Microsoft’s Project Scorpio Gets a Launch Date: Xbox One X, $499, November 7th
by Ryan Smith on June 11, 2017 7:30 PM EST_678x452.jpg)
Over the last several months, Microsoft has been trickling out details about their mid-generation hardware update for the Xbox One console, which has been going under the name Project Scorpio. Now at this year’s E3 conference, the company is releasing the final details. We now have a name, a launch date, and perhaps most importantly, a price.
Hitting the streets on November 7th will be the new Xbox One X, which is Microsoft’s retail name for the console.(ed: I’m convinced MS is trying to keep us from writing their console names in short-hand) It will be priced at $499 in the US and equivalent prices in other regions, which is the same price as the original Xbox One (with the Kinect) at its launch back in 2013. On a relative basis, this stacks up as being twice the cost of the Xbox One S, whose base model (and now bundles as well) has been $249 for a while now.
| Xbox One Specification Comparison | ||||||||||||||
| Xbox One (Original) | Xbox One S | Xbox One X | ||||||||||||
| CPU Cores | 8 | 8 | 8 | |||||||||||
| CPU Frequency | 1.75 GHz | 1.75 GHz | 2.3 GHz | |||||||||||
| CPU µArch | AMD Jaguar | AMD Jaguar | "Custom CPU" (AMD Jaguar Variant) |
|||||||||||
| GPU Cores | 12 CUs 768 SPs 853 MHz |
12 CUs 768 SPs 914 MHz |
40 CUs 2560 SPs 1172 MHz |
|||||||||||
| Peak Shader Throughput | 1.31 TFLOPS | 1.4 TFLOPS | 6 TFLOPS | |||||||||||
| Embedded Memory | 32MB eSRAM | 32MB eSRAM | None | |||||||||||
| Embedded Memory Bandwidth | 204 GB/s | 218 GB/s | None | |||||||||||
| System Memory | 8GB DDR3-2133 | 8GB DDR3-2133 | 12GB GDDR5 (6.8 Gbps) |
|||||||||||
| System Memory Bus | 256-bits | 256-bits | 384-bit | |||||||||||
| System Memory Bandwidth | 68.3 GB/s | 68.3 GB/s | 326 GB/s | |||||||||||
| Manufacturing Process | TSMC 28nm | TSMC 16nm | TSMC 16nm | |||||||||||
| Dimensions | 343mm x 263mm x 80mm | 295mm x 230mm x 65mm | 300mm x 240mm x 60mm | |||||||||||
| Weight | 3.54kg | 2.9kg | 3.81kg | |||||||||||
| PSU | 220W (External) |
120W (Internal) |
245W (Internal) |
|||||||||||
| Optical Drive | Blu-Ray | UHD Blu-Ray | UHD Blu-Ray | |||||||||||
| Wireless | 802.11n (Dual Band) | 2x2 802.11ac | 2x2 802.11ac | |||||||||||
| Launch Price | $499 w/Kinect | $299 | $499 | |||||||||||
| Launch Date | 11/23/2013 | 08/02/2016 | 11/07/2017 | |||||||||||
As far as the hardware itself goes, thanks to Microsoft’s ongoing campaign, we already know the bulk of the details of the console. The 16nm SoC at the heart of the new Xbox One design is meant to be significantly more powerful than the original and S versions of the Xbox One, vaulting MS from having the least powerful console to the most powerful console. All told, the Xbox One X will offer almost 4.3x the GPU compute throughput of the Xbox One S, while the CPU cores have received a healthy 31% clockspeed boost (Interesting aside: Microsoft is still not calling it Jaguar, unlike the XB1/XB1S). The memory feeding the beast has also gotten a great deal faster as well, with Microsoft switching out their 8GB of DDR3 for a large and very fast 12GB of GDDR5, which has a combined memory bandwidth of 326GB/sec.
Meanwhile the only real details we didn’t have on the console itself, such as the size, have been answered. Microsoft is going for a super slim design on the console, announcing that it’s the “smallest Xbox ever”, placing it below even the already slimmed-down Xbox One S. At 300mm x 240mm x 60mm, the console is 5mm wider and 10mm deeper than the Xbox One S, but it's 5mm shorter than said console. Or to put things in terms of volume, it's 98% the volume of the Xbox One S, indeed making it smaller, though just slightly so.
Otherwise, Microsoft has largely confirmed that the Xbox One X will function as you’d expect as a mid-cycle console upgrade, similar to the Xbox One S. Existing games will benefit from the more powerful hardware, though to what degree is apparently going to depend on the game. For games that are fully Xbox One X enabled, Microsoft is targeting a 4K (3840x2160) resolution, and will offer downsampling for improved quality when hooked up to 1080p TVs. And all of the existing Xbox One ecosystem accessories will work as well.
Source: Microsoft
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
88 Comments
View All Comments
Dizoja86 - Monday, June 12, 2017 - link
Why do people find this so confusing? The Scorpio is about four times as powerful as the Xbox One. 4k is four times the resolution of 1080p. For games that ran at 1080p on the Xbox One, they should run at the same settings with similar framerates at 4k. I honestly think pushing 4k is ridiculous, but I guess it might be easier to market than higher settings at 1080p with 60fps.cknobman - Monday, June 12, 2017 - link
Here is the kicker Dizoja86 with the exception of very few titles dang near every game on XB1 does not run at 1080p resolution, LOL.6 TFLOPS is great and all but it will not be enough to push quality 4k graphics. Compromises will be made.
I won't be a day 1 or evey year 1 buyer of this. I'll wait for a nice solid price drop to around $300 before I buy in.
shabby - Monday, June 12, 2017 - link
Watch them say "oh we didn't mean every game will run at 4k native, we meant we will upscale every game to 4k"fanofanand - Monday, June 12, 2017 - link
Even after trashing Sony for doing the same with PS4 Pro. Most Xbox games run at 720p, so even 4x that gets us nowhere near 4k. They will do checkerboard and tiling and any other trick they can, but it's not going to be an equal to a 1080ti, ever, which is almost the only card that solidly and consistently does 4k at 60+ fpsgerz1219 - Monday, June 12, 2017 - link
It's kind of unrealistic to expect a $500 console to compete with a GPU that costs $700 on its own, not taking into account the cost of the CPU, RAM, PSU, motherboard, case, etc etc. Top end PC gaming hardware will always be far more advanced than a current gen console It will be at least another generation (and maybe two) before the mainstream consoles are delivering real 4K gaming.nikon133 - Wednesday, June 14, 2017 - link
With insane amount of optimization. But I think we will see this mostly from MS, 3rd party will make less effort, revert to up-scaling.Samus - Monday, June 12, 2017 - link
I'm wondering how much AMD is getting screwed here considering this thing has the equivalent of a $400 video card (minus the GDDR5 that won't be supplied by AMD, likely a $300 GPU)Microsoft is either substantially subsidizing this thing or AMD is making razor thin margins on this contract.
fanofanand - Monday, June 12, 2017 - link
The specs are similar to an RX580, so more like $200 not $400.rarson - Monday, June 12, 2017 - link
It's an SoC, so it's one chip, what matters is the cost of the die.Also, you're discussing retail prices, it doesn't cost AMD $200 to manufacture a 580.
Flunk - Sunday, June 11, 2017 - link
Xbox One X is a pretty confusing name, could have gone with any other letter.