XBOX 360 specs revealed

[stiltman]

More info
http://news.com.com/Let+the+games+begin/2009-1043_3-5705384.html?tag=nefd.lede
http://news.com.com/Xbox+specs+revealed/2100-1043_3-5705372.html



A 20GB hard drive, high-def game support and a 500MHz ATI graphics processor: Glimpse the Xbox 360's system performance specifications as provided by Microsoft.

Custom IBM PowerPC-based CPU
• Three symmetrical cores running at 3.2 GHz each
• Two hardware threads per core; six hardware threads total
• VMX-128 vector unit per core; three total
• 128 VMX-128 registers per hardware thread
• 1 MB L2 cache

CPU Game Math Performance
• 9 billion dot product operations per second

Custom ATI Graphics Processor
• 500MHz processor
• 10 MB of embedded DRAM
• 48-way parallel floating-point dynamically scheduled shader pipelines
• Unified shader architecture

Polygon Performance
• 500 million triangles per second


Pixel Fill Rate
• 16 gigasamples per second fill rate using 4x MSAA

Shader Performance
• 48 billion shader operations per second

Memory
• 512 MB of GDDR3 RAM
• 700 MHz of DDR
• Unified memory architecture

Memory Bandwidth • 22.4 GB/s memory interface bus bandwidth
• 256 GB/s memory bandwidth to EDRAM
• 21.6 GB/s front-side bus

Overall System Floating-Point Performance
• 1 teraflop

Storage
• Detachable and upgradeable 20GB hard drive
• 12x dual-layer DVD-ROM
• Memory Unit support starting at 64 MB

I/O
• Support for up to four wireless game controllers
• Three USB 2.0 ports
• Two memory unit slots

Optimized for Online
• Instant, out-of-the-box access to Xbox Live features with broadband service, including Xbox Live Marketplace for downloadable content, gamer profile for digital identity, and voice chat to talk to friends while playing games, watching movies or listening to music
• Built-in Ethernet port
• Wi-Fi ready: 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g
• Video camera ready

Digital Media Support
• Support for DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, CD-DA, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, WMA CD, MP3 CD, JPEG Photo CD
• Ability to stream media from portable music devices, digital cameras and Windows XP-based PCs
• Ability to rip music to the Xbox 360 hard drive • Custom playlists in every game
• Built-in Media Center Extender for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
• Interactive, full-screen 3-D visualizers

High-Definition Game Support
• All games supported at 16:9, 720p and 1080i, anti-aliasing
• Standard-definition and high-definition video output supported

Audio
• Multichannel surround sound output
• Supports 48KHz 16-bit audio
• 320 independent decompression channels
• 32-bit audio processing
• Over 256 audio channels


System Orientation
• Stands vertically or horizontally

Customizable Face Plates
• Interchangeable to personalize the console

[EvilWizardGlick]

So
1. Buy new X-box that isn't backwards compatable.
2. Buy games that will trend to online gaming.
3. Buy monthly online gaming.
4. Buy virtual goods for your online games.

Once again the little guy gets screwed and big media makes an amazing profit.
Soon stand alone games will be a thing of the past.
All because of the need to maximize profit.

[Forum Troll]

So how long before someone figures out how to run Mac OS X 10.4 on it?

You are in breach of the forum rules and are being banned. Macs suck.
/ Moderator John Q. Publik

[Nilfennasion]

They forgot to mention the most important detail.

Support from game makers in the market that basically decides whether your machine will profit or die (Japan): none.

Subscription games and online games are still a case of commercial suicide unless they provide a decent single-player mode (vis Resident Evil Outbreak). Not to mention that the X-Box division of Microsoft is already running around eight digits in the red, a condition that won't be helped if consumers anticipate being ripped off.

And Mickeysoft defenders claim that Mickeysoft can compete in a truly fair, level market.

[lumis]

i wonder how much it will retail for? if hacked, it sounds like it would make a very nice media player.

[thor300]

20 gig harddrive? Whats the argument for that with todays prices of 160gigs and above? That sucks. Then again, i have to get one anyway

[maldb]

Whether you like Microsoft or not, you have to admit one thing: this is an awesome piece of equipment.

It's fate will depend upon whether or not it can get great games developed for it - if not, it's D.O.A. I think Microsoft learned their lesson from the original Xbox game development fiasco and worked with game developers more closely this time to make sure they were all on the same page. If they continued to be arrogant about the whole process, then they better have some really great in-house game developers because they'll need them.

As for subsrciption-based gaming, you can take it or leave it. I'm not a big gamer myself, so I don't bother with it. If Microsoft tries to force this type of service down the throats of the gaming community by making only the best games available for it's service, you better believe Xbox 360 will be 6 feet under.

It's an awesome system, plain and simple. It's viability depends upon the quality of the games developed for it. Crummy games, crummy Xbox 360 sales, a sea of red ink for Microsoft. Those who fail to heed history are doomed to repeat it.

[maldb]

20 gig harddrive? Whats the argument for that with todays prices of 160gigs and above? That sucks. Then again, i have to get one anyway

Keeps their initial costs down.

The beauty of the system is that you can upgrade the drive to your heart's content - it's not a closed-end (propietary) system.

[thor300]

The 20-40gig harddrives i see around the webshops and so on are quite expensive compared to the size. Just have to add less than $10 to get an 80gig, or even 120 in some cases. 20gig, its like nothing. Even 80gig is like nothing these days.
Then again, as you say, easy to upgrade, i can spare a 120gig from the PC.
Ok, so whats the initial SRT? Cant wait too long for this.

[maldb]

The 20-40gig harddrives i see around the webshops and so on are quite expensive compared to the size. Just have to add less than $10 to get an 80gig, or even 120 in some cases. 20gig, its like nothing. Even 80gig is like nothing these days.
Then again, as you say, easy to upgrade, i can spare a 120gig from the PC.
Ok, so whats the initial SRT? Cant wait too long for this.

I hear ya. But you have to remember, Microsoft is taking a bath on these consoles, so they want to keep their costs for non-vital parts down as much as possible. If they save a few bucks per console, it adds up quite a bit, esp. when you're talking about quantities in the millions. You can easily get a 120GB drive for around $50 or so after rebates, so it's no big deal to replace the drive. I'm just glad that Microsoft is ALLOWING people to change the hard drive! That's a big plus in my book.

[Nilfennasion]

I've yet to hear of Capcom giving any support to the X-Box 360, which is like a bullet to the lung as far as marketing to me goes. Capcom have made nearly all the games of the past ten years that didn't make me scream variations of "I don't play riggies" at the console (even if they have made a few of them themselves). During the brief time I had an X-Box, I was constantly shouting those exact words at it. I tried getting an Action Replay type device to even out the distortion of playability, all to no avail. It took me very little time indeed to get sick of the X-Box. So much so that I am not even going to bother with the 360 unless a miracle happens.

Unless Mickeysoft wise up and tell game developers that a) they're willing to work with them and b) that given a choice between rigging the game or making it shorter, the latter choice is preferred, the effect maldb described will definitely take place.

Oh, I forgot factor C: unless they make it easier to back up games for it than Sony has. Have you ever bought some second-handers?

[Xylob the Destroyer]

the June issue of EGM has a nice little blurb about how several game developers (who wish to remain 'anonymous' at this time) moved all of their X-BOX 2 projects to PS3 when $ony showed off it's specs recently.
Micro$oft thinks they're going to have the advantage by launching their 'next-gen' console a year before the competition, but they couldn't be more wrong.
they're strategy is ass-backwards
do they really think that $ony and Nintendo are going to waste that extra year they get for the release of their systems?!?!?!

[thor300]

Right, it is a disadvantage to be the first with new generation products. Thats part of what killed Sega consoles i think, they were always first and Nintendo was just waiting. And talking about Sega, i have kept my Mega-Drive (Genesis?) with add-on Mega-CD, was made long before PS1. Price was $1000+ back then, a nice antique.
Someone has to be first, if it was up to nintendo we would still have NES maybe

[Xylob the Destroyer]

hehe, my buddy got the 32X for his Sega....
talk about a HUGE waste of money
at least I was able to resist (barely!) the urge to import the HardDiskDrive for my Nintendo64!

[shelbyGT]

At this point you're all going off of rumors and speculation. I'll hold off judgement until They are actually playable, and I can walk into a store and see the game lineup for myself. Until then, you're just spewing forth the usual "MS Suxorz" rhetoric.

[junkmalle]

20 gig harddrive? Whats the argument for that with todays prices of 160gigs and above? That sucks. Then again, i have to get one anyway

Keeps their initial costs down.

The beauty of the system is that you can upgrade the drive to your heart's content - it's not a closed-end (propietary) system.

I bet they found some Chinese manufacturer to make the drives with three generation old technology for $10 a piece.

All I've read is that the drive is "upgradable". How much do you want to bet they don't use a standard EIDE or SATA interface. You probably won't be able to use an old 120 GB EIDE drive. You'll have to buy a special drive from Microsoft for $200.

And yes, this is just speculation.

[Xylob the Destroyer]

but of course!

[thor300]

Youre right, maybe it was wasted money, but look at the beauty of it, that design was the coolest at the time, quite impressive, but now it looks small and insignificant together with the xbox.

Edit: forgot image-tag

[handyguy]

Gonna be two or three times the price on ebay. Happens every year when a new console comes out.

[Nilfennasion]

Until then, you're just spewing forth the usual "MS Suxorz" rhetoric.

Hardly. Just take a look at the current X-Box games lineup now, if you don't believe us. Every title there is either a mediocre PC port, available on another console, or both. And Kylob is right: being first does not put you ahead of the comp. Not that being last helps much, either. The X-Box department is making exactly the same mistakes that Sega did when they were still producing consoles. Hell, if Sega were still making consoles, I'd buy one of them.

[growl007]

I don't understand why they can't make computers like this - and for as cheap as the Xbox 360 will be.
Well, I can see it becoming a really popular alternative to using a PC. But still....

[stiltman]

I don't understand why they can't make computers like this - and for as cheap as the Xbox 360 will be.
Well, I can see it becoming a really popular alternative to using a PC. But still....

It will be out shortly....Read/search CNET for cell chips

[handyguy]

ebgames is taking preorders, $50.... 28 per store.

Hmm, don't notice any wires on that controller, I hope we don't have to put batteries in them.

[shelbyGT]

Until then, you're just spewing forth the usual "MS Suxorz" rhetoric.

Hardly. Just take a look at the current X-Box games lineup now, if you don't believe us. Every title there is either a mediocre PC port, available on another console, or both. And Kylob is right: being first does not put you ahead of the comp. Not that being last helps much, either. The X-Box department is making exactly the same mistakes that Sega did when they were still producing consoles. Hell, if Sega were still making consoles, I'd buy one of them.

Excuse me if I take what you have to say with a grain of salt. You've made your feelings known quite early and most often based on on opinions, little fact. But I'm happy that you know XBox isn't for you.

[RottenFoxBreath]

ill just sit back and let the sheeple go out and buy one full price.wait till some early flaws are detected,if some dre's are noticed,or even if it scratches discs to the extent that my v1.0 xbox did.then when it drops to a reasonable price,might get one,probably not for a while tho,as nintendo and sony havent revealed there cards yet.

[shelbyGT]

I agree rotten. That's why I haven't purchased a DS or PSP yet. Waiting to look at the available titles and for a price drop.

[Tidy]

I don't understand why they can't make computers like this - and for as cheap as the Xbox 360 will be.
Well, I can see it becoming a really popular alternative to using a PC. But still....

Same story as always the companies sell the console at a loss hoping the software for them is what is going to make them the money.

[Tidy]

Until then, you're just spewing forth the usual "MS Suxorz" rhetoric.

Hardly. Just take a look at the current X-Box games lineup now, if you don't believe us. Every title there is either a mediocre PC port, available on another console, or both. And Kylob is right: being first does not put you ahead of the comp. Not that being last helps much, either. The X-Box department is making exactly the same mistakes that Sega did when they were still producing consoles. Hell, if Sega were still making consoles, I'd buy one of them.

Excuse me if I take what you have to say with a grain of salt. You've made your feelings known quite early and most often based on on opinions, little fact. But I'm happy that you know XBox isn't for you.

I guess you don't seem to understand that not all of this is speculation a lot of the things here have been verified as fact.

[shelbyGT]

I can distinguish fact from fiction.
Opinions (such as MS sucks, their games aren't worth it) I invalidate from an argumentative standpoint.
Rumors (no support, Japan not backing, PS3 cell chip will roxorz it's boxorz, etc) at this point are mostly unfounded and until I see a press release stating Capcom won't make XBox360 games, then I'm sorry that I don't buy what you're selling.

edit - And hey, it's going to come down to what the games look like, the cost, and what titles are available. Sony will still have their dominance, totally going on name recognition. I fail to see them blunder this lead right now. All in all, both will be impressive systems capable of performing on the same level (a la the current XBox and PS2).

[Tidy]

I can distinguish fact from fiction.
Opinions (such as MS sucks, their games aren't worth it) I invalidate from an argumentative standpoint.
Rumors (no support, Japan not backing, PS3 cell chip will roxorz it's boxorz, etc) at this point are mostly unfounded and until I see a press release stating Capcom won't make XBox360 games, then I'm sorry that I don't buy what you're selling.

edit - And hey, it's going to come down to what the games look like, the cost, and what titles are available. Sony will still have their dominance, totally going on name recognition. I fail to see them blunder this lead right now. All in all, both will be impressive systems capable of performing on the same level (a la the current XBox and PS2).

I would not say Sony is going on name recognition alone. I think things such as 6,000+ titles for the system (not all next gen) playable right out of the box have a lot to do with it.

As far as the Cell being faster than the Terflop MS claims, that is not speculation. You realize they have shown the dev machine with the cell and the benchamrk shows that each of the 8 SPE's are capable of producing 256GFLOPS which when multiplied by 8 (the number of SPE's in the cell) comes out to 2 TFLOPS which does not sound like speculation to me. Anyway I understand what you are saying there are a lot of people who say Xbox 360 sucks because it is microsoft etc.....