The next generation Xbox will include a dedicated Kinect port, a built-in "Natural User Interface" sensor, a 50 GB 6x Blu-ray disc drive, eight 1.6 GHz CPUs and ooh, absolutely no end of baffling technological nonsense. That's according to a document picked up by VGleaks, elements of which have been green-ticked by the megabrains over at Eurogamer's Digital Foundry.
The full spec list is below, along with an image showing how everything locks together. I couldn't tell you what those RAM and CPU specs mean for the machine, other than "more = probably better", but I'll say this: why no built-in Kinect? And what's this "Natural User Interface" thing you've got bolted into the front? Xbox IllumiRoom?
- x64 Architecture
- 8 CPU cores running at 1.6 gigahertz (GHz)
- each CPU thread has its own 32 KB L1 instruction cache and 32 KB L1 data cache
- each module of four CPU cores has a 2 MB L2 cache resulting in a total of 4 MB of L2 cache
- each core has one fully independent hardware thread with no shared execution resources
- each hardware thread can issue two instructions per clock
GPU:
- custom D3D11.1 class 800-MHz graphics processor
- 12 shader cores providing a total of 768 threads
- each thread can perform one scalar multiplication and addition operation (MADD) per clock cycle
- at peak performance, the GPU can effectively issue 1.2 trillion floating-point operations per second
High-fidelity Natural User Interface (NUI) sensor is always present
Storage and Memory:
- 8 gigabyte (GB) of RAM DDR3 (68 GB/s)
- 32 MB of fast embedded SRAM (ESRAM) (102 GB/s)
- from the GPU's perspective the bandwidths of system memory and ESRAM are parallel providing combined peak bandwidth of 170 GB/sec.
- Hard drive is always present
- 50 GB 6x Blu-ray Disc drive
Networking:
- Gigabit Ethernet
- Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi Direct
Hardware Accelerators:
- Move engines
- Image, video, and audio codecs
- Kinect multichannel echo cancellation (MEC) hardware
- Cryptography engines for encryption and decryption, and hashing
48 comments so far...
reeceiscrisp on 22 Jan '13 said:
a big improvement over the current xbox machine specs but i wonder what the price tag would be on the next xbox with this in mind.
xXPiperAlphaXx on 22 Jan '13 said:
No mention of a Flux Capacitor!?
CunningSmile on 22 Jan '13 said:
Alas no, you'll just have to stick to high performance sports cars for your travel through time needs
Phenom Paradox on 22 Jan '13 said:
Dissapointed that there is only 8GB of RAM. 12GB of RAM is pretty standard in gaming PC's. This means that although 8GB of RAM is more than enough right now, this Xbox will become outdated pretty much as quickly as this one did. Don't kill me for saying that but developers recognised the limits of the 360 relatively early, the technology had to develop to allow games to play as well as they do on the 360. Blu Ray is a must, Microsoft couldn't keep releasing games over 3 discs. What are they doing with a 1.6GHz processor, or is it a 12GHz processor? That isn't abundantly clear, I hope it's the latter, 1.6GHz would be a joke.
Windowlicker79 on 22 Jan '13 said:
Just waiting for all the monster PC owners to come in with their "thats shit compared to my set-up" comments
ex-boxer on 22 Jan '13 said:
Thats shit compared to my set-up!!!! BOOM!
Unless this thing massage's my ding dong while i'm playing, i'm not interested.
CunningSmile on 22 Jan '13 said:
I think the guy above you covered that before you even commented
Windowlicker79 on 22 Jan '13 said:
And the one below confirmed my general opinion of PC gamers...
What needs to be taken into consideration is the fact that the console will not need to be running a big, fat OS behind the games, along with all the other stuff PCs have to deal with. Just compare an Xbox 360 to a PC with the same specs and its obvious that the 360 easily outperforms the PC. It'll be the same with the next Xbox.
Bobo888 on 22 Jan '13 said:
That guy doesn't have a clue actually. 12Gb is not standard anymore as most have either moved on to quad channel or back to dual channel. Also 8gb is a huge amount for a console. The 360 has only 512mb and still runs all the same things that a high end PC with 8gb Ram can. And an 8 core 1.6ghz processor is great as long as the game is programmed to do 8 things at once. Lol 12ghz processor...
Bezza89 on 22 Jan '13 said:
Oh I like you! You can do my arguing for me on this topic, I'm not needed here. I was reading about the megahertz myth before, I think all of these rumoured specs are beyond my expectations of next gen if I'm honest. Hope they do something good with it.
FishyGinger on 22 Jan '13 said:
Actually I think you'll all find that the new biochips which run at around 30ghz processor, ram equates to aruond 17.6gig and 300 teraflops per minute is the new norm. Of course being a biochip you do need the brain of a live horse along with a big jar, some coolant and a bit of hay.
Like omgz this isn't 3 billion rams and a jiggohertz promocessor and it wont take like, 17 years to program games for, what the dickens?
My non-existent degree in computer science is really showing off isn't it...
Bezza89 on 22 Jan '13 said:
Well, you lost me with your technobabble Mr Fish. I heard they need the brain of a fish and they link up the fishbowl via osmosis or something and run it that way, they probably didn't tell you for obvious reasons.
CunningSmile on 22 Jan '13 said:
Stab in the dark: Big numbers are better?
Mendes on 22 Jan '13 said:
I don't know... when I was a lad all we needed was a hoop and a stick to hit it with.....
...though I have to say MY hoop was the roundest and my stick... well, let's just say, it was biggest by far.
Bezza89 on 22 Jan '13 said:
Not necessarily, I point you towards the megahertz myth, and all that jazz.
Back in my day we didn't have your fancy sticks, all we had was a rock and the mud, and we had to share the rock!
OXM ETboy on 22 Jan '13 said:
INCOMING FOUR YORKSHIREMEN SKETCH ALERT
FishyGinger on 22 Jan '13 said:
I tried that with my lottery numbers. Heck it's just as likely that all the numbers will be in the forties but it didn't work.
Who honestly cares what the numbers are? It's how you use your teraflop, not the size.
Windowlicker79 on 22 Jan '13 said:
Teraflops? Blu-ray?? That's nothing! Back in my day video games ran on batteries, had the games built in and colour graphics were a bonus!!
Yes, this really was my first games console...
http://www.old-computers.com/museum/photos/binatone_colour-tv-game-mk-10_box_2.jpg
Bezza89 on 22 Jan '13 said:
I was quoting Halo but Monty Python probably inspired their lines.
I mean... LUXURY!
Gazisdaman on 22 Jan '13 said:
In what way is a delorean a high performance sports car?
Guilty Sparks on 22 Jan '13 said:
Lay outs and specs are all well and good but more importantly..... can it grill bacon ?
Danhunt85 on 22 Jan '13 said:
Great specs for a console, I love the fact that the new Kinect 2.0 is able to inform me when my wife is due her menstrual cycle, illumiroom can tell you if anyone in the room has erect nipples. The bluer-ay Drive acts as a coffee cup holder. It comes with 8 men that can handle 1.23 floppys per second, technology has really moved on since my Amiga 500.
FishyGinger on 22 Jan '13 said:
It's irish....does that count?
jimbosolo on 22 Jan '13 said:
1.6ghz? seriously the x360 has a triple core 3.2Ghz 64bit IBM Powerhouse processor, and 500Mhz Graphics card. So 800Mhz and 1.6Ghz is downgrading. Which less face it EPIC went heres Gears of War tech demo running on your proposed 256mb unified memory and here it is running on are proposal 512mb unified, naturally MS when with 512MB.
SidTheSloth on 22 Jan '13 said:
I am almost chewing the arm off my sofa with some of the retarded responses to these (seemingly never ending) rumours across this and other forums - seriously Ed, if you keep posting these stories i may well have an aneurysm by the time the thing is released! Going to have to stop reading them before i have a breakdown, but before that - kudos to those who 'get it' and also those who don't, but don't pretend to...
For those experts among us who bizarrely weren't recruited to the next XBOX design team, the specs in this article - which are more than likely only 50% true at the very best - are pretty damn good in my own (somewhat qualified i'll add modestly) opinion and absolutely shit over the 360 in terms of raw performance power. The comment above has me almost weeping at the suggestion it's downgrading!?An 8 core processor and you're worrying about the clock speed?!? Do me a favour...
The guys designing the thing are paid a goddam fortune because they're performing an incredibly difficult balancing act - they've got to make it powerful now, powerful in the future, make it affordable for as many as possible, and make it as stylish, small and as quiet possible. What a lot of 'PC Gaming experts' seem to forget is the sheer size of many tower units allows for some fancy cooling solutions to combat the excessive heat generated by powerful CPU/GPU's. Trying to get both the performance and keep the thing cool whilst fitting it into a shoebox is nothing short of mission impossible. Anyone who had the 360 launch version will know just how irritating the noisy fan was - what would you prefer?
I don't mean to be rude (but regretfully it will appear i'm being just that), but if you don't know what you're talking about, admit it - or don't talk!
Bezza89 on 22 Jan '13 said:
I generally have no idea what I talk about as I tend to forget what I'm rabbits.
Metalrodent on 22 Jan '13 said:
Mine's not even a launch model and turning it on is like standing next to a jet engine
Nope that's fine, I have no idea what any of these specs mean, so I'm just keeping my mouth shut, as I will have nothing valid to add
KernowDevil23 on 22 Jan '13 said:
Well said Sloth!
SidTheSloth on 22 Jan '13 said:
Is that the fan though dude or the disc drive? The newer models are much quieter fan wise, but the drive is horrific - i have to install all my games as a result... Actually, think i recall you saying in another thread that your hard drive is full so that would suggest you don't install? Makes life much quieter if it becomes an option!
Sandbwoy on 22 Jan '13 said:
Wonder how many of these specifications turn out to be correct when the official specs are released.
MasterChiefJ117 on 22 Jan '13 said:
If Microsoft have consulted with the likes of 'EPIC' and 'Crytek' about the final specs of the next 'XBOX' like they did over the specs of the xbox 360 at launch, then I am more than happy with any specs they give the machine and just hope we get some amazing early titles like 'Gears of War'...................
Gears of War is responsible for 360's 512MB RAM
For the 512MB of RAM present on every Xbox 360 today, we have Epic Games, Mark Rein, and Tim Sweeny to thank. If you've heard that story lingering around before, that Epic costed Microsoft US$ 1 billion for the 512MB RAM chips and Gears of War, yep that's true.
Mark confirms and tells the story to Major Nelson during the Canadian Community Party. The short version is this: if Epic wanted Gears to look that drool-inducing HD, then they had no choice but to ask for 512MB RAM. Thing is, Microsoft orginally projected that the 360 would carry only 256MB - and wanted that spec to stick.
But Epic had the last word. Mark's partner, Tim Sweeny, sent the boys upstairs at Microsoft Games Studios a screenshot of how Gears of War would look like with 256MB of RAM. It would have been nice to see the screenshot that squeezed a further billion dollars from Microsoft's budget just to swap out 256MB for 512MB.
It would have been nice to see the faces of the guys at Accounting when they finally got the bill. Two years ago, Mark thinks it was during the Game Developers Conference, he got this call from Microsoft Games Studios' Chief Financial Officer who told him, "I just wanted you to know that you cost me a billion dollars."
To which Mark replied, "We did a favor for a billion gamers." From the bottom of our eye-popping hearts, we thank you, Mark.
CunningSmile on 23 Jan '13 said:
It was designed as high performance (at least by US standards) and then they gave it to the Irish to build and reduce production costs. They did that by putting in a crapper engine...Didn't MS do something similar with the Kinect?
Mendes on 23 Jan '13 said:
Sorry, I do know what I was talking about.... my stick was definately the biggest... and not at all shitty....
...but saying that. all we had to eat was half a handful of freezing cold gravel....but you try and tell the young people today that and they won't believe you.
SidTheSloth on 23 Jan '13 said:
Oi!! I'm sure i gave you kudos and whatnot in my full moan? Right then, i retract it immediately and leave you to play with your (big) sticky shit, that apparently should have lumps of gravel in...??
FishyGinger on 23 Jan '13 said:
It's the same place they built the Titanic, so don't mock them. The only car manufacturer I studied at uni was Ford with it's amazing pintKABOOM.....
Mendes on 23 Jan '13 said:
Haha, no offense meant, was just picking up Ed's Monty Python reference.... hence the cold gravel etc.
As for the rest of your first post, very well said that man but I fear it won't stop these kinds of threads going on and on and on....
Mendes on 23 Jan '13 said:
As as aside, and possibly an attempt to hijack the thread, or at least divert it from the usual 'ex-spurt' (i.e. has been dribble under pressure) opinion regarding processor speeds and GPU power....
What does everyone think, if we are looking at a pre-xmas release, the UK recommended price point for a machine of this spec will be?
£329.99 on release I reckon. What do you guys think? Also how expensive is too expensive?
CunningSmile on 23 Jan '13 said:
Assuming for the sake of arguement that MS don't do something ridiculous to push the console out of the reach of all but the £150 for a night out crowd (really? What do you find to spend that much on?) I think the £300 give or take price point is about right. They need to cover their costs but are also going to want the largest install base possible as quickly as possible so they can start making money from media tie-ins, Live memberships and studio license fees.
For me at least more than that would be too much. I might be persuaded to be an early adopter for £300 but any more and I'd have to seriously think about lack of games and the high RROD rate on the 360, and then put it off for a year or so.
SidTheSloth on 23 Jan '13 said:
I think it'll be more than £300 i'm sad to say, i'm not convinced it won't push £400 in all honesty, but i can't seem them going further than that. Xbox11 i think it was said in another thread about the fact a lot of people get a new phone every year so i'm wondering if they'll maybe go with a slightly higher price point (partly because of the tech) and offer phone/cable style subscriptions to those who can't afford the flat fee the same as mobile companies.
It will sadden me if it's the case as whilst i'm lucky enough that it's not really an issue, i know some of my friends won't be able to afford it for a year or two after the inevitable price drops - so that'd just kill any conversation dead. One of the best things about gaming (a bit like football is/was in this respect) is that it was/is affordable for all really on some level, i don't want it to turn into an elitist hobby, that's for sure.
Wonder if they'll go with a standard 1 year warranty for day 1'ers or if they'll offer a 3 and regress back down to 1 when the price goes down? Might tempt a few more people, but then would be robbing stores of their overpriced insurance 'deals'...
EDIT: @Mendes - no worries dude, course i knew you were joking!
Mendes on 23 Jan '13 said:
I'm with you on that. I can't remember how much I spent on my original 360, I wasn't a day one purchaser as they were hard to get hold of for a while, once I got one I went on to suffer 2 RRODs, then a third different failure followed by buying a lovely shiny Elite, so I expect they've had around £450 or more off me... that is too much for a day one purchase of the neXBox... if they were £250 on release I'd maybe think about it, but I find that unlikely.
Think, like you, I'll be hanging fire for a while, maybe till the first price drop or first big release that makes me go
, my biggest dissuading factor though is the number of unfinished, lengthy games I have that have sat there becuase I've playing Battlefield 3 or the like.... plus think about all the lovely games that you've missed on the 360 which you'll be able to pick up cheap.
As much as I love a new shiny gadget I'm not going to exhibit the same desperation to own one as much as I did for the 360, not because I don't want one but because there's still life in the old 360 dog.
xXPiperAlphaXx on 23 Jan '13 said:
I'm starting to think more and more that the subscription model they tried in the US will be the way forward. How many people do you know who claim to be 'on the bones of their arse' yet still carry about an iPhone and don't question the £500 price they would have shelled out upfront? Most people I know have no problem adopting this pricing model.
If the NextBox costs £499 upfront, then I think a lot of people would sooner pay £29.99 a month for 24 months and get Xbox Live in with that. Seems a sensible way of getting good specs without denting your wallet (at least in the short term!)
CunningSmile on 23 Jan '13 said:
I can honestly say not one...but then I've never heard that phrase before
I agree with your main point though, maybe not £30 for two years (that comes to way more than I'd pay) but certainly a 12 month contract at that price would appeal despite costing more than I'd shell out in one go. I actually bought my first 360 on finance from Game, despite it eventually coming to much more that retail cost.
PonderingWalrus on 23 Jan '13 said:
12GHz processor?
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
The number of clueless people commenting on the next Xbox's specs never ceases to amaze me!
xXPiperAlphaXx on 23 Jan '13 said:
Haha must be a colloquialism. Someone who claims they are skint basically.
The monthly model works well. People can swallow a drip-feed finance model a lot more than full-whack RRP, even though, like you say, they end up paying more in the long term.
I'd happily pay £500 over say, 18 months, and have games that look fantastic than £299 up front for unspectacular (at the risk of a flame war - Wii U for example) graphics. Top end graphics do make a difference, I don't care what anyone says. Great graphics and great gameplay are not mutually exclusive like the retro-gaming elite seems to elude to.
Xbox11 on 24 Jan '13 said:
I love how I haven't even said anything and I'm getting stick thanks lol, I'm not going to say anything other than bring on the final true specs to stop the arguments. I honestly couldn't give a monkeys anymore , Let's hope its really cheap so everyone gets to play it , Even if it means it's powered by bananas , At least then donkey kong should run on it.
Ohh and Masterchief, Epic already stated The next Xbox needed to be 10 times more powerful to run the new engine, So don't be holding your breath for a new Unreal Engine 4 Gears of War.
Catheterizedeye on 24 Jan '13 said:
The BIG question here is, " will it be backwards compatible with 360 games " , will the new marketplace and/or dashboard support GonD. i own a few GonD and ill cry if its not compatible. im ruling out XBLA they dont count
Xbox11 on 24 Jan '13 said:
If it has the specs stated here today then no it won't be backwards compatible with 360 , Which is why I think all theses rumours are complete horse shit , Dropping hardware backwards compatibility is a silly idea because the only way to play 360 games would be through "Cloud Gaming" , And that would suck money nuts , At least until sub 2 ms ping gigabit internet connected to microsoft servers becomes a reality the lag will be awful for most gamers, Last time I used my 100 meg line on Xbox live to download a large demo it took ages compared to what it should because they can't supply the bandwidth, I can't see how cloud gaming can magically work right when they can't even do that.
SidTheSloth on 24 Jan '13 said:
Who was giving you stick dude? The only person i can see who mentioned you was me - and i was trying to give you credit as i thought your point about people being willing to spend so much on phones year in, year out - but not a console every 5 was a good one. Some people cant afford either so for them i hope the price stays low/a good compromise can be found, but you made me recall that i do know people walking around 'all phoned up' already moaning that it could come in at £400 plus - which is kinda double standards....