Microsoft's next generation Xbox console (aka the Xbox 720, Durango, Nextbox, Microsoft Supremo Ultra, etc) will include a Blu-ray disc drive, offer 8GB of RAM and have a run-capability of 1.23 teraflops, according to CES attendees accosted by VG247.
That apparently leaves the Microsoft beast somewhat behind Sony's next console in terms of "raw computational power" - as opposed to "well-cooked computational power", I guess - but the next Xbox will, however, offer double the RAM, meaning more data can be loaded and used at once. 3GB of the console's RAM is said to be reserved for the operating system, apps and security.
And so commences another year or two of spec-wars waged by people like me, who have only a rudimentary grasp of what all the shiny, exciting numbers actually mean. If you're a more enlightened soul, feel free to comment at length.
Dragon Age 3's art director Neil Thompson has told us that the next generation of consoles won't offer as dramatic a visual upgrade as their predecessors did. I suspect there'll be plenty of dramatic language chucked around by manufacturers nonetheless.
51 comments so far...
xXPiperAlphaXx on 17 Jan '13 said:
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lic6h6sTZi1qb57kwo1_500.gif
1.23 Teraflops!?
faz6198 on 17 Jan '13 said:
Great to see a official Xbox magazine not taking the immature way out and post titles like,"New xbox is way more powerfull than the next Playstation," that is just asking for a big flame war
. I can't wait to see the offical specs when they full released instead of all these supposedly leaked stats.
OXM ETboy on 17 Jan '13 said:
Let's all agree to not give a flying **** about the numbers till we're shown direct, unanswerable evidence that they make for better games.
/viva la revolucion
Apparitions on 17 Jan '13 said:
Something tells me this'll be rather expensive. Then I look at the Watch Dogs, Star Wars 1313 and the new Unreal Engine demonstrations and decide it's probably worth it. Probably.
ItchyRash on 17 Jan '13 said:
I'm not getting excited about a new console until I'm sure that this next gen won't be a massive Kinect-fest. It's horrible and unwanted. At least that's my opinion. I hate this motion control fad nearly as much as I hate this 3D fad. Please just let me play my games the old fashioned way.
msbhvn on 17 Jan '13 said:
For anyone wondering, 1.23 teraflops means 1.23 trillion floating point operations per second. It's a measure of processor performance. I'm thinking it refers to the GPU rather than the CPU as a Core i7 3770K only does 130 gigaflops and I can't see a console CPU being almost 10 times better. The Nvidia GTX 680, the top single GPU on the market, does 2.5 teraflops.
/geek hat
Bezza89 on 17 Jan '13 said:
Thanks mbs. Can I ponder then as to how it would be 'somewhat' behind ps4 specs. Specs being speculations of course. Because surely 1.23 Terryflaps is colossal, and that's behind the competitors? Anyway. I suggest march reveals may hold answers, that's only 6 weeks away. Either that or E3 and it's many months.
Xbox11 on 17 Jan '13 said:
If this is indeed true, And not just a load of crap we have all heard before, I for one wont be getting one , I will spend all the money i expected to spend on a GPU for my PC Instead, According to this news the next Xbox wont be a quarter as powerful as AMDs next big card, On its own!, What a let down,This will be the end of the Console if its true
CesarACarranzaM on 17 Jan '13 said:
Lo de la RAM me lo creo la próxima generación debería tener como mínimo esta capacidad. De hecho pienso que debería tener 16G en RAM o si le ponen las 8G que le adicionen un puerto para ampliarla a futuro... Lo de el Blu Ray cualquiera lo deduciría pero si se quiere dar un paso realmente grande es mejor ponerle un reproductor de HVD (holographic versatile disc) o tecnología similar para que se le pueda implementar la resolución 4K Nativa(4096 × 3112) a mi modo de ver el HD Ready del pasado y la 8K Nativa(7680×4320) el FullHD del pasado. Y no quedarse corto con el espacio en los discos y así evitar la incomodidad de sacar juegos en 3 o 4 discos incluso mas… Con respecto al procesador lo único que conozco de esa capacidad o por lo menos se acerca es un INTEL de un 1TeraFlop de 50 núcleos, no se la referencia ni el nombre de este procesador pero hay información de que existe el problema seria el costo a menos de que Microsoft haga un convenio con Intel para que les den un precio preferencial y así no inflar demasiado el costo final de la Next Gen XBOX…
Encontré un poco de informacion sobre el procesador de 1TeraFlop No se si esta info es oficial pero parece real.................................................................................¿Recuerdan la noticia de Intel haber desarrollado un chip con 80 núcleos, hace 4 años?, pues he aquí por fin la primera aplicación comercial de lo que en ese entonces era un simple proyecto de investigación en los laboratorios de Intel.
La empresa reveló esta semana el primer procesador capaz de ejecutar instrucciones a un ritmo sostenido de 1 TeraFLOP (1 TFLOP), gracias a la ayuda de 50 núcleos trabajando en paralelo. Al chip lo llaman el "Knights Corner".
Para que entiendan el significado de esto, primero notemos que 1 TeraFLOP significa que este chip puede ejecutar en tan solo un segundo la asombrosa cantidad de 1 millón de millones de instrucciones.
Si ponemos esto en contexto, y como expliqué hace un par de años, obtener 1 TeraFLOP de poder en apenas el año 1984 requeriría de una inversión de US$15 Mil Millones de dólares. Pero fue apenas en el 1997 cuando por fin se pudo construir una supercomputadora con ese poder, y era tan grande que ocupada 72 grandes gabinetes.
Este nuevo chip ofrece el mismo poder, en la palma de la mano, y a un precio asequible a prácticamente cualquier persona de clase media.
Según Intel, esto permitirá que esta misma década, hacia el 2018, se cree la primera super-computadora capaz de 1 ExaFLOP de potencia. Para que tengan una idea, 1024 TeraFLOPS producen 1 PetaFLOP, y 1024 PetaFLOPS producen 1 ExaFLOP, o más de 10,000,000,000,000,000 cálculos por segundo.
En otras palabras, nos acercamos rápidamente a un escenario con máquinas que tendrán el poder computacional bruto del cerebro humano.
Bezza89 on 17 Jan '13 said:
A console isn't a PC, factor in OS and stuff and a 5gb ram is still 10x the amount 360 has. Not sure about the flops. There's no need to overreact, saying that I bought myself a pc the other day. That's beside the point though.
My mother was a saint you bastard!
msbhvn on 17 Jan '13 said:
A lot of tech info in there Cesar, but you unfortunately failed to notice that we're all speaking English here.
Decent_Jam on 17 Jan '13 said:
All I can think is...
Anyway, we all love a good rumour, but the sooner we get something a bit more real the better.
Xbox11 on 17 Jan '13 said:
I know its not a PC, But it will be running Windows 8, And also just because its a console doesn't mean by magic that it will be able to streamline games to require 75% less power then PC, Epic’s Tim Sweeney claims that the new Unreal 4 Engine requires 2.5 Tflops of power , So we wont be seeing Unreal engine 4 games end of story, , So if thats the case ill be moving back to PC Or Steambox
SidTheSloth on 17 Jan '13 said:
Ha, love this. People will compare the numbers to what they know, and what they think they know about said numbers, and come to the conclusion the new consoles will be unable to play anything more complex than Angry Birds...
If Microsoft went and built a prototype now and put in all of the bestest and most amazingest components available in the world today and then released it what would happen? Oh yeah, new stuff would be out in a year that would make the new £1500 Xbox seem a little out of date and expensive, no?
Do people seriously and really expect the specs of a cutting edge PC for < £300 -400?
The other things to bear in mind are the specs of the 360 and what the optimised game engines can do with that, and how in fact the new engines will crank as much juice out of the new config. To add more power is easy, to use it properly is another thing... >insert spiderman quote that has only minute relevance<
Xbox11 on 17 Jan '13 said:
No i expect Microsoft to make a loss on every console they sell for the first two years, Also i couldn't spend £1500 on a PC Without being stupid, Even if i spent £700 it would ruin this machine, Someone needs to wake up we arent in 2005 anymore, If they expect this console to last five years plus, Forget it because it wont last two,
There is no reason why they couldn't sell the console for £500-£600 An iPhone costs more these days something that lasts a geek a year let alone ten.
msbhvn on 17 Jan '13 said:
Yeah, no one would be that stupid. *shifty eyes*
Xbox11 on 17 Jan '13 said:
Super Mario vs Crysis ?, The thing is its not that and you know it, With the power comes the ability to have more things going on ,Not just fancy graphics , More advanced AI etc , Destructible objects and buildings, Bullet damage etc etc ,That cant be done properly with something of this caliber
Xbox11 on 17 Jan '13 said:
Of course if i wanted to show off i could
, I did buy an expensive ssd that i like.
STE MO on 17 Jan '13 said:
People people lets all calm down, the thing hasn't even been announced and your fighting over the specs.
Xbox11 if you think that it's not going to be all that then that's fine, but think of what the 360 does with 512mb of RAM! Yes you say that windows 8 will be on their, but I guarantee you that it won't be the full version and it will be optimised for the spec of the console.
This is all hearsay, unless Ed has got some good insider knowledge? Didn't we hear that of the 5Gb of RAM left the Kinect 2 will take at least 1Gb? I just want the damn thing announced already.
Xbox11 on 17 Jan '13 said:
I totally agree , I'm just really unhappy thats all , I had high expectations , Like you say roll on the announcement because i want to here it from the horses mouth , So i can go buy a new PC Lol
ChillieBonBon on 17 Jan '13 said:
Thats my new favorite word
Seeing as everyone is appearing to be speaking techniqual language (or Spanish
) my talents are wasted here.
MasterChiefJ117 on 17 Jan '13 said:
I for one am really excited about the 'NEW XBOX' just thinking of what the power of the Xbox 360 brought. Games such as Gears of War, my draw dropped the first time I played that game, I want that same sense of awe and wonder again and hopefully new ips like Bungie's DESTINY.
The 'NEW XBOX' must have Blu-ray capability if it wants to win the battle for under the consumers television. I am lucky enough to own both a PS3 and an XBOX with the former now being my standard Blu-ray device otherwise it would be gathering dust, leading perfectly on to my final point SPECIFICATION ! Specs don't mean everything, on paper the PS3 is far more powerful than the xbox360 but it is all about the final results, because a multi-format game usually has a deadline for publishing, a years development on Xbox 360 yields a far superior product than the same development time on PS3 just look at the majority of multi-platform games ie the recently released 'Devil may cry' for one.
PC is always going to be the graphical king but I love playing Halo, Gears of war, Fifa 13, Forza or 'Kinect Sports: Season 2' on my 55" HD tv, and to do so in the comfort of my arm chair on my own or with my friends/family not hunched over a desk using a mouse and a keyboard.
FishyGinger on 18 Jan '13 said:
I think you need to untwist your knickers m'darlin. You obviously want the most powerfullest, bestest and strongestest machine like evar and a console is never going to be that. If you ever thought that to start with you'd be daft. It's going to be a mass market machine that's easy to program for, it's never ever going to compete with top end computers.
So I'm going to teraflop myself good and hard.
fracturedrich on 18 Jan '13 said:
Will this mean no more loading three times to see the librarian in skyrim,
wane on 18 Jan '13 said:
Not only is this rumor made up, but its also has been debunked over on Gaf.
Xbox11 on 18 Jan '13 said:
Well thats great news, @FishyGinger , No i just want something half decent thats all ,Its not asking for too much for them to make a machine with 2.5 Tflops of power, Without breaking the bank , Its more than possible
FishyGinger on 18 Jan '13 said:
Fair enough. I have no idea what a teraflop is, other than a possible name for a horror film involving a giant flaccid penis. But with Microsoft needing to make what, maybe 50-100 million of these things as cheap as possible I would bet it won't be as powerful as you want.
SilentDark on 18 Jan '13 said:
As long as they make a console without a major hideous design flaw like the first 360 consoles I couldn't care less if it was powered by a hamster in a wheel. I am naturally wary of day one consoles so I'll probably sit back for a year or two to see how things progress. That and I'm naturally tightfisted.
Also power isn't everything as I think the Wii handily demonstrated.
Bezza89 on 18 Jan '13 said:
That's for sure, but you have to remember that even if the specs don't match a top end PC that doesn't mean it will be shit. The specs for the 360 are at least 8 years old and not equivalent to high end PCs at the time and we're still getting juice out of it. Mr xbox11 seems to ignore this and just wants best possible regardless of cost, I say to you sir; come back to reality, good old capitalist reality.
FishyGinger on 18 Jan '13 said:
I get that Bezza, I'm not too bothered by the specs I'm still impressed by some of the things the 360 can chuck out. Just completed walking dead, still playing Civ 5 and just started uncharted 1 and I don't see the need to get more graphically impressive than any of those games.
I'd like some higher ram so we get less pop-up and the like but thats about it.
Bezza89 on 18 Jan '13 said:
I know you do, I'm trying to make xbox11 see the light by talking to you but not talking to you, get me? I don't/
Xbox11 on 18 Jan '13 said:
Its not hard for them to make a machine that powerful, Not hard at all , And it wouldn't cost them fortunes, So its not regardless of cost, Sorry but i don't get what you are all on , A high end GPU From AMD Can do 3.5 Tflops , I see a 7970 for sale the other day for £280 new ,That's retail price, Microsoft could buy millions of those GPUs at half that price , I'm sorry but don't sit and tell me its unrealistic to think they could make a machine ,With (The combined power) Of that card
If they do or not, That is the question , If they don't all i was saying before is that they wont be getting my money ,Simple as that ,I can get something else instead ,Like a new PC , Or a Steambox , Or both
Bezza89 on 18 Jan '13 said:
Of course they could make it, even at half price that's £140 just for a card. Not including manpower to assemble, shipping, every other component that goes in and their assembly and shipping, and the profit margins. Then distribution. Overheads. Hookers. Advertisement and other marketing. Your console would be bought by about 7 people it would cost so much.
Why did you buy an xbox, assuming you have one, seeing as at the time that wouldn't have looked like a supercomputer? And today certainly doesn't.
I'm just saying you live in la la land, there's nothing wrong with that, I'm just trying to make you aware.
Xbox11 on 18 Jan '13 said:
Well you can call me an oompa loompa if you like , You would of said the same thing 20 years ago, If i told you millions and millions of people every year will buy a new phone that costs £500 and put the old one in the cupboard , The prices we are talking about are stupid , Your saying that even with all that extra dribble you added on the console would be more than £600? , And that people wouldn't buy it ? Ok lol, I think your the one that lives in lala land , How long since you went out for the night ? In say the west of London ? In a club an average drink is £5 up , I spent £150 the last time i went out with my friends for the night , And i wasn't being silly , So if we can spend that in a night , A console I'm talking about is too much money ? Lol
Also for its day , An Xbox 360 was as powerful as a good PC If not more , That's why i got one, That's why i bought loads in fact , I got one for each of my nephews too , But what has been speculated about with this next console pales in comparison
vadersmyfather on 18 Jan '13 said:
Millions buy it via a monthly contract. They don't shell out for the phone.
vadersmyfather on 18 Jan '13 said:
London Wages and London prices aren't representative of the whole though are they. Most people in the UK don't spend £150 on a night out. Most people in the UK don't buy Xboxs for all their Nephews. Most people in the UK are struggling right now.
SidTheSloth on 18 Jan '13 said:
Agreed - but is that not the very same purchase method that's being tested over in the states?*
Certainly makes a more expensive machine viable, and i'm not saying for one minute people wouldn't buy the more expensive one - but not everyone could afford the thing at such a price, so why on earth would MS cut the lower earning percentage of their user base out? The initial purchase is a one off fee, it makes more sense for them to get as many machines into homes as is possible as that's when the pennies really start rolling in from game purchases, subscriptions etc. This is all fairy tale stuff anyway, the specs haven't been announced, there will always be people crying about them when they are anyway.
Let's just sit tight, wait and see, and for goodness sake let him/her go hungry...
*Not saying i think it's a good or bad idea, no real opinion on it as yet!
vadersmyfather on 18 Jan '13 said:
Yeah, I read that too. Sounds a good idea.
Exactly...
Xbox11 on 18 Jan '13 said:
Then if thats the case don't buy it, Stick with 360, I'm sure there are tons of people that would have the money for it though.
If you don't like the fact i have an opinion and that its against what you prefer and I'm some sort of troll then thats great thanks for sharing , I do like to talk about things in detail , Sorry about that, Call me what you will sir.
Xbox11 on 18 Jan '13 said:
They are yes , So don't buy a new console , Let someone with money do it instead , I don't have loads of money , I just save it well, And when i want something i save till i can get it.
fracturedrich on 18 Jan '13 said:
I'm still impressed by some of the things the 360 can chuck out. Just completed walking dead, still playing Civ 5 and just started uncharted 1
I would not want nothing else if my 360 played uncharted aswell,
vadersmyfather on 18 Jan '13 said:
I agree, and me too.
It doesn't change the reality that Microsoft will price their console to appeal to as many of their target audience as possible.
Xbox11 on 18 Jan '13 said:
I honestly think , Even in this climate , A console priced at £500 Would still sell well , Maybe not by the bucket load first of all,
But after a while they could bring the price down.
And like its been said , Make an new subscription type of Xbox live with a higher price to counter the console price , Like for those who cant afford it , Charge em £20 a month live fees, Till the extra bit they couldn't pay comes off.
Or do a deal ,Buy the machine over two years with a load of older games chucked in free for the duration.
golliwoza on 18 Jan '13 said:
What the fudge is a teraflop? I am on the more stupid scale of understanding anything technical so I usually get my more techno friends to help me with my computer choices on what is hip or hop. I still hope that this console will not be over expensive though, only paid £100 for my last 2 360's and I am only ever willing to go to £250 max.
Xbox11 on 18 Jan '13 said:
FLOP (or flop) is used as an abbreviation for "FLoating-point OPeration, At the moment the current Xbox 360 is capable of around 0.25 Tflops, So this new machine is slated to be 4-5 times as powerful according to rumor, All you need to know is the more FLOPS The better , And i also think £250 Is a no go, Its going to be £300 upwards imo
golliwoza on 18 Jan '13 said:
I never usually buy on release though so I can squeeze it down, it all depends on the launch titles at the time. Thanks for clearing that info up for me anyway.
STE MO on 18 Jan '13 said:
YOUR AN OOMPA LOOMPA!
Sorry really mature of me
I couldn't resist.
Sandbwoy on 18 Jan '13 said:
This is all very exciting! Not long to go now until an official revealing, hopefully,
FishyGinger on 19 Jan '13 said:
This has turned out to be a geeky version of Jeremy Kyle....
and Fractured, I have one of those cheapy ps3 and started uncharted earlier today
Xbox11 on 19 Jan '13 said:
No worries
I cant wait its something that doesn't happen very often , I Remember last time they sold out everywhere and it was extremely difficult to get one, Even though i pre ordered it , They didn't get enough sent out to them, Was a nightmare , Lets hope they get the stock up enough this time.
MasonCooper42 on 19 Jan '13 said:
isnt that a doctor zoidberg reference?
is so nicely done!
to the xbox, sounds like a fair bit of processing power.
i think the hardware will be impressive but its the software we also need to see, that will determine whether its a success or not.