Xbox Series X [XBSX] [Release November 10 2020]

[Shortbread]

I have no skin in the game as far as stocks or whatever but if Microsoft isn't losing much on that beast then Kudos to them.

Sony and Microsoft are eating higher BOM losses this coming generation, but nothing close to PS3 levels of losses.

As an FYI, the PS3 initial build cost was between $770-$805 dollars (or $989-$1,034 adjusted for inflation), and retailed for $599 (60GB sku) and $499 (20GB sku) during launch.

 

[AzBat]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1303213264441024514

LOL

Tommy McClain

 

[Devious]

Okay, that tweet made me laugh more than it should have.

 

[Lalaland]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1303230071033880576

And we're off

It appears the S has no BD drive? Guess my XB1S is going nowhere any time soon then

 

[Sycologist]

I have Xbox One, Xbox One S and Xbox One X. All three could play Blu-ray. I have too many Blu-ray players. What if....there's a third SKU > Xbox Series X with no BD drive at a lower price?

 

[Allandor]

I have Xbox One, Xbox One S and Xbox One X. All three could play Blu-ray. I have too many Blu-ray players. What if....there's a third SKU > Xbox Series X with no BD drive at a lower price?

At least I wouldn't expect it for the launch. This could make sense at a later time but for the launch you don't want to fragment your bases to much. They will more or less already get sold out in no time like with every launch. Than later maybe to reduce the price.

 

[anexanhume]

The curious part is no whether the $499 is taken to heart since the rumors appeared with the supposed details before this leak.

 

[JPT]

Will be really interestering to learn about allocation of XSS vs XSX, I get the feeling that its a bit more critical than PS5 vs PS5DE.

Albeit if the XSS is targeted at the I only play madden and cod games a year, then 512GB will be plenty.
But it seems you need to tick a bunch of boxes. Anyway, its going to be fun to see who has made right decisions and if they are able to execute on it.

 

[goonergaz]

Will be really interestering to learn about allocation of XSS vs XSX, I get the feeling that its a bit more critical than PS5 vs PS5DE.

Albeit if the XSS is targeted at the I only play madden and cod games a year, then 512GB will be plenty.
But it seems you need to tick a bunch of boxes. Anyway, its going to be fun to see who has made right decisions and if they are able to execute on it.

Have you seen the size of the latest CoD games!?

 

[JPT]

Have you seen the size of the latest CoD games!?

No, but they are not bigger than BD?

 

[function]

The [SSD] controller MS have chosen can manage up to 2TB. I'm sure there will be a 1TB version at some point, and a 2TB XSX.

And I really do think there'll be the expansion port on XSS for 1TB and later 2TB expansion drives.

 

[anexanhume]

The [SSD] controller MS have chosen can manage up to 2TB. I'm sure there will be a 1TB version at some point, and a 2TB XSX.

And I really do think there'll be the expansion port on XSS for 1TB and later 2TB expansion drives.

I missed this. So no more than 2TB total with 1TB external stick?

I wonder if there’s any practical limit to Sony’s PCIe 4 slot, given their controller still needs to mediate the traffic in the end.

 

[function]

I missed this. So no more than 2TB total with 1TB external stick?

I wonder if there’s any practical limit to Sony’s PCIe 4 slot, given their controller still needs to mediate the traffic in the end.

AFAIK the controller that was revealed to be in use by MS in the Linked-In profile can handle 2TB. If it's the same controller in the external stick, that should be able to hit 2TB too. So with a 2TB console and a 2TB expansion drive that would be up to 4TB.

MS probably could go higher, but it would probably require a new controller (in console and / or expansion drive), at least going by the known specs of the controller.

I don't think there will be any limit on Sony's slot itself, but depending on how it's done there might be a limit on what the OS can see or map (if they're doing something like MS). My guess would be that there's not though. In the short term it's the cost of a 2TB+ and 6GB/s+ Nvme drive that's likely to be the kicker for most folks!

 

[cheapchips]

AFAIK the controller that was revealed to be in use by MS in the Linked-In profile can handle 2TB. If it's the same controller in the external stick, that should be able to hit 2TB too. So with a 2TB console and a 2TB expansion drive that would be up to 4TB.

MS probably could go higher, but it would probably require a new controller (in console and / or expansion drive), at least going by the known specs of the controller.

I don't think there will be any limit on Sony's slot itself, but depending on how it's done there might be a limit on what the OS can see or map (if they're doing something like MS). My guess would be that there's not though. In the short term it's the cost of a 2TB+ and 6GB/s+ Nvme drive that's likely to be the kicker for most folks!

The controller was a Phison PS5019-E19T, for the record.

 

[Allandor]

AFAIK the controller that was revealed to be in use by MS in the Linked-In profile can handle 2TB. If it's the same controller in the external stick, that should be able to hit 2TB too. So with a 2TB console and a 2TB expansion drive that would be up to 4TB.

MS probably could go higher, but it would probably require a new controller (in console and / or expansion drive), at least going by the known specs of the controller.

I don't think there will be any limit on Sony's slot itself, but depending on how it's done there might be a limit on what the OS can see or map (if they're doing something like MS). My guess would be that there's not though. In the short term it's the cost of a 2TB+ and 6GB/s+ Nvme drive that's likely to be the kicker for most folks!

Well, I don't think that there is a hard limit. Maybe what the controller can "control" at once. Else it would be really stupid to release a console that can only see 2TB memory at max. 2TB and 4TB sticks will be available at some point (when the costs are low enough) everything else wouldn't make sense.

But well, the sticks are so small, I don't think there is a controller-chip inside or cache memory. So they production costs should be quite low.

 

[eastmen]

If the controller is on the ssd card the nit shouldn't be an issue as I doubt we will see the consoles with more than 2TB of storage for sale. But perhaps later in the generation MS can use an updated controller for the external card.

Also perhaps its a hard limited based on the density of the nand chips ?

 

[Lalaland]

If the controller is on the ssd card the nit shouldn't be an issue as I doubt we will see the consoles with more than 2TB of storage for sale. But perhaps later in the generation MS can use an updated controller for the external card.

Also perhaps its a hard limited based on the density of the nand chips ?

AFAIK the number channels is fixed for a flash controller but the size of the NAND chips is flexible up to the point that the controller runs out of RAM to track where everything is under operation. But if MS is operating a more direct model where a lot of the work that a flash controller might do is obviated by the CPU accessing and controlling things more directly then perhaps that isn't a thing.

There isn't a lot of detail on the MS SSD design beyond that the external port has 2xPCIe4 lanes from the Hotchips presentation so that implies to me at least that they are not doing anything too wild that would prevent larger capacities down the line. I'd say the issue that the SSDs will be expensive even in these relatively modest capacities at launch and you may see larger down the line as flash continues to drop

 

[cheapchips]

AFAIK the number channels is fixed for a flash controller but the size of the NAND chips is flexible up to the point that the controller runs out of RAM to track where everything is under operation. But if MS is operating a more direct model where a lot of the work that a flash controller might do is obviated by the CPU accessing and controlling things more directly then perhaps that isn't a thing.

There isn't a lot of detail on the MS SSD design beyond that the external port has 2xPCIe4 lanes from the Hotchips presentation so that implies to me at least that they are not doing anything too wild that would prevent larger capacities down the line. I'd say the issue that the SSDs will be expensive even in these relatively modest capacities at launch and you may see larger down the line as flash continues to drop

I think it'll be less that $100 per TB with QLC nand and MS's bulk buying. It'll still look expensive compared to a HDD but it's not in horrible sticker shock territory.

 

[Megadrive1988]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1303230071033880576

And we're off

It appears the S has no BD drive? Guess my XB1S is going nowhere any time soon then

That's right. Think of Xbox Series S as the next gen All-Digital-Edition.

Now if Microsoft can get the current Xbox One S to be capable of using xCloud to stream next-gen Xbox games at 1080p60fps without the need to do any processing or storage locally and reduce Xbox One S price to $199 or $149 and include a Series controller, they'd have that xCloud-box that can play new games via streaming and still play any Xbox One game disc at Xbox One quality at 1080p or even 1440p. You could still get the benefit of 60fps cloud gaming, you just get GamePass.

Remember Microsoft does not give a rats ass what device you play on, or even if you buy one of their devices. As long as you subscribe to their services and/or buy their games, it doesn't matter if you play on an old Xbox One S, a smartphone, a, PC, an Xbox One X, a Series X or a Series S.

Microsoft could potentially have price points of:

$159 $199 A current One S with a controller
$299 - Series S
$499 - Series X

-or-

All-Access program: commit to 35 or 45 dollars a month for 2 years for GamePass and either a Series S or a Series X console.

 

[Esrever]

It would make sense to make Roku like device if they want a streaming only console. Anything more would be way too overpowered and expensive. Bundle it with a controller and sell it for <$100, probably like $80.