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
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Flunk - Sunday, June 11, 2017 - link
Not much, it's actually less than the difference in specs between the original Xbox One and PS4 (but reversed, obviously).Alexvrb - Wednesday, June 14, 2017 - link
That's not true. The original PS4 was ~41% faster in terms of raw GPU power, slightly slower on the CPU side, and they both had roughly the same total bandwidth (as long as developers were capable of using eSRAM properly). The new XBOX is ~43% faster than the PS4 Pro in terms of raw GPU power, again is faster on the CPU side, and has FAR more bandwidth - roughly 50% more! So yeah, the gap is actually larger in favor of the XBOX this time...Does that mean we'll see a massive gap in terms of real-world graphics? Generally speaking I'd say no. There wasn't a night-and-day difference between the XB1 and PS4. Not if the developers are clever. You render at a slightly lower internal resolution and scale up, for example. But I suspect we will see some games (Forza, for example) that really show what they can do at 4K60.
fanofanand - Monday, June 12, 2017 - link
How does this make the PS4 Pro look bad? Yes it's a bit more powerful, that's to be expected a year later. It's $100 more expensive and yes you get the UHD Blu-Ray for the tens of people clamoring for those, but I fail to see how this makes the PS4 Pro look bad.Manch - Tuesday, June 13, 2017 - link
BC the extra year will be worth the wait for those looking to upgrade. The PS4 PRO is a bit of a let down. Not enough of a bump. It's enough for it to flirt occasionally with 4k. More important though is HDR, and post processing. It's not that its a bad upgrade but the new XBOX provides a 10% cpu bump, 43% bump in GPU power, and 50% bump in RAM over the PS4 PRO. This enables it to actually render decently in 4k. The PS4 uses a tiled/checkerboard frame rendering to achieve this. More often than not, its just 1080p upscaled. Just like people complained when the XBone wasn't actually strong enough to render in 1080 and mostly stuck to 720 or other odd resolutions and then upscaling, the PS4 PRO finds itself in the same spot regards to 4k. I'm not spending my cash on either just yet. I can wait for a price drop bc it's not like games will be exclusive to these refreshed consoles. Games will continue to be built to the lowest common denominator (xbox one original) for multiplatform. Console exclusive will be another thing. For now my money will go to a Switch. Need my portable gaming fix. Specifically, I need my Zelda fix.Konceptz804 - Friday, August 25, 2017 - link
LMAO, you realize this is the 3rd Xbox...the 3rd one. It took 3 attempts to compete with the PS4 and yeah its slightly more powerful, but once the Ryzen revision is out and its SOC variant, the PS5 will blow it away.nikon133 - Wednesday, June 14, 2017 - link
It would look bad if selling for same or higher price... but as it is, I don't think so.It is cheaper (and I wouldn't be surprised to see another price drop at the time X1X is released), Sony has been pumping good exclusives for some time now, and it is more likely you know people who already have PS4 (and want to game with them).
Plus, PS4 exclusives are not available on PC, which makes PS4 natural choice for PC gamers (who want to have console sidekick).
Historically, weaker consoles are often winning. PS1 was weaker than N64. PS2 was weaker than original Xbox. Wii was weakest one in that generation. Other elements play more important role than raw power, when it comes to consoles. I think MS will need clean start to get on top again, it will be very hard for them otherwise, as long as they both lean on PS4/X1 foundations... But we will see.
plopke - Sunday, June 11, 2017 - link
i never owned a XBOX one but why does the table says it has a internal PSU ? Don't they come with a MASSIVE power brick?plopke - Sunday, June 11, 2017 - link
So should it not be external , internal , external?Ryan Smith - Sunday, June 11, 2017 - link
The XB1X PSU is internal, like the XB1S. Only the original XB1 is external.wr3zzz - Sunday, June 11, 2017 - link
The article kept referring Xbox One X as a mid-cycle upgrade but Scorpio was considered next-gen. So which is it?