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Microsoft’s new Xbox Series X
The arrival of the new Xbox Series X instantly transformed me into a 15-year-old boy. When it showed up at my house last week, I literally dropped everything I was doing to set it up. Could it really live up to Microsoft’s expectations over the past year and deliver a gaming experience we’ve never seen before? After a weekend of putting it to the test, here are some observations that might be helpful to anyone considering an upgrade to their existing Xbox.
First things first: Legacy console gamers who are envious of high-performance PC games will not be ripped off by the new Xbox Series X. In my opinion, the Xbox Series X comes closer to recreating the standard of gold of a high-performance PC experience than any other console ever. This is largely due to the fast SSD storage, an incredibly powerful AMD CPU, 120Hz video support, and (perhaps most importantly for legacy Xbox users) excellent compatibility with existing games. The latter is not surprising since the Xbox’s built-in operating system has a Windows heritage dating back to the original Xbox. And let’s face it: With an installed base of 1.4 billion Windows PCs, Microsoft knows a thing or two about backward compatibility.
Hardware runs quiet and cool
Microsoft leveraged its engineering expertise to pack an impressive number of components into the truly square, tower-inspired form factor of the Xbox Series X. Looking at it from a particular angle, positioned vertically, it recalls the iconic monolith in 2001: a space odyssey. Some may not be thrilled with the overall design of the Xbox Series X, as it is not an aesthetic advance, but that is almost out of place. It’s essentially an unpretentious black box that you’ll put under your television in your entertainment center and forget about it.
In terms of connectivity, the console includes two USB ports on the back of the unit, along with an Ethernet port, a storage expansion slot, and HDMI 2.1 output. On the front of the console, you’ll find a 4K Blu-drive and a single USB port. Interestingly, Microsoft decided to go for USB-C ports. This seems a bit myopic, as future accessories and peripherals could benefit from higher speeds. I’m also a bit disappointed that Microsoft decided to drop its nifty HDMI pass-through system available on the current Xbox One X. That feature allowed you to avoid the hassle of switching video inputs to play games, run apps, and access the cable or satellite from your television. Service. It’s also a bit confusing that W-Fi 6 isn’t compatible with the new Xbox Series X; many console gamers would have appreciated it for protection purposes for the future.
In the scheme of things, however, these are relatively minor objections. Surprisingly, I haven’t noticed any noise issues on the new Microsoft console. I’ve never heard of the drive’s fan kicking in, a welcome engineering improvement over the legacy Xbox One X. Microsoft needs to send AMD a Christmas card as the Xbox Series X’s quiet operation is undoubtedly due to the console’s low-power AMD Zen 2 CPU (which has eight cores and runs at a nominal frequency of 3.8 GHz).
It’s all about speed and faster loading times
Ask gamers what they hate about existing consoles, and they’ll likely cite slow load times. Because the Xbox Series X uses a significantly improved CPU that works in conjunction with the SSD, load times are dramatically improved over the current Xbox One X. Madden NFL 21, Sea of thieves Y AC: Odyssey they charge 50-75% faster than the Xbox One X. These are the kind of fast load times that SSDs offer traditional PC gamers. As for storage, it’s important to note that while the Xbox Series X comes standard with 1 TB of storage, only 802 GB is accessible. Microsoft reserves the rest of the space for the operating system and the new Quick Resume feature, which lets you switch between games in ten seconds or less.
Additionally, games that have been specifically updated for the Xbox Series X can use Microsoft’s new Velocity architecture that optimizes the performance of the console’s SSD. Please note that most backward compatible games do not use this new architecture, so you will have to wait for those games to update to take advantage of this feature.
120MHz video mode is where the Xbox Series X shines
Load time and CPU improvements, combined with a massive 12 teraflops increase in GPU performance, come together for an experience that feels noticeably smoother. That indicates that most titles with mediocre or poor performance on an Xbox One should hit a constant 30 fps. Frame rate drops in many Xbox One X games are not unheard of; they just disappear with the Xbox Series X, thanks to hardware reinforcement.
Microsoft has made several Xbox Series X optimization patches available for many legacy titles at launch, and it’s transformative. Sea of Thieves, for example, it feels like a new game. It really feels like a PC gaming experience; many gamers know how visceral the difference between 30fps and 60fps can be.
The intoxicating PC-like smoothness, and I can’t stress this enough, really shines when 120Hz mode is enabled. In this mode, some games will reduce the visual quality to 120fps (which is still impressive), but the input latency is reduced and the images look amazing on a 4K TV.
Should you upgrade?
Assuming you can find one to order (Microsoft sold out all pre-orders online in under 30 minutes on September 22North Dakota), the new Xbox Series X will be a transformative purchase for those with experience with previous Xbox models. I do not make that comment lightly. Microsoft’s strategic intent for the Xbox Series X is to create a PC-like experience for console owners. PC gamers who upgraded their PCs from an NVIDIA GTX 1060 graphics card to an RTX 3080 know that feeling. Everything you play feels faster and looks better.
But let’s face it: the biggest downside to PC gaming is that it’s a PC. One has to worry about drivers, continuous Windows updates, multiple game launchers, and other “maintenance” considerations that can ruin the gaming experience. It is true that the advantage of PC games is that users can open the form factor and continuously update their system, the very essence of protection for the future. Having said that, the sheer technology and power of the new Xbox Series X are so impressive that it will be years before you have to make that decision. In other words, the most prominent feature of Xbox Series X is that it is no actually a PC. At $ 499, it’s also much more affordable than a conventional and similarly equipped gaming PC (which can cost $ 1,500 or more). While Microsoft will also offer a diskless model called the S Series for $ 299, with a reduced feature set and a maximum supported resolution of 1080. I am guessing the X Series will be the most popular version during the Christmas session like most of the former. in embracing clamor for power and ability.
Finally, this new Xbox Series X, as a platform, represents a wonderful opportunity for Microsoft’s 23 own studios to create amazing next-generation games to harness the potential of this new console. Powerful hardware is one thing; new games that push hardware to the limit are another. I think that will make the Xbox Series X really shine. I will be looking forward to it!
Divulge: My firm, Moor Insights & Strategy, like all research and analytics firms, provides or has provided research, analysis, advice, and / or consulting to many high-tech companies in the industry, including Microsoft. The author has no equity positions with any of the companies cited in this column.
