Xbox One X

Summary

During its E3 2017 press conference, Microsoft unveiled Xbox One X, a high-end version of Xbox One which will be released on November 7, 2017. First teased at E3 2016 under the codename "Project Scorpio", Xbox One X features upgraded hardware that is designed primarily to play games at 4K resolution, and supersampling to provide graphical improvements on high-definition displays.[236] Xbox One X will also provide performance gains for existing Xbox One titles; for example, Halo 5: Guardians, which uses a scaling system that dynamically lowers the game's resolution when needed to maintain a consistent frame rate,[237] was able to run at its native resolution with no scaling on Xbox One X.[238] Xbox One X's design is a revision of the Xbox One S hardware, but further streamlined.[239] It uses a system-on-chip (SoC) known as Scorpio Engine, which incorporates a 2.3 GHz octa-core CPU, and a Radeon GPU with 40 Compute Units clocked at 1172 MHz, generating 6 teraflops of graphical computing performance. It also includes 12 GB of GDDR5 RAM, 9 GB of which is allocated to games.[240] To assist in optimizing the new hardware to run existing games at 4K resolution, Microsoft developers used internal debugging software to collect GPU traces from major titles that did not run at full 1080p resolution on the original Xbox One. Scorpio Engine's CPU utilizes a custom platform designed to maintain compatibility with the Jaguar CPU of the original Xbox One, but with a 31% increase in performance; the custom platform is unrelated to AMD's current Ryzen architecture. The console will feature a vapor chamber method of cooling for the SoC, and motherboards will be tailored to the exact voltage needs of each individual Scorpio SoC to optimize their output and energy usage.[241] The console will also support AMD's FreeSync technology on compatible displays.[242] Xbox One X will be compatible with all existing Xbox One software and accessories.[238] Games marketed as Xbox One X Enhanced have specific optimizations for graphical fidelity on the console's hardware, while separate iconography is being used to denote games that natively run at 4K resolution, or support HDR.[133] Existing games may receive updates to enhancements or additional 4K support for Xbox One X.[239][236] Though Xbox Games marketing head Aaron Greenberg stated that Xbox One X will have no exclusive titles,[243] general manager of game publishing Shannon Loftis remarked in a follow-up interview that he was not sure on this point, and exclusivity would be "up to the game development community what do they want to do."[244] Spencer also touted that Xbox One X's hardware could also be used to support virtual reality, noting that especially at a console price point, "having something at six teraflops that will get millions of people buying it is very attractive to some of the VR companies that are out there already, and we've architected it such that something will be able to plug right in and work."[238] However, Microsoft has not yet announced any official plans for VR support on Xbox One X, stating that it wished to prioritize wireless VR efforts on console, and Windows Mixed Reality on PC.[245] Xbox One X will be released on November 7, 2017, with a 1 TB model that will be priced at US$499.[236] The Xbox One X has been said to be a competitor to the PlayStation 4 Pro, a hardware update of the PlayStation 4 released in late-2016 that similarly focuses on 4K gaming and improved virtual reality performance, although Phil Spencer stated that the PlayStation 4 Pro's competition is instead the Xbox One S.[246] In October 2016, Penello stated that the performance advantage of the Xbox One X over the PS4 Pro would be "obvious", noting that the PS4 Pro's GPU only had 4.2 teraflops of graphical computing performance in comparison to Microsoft's stated 6 teraflops.[247][248] Some journalists thought that Microsoft's messaging and positioning of Scorpio alongside the release of the Xbox One S were at odds with themselves and was "confusing".