List of Xbox Series X tech specs

Microsoft has dropped ann early look at its next-generation Xbox console, paving the underpinnings of the future of Xbox. The mysterious Xbox Series X has received several unveilings in recent months, pitching a console surpassing early expectations, bundling a ton of high-performance hardware. While Redmond is keeping hardware specifics under wraps, here's what we know so far.

Xbox Series X Full Tech Specs

Xbox Series X is a central component of Microsoft's future-facing gaming efforts, positioned as its flagship console headed into the next generation. Tailing the 4K-brandished Xbox One X, the elusive successor promises a generational shift akin to the original Xbox One debut in 2013. Development on the high-horsepower box remains underway, set to rival the Sony PlayStation 5 in 2020.

While early reports alluded to tiered Xbox consoles dubbed "Anaconda" and "Lockhart," Microsoft's public-facing efforts currently focus on one device. The console aims to achieve 8K resolutions, or 4K at up to 120 frames-per-second (FPS), complemented by ray-tracing, variable refresh rate (VRR) support, and more. While it appears reluctant to share firm specifications, here's what we know so far from Microsoft, and our own sources.

Updated February 24, 2020: Microsoft has now officially confirmed that the Xbox Series X is 12TF, confirming our information from December 2019.

What do the Xbox Series X specs mean?

At the heart of Xbox Series X lies a custom-designed CPU founded on AMD's Zen 2 architecture. Previously behind chipsets fueling the Xbox One family, the leading U.S. manufacturer extends efforts via its latest processor technology. The Zen 2 family touts improved performance and efficiency, with Xbox Series X poised to deliver four times the CPU power of Xbox One X. With the current Xbox flagship heavily reliant on its GPU advancements, Scarlett's revamped system-on-chip (SoC) helps alleviate a primary bottleneck.

A Navi-based GPU flanks the Zen 2 brains, powered by AMD's latest wave of RDNA graphics technologies. It assembles a formidable SoC for next-generation gaming, clocking in at 12 teraflops, indicating its ability to process 12 trillion floating-point operations per second. In short, that means a console vastly superior to anything on the market (including the 6TF Xbox One X) and potentially surpassing the GeForce RTX 2080 Super PC card.

The Xbox Series X also comes with the added capabilities of "hardware-accelerated" ray tracing. NVIDIA has already drawn eyes with its GeForce RTX GPU lineup's real-time ray tracing capabilities, and both Microsoft and Sony are set to follow suit. We also expect the Project Scarlett to embrace HDMI 2.1 to output its promised 8K resolution or 4K at 120 Hz.

High-bandwidth GDDR6 RAM also makes the cut, an expected but welcomed addition bolstering horsepower. Digital Foundry unearthed traces of Samsung-fabricated 14gbps modules in the Project Scarlett reveal, despite efforts to otherwise shroud specifications.

Microsoft's added commitment to NVMe solid-state drive (SSD) storage is an understated and vital final inclusion under Series X. Microsoft details "a new generation of SSDs," alluding to a form of proprietary setup tailored to the console. Early testing has seen a 40 times performance increase over the existing Xbox One family, attributed to improved read and write times. Faster overall storage brings huge gains, drastically slicing load times and installations.

The result is a future-facing console build on strong foundations, already pushing the higher end of the PC market. Paired with the benefits of SSD storage, Xbox Series X establishes a promising baseline for the next generation of consoles.

Xbox Series X is slated to launch in the 2020 holiday season, with pricing still to be confirmed.