Xbox Series X - The next Xbox that's boxy but sexy xXx

[Jason_Becker]

I stand by developer comments who have actually worked with the hardware. Ya know actual facts instead of speculation.

[LockerK]

It’s naive to think that developers at iD, Remedy, and Infinity Ward haven’t worked with the hardware, one month before launch. On the other hand, this is a month old article from a site I’ve never heard of that didn’t seem to pick up much traction. And even if it is an issue, it might not crop up until they start pushing the systems harder a year or three down the road.

[KallDrexx]

Hrm I just looked it up. If the 8gb “fast” ram is meant to be mostly used as vram than the 2gb of “slow” ram is odd. Even the switch has 4gb of RAM (though I can’t find vram info of it).

It would be interesting to see what kind of guidance Microsoft is giving developers on how to properly use the RAM in the XSS, as that would probably clarify a lot of cincerns, but that’s probably all under NDA.

It could be that the expectation is that slow ram is only used for long lived aspects and the game should always be streaming stuff in and out a small part of fast ram. Though that’s going to add a good amount to developer complexity

[Alistair]

If the definition of this console isn’t just “It’s the same but 1080” it gets a whole lot less appealing all of a sudden.

[stusser]

Yep, all under NDA.

Those devs are strongly hinting at a substantial performance impact splitting running games between the faster and slower memory so my guess is XS titles will indeed be designed to work in only 2GB of main RAM on XSS. And then as much as possible, they disable those workarounds when running on XSX.

The unified memory is a win on the PS5 side but I expect that to pale next to the GPU performance disparity-- and I don’t expect that to be a big deal either, nothing like Xbone vs PS4. The launch Xbone was shamefully underpowered.

[KallDrexx]

@stusser

The unified memory is a win on the PS5 side but I expect that to pale next to the GPU performance disparity-- and I don’t expect that to be a big deal either, nothing like Xbone vs PS4. The launch Xbone was shamefully underpowered.

Wasn’t the PS3 criticized by developers for having split memory? I vaguely remember that being called out, especially with why Skyrim performance was so bad.

[Mellified]

@KallDrexx

Wasn’t the PS3 criticized by developers for having split memory? I vaguely remember that being called out, especially with why Skyrim performance was so bad.

Yes, but there’s some nuance. Open world games would prefer more system memory to track objects in the world. The PS3 was very slow transferring data between its system and VRAM, which made it impractical to share.

[Relayer71]

@Alistair

If the definition of this console isn’t just “It’s the same but 1080” it gets a whole lot less appealing all of a sudden.

If it only needs to hit 1080, it can afford to have less in it, no?

[JD]

Another feature on BC with some image comparisons and info on enhancements like HDR, framerate and the like.

Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S Will Be the Best Place to Play 1000s of Games...

[Jason_Becker]

@stusser

Yep, all under NDA.

Those devs are strongly hinting at a substantial performance impact splitting running games between the faster and slower memory so my guess is XS titles will indeed be designed to work in only 2GB of main RAM on XSS. And then as much as possible, they disable those workarounds when running on XSX.

This literally makes no sense whatsoever. Why would they only have the 2GB??..Dude you are talking gibberish.

[Mellified]

Back again.

Wario64 (Wario64)

[stusser]

Less VRAM yes, less RAM for the CPU and game code, no.

@Jason_Becker I comprehensively explained my reasoning in my posts, perhaps you should review them again.

[Jason_Becker]

First back compatible game showing 60fps boost on Series S.

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020-10-13-fallout-4-runs-at-60fps-on-xbox-series-s

[stusser]

Makes sense, CPU-bottlenecked games should run much better on the XSS than XboneX.

[Rock8man]

For me, the biggest positive about the existence of the Series S is that you’re more likely to see games provide options for higher frame rates now, not just higher resolution. The Series S is going to be out there, even though I will have the Series X, but developers already have to make a lower resolution but higher frame rate option for games for the Series S, so they’re also probably going to offer that option for the Series X. So hopefully we’ll see a de-escalation when it comes to going for resolution first and foremost.

[Brad_Grenz]

@Mellified

Yes, but there’s some nuance. Open world games would prefer more system memory to track objects in the world. The PS3 was very slow transferring data between its system and VRAM, which made it impractical to share.

The GPU in the PS3 could read from both memory busses at full speed. It was only if you wanted the CPU to read from the VRAM that the connection was very slow. In those cases you’d have the GPU send the command to move the data for the CPU to read from system memory. The bigger problem was PS3’s system reserved RAM for the OS was significantly larger than what the 360 reserved. The 360 only used 32MB. The PS3 started with a reservation of 120MB that went down over time to something like 60MB.

[Thraeg]

@Rock8man

For me, the biggest positive about the existence of the Series S is that you’re more likely to see games provide options for higher frame rates now, not just higher resolution.

That’s a really good point. I would definitely appreciate the option on the Series X to turn down some of the resolution/eye-candy in exchange for hitting 120Hz.

[Alistair]

Well the entirety of the launch line up does offer that so we’re in luck!

It’s only Dirt 5, but still :)

[divedivedive]

Dirt 5 is not the only launch title.

Xbox Series X Launch Games: All The Confirmed Titles And Release Dates

[Rock8man]

Yakuza also offers a higher frame rate option: Digital Foundry look at Yakuza: Like A Dragon.

Yakuza Like a Dragon’s greatest strength, as with games before it, is in offering you the freedom to explore an authentically realised city. Every corner of the high street, every shop and arcade is full of invention. There’s no question this is a PS4-Xbox One era title in spirit - and fundamentally the core game is the same, putting it squarely in cross-gen territory. The twist for the Series X version is, again in the offering of choice. 4K is offered, but the true highlight is the ability to play at 60 frames per second as standard on console. Armed with all the visual advances of recent Yakuza titles, doubling frame-rate counts for a lot in the simple act of navigating the world. Like a Dragon is making a solid first use of Series X hardware - a dipping of the toe for now, let’s say, but the upgrades are welcome nonetheless.