Predict: The Next Generation Console Tech

[Squilliam]

That's also possible, as a play on the '8'. (I could see ads where at the end the infinity symbol rotates to become an 8.)
Xbox 8 and Xbox Next were always strongly rumoured to be names for the next console (MS even secured an Xbox 8 domain)
The only other name mentioned was Xbox Loop (aside from 720, which was never going to happen, despite MS paying fan service to the name in the leaked strategy doc).

Getting rid of the identifying suffix and just going with 'Xbox' is also an interesting idea.
It's like Apple has done with the new iPad (though it makes more sense for a product that's refreshed every 6 months rather than the long lifecycles of consoles).

Microsoft are professional screwers with people who try to anticipate what they are trying to do. They do the 'drunken technologist' style of fighting which makes more conventional analysis worthless. Perhaps we need some kind of Microsoft ouija board or something?

They have options which leaves more possibilites to account for on our end. The strongest possibilities to me are either playing on the Windows side of branding or going clean by removing the suffix like you said.

On another note I just joined Dreamspark which means I am a total MS whore at this point. I'm quite interested in the idea of total home integration using the next generation Xbox whatever console given my background in helping people with disability use computer systems which gives me some great ideas for home automation and integration.

Xbox Infinity sounds good. It even has the right number of syllables...

X-box = 2
X-box 3-60 = 4
X-box In-fin-i-ty = 6

so that means it must be right. LOL

Or it could be called Xbox Forever to disrupt Sony's next system like Microsoft did with 360.

Personally I always they would just name it Xbox Live. There's no need to have 2 separate brand names for the console & the online system. It needs to merge into one. Makes more sense now that Xbox Music & Xbox Video is now part of more than just the console & is Microsoft's entertainment brand.

Tommy McClain

I wonder how they went from DirectXbox to Xbox? Did they write out the name and have some kind of brain spark? If we knew what Xbox means to them we could possibly interpret their actions a little beter. If we knew the name would it actually mean something in terms of predicting their next generation hardware?

We know they are watching us. So how can we predict what they have when they can adjust their rumours to fit what we say? For all we know all the main leakers could be a couple of people in MS headquarters sippin beers and giving us completely made up info.

 

[Blazkowicz]

Whenever I think of supercomputer I always think of distributed computing. I always thought that MS was going to go with a Power A2 derivative for the next xbox. It seems like the supercomputer model on a chip. Perhaps AMD is delivering something similar.

If you have just one PowerPC A2, even with a lots of core, that sounds like a regular CPU to me and thus a plain computer. In my understanding, a supercomputer is racks of computing equipment tightly connected with great bandwith and low latency, but not just computers stacked on top of each other and exchanging messages, that would be a cluster. The interconnection networks and software glue are such that the racks of computer hardware feels like one big system working on a common goal, with components able to access each other in a somewhat direct way, maybe able to read in each other's memory. (a supercomputer can be partitionned too so you might use 20% or half of it for some task, while other scientists or workers use the rest)

Maybe there were no real meaning in this "supercomputer" quote, but one feature that I think makes it supercomputer-like would be the single addressing space, shared by CPU and GPU (along with low latency between them).
What if MS's next box has two Jaguar (four cores each) and a GPU on the same chip, all on a crazy fast bus and seemingly sharing the same 64bit pointers (no need to set up silly transfers).

 

[Squilliam]

I'm installing Windows 8 at the momen and I noticed that the background colour for the installation is purple much the same as the purple branding with Kinect. How close are the Windows 8 OS and Xbox next OS? Are they going to share the same Kernel with Windows RT and use the ARM core to natively run Windows Phone 8/RT applications?

 

[Blazkowicz]

Xbox Infinity sounds good. It even has the right number of syllables...

X-box = 2
X-box 3-60 = 4
X-box In-fin-i-ty = 6

so that means it must be right. LOL

Or it could be called Xbox Forever to disrupt Sony's next system like Microsoft did with 360.

In French, Xbox 360 is Xbox trois-cent soixante = 6 syllables.

For the new console, name it Xbox 8 .
The number doesn't have to make sense. Plus, it's twice the 4 in PS4.
But what happens when Windows 9 is out.
Why not Xbox Me, to fight back the Wii U. To clarify the name, capitalise both letter, you end up with Xbox ME.

 

[Blazkowicz]

I'm installing Windows 8 at the momen and I noticed that the background colour for the installation is purple much the same as the purple branding with Kinect. How close are the Windows 8 OS and Xbox next OS? Are they going to share the same Kernel with Windows RT and use the ARM core to natively run Windows Phone 8/RT applications?

The ARM core is very slow, it's meant to do what Intel does with custom logic. It's really something undramatic. The ARM core is an angry reverend mother that tells you if code is blessed by the Lord or smells of the Beast, and slaps you with a stick.

Once you're done installing Windows 8 you'll probably find yourself running RT applications on your x86 CPU.

 

[Brad Grenz]

In French, Xbox 360 is Xbox trois-cent soixante = 6 syllables.

Heh, Xbox 360 is actually 5 syllables in English anyway, so the math doesn't work out in any case.

 

[Squilliam]

The ARM core is very slow, it's meant to do what Intel does with custom logic. It's really something undramatic. The ARM core is an angry reverend mother that tells you if code is blessed by the Lord or smells of the Beast, and slaps you with a stick.

Once you're done installing Windows 8 you'll probably find yourself running RT applications on your x86 CPU.

I've finished with my download and all I have to say is OMG I have never got so much done on a Windows OS so quickly. It was like everything I was doing was turbocharged so if they can get that kind of feel for the Xbox Next (after the smoke and fire has died down from all the OS changes) they can really make an extremely compelling software/hardware stack integrated.

So Mr Arm is just a gate-keeper? Do I call it Agent Smith?

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I wonder how they went from DirectXbox to Xbox?

I believe it was just a contraction of the name during development. The 'DirectX box' became referred to in house as the 'x box', and that stuck and was used. I don't think the Xbox name was ever contrived for the market. Going with that thinking, perhaps the next console would be called the LiveBox as the focus is now the service and not the API?

 

[N2O]

Not sure if this was posted before or if there's any new info:
http://vr-zone.com/articles/there-s...rosoft-xbox-to-be-named-xbox-next-/17552.html



This seems to explain why Dae insisted his devkit had Intel/Nvidia parts:

Which FX processor should be good for consoles?

 

[Squilliam]

I believe it was just a contraction of the name during development. The 'DirectX box' became referred to in house as the 'x box', and that stuck and was used. I don't think the Xbox name was ever contrived for the market. Going with that thinking, perhaps the next console would be called the LiveBox as the focus is now the service and not the API?

Hasn't the name 'Xbox' become the service? They're rebranding everything under that umbrella. Perhaps they'll drop the name 'Live' and brand everything Xbox something. So for instance Xbox Live gold would become Xbox Gold? On Windows 8 they call the apps Xbox Music, Games and Movies. It seems as if the word 'Live' is the one which is superfluous. It doesn't quite make sense yet because Games for Windows Live is still around, perhaps they're in some kind of process to rationalise the services?

 

[jlippo]

Which FX processor should be good for consoles?

Athlon?

 

[N2O]

Athlon?

lol if they do that
I mean is possible MS will use Piledriver?

 

[itsmydamnation]

lol if they do that
I mean is possible MS will use Piledriver?

if the console is coming out Q3-4 next year they would be going steamroller, thats my bet anyway.

 

[(((interference)))]

Which FX processor should be good for consoles?

FX-8350, 4 ghz, 8 core sounds like the business
http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/23/amd-fx-processor-refresh/
http://www.anandtech.com/show/6396/the-vishera-review-amd-fx8350-fx8320-fx6300-and-fx4300-tested

But really, I have no idea.

They do seem to compare pretty badly with Intel's (mid-range) offerings in gaming performance though:http://www.anandtech.com/show/6396/the-vishera-review-amd-fx8350-fx8320-fx6300-and-fx4300-tested/5

Though, with the heavy multi-threading you see in console titles that should be less of an issue.

What's also interesting is how the PS3 will compare, since IIRC apparently it has a quad core APU + discrete GPU. So maybe we could see the opposite of this gen where the Xbox has more CPU processing power and the Playstation more GPU power.

 

[almighty]

Bulldozer or even Piledriver would take a massive chunk of the power budget

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Hasn't the name 'Xbox' become the service?

I don't know what they're branding strategy is. On the PC it's all Live - Live Messenger, Live Mail, etc. And that came after Xbox Live - I thought we were seeing Live become the umbrella concept. Xbox Music and XBox Video seems contrary. Maybe they want a entertainment/productivity distinction? Xbox is an odd choice as it sounds like a device, so why access Xbox Music on your phone or PC? Whereas Live is clearly a service. Whatever, I'm sure someone like bkilian can fill us in on the thinking, or at least the plan even if the thinking is lost to us.

 

[Arwin]

Impossible to trademark Live Music and Live Video?

 

[McHuj]

If it's true that the very first dev kits had a GTX570, I think that narrows the GPU to a 6950 that was guessed by the board from the pictured of the dev kit (6850/6950 speculation).

The performances of a 570, 6950, and a 7850 GPU are all fairly comparable (usually within 10-15% of each other) with the 7850 landing somewhere in the middle of the 6950 and 570. There are some outliers in the benchmarks, but I that maybe due to drivers and software.

So at this point, I would say all signs point to a 7850 GPU performance level. Good enough? I think that will be a massive jump.

 

[Gipsel]

What if MS's next box has two Jaguar (four cores each) and a GPU on the same chip, all on a crazy fast bus and seemingly sharing the same 64bit pointers (no need to set up silly transfers).

I thought, that would be the idea: 8 Jaguar cores and a (slightly trimmed down) Pitcairn class GPU. Don't know if the HSA stuff has evolved enough to get the full benefit already, but otherwise I think this is the best guess (what is left open for speculation is the exact size of the GPU part and more importantly the memory architecture). Much better than to expect 8 Steamroller cores.

 

[almighty]

The performances of a 570, 6950, and a 7850 GPU are all fairly comparable (usually within 10-15% of each other) with the 7850 landing somewhere in the middle of the 6950 and 570. There are some outliers in the benchmarks, but I that maybe due to drivers and software.

So at this point, I would say all signs point to a 7850 GPU performance level. Good enough? I think that will be a massive jump.

On the new 12.11 drivers the 7850 has got a major speed bump and now should be faster then the former 2 cards.

Lets just hope that if it is a 7850 card they don't cripple the memory bus!!