Next Xbox specs reportedly leak

Words: Tom Ivan on January 22, 2013

VGLeaks has published what it’s claiming to be a world exclusive reveal of the full specs for the next generation Xbox.

Key elements of the reported specs of Microsoft’s new console, codenamed Durango, match the overall outline of the hardware previously received by Eurogamer, which suggests the origins of the latest information appear genuine.

The VGLeaks piece claims to present the Durango system overview in block diagram form, as well as the general components and some technical details about them:

CPU:

x64 Architecture
8 CPU cores running at 1.6 gigahertz (GHz)
each CPU thread has its own 32 KB L1 instruction cache and 32 KB L1 data cache
each module of four CPU cores has a 2 MB L2 cache resulting in a total of 4 MB of L2 cache
each core has one fully independent hardware thread with no shared execution resources
each hardware thread can issue two instructions per clock

GPU:

custom D3D11.1 class 800-MHz graphics processor
12 shader cores providing a total of 768 threads
each thread can perform one scalar multiplication and addition operation (MADD) per clock cycle
at peak performance, the GPU can effectively issue 1.2 trillion floating-point operations per second
High-fidelity Natural User Interface (NUI) sensor is always present

Storage and Memory:

8 gigabyte (GB) of RAM DDR3 (68 GB/s)
32 MB of fast embedded SRAM (ESRAM) (102 GB/s)
from the GPU’s perspective the bandwidths of system memory and ESRAM are parallel providing combined peak bandwidth of 170 GB/sec.
Hard drive is always present
50 GB 6x Blu-ray Disc drive

Networking:

Gigabit Ethernet
Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi Direct

Hardware Accelerators:

Move engines
Image, video, and audio codecs
Kinect multichannel echo cancellation (MEC) hardware
Cryptography engines for encryption and decryption, and hashing

VGLeaks says it also plans to reveal detailed technical information on Sony’s next generation console, codenamed Orbis, in the coming weeks.

According to recent rumours, PS4 and the next Xbox will both be revealed at press conferences to be held in March.

Platforms:

Xbox 360

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TBone4Ever - January 26, 2013 9:11 a.m.

At least we will get TRUE FULL HD as opposed to getting just 720p for most games with the XBox. That's one of the minor annoyances that I had with the current consoles, as they always up scaled those graphics on 1080p sets from 720p so you couldn't tell the difference but I could as some graphics just didn't have the detail of 1080p. There were very few 1080p games on both consoles.. Btw, add the current audio formats for Blu-Ray and you have for yourself one hell of a decent system..
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SOLAMON77 - January 22, 2013 6:30 p.m.

I wonder if it's 8 actual cores or 8 logical core? As in maybe it's only 4 multi-threaded cores.
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CrashmanX - January 22, 2013 1:16 p.m.

Please people, stop with the "CAN YOU PUT IT IN ENGLISH!" or "I have no idea what this means! Someone tell me!" comments. Do some research and it'll save you A LOT of head aches when it comes to consoles and PCs alike.
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Facelord - January 22, 2013 1:02 p.m.

Sounds to me like the next-Xbox is going with a 7770 or 7850m-level GPU and the PS4's going for a 7850 or 7970m-level GPU. Everything else roughly matches across the board, this is the most important hardware difference between the two though. I'm sure the reason the next-Xbox's GPU isn't as good is because it's launching with Kinect 2.0, raising the production costs by roughly $50; they cut corners with the GPU and RAM speed and are able to launch at the same price as the PS4. A key thing to note: I think the next Xbox might just launch with Windows 8(eating two or three gigabytes of its RAM) and the PS4 with a light-weight Linux derivative(on a separate, slower 512mb RAM stick); the next-Xbox should do things like multitasking a little better, but textures and levels should load much faster on the PS4. I'm personally thinking $300 is the minimum launch cost, $400 is the maximum- $350 is the most likely price for both systems, unless they really want profit on each console without any price hit. The only reason the Wii U is so expensive is because of that awful tablet controller, it eats up nearly half the production budget for each Wii U system; this is why the Wii U isn't a good comparison to the "true" next-gen systems, even at a similar price. This is the first generation I'm buying a console on day one, I'm normally a generation behind(got my first PS3 less than two months ago) but with both next-gen consoles outperforming my computer build at half the price I'm gonna be all over them. The PS4, anyways, I have no interest in Kinect, Microsoft's lineup of exclusives or their greedy monthly fees. I can't wait for VGLeaks to leak the PS4's specs, confirmation of its awesome specs will rock.
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CrashmanX - January 22, 2013 1:20 p.m.

I dunno. I can see these consoles costing $400 easily with $450 being the high end. I'm a little sad to see consoles not going all out in terms of Hardware though. Going for the really high end CPU/GPU/RAM so there's PLENTY of head room for more games.
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Facelord - January 22, 2013 1:51 p.m.

Actually, I didn't factor in hard drives into my budgets- really bad mistake on my part. I think they'll both cost $400, with higher-end models with larger HDDs and maybe pack-in games as options. The PS4 is as "going-all-out" as it SHOULD go, so it won't repeat the PS3's biggest mistake(launch price) but it should have awesome specs. The next-Xbox is a liiittle disappointing from a hardware standpoint right now, but at least they're most likely launching the system with Kinect 2.0. I think they're handling this as well as they possibly could've, considering the circumstances. At the very least they should blow the Wii U out of the water from a price-to-performance standpoint.
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Facelord - January 22, 2013 1:56 p.m.

I wish I could just edit my comment, but instead I'll post this "update" as a separate comment. A console and PC with the very same hardware should see the console performing at a much higher rate, all because of three things: not having to render through an API layer(PC development requires this), direct hardware access(not available on PC) and perfect potential optimization(one set of hardware versus millions of combinations). Comparing the next-Xbox to my own gaming PC from 2011 makes it look a little disappointing, but when you add in the benefits of console development over PC development it's very clear that the next-Xbox should outperform sub-$1,000 gaming PCs of today. The PS4 should be even more powerful than that, and they'll both launch at great prices(since they get massive bulk discounts and take monetary hits on each console sold). They're handling the next-gen console hardware about as well as you can expect, though I'd prefer that Microsoft had just gone with a better GPU and sold Kinect 2.0 separately. Still, I'm happy.
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CrashmanX - January 23, 2013 1:22 p.m.

Exactly. That's one thing I like about consoles when they first launch, they're VERY impressive. However after their launch (especially with this Gen) they tend to fall of in terms of graphics very quickly. Hopefully they'll be smart enough to launch with USB 3.0. I mean it'd be 100% idiotic not to.
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iluvpkmnmonday - January 22, 2013 6:36 a.m.

Can we get one of these spec articles with a comparison to what's in the current gen? I really have no idea what a lot of this stuff means or how it compares.
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Moondoggie1157 - January 22, 2013 7:20 a.m.

Yea, this is all gibberish to me... " custom D3D11.1 class 800-MHz graphics processor 12 shader cores providing a total of 768 threads each thread can perform one scalar multiplication and addition operation (MADD) per clock cycle at peak performance, the GPU can effectively issue 1.2 trillion floating-point operations per second High-fidelity Natural User Interface (NUI) sensor is always present" What the fuck does that mean?
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Facelord - January 22, 2013 1:16 p.m.

It pretty much means 1080p gaming with much higher-quality textures, better physics, more interactivity, larger environments with much more detail and better draw distances, not to mention better animations and things like that. The PS4's sounding like it can do all that at 1080p and 60 FPS, the next-Xbox sounds like it can do all that at 1080p and 30 FPS(maybe with slightly longer load times and with more jaggies). The hardware difference isn't very massive, and Kinect lovers will likely prefer the slightly weaker console just because it'll almost certainly come with Kinect 2.0. The next-Xbox has twice as much RAM as the PS4, but it's much slower and apparently the operating system takes up way more RAM; I'm kinda thinking the next-Xbox will be a Windows system and the PS4 will use a heavily modified Linux derivative instead. They're both gonna be awesome consoles, miles above the PS3/360/Wii U, and they'll both launch at good prices- I think $400 max, $350 being most likely. This could shape up to be one of the best generations ever, if things like DRM don't ruin it.
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iluvpkmnmonday - January 22, 2013 10:08 p.m.

Ah, thanks for breaking it down for me. Appreciated.
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Jbo87 - January 22, 2013 5:09 a.m.

Again, no expert in this field but I seem to remember a few of the bigger name Devs, (Epic in particular), publicly stating that the biggest thing holding back the 360 this gen was its 512mb of RAM, and that had they had more from the offset then this generation could have been even longer. Microsoft seem to have gone OTT this time round with 16 times more so there should be no problems from that end. However, as seen as great graphics are something of a given these days I hope developers start putting more time and effort into other aspects of games.
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Moondoggie1157 - January 22, 2013 6:01 a.m.

This all sounds dandy, seeing as I have no idea what half of it means. But hey, when it comes to graphics and all the technical crap I'm about as impressed as I think I could get (don't even start on me, PC fanboys) so anything from this point on is just gravy in my mind. I can't wait to see what comes out.
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OPOAO - January 22, 2013 4:04 a.m.

Look's like I'm going to get both consoles this gen again.
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HipsterKitten - January 22, 2013 2:41 a.m.

It'd be cool if you said whether those specs were actually any good! To a norm like myself those are just a bunch of numbers...
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YourWorstEnemyGaming - January 22, 2013 4:42 a.m.

As someone who only has a limited knowledge of computers, I'm confused... The CPU has 8 cores, which is something you usually see in $1000 Xeon processors, but the GHz and the 4MB L2 cache is synonymous with wayyyyy older (and cheaper) processors The GPU (or graphics card) isn't very great compared to a lot of the cards on the market today, I'd say that it's equivalent to a $150 GPU. The one I have in my PC is $450 and is three times more powerful, but once again, Microsoft needs to keep production costs low. The 8GB's of RAM should be more than enough for any game, especially considering the Xbox doesn't have to focus on background applications like most PC's So, all in all, if these specs are true then the New Xbox will be powerful ENOUGH to meet next-gen standards, but it isn't mind-blowing
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tuomotaivainen - January 22, 2013 7:43 a.m.

In regards to the CPU clock speeds, when you are using multiple cores (effectively) the importance of high clock speeds drops since multiple cores are sharing the load. Think of it this way... 1.6GHz x 8 vs 3.0GHz x 4, it's never as clearcut an example as that due to how programs actually make use of the cores, but If both CPUs are being fully utilized then they're virtually the same.
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