Xbox One X, formerly known as Project Scorpio, is Microsoft’s 4K UHD console coming later this year. Microsoft has fully spilled the beans on the Xbox One X, and it looks like it has been worth the wait. For starters, the Xbox One X will be fully backwards-compatible with Xbox One games – and offer improved performance on these titles to boot.
On the technical side, there was some new information about the specs. The processor is cooled using a liquid vapor chamber, a technique that’s becoming more common on more compact devices. There’s also a brand-new power-management system for the most efficient delivery of electricity seen on an Xbox console.
Now to talk specs. The One X uses an eight-core processor, likely from AMD although not officially stated, running at 2.3GHz. Seasoned PC gamers might not think this sounds like a lot and, indeed, it isn’t. But keep in mind console processors are packed into an incredibly tight space, and more GHz means more heat. This is still a substantial boost over the Xbox One, whose eight cores ran at 1.75GHz.
In the graphics department, the One X will get a GPU with 40 compute units running at a seriously impressive 1172MHz. Even more startling is the massive 12GB of GDDR5 memory, which is a handy combination of more and faster memory. This 12GB will be shared by the whole system, so some will be reserved for the CPU with the rest going to the GPU.
At E3, Microsoft revealed that the Xbox One X will be released on November 7 2017. That starting price ($499) also puts it close enough to the PS4 Pro, which will give potential buyers of Sony’s latest console some serious pause for thought. The only thing we weren’t told is when the Xbox One X will go up for pre-order. We’d expect that to happen about two to three months prior to its release date, based on experience, so watch this space towards the end of summer as we’ll be updating it with all the latest information as it becomes available.
The Xbox One X is capable of running games in virtual reality, but Xbox boss Phil Spencer isn’t yet sold on the technology.
Speaking to Stevivor, Spencer says that while he’s a fan, he doesn’t feel the tech or games are quite there yet, and that will affect its availability on One X.