I imagine a custom Ryzen APU would be ideal, though as Jaguar has eight independent cores with their own FPUs, I don't think a 4C/8T replacement would suit... that would mean swapping out four real cores for four logical ones.
You can get an OEM Windows Pro license for about $15. Or you can just install SteamOS. Even then, it's not easy to get it under $500. Best bet would be to find one on Craigslist or eBay for cheap and upgrade the video card and maybe the power supply.
None Sense, you can go on Ebay or Amazon and get slightly used, perfectly flawless, computer components from one generation ago and build something for $400 that would blow this out of the water. Not to mention you have to pay a special fee to play video games online, on top of the internet.
More so than most, I am leery about paying for used electronics as there isn't any way to measure how much use and abuse they have. In order to make an apples to apples comparison you really need to compare "Brand new PC" to "Brand new XBox One X". If you want to wait you can probably get a discount on a used XBox One X. Even so, building a system that can compete with this (which only works if you have the 4K TV) is going to be difficult even if you use "used" components. This is a very high quality device that will bring ultra hi-res 1080P games (all graphics enhancements) or 2160P games with frame rates between 30 - 60 fps. In many cases an enhanced 1080P game can look as good or better than a 4K game. If you're a high level gamer looking for the best the $499 is a bargain.
Seeing how AMD seems to have a lock on console APU's/SoC's I would bet real money the next consoles will be based on Zen cores with a Vega GPU. Microsoft, Sony, and historically Nintendo, all seemed pretty comfortable working with AMD.
Of course, the switch is obviously nVidia Tegra-based, so who knows about Nintendo...and if they will even make a performance console again...
*cough*. Try to keep in mind they have to plan the consoles 3-5 years in advance. The next consoles will likely be a low power Ryzen (v1.5+) with a low power Vega (v1.5+). The .5 is for low power, smaller circuit refresh, the + is for specialized items in the CPU/GPU.
I'm also disappointed with the CPU on Xbox One X. In my opinion the biggest flaw with PS4 and Xbox One is the CPU performance. A developer needs to sacrifice alot to hit 60fps, because of the poor CPU If Xbox One X leveraged a Ryzen based APU, it would have been a 100% CPU performance increase, which would have been enough to push games that were CPU limited to 30fps to 60fps. The 30% CPU overclock on the Xbox One X will not be enough to boost 30fps games to 60fps. Frankly the massive GPU upgrade will allow much higher resolutions, in which is something I'm not really interested, but will not allow better framerates on CPU limited games, which is much more important to me.
It is worth noting that DirectX draw calls are no longer CPU bound. That function has been integrated, at the hardware level, into the GPU. That mitigates a potential bottleneck. Arguably, it is one of the most interesting innovations in the One X. It may never make it into commodity PC hardware but it would be significant if it did.
The article says it's still split with the GPU command processor and the CPU, but that the more powerful CP this time allows more functions to move to it.
The CPU isn't going to hold it back in gaming. Also, this custom SoC was in development for some time before they ever started cranking them out. Redesigning it for Zen cores would have delayed it until sometime next year... and for what? More CPU horsepower isn't going to magically net them 60 FPS in gaming scenarios which are largely GPU-bound. Plus it would further complicate backwards compat (frankly I was shocked the lack of eSRAM didn't hurt them more in that department).
Can't wait to see an in-depth look at all the interesting little custom bits. See InlineV's post. I want to read more about additions like that.
Digital Foundry reads like a fluff piece. Very disappointed as I tend to lean on their technical reviews. Want an actual review of good & bad and questions still unanswered... then read this. https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/11/xbox-one-x-...
CPU and core count are unimportant for DirectX 12 games. Microsoft would have likely been happy to go with 4 cores to give them even more GPU real estate in Xbox One X, but they had to keep it backwards compatible and that would have been severely ruined by doing so.
I don't understand why the original PS4/Xbox One were 8-core CPU's...it's been pretty obvious for at least a decade that GPU's are more critical to graphics, and since both consoles were effectively built during the DX12-era which was pushing even further away from CPU limitations...it seems Microsoft in particular went 8-core just to appear "on paper" competitive with the PS4. Yet another mistake to add to the list of f-up's on the Xbox One.
I passed this whole generation. The PS3/Xbox 360 were really the last revolutionary consoles. I spent this generation focusing on PC gaming, and I don't regret it.
@Samus You are spitting non-sense. Your comments would ring true for pretty much everything up to 2015. Thankfully Sony & M$ were looking further out than your experiences. CPU need to have a lot of cores running at high speeds. At best, they need to tackle all the other parts that the GPU doesn't. At worst, the CPU needs to overlap and assist the GPU. AC: Origins is one of the prime examples. As for CPU cores...there is a reason Intel is now trying to catch up to AMD on the # of cores. Expect a lot of software companies to following gaming devs in cpu core utilizations. More cores = better.
Well, considering that a regular Xbox One or PS4 runs games significantly better than a $500 PC, I would imagine the X would compare extremely favorably.
Every time I see a comparison being made, a few things get left behind that make me think the comparison is not fair. For instance, I see people omitting the BD drive, which I find makes the comparison pointless. Gaming consoles aren't just for gaming, at least on the Sony and Microsoft camp. They're trying to be a complete entertainment system. So you can't just pick and choose which features you want and keep the same budget for comparison's sake.
During the conference call for the last quarter, Microsoft warned investors that the Xbox One X would weigh on its financial results next quarter. So basically Microsoft doesn't make a dime on it. I doubt you'll find a better deal on a PC.
Great article. Thanks. Just one thing I didn't understand - why would XBO's DDR3 account for its performance deficit when its eSRAM buffer actually has higher bandwidth than PS4's GDDR5, albeit limited to 32 MB? I thought XBO's performance deficit comes from its weaker GPU. Can you explain, please?
Ignore me, I apologize, just realized what you meant to say - that picking DDR3 necessitated an eSRAM buffer, which limited their ability to put more stuff on-chip, which resulted in a weaker GPU. Have never thought of it this way, thanks for making it clear.
It's also quite ironic that by deciding against GDDR5, Microsoft essentially guaranteed that Sony would not run into production limitations with the PS4.
GDDR5 was available in volume, but not in 4Gb packages (which were required to get a sensible board layout). 2Gb were available, but without going for riser cards they could only get 16 on the board, giving a limit of 4GB of RAM.
4Gb chips became available late 2012, too late for Microsoft to change the whole console design to use, but early enough for Sony (who were happy with 4GB of RAM on the PS4) to switch.
@rasmithuk You may be entirely correct, but the reality is that Sony found a way to get GDDR5 memory in the console, with a built in power supply now less, in a much smaller space than the One Without an internal power supply. Reasoning is really that one company chose to spend real money on a compact design, and the other company was really looking to keep costs at a minimum.
The real problem is the SRAM just isn't much faster than GDDR5 in the first place. It only looks fast when you compare it to DDR3.
Microsoft really screwed up going with DDR3. There was no excuse really. I agree with rasmithuk that the packaging they needed wasn't available for the board footprint, but that could have been worked out in the short turn (in the form of bigger initial losses on hardware sales as well) but the real head scratcher is consoles don't even use high speed GDDR5.
They use the 6-7Ghz variety. Which is not only substantially less expensive, but has never been remotely close to a "supply shortage." When you read about shortages, it's of stuff at the ultra high end. Look at 3D NAND, GDDR5X, HBM2. These all have low yields because they are new technology. GDDR5 at 8Ghz initially had low yields as well, and it was never considered for consoles, particularly because AMD has historically stayed away from 8GHz GDDR5.
12 memory chips with each memory chip having it's own 32bit memory controller for a 384bit memory bus. There are only 32 ROPS.
Which means there is an additional memory crossbar just like the Radeon 7970... Which also means that there could be scenario's where real-world bandwidth ends up as 218GB/s rather than the full 326GB/s.
Unfortunately I don't have any new information to add on the subject at this time. But I wouldn't draw too many comparisons to Tahiti; the situation is made a lot more complex by the fact that a CPU is being fed as well (which is also why even the original XB1 had the equivalent of a memory crossbar).
Games ... yes. Great Games ... Not so much. The Nintendo switch has two new perennial favorite titles (Zelda Breath of the Wild + Super Mario Odyssey) each with a Metacritic Score of 97!! Where are these critically acclaimed titles on the XBox and PS4? Even the PC seems to suffer from a lack of ground breaking titles. Non-Nintendo gaming needs to bring the ground breaking titles ... otherwise what's the point?
I have a switch and both those games. They're a lot of fun. Like scbundy said, there are plenty of great games on other consoles and PC. Your comment is about as random as the one I replied to.
Oh I agree. Microsoft has an exclusives problem. I was just saying Nintendo is on the opposite side. Their 3rd party titles have been an issue for some years now, they ONLY have exclusives.
From the get go they said there would be no exclusive game for the Xbox One X errr XBOX. There are a couple games that can take advantage of the increased specs out already and about 130 patched. No one complains about this when they revised the PS4 as the Pro don't have any.
No that's not the point. The point is the Xbox console itself has very few exclusives. Not the X model specifically. There are games on the PS4 that do not appear anywhere else. Microsoft doesn't have that as all their titles are now on windows. Nintendo doesn't have 3rd party support and only has first and second party exclusives and a couple others here or there, but they are missing a large percentage of the 3rd party releases so the library is sparse.
My sentiments exactly. There's nothing driving me to get an Xbone when a huge chunk of its titles are available on a PC (and often for less) let alone spend $499 to open One Xbox One X Box and find a console that outstrips an RX480 but still can't even hold 1080p60 in a Telltale point-and-click game (LOL)
Yeah, you can't build a PC with similar spec/perf for that price. As far as the Tell Tale game goes, the dev needs to fix it as there is NO reason why it shouldn't run smooth. Other telltale games don't have this issue. Cant blame that on the XBOX.
Ah yes metacritic, the arbiter of what games I am allowed to enjoy- no wait, **** that. PC has tons of bad-arse titles especially cool indie slash small dev games that will never see the light of day on Switch. I play games that suit me, even ones not everyone loves, and thus end up in the 80s or whatnot. For me, that game might be a 99.
It's a bit of a hybrid because it taps features from multiple generations (not to mention features specific for MS). But as far as the core GPU architecture is concerned, Polaris is the closest analogue. It has features introduced in GCN 3/4 such as delta color compression, which involve significant upgrades to the ROPs and texture units.
It'll be interesting to see how sales stack up against the PS4 Pro and when Sony will respond with a new PS4 (it's likely already under development). I'm guessing the timing of the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X means that they'll keep leapfrogging each other going forward with the performance crown switching sides every time either one releases a new console.
I can't decide if this is good or bad - it'll be hard not to upgrade to the next PS4 once that hits in a few years (going by the 3 years between PS4 and Pro it should hit in 2019) but at the same time I already have a PS4 Pro. Maybe I can justify it by making the Pro a birthday present for my nephew...
From what I’ve seen Sony will likely do the PS5 next. Technically, they also have 3 models, PS4 launch, PS4 Slim, and PS4 Pro. Slim just didn’t offer any improvements other than a smaller footprint, lower power draw, and a slightly revised controller.
I suspect Sony will respond with PS5, and considering AMDs dominance in the APU area, it will be a Zen+Vega like we see in Raven Ridge.
You made an small error/typo, Xbox One original clocks in at 1.31 teraflops, not 1.23. You're not accounting for the late overclock it got from 800mhz to 853 mhz.
The main problem with the XBox One was the Project Head was not a console guy. He was a playboy multi-millionaire on a win win contract to boost his ego. Hence he quit a few days after release with a bundle of cash.
The main problem with Windows 8 was the Project Head was not a OS guy. He was a playboy multi-millionaire on a win win contract to boost his ego. Hence he quit a few days after release with a bundle of cash.
Boy MS was in a mess a few years ago. I always say give critical projects to the guy who has something to lose if it all goes wrong. You tend to get more focus and better results.
I wonder why MS did not go with eDRAM as a cache for Xbox One. Like intel Iris pro. That would not have posed the limitations on the SOC size and would not have needed specific developer effort.
Polaris has developed a poor reputation for being inefficient, but this just shows how efficient it can really be. Scorpio Engine's GPU is basically RX 580 level of shader throughput, but with greatly increased memory bandwidth. (Yes, I'm aware it's shared, but given the memory bandwidth of a mainstream CPU, it's still ahead)
Scorpio Engine uses something like ~120W over idle, at load. RX 580 is more like 180W over idle.
That is an insane 50% increase in perf/W. PS4 Pro is even more efficient, but perhaps that's not fair because it's just clocked so low.
Even compared to the similarly clocked RX 470s, the Scorpio Engine draws similar amount of power for at least 25% more performance. You want another comparison? That's also how much power a reference GTX 1060 draws, and I'm willing to bet Scorpio Engine is a tad faster.
Could it be TSMC simply has a large advantage over GF? After all, Nvidia's 14nm GP107 clocks much lower than their other higher end 16nm chips, too. I mean,
likely a result of MSFT taking the time to optimize the core voltage for the clocks needed, something AMD did not seem to do, a 570 or a 580, heck most of the various Radeon released the last couple of years can use a fair amount LESS power/heat while upping the clocks when the base voltage or power slider is adjusted, almost like AMD did not truly optimize the settings or something
Suppose MSFT took that extra time to fully tune the cpu and gpu side of the equation to get them as close to minimal power draw as possible which helps them keep costs of BOM down (cooling required, power supply needs etc)
would be really nice if Xbox offered something PS4 does not, seeing as they are windows esque, more office productivity type stuff such as word pads, media player etc, like a mini computer they seem to want to try and emulate, that is the one thing stopping ME from buying any current console, cannot do what I can on my PC, that s take notes, wordpads to track my daily costs and so forth.
Like Dragonstongue says above, it's mostly because Microsoft requested heavily-binned GPU dies which allowed them to optimize perf/w to the utmost limit. Nothing to do with the fab used, a heavily-binned GTX 1060 would most likely be even more power efficient than that.
No sir! That happens due to an infra-red blaster on the kinect. So basically, no Kinect, no device control. Its mind boggling to me till this day that they failed to incorporate HDMI-CEC despite all of the media capability touted.
In the "Enjoying Meda" section you correctly mention the HDR problem with Netflix but completely fail to describe the situation with non-existant refresh rate switching. While we have specific settings to allow apps to switch to either 24Hz or 50Hz, according to content played back, those are useless for both Netflix and Amazon Prime Video (and for all other streaming services, such as Now TV in Europe). To add insult to injury, Apple has just announced a fix for this situation for their Apple TV product: http://www.avsforum.com/apple-tv-4k-will-automatic...
So if I understand this correctly, the One X will render everything in 4k and downsample to the screen resolution rather than rendering and displaying at panel res. Is that right?
In games, it is supersampling rendered resolution down to native resolution (2160p, 1440p or 1080p). For example, Titanfall 2 is able to render up to 6k before it is supersampled down to 4k. I don't know if it renders up to 6k before it is supersampled for 1440p or 1080p but it wouldn't surprise me if it did.
They already have had the technique in their drivers for some time, it's called VSR (Vitual Super Resolution). The scene is fully rendered at the higher res and then downsized.
I like the development of "revisions" rather than completely "new" consoles. With the Xbox, this appears to be a convergence of console gaming and PC gaming. With the PC, games don't have to be re-written by the developers or re-purchased every time there is a CPU or GPU upgrade. This seems to be the path MS is taking with the XBox, and I believe it will turn out very well for them.
Very cool how they basically put a 480's worth of gpu performance and still are able to run the console as quietly as they do. More competition is always a good thing, and I can't wait to see where we are 5 years from now.
Look at that power draw in Gears of War 4 (172W). I know that we can't make direct comparisons, but I wish we could find out if the One X was pegging the GPU at full load during that time. If so, a fully loaded GPU with slightly more hardware (6TF vs like 5.6?), and an 8 core CPU is drawing less power from the wall than an RX 480/580 draws by itself?
It's hard to say for sure unless we could somehow view GPU/CPU load at the same time, but still, how? It's hard to not come to the conclusion that this APU is much more efficient than Polaris. Just how much worse is GloFo versus TSMC Finfet?
Microsoft has developed a process for matching the power supply to the CPU/GPU to optimize the power profile at the factory. They haven't released details for how they do that but the results seem to speak for themselves.
I just wanted to chime in and say well done! It's great to see Anandtech publish articles on popular consumer tech in a timely fashion. This is the best Xbox One X review I've seen yet--all the details you include are the reason I've continued reading Anandtech after all these years.
So bizarre about that Netflix bug, that they haven't fixed it (how hard can it be?) and replicated it on the PS4 Pro?!?
I love that the Xbox One has at least some backwards compatibility. Love that they're worrying about noise the system makes. Love the use of normal non-proprietary batteries.
Only aspects of the design I don't like are the non-replaceable hard drive (makes me parinoid it's going to die...although IF they do backwards compatibility from here on out, that's less of an issue) and the weird save system. I like being able to manually back up my saves! These cloud servies are flaky in my experience, and that's besides that I might not always want a save on someone's server, nor to use GB of bandwidth backing up saves (and how much space do they give us?)
But mostly it's a great design, and pretty darned exciting.
I'm controlling myself and not buying it until next year, as I've got a huge backlog, and among other things want to get through my PS4 exclusives first, but I'm going to standardize on Xbox One X for the backwards compatibility and controller with normal batteries.
Very impressed with msft right now, it seems they really took their time and properly engineered this thing. Low power, low noise, compact and efficient design packing a ton of power. Both hardware and software (the new OS) are homeruns for a (relatively) low cost. Impressive!
This would have been more impressive if they had attempted to do this for the actual One release. Instead the users got a HUGE console, with external power brick, a useless Kinect and garbage DDR3 ram with a 'special' 32mb bandwidth boost. What a joke that was compared to the smaller, faster, power brick included, GDDR5 console. The X is what M$ should have been aiming for. Hind sight is 20/20
Yes I'd like them to add removable storage, but I can also understand they want the packaging as clean as they can make it. USB storage is simple and effective.
I've never had an issue with game backups to Xbox Live and to be honest I kind of prefer having it synced, especially with Play Anywhere now being a thing.
It has plenty of video RAM, which is the secret. Obviously 4K graphics needs more GPU processors too, but if there isn't enough RAM for textures and frames then there's no space for the processors to work in.
Great write up! It makes me happy to hear that MS started taking things seriously and thinks them through also on the technical and not only marketing side.
"9 GB of RAM is available to developers, with 3 GB reserved for the system to handle multi-tasking and rendering the dashboard in 4K." ...so why are other sites reporting that the dashboard is in 1080p and absolutely not 4k?? They mentioned that the dashboard was supposed to be 4k but ended up reallocating the necessary RAM to the game usage side and hard limited the dashboard to 1080p.
Is anyone else disappointed that the X can't even run games like GEARS of war 4 at 1080p/60fps with disabling stuff????? e.g. dynamic shadows I wish the target would have been checkerboard 4k, full everything, at 30fps OR 1080p/60fps full everything.
"and an IR output, which would need to be paired with an IR cable if you want the Xbox to control your TV or cable box."
Not true! I replaced an OG One + Kinect with a One X and found out the IR receiver on the front, is also a blaster! I am able to have my devices turn on/off automatically with the console, and control the volume with my Xbox media remote.
To be honest, I, as almost a lifelong gamer, am really disappointed in the new console. I mean, it's basically the same Xbox One, only with unnecessary secondary features and hardware that's barely any better. https://software.informer.com/Stories/xbox-one-x-5... I don't dislike it, but i really don't see the point in making it.
Wait wolf among us had frame drops on one x really that game is 4 years old and is also available on android and one x was not able to play it smooth.Maybe its the optimisation .
Bought an Xbox One X at launch, really happy with it, especially with the costs of building a gaming PC (though prices are now starting to creep down).
Looking forward to Scarlet (or Scarlett) the next round of Xbox consoles, as Phil Spencer said were deep in development at this past E3.
There's another flaw with the Netflix app: it forces 60fps instead of 24fps, causing very subtle but still noticeable choppiness. Once again, this appears to be Netflix's fault as Microsoft put a facility in the Xbox One to allow apps to automatically switch to 24fps when required, and they've allowed third party apps to take advantage of this which is why every other app on the Xbox One uses 24fps when appropriate.
Netflix evidently don't give a damn about people using their apps on consoles. It's almost like their CEO is a member of the PC Master Cringe crowd or something.
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dugiebones - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
I wonder how it will stack up with a $500~ prebuilt PC/steam machine ...Ryan Smith - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
Right now very favorably due to the high price of PC video cards.alistair.brogan - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
Yeah people are asking 400 dollars Canadian for a USED gtx 1060 6gb. This is priced very competitively in Canada for sure, just 599.Sad a little about the lack of Ryzen, will affect future proofing, but this is so much better than the first xbox one.
silverblue - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
I imagine a custom Ryzen APU would be ideal, though as Jaguar has eight independent cores with their own FPUs, I don't think a 4C/8T replacement would suit... that would mean swapping out four real cores for four logical ones.alistair.brogan - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
There is a strong case to be made for building an i3-8100 system for your living room instead of buying an Xbox One X, to get strong 60 fps support.But memory prices, gpu prices, and a Windows licence are all too expensive. 12GB GDDR5 must have cost Microsoft a pretty penny.
jschubart - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
You can get an OEM Windows Pro license for about $15. Or you can just install SteamOS. Even then, it's not easy to get it under $500. Best bet would be to find one on Craigslist or eBay for cheap and upgrade the video card and maybe the power supply.Hrel - Sunday, November 5, 2017 - link
None Sense, you can go on Ebay or Amazon and get slightly used, perfectly flawless, computer components from one generation ago and build something for $400 that would blow this out of the water. Not to mention you have to pay a special fee to play video games online, on top of the internet.trivor - Tuesday, November 7, 2017 - link
More so than most, I am leery about paying for used electronics as there isn't any way to measure how much use and abuse they have. In order to make an apples to apples comparison you really need to compare "Brand new PC" to "Brand new XBox One X". If you want to wait you can probably get a discount on a used XBox One X. Even so, building a system that can compete with this (which only works if you have the 4K TV) is going to be difficult even if you use "used" components. This is a very high quality device that will bring ultra hi-res 1080P games (all graphics enhancements) or 2160P games with frame rates between 30 - 60 fps. In many cases an enhanced 1080P game can look as good or better than a 4K game. If you're a high level gamer looking for the best the $499 is a bargain.mr_tawan - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
I think the Ryzen SOC would goes to the next gen instead.Samus - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
Seeing how AMD seems to have a lock on console APU's/SoC's I would bet real money the next consoles will be based on Zen cores with a Vega GPU. Microsoft, Sony, and historically Nintendo, all seemed pretty comfortable working with AMD.Of course, the switch is obviously nVidia Tegra-based, so who knows about Nintendo...and if they will even make a performance console again...
Lolimaster - Sunday, November 5, 2017 - link
Not Vega. Navi + Zen3 cores @7nm+ (probably a 6cores/12threads APU).Rufnek - Monday, November 6, 2017 - link
*cough*.Try to keep in mind they have to plan the consoles 3-5 years in advance. The next consoles will likely be a low power Ryzen (v1.5+) with a low power Vega (v1.5+). The .5 is for low power, smaller circuit refresh, the + is for specialized items in the CPU/GPU.
Hixbot - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
I'm also disappointed with the CPU on Xbox One X. In my opinion the biggest flaw with PS4 and Xbox One is the CPU performance. A developer needs to sacrifice alot to hit 60fps, because of the poor CPUIf Xbox One X leveraged a Ryzen based APU, it would have been a 100% CPU performance increase, which would have been enough to push games that were CPU limited to 30fps to 60fps.
The 30% CPU overclock on the Xbox One X will not be enough to boost 30fps games to 60fps.
Frankly the massive GPU upgrade will allow much higher resolutions, in which is something I'm not really interested, but will not allow better framerates on CPU limited games, which is much more important to me.
InlineV - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
It is worth noting that DirectX draw calls are no longer CPU bound. That function has been integrated, at the hardware level, into the GPU. That mitigates a potential bottleneck. Arguably, it is one of the most interesting innovations in the One X. It may never make it into commodity PC hardware but it would be significant if it did.dogen1 - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
Technically the Xbox one already had this feature, or part of the same feature built into the GPU command processor.tipoo - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
The article says it's still split with the GPU command processor and the CPU, but that the more powerful CP this time allows more functions to move to it.Alexvrb - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
The CPU isn't going to hold it back in gaming. Also, this custom SoC was in development for some time before they ever started cranking them out. Redesigning it for Zen cores would have delayed it until sometime next year... and for what? More CPU horsepower isn't going to magically net them 60 FPS in gaming scenarios which are largely GPU-bound. Plus it would further complicate backwards compat (frankly I was shocked the lack of eSRAM didn't hurt them more in that department).Can't wait to see an in-depth look at all the interesting little custom bits. See InlineV's post. I want to read more about additions like that.
franzeal - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
You'd be wrong. There are plenty of games (Assassin's Creed Unity a glaring example):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJmWsgFl6kA
StevoLincolnite - Saturday, November 4, 2017 - link
Digital Foundry has done a good game breakdown already. The CPU most certainly is a hindrance.Rufnek - Monday, November 6, 2017 - link
Digital Foundry reads like a fluff piece. Very disappointed as I tend to lean on their technical reviews.Want an actual review of good & bad and questions still unanswered... then read this.
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/11/xbox-one-x-...
Hixbot - Monday, November 6, 2017 - link
The gaming scenarios that are currently locked at 30fps are CPU bound, they cannot reach 60fps because of the CPU.Samus - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
CPU and core count are unimportant for DirectX 12 games. Microsoft would have likely been happy to go with 4 cores to give them even more GPU real estate in Xbox One X, but they had to keep it backwards compatible and that would have been severely ruined by doing so.I don't understand why the original PS4/Xbox One were 8-core CPU's...it's been pretty obvious for at least a decade that GPU's are more critical to graphics, and since both consoles were effectively built during the DX12-era which was pushing even further away from CPU limitations...it seems Microsoft in particular went 8-core just to appear "on paper" competitive with the PS4. Yet another mistake to add to the list of f-up's on the Xbox One.
I passed this whole generation. The PS3/Xbox 360 were really the last revolutionary consoles. I spent this generation focusing on PC gaming, and I don't regret it.
Hixbot - Monday, November 6, 2017 - link
There is most certainly a CPU bottleneck if 60fps is the target.Rufnek - Monday, November 6, 2017 - link
@SamusYou are spitting non-sense. Your comments would ring true for pretty much everything up to 2015. Thankfully Sony & M$ were looking further out than your experiences. CPU need to have a lot of cores running at high speeds. At best, they need to tackle all the other parts that the GPU doesn't. At worst, the CPU needs to overlap and assist the GPU. AC: Origins is one of the prime examples.
As for CPU cores...there is a reason Intel is now trying to catch up to AMD on the # of cores. Expect a lot of software companies to following gaming devs in cpu core utilizations. More cores = better.
tipoo - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
Imagine if people got GPU mining going on consoles, we'd never get those either lolSamus - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
Shhhhhh. ;)dguy6789 - Sunday, November 5, 2017 - link
Well, considering that a regular Xbox One or PS4 runs games significantly better than a $500 PC, I would imagine the X would compare extremely favorably.xenol - Monday, November 6, 2017 - link
Every time I see a comparison being made, a few things get left behind that make me think the comparison is not fair. For instance, I see people omitting the BD drive, which I find makes the comparison pointless. Gaming consoles aren't just for gaming, at least on the Sony and Microsoft camp. They're trying to be a complete entertainment system. So you can't just pick and choose which features you want and keep the same budget for comparison's sake.Silma - Tuesday, November 7, 2017 - link
During the conference call for the last quarter, Microsoft warned investors that the Xbox One X would weigh on its financial results next quarter.So basically Microsoft doesn't make a dime on it. I doubt you'll find a better deal on a PC.
jai_86 - Monday, December 24, 2018 - link
If you want to play Halo, Gears of War, Forza or Crackdown, pretty well.abrowne1993 - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
Wow, surprised to see a console review here. And before it even launches, at that.yhselp - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
Great article. Thanks. Just one thing I didn't understand - why would XBO's DDR3 account for its performance deficit when its eSRAM buffer actually has higher bandwidth than PS4's GDDR5, albeit limited to 32 MB? I thought XBO's performance deficit comes from its weaker GPU. Can you explain, please?yhselp - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
Ignore me, I apologize, just realized what you meant to say - that picking DDR3 necessitated an eSRAM buffer, which limited their ability to put more stuff on-chip, which resulted in a weaker GPU. Have never thought of it this way, thanks for making it clear.yhselp - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
It's also quite ironic that by deciding against GDDR5, Microsoft essentially guaranteed that Sony would not run into production limitations with the PS4.rasmithuk - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
I think the article is wrong here.GDDR5 was available in volume, but not in 4Gb packages (which were required to get a sensible board layout).
2Gb were available, but without going for riser cards they could only get 16 on the board, giving a limit of 4GB of RAM.
4Gb chips became available late 2012, too late for Microsoft to change the whole console design to use, but early enough for Sony (who were happy with 4GB of RAM on the PS4) to switch.
Rufnek - Monday, November 6, 2017 - link
@rasmithukYou may be entirely correct, but the reality is that Sony found a way to get GDDR5 memory in the console, with a built in power supply now less, in a much smaller space than the One Without an internal power supply. Reasoning is really that one company chose to spend real money on a compact design, and the other company was really looking to keep costs at a minimum.
novastar78 - Monday, November 6, 2017 - link
This is actually 100% correct based on the sources I've talked to.MS wanted 8GB because of the vitualized OS they wanted to give more headroom so they needed 8GB.
tipoo - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
32MB of high bandwidth memory vs all 8GB being that bandwidth.Samus - Saturday, November 4, 2017 - link
The real problem is the SRAM just isn't much faster than GDDR5 in the first place. It only looks fast when you compare it to DDR3.Microsoft really screwed up going with DDR3. There was no excuse really. I agree with rasmithuk that the packaging they needed wasn't available for the board footprint, but that could have been worked out in the short turn (in the form of bigger initial losses on hardware sales as well) but the real head scratcher is consoles don't even use high speed GDDR5.
They use the 6-7Ghz variety. Which is not only substantially less expensive, but has never been remotely close to a "supply shortage." When you read about shortages, it's of stuff at the ultra high end. Look at 3D NAND, GDDR5X, HBM2. These all have low yields because they are new technology. GDDR5 at 8Ghz initially had low yields as well, and it was never considered for consoles, particularly because AMD has historically stayed away from 8GHz GDDR5.
StevoLincolnite - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
No mention of how the ROPS don't align perfectly with the memory bus? Resulting in a Radeon 7970-memory like situation?Manch - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
explain?StevoLincolnite - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
12 memory chips with each memory chip having it's own 32bit memory controller for a 384bit memory bus.There are only 32 ROPS.
Which means there is an additional memory crossbar just like the Radeon 7970... Which also means that there could be scenario's where real-world bandwidth ends up as 218GB/s rather than the full 326GB/s.
StevoLincolnite - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
Ian elaborated upon that in a prior article. I just thought it might have been expanded upon here.Manch - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
Ah OK, thanks for explaining.What would be a typical scenario that would cause this? Or is there a link or google phrase that will pull up the relevant info.
Appreciate it.
Ryan Smith - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
Unfortunately I don't have any new information to add on the subject at this time. But I wouldn't draw too many comparisons to Tahiti; the situation is made a lot more complex by the fact that a CPU is being fed as well (which is also why even the original XB1 had the equivalent of a memory crossbar).StevoLincolnite - Saturday, November 4, 2017 - link
Fair call. Microsoft stated it was able to achieve 285GB/s of bandwidth out of 326GB/s.But they didn't really elaborate beyond that.
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/xbox-scorpio-engi...
Manch - Saturday, November 4, 2017 - link
Interesting, and thanks for the link. I've been reading up on the 7970(what I can find) and now Ill have to add this to the list.alistair.brogan - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
Not a single game made expressly for this console. Kind of weird right? I'd rather the n64 situation with 2 launch games!!!Would have loved to see a 1080p/60fps game made only for the X. Guess I'm waiting for a PS5 now.
Manch - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
That comment makes no sense. If you're not trolling, utilize the power of the internet and read up.TEAMSWITCHER - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
Games ... yes. Great Games ... Not so much. The Nintendo switch has two new perennial favorite titles (Zelda Breath of the Wild + Super Mario Odyssey) each with a Metacritic Score of 97!! Where are these critically acclaimed titles on the XBox and PS4? Even the PC seems to suffer from a lack of ground breaking titles. Non-Nintendo gaming needs to bring the ground breaking titles ... otherwise what's the point?scbundy - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
It's outside of Zelda and Mario that Nintendo has troubles. There are plenty of good games on the other consoles and PC.TEAMSWITCHER - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
How about Great Games with a metacritic score in the upper 90's? I can play only so much GTA V.Manch - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
I have a switch and both those games. They're a lot of fun. Like scbundy said, there are plenty of great games on other consoles and PC. Your comment is about as random as the one I replied to.TEAMSWITCHER - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
Yes.. But the topic is XBox One X. Where is the must have, totally engrossing, ground breaking title that makes an XBox One X a must have?scbundy - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
Oh I agree. Microsoft has an exclusives problem. I was just saying Nintendo is on the opposite side. Their 3rd party titles have been an issue for some years now, they ONLY have exclusives.Manch - Saturday, November 4, 2017 - link
From the get go they said there would be no exclusive game for the Xbox One X errr XBOX. There are a couple games that can take advantage of the increased specs out already and about 130 patched. No one complains about this when they revised the PS4 as the Pro don't have any.cmdrdredd - Saturday, November 4, 2017 - link
No that's not the point. The point is the Xbox console itself has very few exclusives. Not the X model specifically. There are games on the PS4 that do not appear anywhere else. Microsoft doesn't have that as all their titles are now on windows. Nintendo doesn't have 3rd party support and only has first and second party exclusives and a couple others here or there, but they are missing a large percentage of the 3rd party releases so the library is sparse.Anonymous Blowhard - Sunday, November 5, 2017 - link
My sentiments exactly. There's nothing driving me to get an Xbone when a huge chunk of its titles are available on a PC (and often for less) let alone spend $499 to open One Xbox One X Box and find a console that outstrips an RX480 but still can't even hold 1080p60 in a Telltale point-and-click game (LOL)Manch - Tuesday, November 7, 2017 - link
Yeah, you can't build a PC with similar spec/perf for that price. As far as the Tell Tale game goes, the dev needs to fix it as there is NO reason why it shouldn't run smooth. Other telltale games don't have this issue. Cant blame that on the XBOX.Manch - Tuesday, November 7, 2017 - link
No, you're missing the point. The OP wasn't talking about XBOX one games in general. He was bitching about there not being any XBOX One X exclusives.Alexvrb - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
Ah yes metacritic, the arbiter of what games I am allowed to enjoy- no wait, **** that. PC has tons of bad-arse titles especially cool indie slash small dev games that will never see the light of day on Switch. I play games that suit me, even ones not everyone loves, and thus end up in the 80s or whatnot. For me, that game might be a 99.scbundy - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
This isn't an Xbox Two. Not a new generation, so there won't be any exclusive XbX games. Everything has to run on the Xb1 as well.That's also why they stuck with Jaguar, makes the whole thing easier, nobody needs to patch their games. It was explained in the article.
tipoo - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
They're updates to an existing generation...Childer - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
Are you really sure its a Polaris based GPU ? I think it's not, it's the same GCN version as the original XBox.Ryan Smith - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
It's a bit of a hybrid because it taps features from multiple generations (not to mention features specific for MS). But as far as the core GPU architecture is concerned, Polaris is the closest analogue. It has features introduced in GCN 3/4 such as delta color compression, which involve significant upgrades to the ROPs and texture units.Raniz - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
It'll be interesting to see how sales stack up against the PS4 Pro and when Sony will respond with a new PS4 (it's likely already under development). I'm guessing the timing of the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X means that they'll keep leapfrogging each other going forward with the performance crown switching sides every time either one releases a new console.I can't decide if this is good or bad - it'll be hard not to upgrade to the next PS4 once that hits in a few years (going by the 3 years between PS4 and Pro it should hit in 2019) but at the same time I already have a PS4 Pro. Maybe I can justify it by making the Pro a birthday present for my nephew...
scbundy - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
I can't imagine Sony is going to make a third tier for this generation.MonkeyPaw - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
From what I’ve seen Sony will likely do the PS5 next. Technically, they also have 3 models, PS4 launch, PS4 Slim, and PS4 Pro. Slim just didn’t offer any improvements other than a smaller footprint, lower power draw, and a slightly revised controller.I suspect Sony will respond with PS5, and considering AMDs dominance in the APU area, it will be a Zen+Vega like we see in Raven Ridge.
scbundy - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
I'd agree with thatRufnek - Monday, November 6, 2017 - link
If Sony does release a new PS4 console it is more likely to be a PS4 Pro+ Slim with UHD drive and HDMI 2.0 with a PS5 in 2020 or 2021.Rainbird01 - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
The 4/8 memory split is actually wrong, since Microsoft changed it to 3/9 a while back. See http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2...alistair.brogan - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
yes the downside was a 1080p interface even for the xbox one x, but they reserved more of the memory for gamesBrett Howse - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
Fixed! Didn't realize they changed it but that's what happens when they announce things like this in tweets :)"Bullwinkle J Moose" - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
Will Microsoft EVER have a custom version of Win 10 like the "Windows on Arm" that will boot to this console from a USB SSD or Thumb Drive?and what exactly is the USB? 3.0? 3.1?
and what formats of Audio and Video media can be played from an external USB device?
"Bullwinkle J Moose" - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
I meant USB Gen1 or Gen2 ?bill4 - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
You made an small error/typo, Xbox One original clocks in at 1.31 teraflops, not 1.23. You're not accounting for the late overclock it got from 800mhz to 853 mhz.Ryan Smith - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
Right you are. Thanks!jabber - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
The main problem with the XBox One was the Project Head was not a console guy. He was a playboy multi-millionaire on a win win contract to boost his ego. Hence he quit a few days after release with a bundle of cash.The main problem with Windows 8 was the Project Head was not a OS guy. He was a playboy multi-millionaire on a win win contract to boost his ego. Hence he quit a few days after release with a bundle of cash.
Boy MS was in a mess a few years ago. I always say give critical projects to the guy who has something to lose if it all goes wrong. You tend to get more focus and better results.
B3an - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
Error in article? Says it has 8GB memory available to devs, but wasn't that later increased to 9GB?beginner99 - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
I wonder why MS did not go with eDRAM as a cache for Xbox One. Like intel Iris pro. That would not have posed the limitations on the SOC size and would not have needed specific developer effort.Jumangi - Saturday, November 4, 2017 - link
Cause they had no reason too?12GB of 384bit GDDR5 means plenty of bandwidth.
vladx - Saturday, November 4, 2017 - link
I think he meant original Xbox One/S using eDRAM instead of eSRAM.vladx - Saturday, November 4, 2017 - link
eSRAM is faster and more power efficient than eDRAM already, that's the reason.NXTwoThou - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
I'm just shocked it didn't launch with Mixed Reality support.mooninite - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
I can't wait for the Xbox One XXX!!... oh, wait.trane - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
Polaris has developed a poor reputation for being inefficient, but this just shows how efficient it can really be. Scorpio Engine's GPU is basically RX 580 level of shader throughput, but with greatly increased memory bandwidth. (Yes, I'm aware it's shared, but given the memory bandwidth of a mainstream CPU, it's still ahead)Scorpio Engine uses something like ~120W over idle, at load. RX 580 is more like 180W over idle.
That is an insane 50% increase in perf/W. PS4 Pro is even more efficient, but perhaps that's not fair because it's just clocked so low.
Even compared to the similarly clocked RX 470s, the Scorpio Engine draws similar amount of power for at least 25% more performance. You want another comparison? That's also how much power a reference GTX 1060 draws, and I'm willing to bet Scorpio Engine is a tad faster.
Could it be TSMC simply has a large advantage over GF? After all, Nvidia's 14nm GP107 clocks much lower than their other higher end 16nm chips, too. I mean,
Dragonstongue - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
likely a result of MSFT taking the time to optimize the core voltage for the clocks needed, something AMD did not seem to do, a 570 or a 580, heck most of the various Radeon released the last couple of years can use a fair amount LESS power/heat while upping the clocks when the base voltage or power slider is adjusted, almost like AMD did not truly optimize the settings or somethingSuppose MSFT took that extra time to fully tune the cpu and gpu side of the equation to get them as close to minimal power draw as possible which helps them keep costs of BOM down (cooling required, power supply needs etc)
would be really nice if Xbox offered something PS4 does not, seeing as they are windows esque, more office productivity type stuff such as word pads, media player etc, like a mini computer they seem to want to try and emulate, that is the one thing stopping ME from buying any current console, cannot do what I can on my PC, that s take notes, wordpads to track my daily costs and so forth.
vladx - Saturday, November 4, 2017 - link
Like Dragonstongue says above, it's mostly because Microsoft requested heavily-binned GPU dies which allowed them to optimize perf/w to the utmost limit. Nothing to do with the fab used, a heavily-binned GTX 1060 would most likely be even more power efficient than that.UltraWide - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
Does it have HDMI-CEC support?scbundy - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
I imagine so. When I turn off the Xbox One, it turns off the Receiver and the TV.4everalone - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
No sir! That happens due to an infra-red blaster on the kinect. So basically, no Kinect, no device control. Its mind boggling to me till this day that they failed to incorporate HDMI-CEC despite all of the media capability touted.Brett Howse - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
Don't believe there is any CEC support still. Just IR blasters.gorman42 - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
In the "Enjoying Meda" section you correctly mention the HDR problem with Netflix but completely fail to describe the situation with non-existant refresh rate switching. While we have specific settings to allow apps to switch to either 24Hz or 50Hz, according to content played back, those are useless for both Netflix and Amazon Prime Video (and for all other streaming services, such as Now TV in Europe).To add insult to injury, Apple has just announced a fix for this situation for their Apple TV product: http://www.avsforum.com/apple-tv-4k-will-automatic...
Brett Howse - Saturday, November 4, 2017 - link
Xbox supports all of this so it's again on the dev.BrokenCrayons - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
So if I understand this correctly, the One X will render everything in 4k and downsample to the screen resolution rather than rendering and displaying at panel res. Is that right?InlineV - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
In games, it is supersampling rendered resolution down to native resolution (2160p, 1440p or 1080p). For example, Titanfall 2 is able to render up to 6k before it is supersampled down to 4k. I don't know if it renders up to 6k before it is supersampled for 1440p or 1080p but it wouldn't surprise me if it did.BrokenCrayons - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
Thanks! I was just curious about what it was doing behind the scenes before pumping the image out to the screen.novastar78 - Monday, November 6, 2017 - link
They already have had the technique in their drivers for some time, it's called VSR (Vitual Super Resolution). The scene is fully rendered at the higher res and then downsized.alistair.brogan - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
yes but a ps4 pro would just give you a 1080p image, and your 1440p monitor would upscale itxbox one x downscales a 4k and outputs 1440p, and no monitor scaling is required, but the feature isn't available yet
jardows2 - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
I like the development of "revisions" rather than completely "new" consoles. With the Xbox, this appears to be a convergence of console gaming and PC gaming. With the PC, games don't have to be re-written by the developers or re-purchased every time there is a CPU or GPU upgrade. This seems to be the path MS is taking with the XBox, and I believe it will turn out very well for them.cmdrdredd - Saturday, November 4, 2017 - link
PS4 is doing the same thing.ncsaephanh - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
Very cool how they basically put a 480's worth of gpu performance and still are able to run the console as quietly as they do. More competition is always a good thing, and I can't wait to see where we are 5 years from now.Drumsticks - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
Thanks for the review, it was a nice read.Look at that power draw in Gears of War 4 (172W). I know that we can't make direct comparisons, but I wish we could find out if the One X was pegging the GPU at full load during that time. If so, a fully loaded GPU with slightly more hardware (6TF vs like 5.6?), and an 8 core CPU is drawing less power from the wall than an RX 480/580 draws by itself?
It's hard to say for sure unless we could somehow view GPU/CPU load at the same time, but still, how? It's hard to not come to the conclusion that this APU is much more efficient than Polaris. Just how much worse is GloFo versus TSMC Finfet?
InlineV - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
Microsoft has developed a process for matching the power supply to the CPU/GPU to optimize the power profile at the factory. They haven't released details for how they do that but the results seem to speak for themselves.Stochastic - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
I just wanted to chime in and say well done! It's great to see Anandtech publish articles on popular consumer tech in a timely fashion. This is the best Xbox One X review I've seen yet--all the details you include are the reason I've continued reading Anandtech after all these years.Brett Howse - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
Thanks!Wolfpup - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
Fantastic article, as we expect from Anandtech!So bizarre about that Netflix bug, that they haven't fixed it (how hard can it be?) and replicated it on the PS4 Pro?!?
I love that the Xbox One has at least some backwards compatibility. Love that they're worrying about noise the system makes. Love the use of normal non-proprietary batteries.
Only aspects of the design I don't like are the non-replaceable hard drive (makes me parinoid it's going to die...although IF they do backwards compatibility from here on out, that's less of an issue) and the weird save system. I like being able to manually back up my saves! These cloud servies are flaky in my experience, and that's besides that I might not always want a save on someone's server, nor to use GB of bandwidth backing up saves (and how much space do they give us?)
But mostly it's a great design, and pretty darned exciting.
I'm controlling myself and not buying it until next year, as I've got a huge backlog, and among other things want to get through my PS4 exclusives first, but I'm going to standardize on Xbox One X for the backwards compatibility and controller with normal batteries.
Chad - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
Great article!!Very impressed with msft right now, it seems they really took their time and properly engineered this thing. Low power, low noise, compact and efficient design packing a ton of power. Both hardware and software (the new OS) are homeruns for a (relatively) low cost. Impressive!
Rufnek - Monday, November 6, 2017 - link
This would have been more impressive if they had attempted to do this for the actual One release.Instead the users got a HUGE console, with external power brick, a useless Kinect and garbage DDR3 ram with a 'special' 32mb bandwidth boost. What a joke that was compared to the smaller, faster, power brick included, GDDR5 console. The X is what M$ should have been aiming for. Hind sight is 20/20
Brett Howse - Friday, November 3, 2017 - link
Yes I'd like them to add removable storage, but I can also understand they want the packaging as clean as they can make it. USB storage is simple and effective.I've never had an issue with game backups to Xbox Live and to be honest I kind of prefer having it synced, especially with Play Anywhere now being a thing.
cmdrdredd - Saturday, November 4, 2017 - link
As for cloud storage for saves, MS gives you unlimited save storage.orderdrake - Saturday, November 4, 2017 - link
How is those console able to get 4k when higher tier computers struggle with 4kcmdrdredd - Saturday, November 4, 2017 - link
Sometimes it's not really 4k. It uses an upscaling technique to achieve it in some cases. A game may not be rendered at 4k at all but is output at 4k.vladx - Saturday, November 4, 2017 - link
Indeed, it's basically video rendering enhancements.Zan Lynx - Monday, November 6, 2017 - link
It has plenty of video RAM, which is the secret. Obviously 4K graphics needs more GPU processors too, but if there isn't enough RAM for textures and frames then there's no space for the processors to work in.This XBOX has plenty of VRAM so 4K is no problem.
andreabelly - Saturday, November 4, 2017 - link
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risa2000 - Sunday, November 5, 2017 - link
Great write up! It makes me happy to hear that MS started taking things seriously and thinks them through also on the technical and not only marketing side.peevee - Monday, November 6, 2017 - link
56W idle? What is wrong with them.Rufnek - Monday, November 6, 2017 - link
"9 GB of RAM is available to developers, with 3 GB reserved for the system to handle multi-tasking and rendering the dashboard in 4K."...so why are other sites reporting that the dashboard is in 1080p and absolutely not 4k?? They mentioned that the dashboard was supposed to be 4k but ended up reallocating the necessary RAM to the game usage side and hard limited the dashboard to 1080p.
Rufnek - Monday, November 6, 2017 - link
Is anyone else disappointed that the X can't even run games like GEARS of war 4 at 1080p/60fps with disabling stuff????? e.g. dynamic shadowsI wish the target would have been checkerboard 4k, full everything, at 30fps OR 1080p/60fps full everything.
TechnicallyReal - Thursday, November 9, 2017 - link
"and an IR output, which would need to be paired with an IR cable if you want the Xbox to control your TV or cable box."Not true! I replaced an OG One + Kinect with a One X and found out the IR receiver on the front, is also a blaster! I am able to have my devices turn on/off automatically with the console, and control the volume with my Xbox media remote.
Still wish it was HDMI-CEC, though.
SlanDung - Friday, November 17, 2017 - link
To be honest, I, as almost a lifelong gamer, am really disappointed in the new console. I mean, it's basically the same Xbox One, only with unnecessary secondary features and hardware that's barely any better.https://software.informer.com/Stories/xbox-one-x-5...
I don't dislike it, but i really don't see the point in making it.
Sulabh17 - Saturday, November 25, 2017 - link
Wait wolf among us had frame drops on one x really that game is 4 years old and is also available on android and one x was not able to play it smooth.Maybe its the optimisation .dboss196 - Thursday, December 21, 2017 - link
I bought a Canadian version of the One X. Should I use a step down transformer if playing in a different zone where power is 220v??dboss196 - Thursday, December 21, 2017 - link
I bought a Canadian version of the One X. Should I use a step down transformer if playing in a different zone where power is 220v??JimmyA82 - Friday, June 22, 2018 - link
Bought an Xbox One X at launch, really happy with it, especially with the costs of building a gaming PC (though prices are now starting to creep down).Looking forward to Scarlet (or Scarlett) the next round of Xbox consoles, as Phil Spencer said were deep in development at this past E3.
jai_86 - Monday, December 24, 2018 - link
There's another flaw with the Netflix app: it forces 60fps instead of 24fps, causing very subtle but still noticeable choppiness. Once again, this appears to be Netflix's fault as Microsoft put a facility in the Xbox One to allow apps to automatically switch to 24fps when required, and they've allowed third party apps to take advantage of this which is why every other app on the Xbox One uses 24fps when appropriate.Netflix evidently don't give a damn about people using their apps on consoles. It's almost like their CEO is a member of the PC Master Cringe crowd or something.
Matpache - Wednesday, September 2, 2020 - link
If I have 4K atmos movie in hard disc,can I play this 4K atmos movie using usb port at xbox one x?