floppy(?) previous console generations have been, IGN Executive tech Editor Bo Moore went into more detail in a recent episode of Next-Gen Console Watch:
We still don't know how many terfalops the PlayStation 5 is packing, but you can see a full Xbox Series X vs. PlayStation 5 comparison chart that's continually updated with everything we know so far.
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/07/next-gen-console-watch-how-powerful-ps5-xbox-series-x-may-be"]
[poilib element="accentDivider"]