The Greatest Console Ever Made?

We all know consoles don't stand near the power of a Gaming PC. Despite this, Microsoft announced that they intent to release “the most powerful gaming console yet” on November 7th 2017.

Microsoft stated that 4 years after the original release of the Xbox One they would unveil a new version. The new console, dubbed "Xbox One X” boasts a custom-built, eight-core CPU with each core clocked at 2.3GHz . Similar in design to the octocore chip in the PS4 Pro, which runs at 2.1GHz, it's miles ahead of the 1.75GHz CPU in the original Xbox One.

The entirely custom AMD chip is equipped with 40 computational units each pumping out 1172 MHz - dramatically faster than the 911 MHz that the PS4 can manage across its 36 units. Microsoft has truly lived up to its promise to offer six teraflops of GPU power.

The aim of running consistent 4K resolution requires plenty of bandwidth elsewhere. To that end, the One X offers 12GB of GDDR5 RAM (versus 8GB in the PS4 Pro) with a total memory bandwidth of 326 GB/s versus 218GB/s of the PS4 Pro, and 9GB dedicated to games and 3GB for the system. A 1TB hard drive comes standard and sports improved bandwidth to help keep load times light, the latest AMD media blocks to let players capture game content in full 4K with HDR and an Ultra HD Blu-ray drive.

E3 showed an Xbox One X exclusive preview of Forza Motorsport 7 and I’m sure those who watched the event saw how beautiful graphics and fps running at 4k and a constant 60fp looked. Reportedly, Microsoft mandated that all Xbox One X titles will run at the same frame rate or higher than the standard Xbox One so don't worry about 4K impacting frame rates. Even those with 1080p displays will see some benefit as they can set the console to render in 4K and super sample down to 1080p

Console frame rate comparisons

No matter what display you use, you'll also have the option of performance modes that output at lower resolutions to preserve frame rate though, if Microsoft has pulled off what it says it has, you may never need it. Microsoft announced a list of over 100 existing and upcoming Xbox One games at GamesCon 2017 that will receive free patches to support enhanced features so plenty of games will see improvements. That includes a number of upcoming titles with full 4K assets to maximize the benefits of the One X, including the likes of Forza 7, Crackdown 3, State of Decay 2, and Sea of Thieves.

Some older games will also be patched with specific Xbox One X support to run better on the new hardware and will carry a new “Xbox One X Enhanced” logo including Gears of War 4, Killer Instinct, Minecraft, Forza Horizon 3 and Halo Wars 2, as well as third-party titles from Final Fantasy 15 to Resident Evil 7.

The Xbox One X promises to offer support for the entire Xbox One library, with every game running with the full power of the hardware that allows for 4K resolutions, faster load times and better frame rates. Games patched for One X support should see more dramatic improvements but every game will see some benefit. The price of the Xbox One X starts at £449.99 in the UK and $500 in the US.

So who will you support The Xbox One X or the PS4 Pro?

Thanks for reading,

TRC_iDannyCx