Xbox One X: All you need to know about the 'most powerful gaming console ever'
At the E3 2017, Microsoft left the gaming community an excited bunch after it revealed its plan to create the "most powerful gaming console ever". Formerly known as "Project Scorpio", the Redmond-based tech giant, introduced the upcoming console to the world as the Xbox One X.
And if the specsheet is to be believed, this isn't an empty claim. The Xbox One X boasts of high-end hardware that will not only help it successfully tackle teraflop hungry 4K games, but also put it in league with a few high-end PCs in terms of raw-processing power.
For all its impressive hardware, the new console has not been created using a new architectural platform, but will an upgrade from the Xbox One family. This will enable it to run existing Xbox One games and support Xbox One accessories – instead leaving its fate in the hands of backward compatibility of games. If you're using it for 1080p gaming, it will provide better load times, crisper graphics courtesy anisotropic filtering and HDR support, and possibly higher frame rate cap on some games.
Though the console has been created for 4K content, if you plan to use it for 1080p gaming, it will provide better load times, crisper graphics courtesy anisotropic filtering and HDR support, and possibly higher frame rate cap on some games.
Here's why you should be excited about this upcoming console:
Heavy on processing power
In terms of specs, the Xbox One X features a custom 2.3-GHz 8-core CPU paired with 12GB of ultrafast DDR5 RAM. It has also been equipped with a custom AMD Polaris architecture GPU running at a core clock of 1,172 mhz. To Microsoft's credit, the GPU appears to be a variant of the powerful RX 580 GPU which can produce a whopping 6 teraflops of raw computing power. This number is just .17 teraflop shy of the full-blown RX 580 which depending on the model currently retails for a price tag of about 35k in India.
Its DDR5 memory has a bandwidth of 326GB/s — a figure comparable to the high-end GTX 1080 GPU. But that's not where things end. Consumers will also get a 4K Blu-Ray drive, 1TB of storage space and support for HDR with the upcoming console.
Competition
Needless to say, the Xbox One X is not only significantly faster than the One S, and miles ahead of the older Xbox One, it also blows out of the water Sony's most powerful console yet –the PlayStation 4 Pro which in comparison comes equipped with a 2.1-GHz processor, a custom 911-MHz AMD GPU, 8GB of RAM and a standard Blu-ray player.
If you don't believe us, here's what Gareth Wilson, director of design at Sumo Digital (the studio behind upcoming highly anticipated video game Crackdown 3), had to say about the Xbox One X: "I don’t mind saying that it’s significantly more powerful than the PlayStation 4 Pro, and we’ve worked with PlayStation 4 Pro. It’s way more powerful. It’s a night and day difference."
Design
Even though it packs pretty much a full blown RX 580 among the other space-consuming hardware, Microsoft's engineers have managed to bring it in a frame that is slimmer than the Xbox One S. Wrapped in black/white, the Xbox One X follows a minimal design scheme but yet manages to be pleasing to the eyes.
Price and availability
The powerful hardware and great looks have already made this console a much-awaited device. Sadly, though, that does not translate into it being an extremely pocket-friendly console. The "most powerful gaming device ever" will also come with a price tag that will be the highest ever worn by a console.
The Indian pricing of the device is yet not known, but once the Xbox One X is launched worldwide on November 7, the console will retail for a price of $499 in the US – hundred dollars more than the $399 PS4 Pro.
The GST effect
However, when it eventually makes its way to India – hopefully by the end of the year – Xbox One X should not retail for a significantly higher price than the 1TB variant of the Xbox One S. With the GST regime reflecting favourably on gaming consoles, and Sony India already mulling a price revision for the PlayStation lineup, Microsoft too could follow suit by announcing the console with a competitive price tag of around Rs 35,000.