Did you know the Xbox Series X runs on a custom next-generation processor with four times the power of the Xbox One? How about the fact that it can save and quick resume from multiple games at once? Well now we know those things, along with the rest of the specs and details Microsoft shared about the Xbox Series X this morning.
In a post on Xbox Wire titled “What You Can Expect From the Next Generation of Gaming,” Xbox head Phil Spencer lays out details on Microsoft’s upcoming vertical black box. First, he talks hardware, including a custom processor leveraging AMD’s latest Zen 2 and RDNA 2 architectures. The Xbox Series X features a GPU capable of 12 teraflops of performance, twice that of an Xbox One X and eight times the original Xbox One. As mentioned during the system’s announcement, the console will also support up to 120 frames per second, so investing in a faster television or monitor might be worthwhile. And in case anyone was worried about raytracing, the Series X supports DirectX raytracing, so the console won’t be missing out on that video buzzword.
The coolest new feature revealed is Quick Resume, which allows players to suspend multiple games at once, resuming on-the-fly with no loading screens. I for one can’t wait to realise I put a game on pause weeks ago and never got back to it.
Then there is Smart Delivery, which means that no matter which version of the Xbox you’re playing on, Microsoft will make sure you’ve got the best version of the game for your console. I suppose things might get a little confusing, what with multiple hardware generations playing the same games. The Xbox Series X is backwards compatible with the Xbox One, the Xbox 360, and the original Xbox games the Xbox One is backwards compatible with. I’m already confused. Smart Delivery sounds like a godsend. Or just common sense.
The Series X uses something called Dynamic Latency Input to ensure fast and responsive wireless controller response. Microsoft has also worked with TV makers and the HDMI forum to harness features like variable refresh rate, syncing TV and gameplay frame rates to avoid jaggies and screen tearing.
Check out the post on Xbox Wire for more information on what the Xbox Series X is bringing to the living room this holiday season.
Correction: 2/24/2020, 11 a.m. ET: A previous version of the headline had an extraneous word in name of Microsoft’s next-gen Xbox console. It has since been removed.
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