Next Xbox Specs Leak

Mr E

Nicked from Eurogamer (http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/df-hardware-next-gen-xbox-specs-leak) - check the link for an explanation of what this stuff means!

Central Processing Unit:

• x64 Architecture
• Eight CPU cores running at 1.6GHz
• 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

Graphics Core:

• 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:

• 8GB of DDR3 RAM (68GB/s bandwidth)
• 32MB of fast embedded SRAM (ESRAM) (102GB/s)
• From the GPU's perspective the bandwidths of system memory and ESRAM are parallel providing combined peak bandwidth of 170GB/sec.
• Hard drive is always present
• 50GB 6x Blu-ray drive

Networking:

• Gigabit Ethernet
• WiFi and WiFi Direct

Hardware Accelerators:

• Move engines
• Image, video, and audio codecs
• Kinect multichannel echo cancellation (MEC) hardware
• Cryptography engines for encryption and decryption, and hashing

CrinkElite

Looks good, they finally decide to stop scrimping on ram. low clock speed on the CPU but I guess we'll just have to wait and see how it performs.

TheIrishGrover

I suppose the CPU could be able to run at something like 2GHz but is underclocked to keep running temp as low as possible to reduce the fan size/speed.

Having said that, it's impossible to compare procs of totally different architecture based on clock speed alone. The inter-core efficiency, the bus bandwidth, on-die cache etc all have to be taken into account.

quad_red

So the PS4 will outgun it in pure graphics terms but the xbox will have more ram.

If this is more ram to make larger gaming worlds/more AI's etc - great.

If this is more ram to run a big bloated OS below the games so we can have super duper kinect functionality on at all times etc.

No good.

the_syco

using the x64 Architecture, 8 CPU cores, each running at 1.6 gigahertz

Since octo chips (Itanium 9500) as of Nov 2012 cost around $1,350 per chip in bulk, I'd wonder how true it is that a server chip will be used in a console. Would it be cool; sure, but considering the amount of games that use the quad core fully, IMO it would be overkill that may never be utilised.

Oh, and selling at a loss is one thing, but selling at around the €620 mark when the CPU alone costs around the €1000 mark... it'll be fun to see how badly these specs will change?

Meesared

the_syco wrote: »

Since octo chips (Itanium 9500) as of Nov 2012 cost around $1,350 per chip in bulk, I'd wonder how true it is that a server chip will be used in a console. Would it be cool; sure, but considering the amount of games that use the quad core fully, IMO it would be overkill that may never be utilised.

Oh, and selling at a loss is one thing, but selling at around the €620 mark when the CPU alone costs around the €1000 mark... it'll be fun to see how badly these specs will change?

Why would it need a server grade chip? theres been 8 core AMD Cpus about for ages and can be got for as little as €130

COYVB

CrinkElite wrote: »

low clock speed on the CPU

CPUs are becoming less relevant, as there's a bit of a move towards GPU based processing. People are just so used to looking at clock speeds that they'll poo poo something that sounds low by PC standards. This generation of consoles is built very differently, starting with the Wii U

Cookie_Monster

620 Euro. :eek:

Fingleberries

Meesared wrote: »

Why would it need a server grade chip? theres been 8 core AMD Cpus about for ages and can be got for as little as €130

Just as an example - on Komplett an AMD 4GHz 8 Core CPU only costs €149 (http://www.komplett.ie/Komplett/Site/Catalog/ItemDetail.aspx?ItemNo=80009251). So I am sure that buying in bulk and a lower clock speed CPU that Microsoft should be able to get a better price.

Although I vaguely remember seeing rumours of including some PowerPC Cores for backwards compatibility with Xbox 360 titles, I didn't see a mention of it in this Digital Foundry leak. Backwards Compatibility is likely to me a deal breaker for many - and it already looks like the PS4 / Orbis will sacrifice it to move away from the Cell CPU architecture from leaked documents on the Sony side.

Edit Adding rumour Link. It's an earlier leak, so that could be why it is a little vaguer on the CPU selection.

Processor wise, Microsoft is currently debating between two options - use six or eight ARM cores or x86 cores clocked at 2GHz each with 4GB RAM. These would be put alongside 3 PPC cores clocked at 3.2GHz each to enable backwards compatibility with current Xbox 360 titles. Earlier speculations have also hinted at a quad-core Intel processor.

the_syco

Meesared wrote: »

Why would it need a server grade chip? theres been 8 core AMD Cpus about for ages and can be got for as little as €130

Are the AMD octo's real octos? I remember reading in a few magazines when they first came out that they're not octos in the same sense of an Intel octo?

Meesared

the_syco wrote: »

Are the AMD octo's real octos? I remember reading in a few magazines when they first came out that they're not octos in the same sense of an Intel octo?

Yep theyre real octos indeed

Richard Dower

^ I thought it was 2 native quad cores on the same die?

Richard Dower

quad_red wrote: »

If this is more ram to run a big bloated OS below the games so we can have super duper kinect functionality on at all times etc.

No good.

^ this!....reports suggest 3GB of the 8 is reserved for the OS, which imo is probably true as i suspect the next XBOX will be very flashy/metro heavy and lots of Miiverse type stuff.

Patsy fyre

Anyone see anything of the new xbox tablet?

Called x surface its currently in development. Read an article on it earlier, looks fairy promising but cannot link it as I'm on my phone.

ShaneU

Patsy fyre wrote: »

Anyone see anything of the new xbox tablet?

Called x surface its currently in development. Read an article on it earlier, looks fairy promising but cannot link it as I'm on my phone.

Fake.

Oafley Jones

Patsy fyre wrote: »

Anyone see anything of the new xbox tablet?

Called x surface its currently in development. Read an article on it earlier, looks fairy promising but cannot link it as I'm on my phone.

The great thing about that story is that it'll allow you to filter out the worthless sites that carried it.


http://x-surface.tumblr.com/

Patsy fyre

ShaneU wrote: »

Fake.

Haha, pure bull****, how does this ****e get published!

FreezeUp

Oafley Jones wrote: »

The great thing about that story is that it'll allow you to filter out the worthless sites that carried it.


http://x-surface.tumblr.com/

LOL