Xbox Series S [XBSS] [Release November 10 2020]

Will it not run Xbox One X games? If one X was 320 GB/s, unless that bandwidth was not used, ho2 come this one is 224? PS4 was bottlenecked with its 217.6 and it also did not target 4K.

And I´m not shure 224 is garanteed, because that memory configuration still leaves me doubts.

Series S is simply going to present prettier pixels in a 1440p render, than what XBX can do at 4K.
 
The "buy again" thing for physical media on D/L only consoles seems fairly straightforward and uncontroversial to me? Like the whole point of the trade in via partners only they tried to push before giving up on the online only scheme was they were going to add unique codes to XB1 game discs that tied them to your account and partners could revoke entitlements. The users revolted and now there is nothing to do that on physical media.

From Brad Sams it was supposed to have a system to transfer physical games to digital. I am fully digital now. I will not have the problem it will be PS5 DE. If I bought an Xbox I would have take a Series X because of the difference of power.

 
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Wow, ok I did not expect there to be a CPU difference.

Me too. I had heard same CPU and different CPU specs at different times as well as different memory capacities and bus-widths. It was said the final product specifications may be slightly different as they try to maximize cost savings through every means necessary. Now we know where they landed at.
 
A Senior Technical Producer's opinion on this matter is the equivalent of a janitor's hot take. (hint: a technical producer is not a developer... they do HR, budgets, management etc)
You mean he knows how much additional engineering time and money is usually needed for develping a game on multiple console performance targets, and how that can affect the strict budgeting and scheduling for launching a game?

I thought the opinion from devs on Lockhart was pretty much a known variable at this point. During last year's E3 the folks at DF were pretty clear about that IIRC.


Will it not run Xbox One X games? If one X was 320 GB/s, unless that bandwidth was not used, ho2 come this one is 224? PS4 was bottlenecked with its 217.6 and it also did not target 4K.

And I´m not shure 224 is garanteed, because that memory configuration still leaves me doubts.
The SeriesS definitely won't run OneX games, not because it has lower bandwidth (RDNA2 is more effective than Polaris at using bandwidth), but because it's lacking 2GB of RAM.
It's just not possible for the SeriesS to run OneX code.

Maybe Microsoft had originally planned to put 2x 2GB + 2x 4GB modules (12GB total) on the SeriesS, but eventually they realized the 4TFLOPs RDNA2 wouldn't be able to reach the 6TFLOPs Polaris at all times.


The "buy again" thing for physical media on D/L only consoles seems fairly straightforward and uncontroversial to me?
I agree. No all-digital console ever got any migration system from physical copies. The PSP Go didn't, the XboneS All Digital didn't and I'm pretty sure the discless PS5 won't either.


I guess it’s very limited in power to fit form factor etc.
Maybe this will mean a handheld is coming when fabs reach 3nm or 5nm.
 
Don't forget contention issues. when accessing the 2GB you can't access the other 3 chips.

Not true.

When accessing the OS reserve you won't be able to access all of that 4 GB chip for graphics but you can still use the rest of the memory for game access. And unless that OS is really hammering the OS partition particularly hard (unlikely to ever fully saturate the bandwidth allocated to that chip) games will still be able to access that memory to a lesser degree while the OS is accessing it.

This is no different from the PS5. Only difference is that the OS is localized to one location in memory that occupies just one chip of memory. On the PS5 we don't know if the OS is spread across all memory chips/channels or whether they also have the ability to specify which memory chip the OS uses.

Regards,
SB
 
You mean he knows how much additional engineering time and money is usually needed for develping a game on multiple console performance targets, and how that can affect the strict budgeting and scheduling for launching a game?

I thought the opinion from devs on Lockhart was pretty much a known variable at this point. During last year's E3 the folks at DF were pretty clear about that IIRC.



The SeriesS definitely won't run OneX games, not because it has lower bandwidth (RDNA2 is more effective than Polaris at using bandwidth), but because it's lacking 2GB of RAM.
It's just not possible for the SeriesS to run OneX code.

Maybe Microsoft had originally planned to put 2x 2GB + 2x 4GB modules (12GB total) on the SeriesS, but eventually they realized the 4TFLOPs RDNA2 wouldn't be able to reach the 6TFLOPs Polaris at all times.



I agree. No all-digital console ever got any migration system from physical copies. The PSP Go didn't, the XboneS All Digital didn't and I'm pretty sure the discless PS5 won't either.



Maybe this will mean a handheld is coming when fabs reach 3nm or 5nm.
Sure the main reason this won't run XBX games is because it lacks 2.5GB of memory. But I would not say that banwidth wouldn't be a problem to do so. Sure RDNA2 has a more efficient use of bandwidth, but that wouldn't improve bandwidth by 50%.
 
Sure it would have been nice if they did 12 GB at 336 GB/s, but then it would have pushed the costs higher.
 
Sure it would have been nice if they did 12 GB at 336 GB/s, but then it would have pushed the costs higher.

That would have been good for a 6-7TF system.

224GB/s is actually more than needed for 4TF. I always said 240GB/s max for 4TF.
 
I'll take "Common Sense" for $500 Alex.
This is why I could never work in product support. It means talking to the public and many of them are clueless. It seems obvious to people like us who know but this dude clearly thought Microsoft would perhaps let him exchange discs for codes.

They could though.
It would be a pain in the arse, but perhaps do it through retailers. I doubt they would want too, but it is doable.
 
The SeriesS definitely won't run OneX games, not because it has lower bandwidth (RDNA2 is more effective than Polaris at using bandwidth), but because it's lacking 2GB of RAM.
It's just not possible for the SeriesS to run OneX code.

Actually it's only missing 1gb. They increased game use from 8gb to 9gb on the 1X.

Tommy McClain
 
I guess it’s very limited in power to fit form factor etc.

That's my take too.

3.4 ghz with all threads, no throttle is above the base clock of any of the mobile Renoir chips these CPUs are based on, and MS want this machine small and quiet without spending a ton on the cooler.

I don't see a relatively minor change in clock speed being a problem. It's a smaller gap (relatively) than between PS4 and X1. And with LODs adjusted for lower resolution there will probably be a bit less load on the CPU anyway.
 
This is why I could never work in product support. It means talking to the public and many of them are clueless. It seems obvious to people like us who know but this dude clearly thought Microsoft would perhaps let him exchange discs for codes.

They could though.
It would be a pain in the arse, but perhaps do it through retailers. I doubt they would want too, but it is doable.

Easy, GameStop lets you trade in the discs for credit which you can use to purchase Microsoft gift cards.

I worked in product support years ago. It's not as bad as people think. Now I work in government & it's about the same. I love doing both.

Tommy McClain
 
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