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Xbox 720 Devkit Specs Detailed, Includes 16-Core Processor, AMD Radeon HD 7000-series GPU

SilleGamer.com

''Discrete sources have confirmed to Xbox World Magazine that Xbox 720 devkits were shipped to various developers in March, and have detailed an impressive set of specs for the next generation console.''

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sillegamer.com
mrshooter2k125149d ago

Powerhouse console confirmed if true

JonahNL5149d ago

Don't overestimate the next generation, though. Various companies have mentioned that the graphical "jump" to the next generation won't be as big as the one we had in 2005.

I hope the next generation will focus on proper multitasking. With 16 cores that's more than possible. Each core can handle a specific task.

PLASTICA-MAN5149d ago

That is cool to read. So even the multiplatform games will look phenomenal, let alone exclusive games.

limewax5149d ago

That's some serious fanboy glasses there Carlito, You really think MS will release a console weaker than the current gen.....So why would they even release one? There would be no point.

And by the way the Wii-U below PS3? Dream on, I can link you to some pages providing info showing the Wii-U is expected to be at around 6x the power of the current gen, reliable sources. But that would break you heart

Mr_cheese5149d ago

@limewax that's not going to be true. Devs have been reporting that the wiiU will offer the same graphics as a ps3 but won't be capable as much.

Ocelot5255149d ago (Edited 5149d ago )

what are you talking about ? Firsly : even single core cpu's can handle multitasking (trough timesharing for example, this isn't the 80's you know)

secondly, the current gen can already do proper realtime multitasking, on the PS3 you can spread 14 threads (6 vector processors, and each one can handle 2 threads at once + the PPU) and on the 360 6 ( 3 cores, 2 threads / core).

Dante1125149d ago (Edited 5149d ago )

LOL, 16 cores? I wonder how much this will retail for if true? $600-800 console confirmed.

Also from the article

"Discrete sources at GDC also confirmed to the publication that developers expect Sony’s Playstation 4 to be more powerful than the next Xbox, and that various studios are aiming to unveil their next generation software at E3 2012 in June"

Calling BS on this article. If the PS4 is gonna be powerful than this (16 is already kinda unlikey) what will it have, 32 cores and 4 GPUs lol?

MAJ0R5149d ago

SIXTEEN CORE PROCESSORS for $600-800? Try over $2,000. The i7 990x is a 6 core proccessor and it retails at around $1,000. I just refuse to believe this.

http://www.amazon.com/Intel...

Dasteru5148d ago

@MAJOR:

That doesn't mean anything. AMD already has an 8 core CPU for $250

http://www.newegg.com/Produ...

Also cores are only 1 small aspect of determining how powerful a CPU is. Simply having 16 cores doesn't necessarily make it more powerful than another CPU with half as many cores nor does it automatically make it more or even as expensive.

Also remember that this isn't being released til the end of 2013 based on current rumors and with the evolution of computing hardware every 4-5 months. chances are the CPU used in Durango will only cost MS about $50 per unit in bulk, If that.

NewMonday5148d ago

this could explain something:

"..Kinect 2 could chew up four whole cores tracking multiple players right down to their fingertips, so it’ll need a lot of power.”

is their a possibility the NexTBox could rune a closed version of W8? that would be one curve ball

MaxXAttaxX5148d ago (Edited 5148d ago )

"Discrete sources at GDC also confirmed to the publication that developers expect Sony’s Playstation 4 to be more powerful than the next Xbox, and that various studios are aiming to unveil their next generation software at E3 2012 in June, regardless of whether “Microsoft and Sony are ready or not.”"
__

So we will be seeing next-gen games and tech demos this E3 already?
I know it's a rumour. But I also hope to see new info on next gen systems.

superrey195148d ago (Edited 5148d ago )

16 core processor? I don't think so... not even $1000 pc cpu's have more than 8.

@dasteru

4 core Intel i7's smoke AMD's 8 core cpus.

IaMs125148d ago

i could see this coming true. Just because its 16 cores doesnt make it the best thing, it just means it can multitask very well. Its engineering, maybe this redesigned console with 16 cores may not be as fast as a 4 core CPU but it might be more efficient at handling things.

arjman5148d ago

Carlito, you're fanboy-vision shames your namesake, Carlito Caribbean Cool, you're not cool (spits apple in face).

Dasteru5148d ago

@superrey19: For general processing yes they do and that is exactly my point, More cores does not necessarily mean more powerful or more expensive.

As for gaming, it has been proven time after time that most Intel CPU's only give a slightly better performance in games, Most games simply aren't coded to fully utilize all that extra processing power. I remember when the i7 980x first came out there were some bench tests that showed it getting on average about 2-3fps better than the Phenom II 965.

meetajhu5148d ago

You got they way wrong on how multi core works. Every thread of job is evenly distributed among all the CPUs.

OccludedGamer5148d ago

is this really what were expecting? check out the price on it, how is that possible?

http://www-03.ibm.com/syste...

fr0sty5148d ago

Dante, you don't have to have more cores to be more powerful. Case in point, current 6 core PC chips are a good bit more powerful than the 8 core cell that launched in 2006 was. The reason being, Cell's cores are not full fledged processor cores, but SPUs (essentially DSP's). So, there is nothing saying that the 16 cores in this rumored chip will be full fledged cores, or that each of those cores will be all that powerful. You can't just take a number of cores and extrapolate overall power from it.

esemce5148d ago

Yeah better Ai, physics and 1080/60fps.

BattleAxe5148d ago

PS4 is definitely being designed by aliens.

decrypt5148d ago

Its called getting console gamers hyped. This has been done before only to under deliver significantly.

PS3 was supposed to play games at 1080p and 120 fps, see how accurate those statements were.

You could have a 32 core CPU, ask any PC gamer it wont make difference in games. What really makes a difference is the GPU.

All of us PC gamers know AMD makes crappy CPUs, yes they might have 8 cores however they get out performed by dual cpus from intel when it comes to games. Now if they are saying 7000series GPU, it can mean anything. It could be a 75XX - 76XX GPU, which tbh is pretty gimped.

Console gamers should really be asking for more transparency, they always tend to get fooled when it comes to hardware and specs.

DeadlyFire5148d ago

With rumors we must take this with a grain of salt. As for the 16-cores. Do they mean 16 threads or 16 cores? If 16 threads then its a 4 core - 16 threads its Power7 CPU if 16 cores then its definitely Power8 CPU. As for thread count for 16 core Power8. I expect at least 4 SMT threads per core which equates to 64 threads. Unless this means Power7 8 core times 2 for Xbox 3.

sikbeta5148d ago

16 Cores? It's a beast! Welcome home XBX3 :D

zag5148d ago

The CPU would be utter hogwash.

The 360 uses a 3 core intel CPU.

The Cell chip made by IBM is a PowerPC chip by design.

Currently intel don't make any 16 thread or even 16 core CPUs, this even goes for the server/business side.

They do make 8 core CPUs that have 16 threads but these CPUs are around $2500USD and not sold to households.

Having 2 threads per CPU isn't the same as 2 cores, and probably slows the core down as i has to deal with 2 items at the same time.

I've seen benchmarks of twin optron 8 core CPUs in 1 system with tri-crossfire setup with the fastest GPU cards at the time.

and the CPUs weren't the bottle neck it became the motherboard itself as it simply couldn't push enough data around, the CPUs never got to 100% and the GPUs never did as well.

Even when overclocked it it didn't make any difference.

When you have a multi-thread program run on win7 perm then that program is able to use all cores without any problems as it's windows that handles the threads not the program.

alas I highly doubt this xbox will have 16 threads or cores.

nveenio5148d ago

I don't believe this. Unless, of course, they're using a processor like the CELL. Which would be ironic if it's true that the PS4 will be x64 based. Can anyone say "role reversal"?

DARK WITNESS5148d ago

I love it when a new gen is about to start and all these stories start to crop up and all these great conversations about specs and all that.

I an't got a clue about all the tech talk and specs, but it's great reading and it's me all excited!! I just can't wait for the end result, but at the same time I am not looking forward to somethings like the amount of milking and crap.

+ Show (22) more repliesLast reply 5148d ago
GamingPerson5149d ago (Edited 5149d ago )

fake..

@ZidaneNL
ok! but more kinect is bad..

JonahNL5149d ago (Edited 5149d ago )

CPU's for consoles are custom made and are by far not as expensive as standard, retail CPU's that we can purchase.

NCAzrael5148d ago

@ZidaneNL

There is absolutely nothing different on the manufacturing side of CPUs for consoles that makes them any more cost efficient than CPUs for PCs. If anything, the manufacturing for a console CPU is less efficient (note: I did not say more expensive, there is a difference) thanks to the fact that they don't have a mass market to ship to outside of the console manufacturer. All that "custom made" means is that they don't follow any current manufacturing specs, which means that they have to dedicate an entire fabrication line to a new architecture and get nothing out of it in return.

dark-hollow5149d ago

1- make an article about a non existent console.
2-make the "leaked" specs sounds very strong or weak to attract hits.
3-say its from a "trusted source"
4-????
5-PROFIT!!! LITERALLY!!

ProjectVulcan5149d ago (Edited 5149d ago )

Yup. a POWERPC chip with 16 cores isn't really believable either for this console- plus everyone talking about threads then they are a very distinct thing from hardware 'cores' which was clearly said in the article.

The largest and fastest Power7 is an 8 core. It does have 4 way SMT.

Developers don't want to spread their code over 16 cores and 4 times as many threads. It is fairly unrealistic to imagine a console with even a 16 core version of a POWERPC this year or even next year.

Even a custom part with that many cores does not fit into IBM's roadmap.

More cores has never always = better too. Focusing on the numbers of each core or thread versus the actual capability of such a core and CPU as a whole is a mistake.

Tr10wn5148d ago

^ yup i remember the Pentium 4 era where no ones believe in dual cores, thats impossible they said, lets lol now, Microsoft had the money to do it if they want and if they make a deal with AMD then is possible, still a rumor IMO.

ProjectVulcan5148d ago (Edited 5148d ago )

When did no one believe in dual cores in the pentium 4 era? Who said it was impossible? I would love to see you show us where you didn't just make that up Tr1own.

There had been embedded duals for a very long time BEFORE Pentium 4, and in fact it was a PowerPC, POWER4 as the first non embedded dual core, over a decade ago now- just as Pentium 4 launched.

Microsoft's money is not relevant in the case of this article, it is about IBM. Because as i pointed out, there are no single die 16 core POWERPC7 designs around to be in a devkit right now (as claimed saying the 16 core CPU, singular) and no 16 core POWERPC designs expected for at least a year....

Clearly then the idea the machine will have a 16 core POWERPC chip is rather suspect IMO. If the architecture was not specified as POWERPC then it is not impossible or unbelievable as there are other chips around. But as it is an architecture that doesn't exist right now but is apparently in devkits already then colour me suspicious.

adorie5149d ago (Edited 5149d ago )

lol 16 cores!? http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Doubt it's true. Sounds like that is specified for devkit only and not what they will be putting out in the retail sector.

stragomccloud5148d ago

I'm thinking someone mixed up cores with threads. 16 simultaneous threads is very impressive though, none the less.

SantistaUSA5148d ago

It is more likely to be 8 core cpu and 16 threads, that's more believable anyways.

NeloAnjelo5148d ago (Edited 5148d ago )

Yes, but will there be games to play? We don't need 16 core for Kinect games. Give us some core games Microsoft.

hazardman5148d ago

Earlier rumours this yr. said the kinect 2 would have its own processors, would the extra core have anything to do with it? I'm not a tech wiz, just trying to gain some knowledge...

oNIXo5148d ago

Kinect games are for core gamers. Haven't you seen the Xbox line-up for the next year?

stragomccloud5148d ago

I remember when the first Kinect was supposed to have it's own processor...

ruiner44825148d ago

Wasn't everyone complaining about having 7 different threads to code for the ps3??

kaveti66165148d ago

PS3's devkit didn't automatically spread the work among the 6 SPUs.

360's devkit had a compiler that did.

Malice-Flare5148d ago

confirmed is the antithesis of rumor. besides, i beginning to think MS and Sony are letting 3rd parties run their mouth because they know something's going to leak eventually. might as well FUD it...

tee_bag2425148d ago

Well I hope its true. I'd like to see the next gen console/s have some impressive specs. They need to be to last a 5-8 year cycle. I don't mind paying abit more for quality future proof hardware. What I don't want is a console with mid range consumer PC specs.

Blackdeath_6635148d ago

if you read the whole article at the bottom it says,
"Discrete sources at GDC also confirmed to the publication that developers expect Sony’s Playstation 4 to be more powerful than the next Xbox"
we will have to wait and see which console is the powerhouse but you completely disregarded the possibility of ps4 tech being even stronger.

The_Con-Sept5148d ago

16 cores? HAHAHAHA!
Radeon 7000 comparable? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! (ffb)Nvidia again?..(/ffb)
Blu-RAY! (There isn't enough space for that many "HAHA"'s.)

This is a total HOAX!

Seriously with an educated guess add that up in your mind how much per unit that will cost.
(ffb)And remember Microsoft needs to make a profit off each unit sold like the 360. And be POWERFULL.(/ffb)

16 cores? They mean the Wire Speed processor? This is new technology. No price set yet. Best estimate?

3,000 a piece. (Remember... HIGH END PROCESSOR...)

But lets say its a 16 core processor with each core at only around 1.1 GHz per CPU... Then 900 a piece. (And only comparable to an Intel i3 dual core @ 3.8 GHz each.)

NVidia is probably the GPU choice this go around since it is "comparable to the Radeon 7000 series." Since this GPU doesn't have a name and is new technology... Best estimate?

600 a Piece to start.

Blu-Ray....... (Where to begin?)
Would Microsoft actually consider paying royalties to a competitor? REALLY? Ok lets just say they really go with this choice.

75 a piece.

So if it is a super duper upper decker makes you feel like your eyes just got salt and peppered....

4 grand per unit.

3 thousand, nine hundred and ninety nine US dollars!

Seriously.... this rumor needs to be killed before someone gets embarrassed....

adorie5148d ago

don't forget, the cost of hardware is substantially lower for these gaming companies since they are usually contracted to buy in bulk.

+ Show (7) more repliesLast reply 5148d ago
yourfather5149d ago

now that's stupid
maybe the medias can say nextbox have AI next time
rumors lol

360GamerFG5149d ago

If you're going to troll, at least do it in English.

torchic5148d ago

what exactly was he saying? o.O

Nyxus5149d ago

Sounds a little too good to be true... but I hope it is!

DA_SHREDDER5149d ago

Now when it comes to a machine that only does third parties, the saying, might as well just get a pc comes to mind, especially since even their "exclusives" come to pc too. So you xbox fans that already can't wait for next gen, guess what, next gen has been here for years already.

jaymart2k5149d ago

And only very few games look leaps beyound the consoles.

When 90% of the games are leaps ahead then will talk.

Heck, most of the developers still haven't maxed out the graphics this gen.

Arnon5148d ago (Edited 5148d ago )

@DA_SHREDDER

You are clearly butthurt.. and..

@jaymart2k

I'm going to assume you don't even own a gaming PC. If you did, you would know that 90% of all games released on the PC DO in fact look better than their console counterparts. Hurray for no proprietary hardware!

"most of the developers haven't maxed out the graphics this gen."

Yes they have. In fact, they did that a few years ago. All they've been doing at this point is tweaking various parts of their engines within the bottleneck.

SPAM-FRITTER-1235148d ago

@90% of games not been miles ahead

if devs built a game for a £3,000 PC, PC games would be pushing out CG graphics. but would you throw all your money into making a game for people who use a £3,000 PC...i wouldnt.

make a game and design it to work on an avarage PC and you sell millions. make a game for a £3,000 rig and sell thousands.

a lot of PC games look console quality because devs can not go around making games that cost millions to only sell to the nvidia 680,i7 990 gamers.

also with PC devs seeing how well console games sell they have to make equal looking games to stay in business.

dark-hollow5149d ago

Who knows what exclusives the new Xbox will have?

Remember that the 360 had three good years of exclusives. Hopefully they continue making exclusives after that this time.

Gamer19825149d ago

like 5 websites have different specs now this is getting silly. Some say 8000 series like the orbis is rumoured to have (these are going for 700 though make more believable?). But 16 cores really??? I doubt it for one serious reason. PRICE! MS will want this to be market ready at launch which means they will want it to be cheaper than sonys console from day one like the 360 always was. That was there edge with 360 and will be with there next console. 16 cores will definitely push it over the edge.

Show all comments (198)
70°

Microsoft Gaming Revenue Drops 7% Year-on-Year, Content and Services Down 5%, Xbox Hardware Down 33%

Microsoft announced its financial results for Q3 of fiscal year 2026, including an update on its gaming Xbox business and more.

Read Full Story >>
simulationdaily.com
Jin_Sakai12d ago (Edited 12d ago )

Not looking good. Hopefully Asha Sharma is able to turn Phil’s disaster around.

dveio12d ago

To me it's still quite remarkable how they can cash-in 5.3bn in revenue in a single quarter, since their hardware is basically dead.

Jingsing12d ago

The stock mark is what makes Microsoft remarkable, They have convinced every institutional and retail investor to just keep piling money into them. Like many big tech giants they are just a big growing pyramid scheme. As long as people keep dropping money into ETF's that cover the market Microsoft will always be liquid. At the same time it is completely stifling innovation and competition. People need to start being more discreet in how they invest their money as it's killing the system.

Tanktopmaster9212d ago

Once they re-evaluate exclusive all will be fine….

S2Killinit12d ago

Riiiiight because people will just flock back to them for one or two games per year.

Jingsing12d ago

15+ years of bad performance is what they call irreparable in business. It is time for them to sell off the assets and get out of entertainment.

Tanktopmaster9212d ago

These declines are on the back of extra revenue received from releasing games like Forza horizon 5 on PlayStation. So I’m being sarcastic here when I said they should go back to exclusives. Killing off a revenue stream from Ps5 sales will only make things worse

Show all comments (13)
70°

Xbox boss: Memory crisis could impact next-gen hardware pricing

Xbox boss Asha Sharma has discussed how component shortages will impact the company's plans for Project Helix.

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gamedeveloper.com
Eonjay14d ago

When does this end? Its killing everyone. Consoles and PC. And for what? AI? The benefits of AI are completely outweighed by the negatives. And the government should have never allowed one company to buy up all the RAM.

Lexreborn214d ago

This kind of proves this is an after thought product, most products like this are in r&d 5 years before they start mass producing. So they typically have the cost of components and things worked out long before assembly starts.

This is an assumption still, but I wouldn’t be surprised if project helix is similar to Scalebound,perfect dark and sod3. They had an idea but no actual execution other than concept stage. Being impacted by the ram shortage likely would also put this device 3-4 years out.

I’m not even sure MS has that endurance with Xbox yet

Fishy Fingers14d ago (Edited 14d ago )

I mean.... what?

We're at a point that Samsung wont even provide their own phone department ram because they can sell it at higher prices to 3rd parties (AI). Its more profitable to sell the ram than make their own devices with it.

You think because R&D starts 5 years ago the 3rd party component manufacturers will honour that price? They'll sell it to whomever is paying the most today, not some gentlemens agreement they made years ago. AI farms will buy more volume at higher prices than any console manufacturer will. It'll be the same for Playstation.

Lexreborn214d ago

Contractual agreements are not the same as “gentlemen” agreements. If you think that they work with their distributors a month before production then their entire business model is trash. They work with companies like nvidia constantly for building the graphics cards they need. They work with companies that build motherboards years in advance. This is what proper business planning does.

They are not buying components on a whim like a consumer. So again, considering the ram isn’t a singular module and is integrated into the motherboard I highly doubt they wouldn’t have a final schematic that they are supposed to be building around.

If they are delaying production another 3 years then it’s obvious again this is an after though project and is just trying to be responsive to their bad execution they had the last 14 years.

It also isn’t far fetched to use their failure to produce first party titles the last 7 years including the highly anticipated games I mentioned all being cancelled. That they would continue to you know… lie

Sitdown14d ago

You don't really know how this works huh?

Profchaos14d ago (Edited 14d ago )

Helix is going to be stupidly expensive

Instead of leaning into smarter upscaling techniques they're brute forcing hardware that will cost them dearly and it remains to be seen if it's genuinely going to provide a meaningful differential

I know in the oc.doace people like to brag about not using frame gen or dlss to get to high on a game but for the majority of players they happily use those technologies without a second thought

That's going to be ps6 vs Helix

Eonjay14d ago

Yeah with FSR 5 they should be able to offer a much cheaper version of Helix.

Eonjay14d ago

While this does seem to be the case, I am encouraged by the statement from Microsoft about wanting to provide affordable options. If this means a Series S style Helix, at least there will be something affordable being offered.

XBManiac13d ago

Series S is what has killed Xbox Series so... Will they dare?

blacktiger14d ago

It's called systematic inflationary. Yes we get it Microsoft, keep raising in the name ofall kinds of stuffs

pwnmaster300014d ago

Honestly if there was thing I learned from this generation is that new consoles arnt day one anymore.
I can wait 1-3 years.

DarXyde14d ago

Another important lesson from this generation: while Nintendo showed us that prices don't necessarily need to ever drop, we've now learned that waiting 1-3 years does carry some risk that prices increase. This generation is just bizarre in all the wrong ways.

LucasRuinedChildhood14d ago (Edited 14d ago )

The factors are largely external. Covid and Russia-Ukraine war causing inflation led to the first price increase in 2022.

Then we get Trump's tariffs increasing hardware prices, AI boom causing a RAM crisis, war on Iran causing a worldwide fuel crisis which impacts the cost of everything.

Gaming doesn't exist in a vacuum. The last few years have been a shitshow and lot of it was definitely avoidable.

DarXyde13d ago

LucasRuinedChildhood,

For sure. No disagreement on the external factors doing a lot of this. Where I have to gently push back however is on two fronts:

1. The pandemic definitely caused some issues: asynchronous development was a big issue and really complicated timelines and affected game quality. At the same time, when it comes to price hikes, it's really difficult to know what was genuine necessity and what was taking consumers for a ride. The pandemic brought about "stag-flation" which was increasing prices and stagnant wages, which was a problem caused by supply chain constraints. There was also "Greed-flation", where companies that were slightly affected or had no issues took advantage of the situation and squeezed everyone citing supply chain issues when there were none.

2. It's definitely true that the tariffs, AI boom, and RAM crisis were all things enabled by tech broligarchs throwing money at this caricature of a world leader, one of them being Satya Nadella. I don't think Sony and Nintendo have contributed much to this problem if at all, but Microsoft's Nadella I feel was instrumental in causing every one of those issues. Microsoft as a company contributed to both candidates (though they gave Harris 4x as much if I recall), but Nadella was all in on letting AI run wild. He paid for unregulated AI, and got a war that's not a war (even though Trump called it that at least five times on television) that screwed up helium access. So for me, I feel that one of the players in the gaming industry is a key architect of these issues, and for that reason I struggle a bit to think of it as "external".

Show all comments (28)
50°

'The big things that we're thinking about'

In an exclusive interview with Game File, new(ish) Xbox boss Asha Sharma and Xbox chief content officer Matt Booty explain their vision for Microsoft’s gaming division

Read Full Story >>
gamefile.news
Agent7515d ago

A good start would be to release games to go with the console. My Xbox Series X has gathered dust virtually from launch. My advice would be to ditch a next console and release games on PC, PlayStation and Switch. Another idea would be a hybrid console based on Xbox Series X tech and go the same route as Nintendo. Another idea would be to pull out of gaming altogether. Plenty of options there.

Reaper22_13d ago

Why would they pull out? They have the momentum. Sony has been getting nothing but bad news lately.