![[H]ardOCP](/images/blank.gif){kind=small}
- Date:
- Tuesday , November 22, 2005
- Author:
- Steve Lynch
- Google +1
Microsoft Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is here and it has your living room squarely in its sights. This time around Microsoft’s next generation console promises to have something for everyone, but what does it have in store for you?
Hardware Specs:
Compared to today’s consoles – and even high end gaming PCs – the cutting edge Xbox 360 is a hardware powerhouse. Here is a complete breakdown the Xbox 360's performance specifications:
Xbox 360 System Performance Specifications
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Custom IBM PowerPC-based CPU |
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CPU Game Math Performance |
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Custom ATI Graphics Processor |
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Polygon Performance |
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Pixel Fill Rate |
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Shader Performance |
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Memory |
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Memory Bandwidth |
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Overall System Floating-Point Performance |
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Storage |
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I/O |
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Optimized for Online |
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Digital Media Support |
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High-Definition Game Support |
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Audio |
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Physical Specs |
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System Orientation |
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Customizable Face Plates |
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Xbox 360 CPU:
The Xbox 360 processor features three IBM PowerPC-based cores running at 3.2GHz each, coupled with 1MB of L2 cache. Since each core can execute two threads at the same time, the Xbox 360 CPU is capable of executing six threads simultaneously. The Xbox 360 is certainly cutting edge hardware by anyone’s standards.
While all the current launch titles that we know of are single threaded and currently do not take full advantage of the CPU’s multithreading capabilities, future titles can, and certainly will, be made to take full advantage of the 360’s multithreading capabilities. Before you get all worked up over the lack of multithreaded launch titles, rest assured that the remaining threads are being put to good use doing various tasks such as audio and video decoding.
What does all this mean? This means that the Xbox 360’s raw processing power puts it on the same playing field as most mainstream PCs on the market today.
Xbox 360 GPU:
We took an in-depth look at the features of the Xbox 360’s GPU back in May of this year, which does a far better job of explaining the graphics capabilities than I could do here. I highly recommend you take a moment to read the full article for a better understanding of just how the Xbox 360 GPU works.
The condensed version is this: The extremely efficient, custom built, 500MHz ATi GPU with 10MB of embedded DRAM not only handles game graphics, but it also acts as the system's North Bridge. The Xbox 360 GPU also features a “unified shading architecture” that executes both pixel and vertex shader instructions simultaneously as opposed to having separate pixel and vertex shader units, which we are used to seeing on current PC graphics cards. This all adds up to an extremely powerful, yet efficient, graphics processing unit.
According to Microsoft, all current Xbox 360 titles must support at least 720P. Microsoft has also recently stated that all backward compatible games will be upscaled to 720p or 1080i and support 4X full screen anti-aliasing (FSAA) except Halo and Halo 2. Both Halo and Halo 2 require preloaded content on the hard drive that allows both games to run at 720p and 1080i with 4X FSAA. For those of you who aren't familiar with the difference between Progressive and Interlaced, the explanation is fairly simple. Interlaced video is divided into odd and even lines that are displayed on the screen in an alternating fashion. Progressive scan displays all the lines from the video source at once for a clearer, cleaner picture.
480P (EDTV) is progressive and runs in a 4:3 aspect ratio at 640 x 480
720P (HDTV) is progressive and runs in a 16:9 aspect ratio at 1280 x 720
1080i (HDTV) is interlaced and runs in a 16:9 aspect ratio at 1920 x 1080
Internal Wireless Connectivity:
The Xbox 360 comes with internal wireless connectivity (no plug in adapters needed) for up to four 2.4GHz wireless controllers that use a “frequency hopping spread spectrum” that keeps the controllers from interfering with other wireless devices or other controllers. The Xbox 360 also includes a media remote that allows you to control the dashboard functions, DVD drive, and power functions from up to 30ft away. In addition, an optional wireless networking adapter can be used to connect your console to a wireless home network.
Audio:
The Xbox 360 features multi-channel surround sound that supports 256 channels of 48 KHz, 16-bit digital audio. Microsoft says the Xbox 360 “boasts up to 320 independent compression channels.” We know the technical definition of the term "independent compression channels," but how does that apply to the Xbox 360’s audio capabilities? Xbox.com says this:
In layman's terms, this equates to a substantial leap in ambient world sounds (birds chirping, leaves rustling in the wind, gunfire from afar on a battlefield), allowing for a much more immersive experience, as more audio can be compressed without the loss of quality. If you like to think in terms of numbers, munch on this statistic. The new technique (called XMA compression) allows for a compression ratio of 6:1 on the low side and up to 14:1 on the high side. Compare that to the Xbox 3.5:1 compression ratio and you get some idea of its significance.
Xbox 360 has also taken strides in creating a development environment allowing for much more flexibility. As Brian Schmidt (audio expert on the Xbox 360 team) puts it, "Xbox 360 is very flexible, allowing developers to more easily create complex sounds that tie in with game actions. The original Xbox audio was very powerful, but harder to customize." The 32-bit audio processing allows all the processing power needed for excellent range and audio precision, as well as 5.1 Digital Surround Sound for that needed extra element of immersion.
12x DVD Drive:
The Xbox 360 features a 12X dual-layer SATA DVD drive that supports DVD-Video, DVD+R/RW, DVD-R/RW, CD-DA, CD-ROM, CD-R/RW, WMA CD, MP3 CD, and JPEG Photo CD. The Xbox 360 also plays DVD movies without the need to purchase a separate add on adapter. The DVD tray can be controlled via the Xbox 360 dashboard and media remote. As we mentioned earlier, the chrome front fascia is a feature of the standard Xbox 360. $299 Core Xbox 360 systems will have a white DVD tray.
Power Brick / Adapter:
Microsoft decided to use a large external 203W power adapter instead of an internal power supply like the one used on the original Xbox. By removing the power supply from the inside of the console, Microsoft was able to save space and trim down the Xbox 360 into the svelte, hourglass shaped unit you see here. Using an external power supply also removes a large heat source from the inside of the case, giving the Xbox 360 a much lower operating temperature than it would normally have if it still used an internal PSU.
The downside of the external power adapter is its massive 8.5” x 3” x 2” size. Since the power brick is normal hidden behind a cabinet or desk this shouldn’t be much of an issue; however, before you go dropping the brick behind the desk and forgetting about it, the power adapter has a green and red LED to signify normal and abnormal operation, respectively. It is a good idea to at least keep the lights visible for quick inspection.
Hard Drive:
The removable hard drive comes as part of the standard Xbox 360 package but can be purchased separately for a core system. Microsoft wisely chose to go with the smaller 2.5” laptop hard drives versus the bulkier desktop PC hard drives. The 20GB Samsung SATA 5400rpm hard drive has twice the capacity of the old Xbox hard drive and has enough capacity to hold tons of music, game saves, game demos, and downloadable content. Although Microsoft hasn’t announced larger capacity drives, the universal design and standard SATA 2.5” hard drive connectors means that it is certainly a possibility. Theoretically, you could simply remove your 20GB hard drive and clone it to a larger 100GB hard drive, put it back together and have 5 times the storage…in theory.
Xbox 360 core owners will need to buy the optional 64MB memory cards in order to save games. While memory cards are a great way to haul save games from one console to another, the added $100 cost of the standard system gives you a 20GB hard drive with preloaded content, which is roughly the price of three 64MB memory cards. All things considered, the standard kit really is the way to go but the option for memory cards is there.
Making the drive removable means that you can now take your whole music collection, large game saves, downloaded content, and/or demos on the go. Want to go to a friend's house and play your music, movies, or saved games on their Xbox 360? Now it is possible.
The hard drive is also required for backwards compatibility. There are over 200 games on the backwards compatibility list that makes the hard drive a must if you plan on playing any of your old games on the Xbox 360. The benefit of playing old games on the new console is the fact that the Xbox 360, through software emulation, will not only run your older games, but it will also automatically upsample the quality of it to 720p or 1080i and add 4X anti-aliasing. The result is a new level of visual quality that will have you popping Halo 2 back into the DVD drive so you can play through the game again with awesome new visual quality.
How about taking all that “awesome new visual quality” online in Halo 2 and frag it up with all your friends that are still playing on an original Xbox? Yes, you can do that too.