from the games-will-still-freeze-and-crash dept.
First and foremost, Microsoft is now confirming that the console's APU is using AMD's RDNA 2 architecture for the integrated GPU. Information about this architecture is still limited, but AMD previously disclosed that RDNA 2 would include hardware ray tracing functionality – something not present in RDNA (1) – and Microsoft in turn will be tapping this for their next game console. Microsoft, of course, already has significant experience with hardware ray tracing thanks to DirectX's own ray tracing functionality (DXR), so the company will be able to hit the ground running here, albeit with AMD hardware for the first time.
Microsoft's announcement also confirms for the first time that we're getting Variable Rate Shading (VRS) support. This is another feature that has been supported in DirectX for a bit now (and in rivals Intel & NVIDIA's GPUs), but isn't currently available in AMD's RDNA (1) lineup. A sampling optimization of sorts, variable rate shading allows for the shading rate for an area of pixels to be increased or decreased from the normal 1:1 ratio. The net impact is that an area can be oversampled to produce finer details, or undersampled to conserve resources. As the former is more of a niche use case for VR, we're far more likely to see undersampling in day-to-day usage. Especially with complex pixel shaders, when used correctly VRS is intended to give developers a way to improve the performance of their games for little-to-no perceptible impact on image quality.
Finally, as far as overall GPU performance is concerned, Microsoft's latest revelation finally gives us a performance estimate: 12 TFLOPs. While the company doesn't break this down into clockspeed versus compute units, this is none the less twice the GPU performance of the Xbox One X. Or for a more generational comparison, more than 9x the GPU performance of the original Xbox One.
Even at just 2x the performance of the Xbox One X, this is by all objective measures quite a bit of GPU horsepower. To put things in perspective, AMD's current fastest RDNA-based video card, the Radeon RX 5700 XT, only offers 10 TFLOPs of GPU performance. So the Xbox Series X, a device with an integrated GPU, is slated to offer more graphics performance than AMD's current flagship video card. Which, to be sure, doesn't mean the Xbox Series X is going to be more powerful than a PC (there's no getting around the fact that AMD has been trailing NVIDIA here), but it's clear that Microsoft has great ambitions for the console's graphics performance.
The giant APU/SoC inside of the console has been estimated to be around 405 mm2. Making millions of the chips will require a significant portion of AMD's allocation of TSMC's "7nm" capacity.
Also at The Verge and Wccftech.
Previously: Microsoft Announces Xbox Series X for Late 2020 Release
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Microsoft Announces Xbox Series X: Available Holiday 2020
Microsoft this evening has finally given their long-awaited next generation gaming console a name, announcing the Xbox Series X. The device, formerly known as Project Scarlett, is said to be four times more powerful than the current Xbox One X, and along with its new Xbox Wireless Controller will be available in the Holiday 2020 timeframe.
[...] While Microsoft is still not offering a detailed breakdown of hardware specifications at this time, the company has reiterated their E3 announcement – that the box is powered by an AMD APU combining their Zen 2 processor cores and next generation RDNA architecture – while revealing the first performance estimate for the console: four times the processing power of the Xbox One X. It's not clear here whether Microsoft is talking about CPU performance, GPU performance, or both – but given that even AMD's fastest discrete GPUs today don't exceed 10 TFLOPS, it is likely a reference to the CPU side of matters and AMD's much faster Zen 2 CPU cores (and going by comments made to GameSpot, this seems to be exactly the case).
As well, the company is reiterating the technical features for the console: hardware raytracing, variable rate shading, Xbox One backwards compatibility, and a "next-generation" SSD. All of which will be used to offer games at 4K@60fps or better, with Microsoft indicating that 120fps will also be an option for developers (no doubt driven by the high refresh rates allowed by HDMI 2.1).
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Microsoft has confirmed that it will launch a lower-priced version of its next-generation Xbox console following several leaks.
It was confirmed that the Xbox Series S would be launched in November for $299 (£249.99 in the UK). The leaks are pinning the release date for both of the new Xbox consoles as November 10th, and the price of the larger Xbox Series X console at $499.
The Xbox Series S will have a smaller SSD (512 GB vs. 1 TB), and will not include a disc drive, like Sony's PlayStation 5 Digital Edition. The console will target a 1440p resolution at up to 120 FPS (likely less in practice), but can use "4K upscaling for games". It includes hardware-accelerated DirectX raytracing, variable rate shading, and variable refresh rates.
Previously: Sony's Next PlayStation Will Include an AMD Zen 2 CPU and Navi GPU
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 25 2020, @07:15AM (7 children)
My tetris is gonna fly.
Imagine life-like gorilla in donkey kong.
Did spielberg sue Konami for aping the king kong?
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Ethanol-fueled on Tuesday February 25 2020, @07:28AM (5 children)
The Jews did it. They want to see White men die in their own neighborhoods. Well, Jew-bastards, thanks for being behind your "multiculturalism." But we know you're behind it.
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Tuesday February 25 2020, @07:36AM (4 children)
If I don't come back tomorrow, or anytime after that, the Jews did it. Mossad had a large target painted on my back for awhile, but they are in control of the neighborhood killers now. They will have me dead just like they did Seth Rich. I am a happy person and wonder why the DNC would allow bums and other crazies to kill their own. But the reason why is because they couldn't let Hillary win! And if Bernie wins, those fucking commies will shoot everybody dead!
Oh lord Jesus, such scary times in which we live. Ethanol-fueled is happy and not angry. He will not be killed by Hillary unless Hillary kills him with 2 shot suicide!
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 25 2020, @07:49AM (1 child)
The Chinese finally got this drunk fool.
Corona. It's not just a Mexican beer.
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Tuesday February 25 2020, @08:24AM
Hillary, you're drunk. Go get Bernie.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday February 25 2020, @04:20PM (1 child)
That almost sounds as bad as J. Hudson guy. Are you okay?
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Tuesday February 25 2020, @04:39PM
Goddamn right, nigga.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday February 25 2020, @11:11AM
You can play 6D chess on the next-gen consoles.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 25 2020, @08:09AM (2 children)
How do you say "kumbaya" in hebrew?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 25 2020, @09:44AM
come-buy-yar
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Tuesday February 25 2020, @04:31PM
Beats me, but I was curious about the song.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumbaya [wikipedia.org]
Interesting history, version #1 is the one I remember hearing and sing to my kiddo.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 25 2020, @12:35PM (3 children)
i am waiting for the "VR-cutting-corners-for profit-and-disregard-of-user-wellbeing" algorithem that will give all 500 million VR users headache and sleep deprevation sending them on a mass killing spree the next day.
a-holes! stop "optimzing" VR for no good reason. we need faser pipelines and no dropped frames. this shit can and will mess with your brain if done on the cheap. have some respect! windblows is NOT the fast real-time OS for VR with firewall and defender and more junk having to run in the background for the OS to be allowed on the interwebz!
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Tuesday February 25 2020, @12:58PM (2 children)
If anything was going to scramble brains, it would be the third-party Chinese landfill headsets or phone-based headsets. But there are plenty of corners that could be cut without screwing up anyone. Like foveated rendering which could cut the GPU performance needed by 95%. That savings can go back into boosting panel resolution and frame rates.
Microsoft hasn't actually committed to selling a VR headset like Sony does, but it's probably only a matter of time.
https://www.cnet.com/news/heres-what-happened-to-microsofts-xbox-vr-gaming-headset/ [cnet.com]
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 25 2020, @04:20PM (1 child)
no, today we (our brain) is learning VR. once it gets used to parsing it, it will start to "dig in", that is we will stop to look "carefully". same as with food, first time.
once you get used to it, and you like it, you will get a bigger spoon and dig in.
it is not good, in this "learning" phase to constrict and cheat, afterall we're getting used to it and cannot really say what is "good" yet.
i can indeed imagine that looking in VR will supercharge the visula cortex. we cannot do that now, even if we try in real-life, because we don't have the means to produce the situation.
the closes example in RL where we "super charge" the visual cortex in real-life i can think of is looking at a waterfall or looking at waves "crashing" very very carefully and attentive.
anyways, we (our brain and visual cortex or whatever does the processing) might be in the stone age. we say, because in a world that only gives us stone age cues, that this is good enough for VR, so the "benchmark" is stone age level and we bring it into VR... maybe VR is more complex then real-life looking and taking the first step into VR with "good enough" constrains and limitations is having columbus setting off to america with a life raft?
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday February 25 2020, @06:24PM
Maybe, maybe not, where's the evidence?
The most fundamental problems with VR probably can't be solved with a mere headset, and could require Matrix-style brain-computer interfaces to fix.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Tuesday February 25 2020, @01:36PM (2 children)
Big fat supercomputers only reached teraflop speeds [wikipedia.org] in 1996. Now we'll be able to do our own nuclear bomb simulations [wikipedia.org] in the comfort of our living rooms.
--hendrik
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday February 25 2020, @01:59PM (1 child)
I would like to see at least 100 teraflops in a 50 Watt GPU. That's probably more than enough for most graphics scenarios unless we want to push frame rates to 1000 Hz at absurd triple-display resolutions.
Or better yet, 1 exaflops and up desktop systems.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Informative) by Freeman on Tuesday February 25 2020, @04:42PM
This is where I would have put the 640kb should be enough for anybody quote, but apparently it's more of a meme.
https://www.computerworld.com/article/2534312/the--640k--quote-won-t-go-away----but-did-gates-really-say-it-.html [computerworld.com]
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by Fishscene on Tuesday February 25 2020, @06:05PM (1 child)
I've seen agreements where a developer will launch a game on one platform and then a year later, release it on another. "Exclusive agreements" and such.
I *HAVE* to believe there's a similar agreement between AMD and Microsoft here.
So the question is... how long will AMD GPU PC's be crippled by this agreement? Or maybe as soon as the new console launches, we'll already have AMD graphics cards that are just as capable or better already in AMD's development pipeline for PC's.
I know I am not God, because every time I pray to Him, it's because I'm not perfect and thankful for what He's done.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday February 25 2020, @06:20PM
AMD's "Big Navi" will come out this year, and is likely to be at least 50% faster than the Xbox APU. The launch may happen before the console launch.
Alleged AMD Next-Gen Flagship Navi ‘Radeon RX’ GPU Specifications Leaked – 5120 Cores, 24 GB HBM2e Memory, 2 TB/s Bandwidth [wccftech.com]
If the top SKU has 24 GB of VRAM, that would likely match the entire Xbox console (rumored 24 GB GDDR6 RAM/VRAM shared between the CPU and GPU).
Both Microsoft and Sony are working with AMD. I doubt all three companies got together to delay PC GPUs. It's an AMD decision based on its priorities. If anything, the PC GPUs will be in short supply if AMD prioritizes the console chips with its slice of TSMC "7nm" capacity. Every product launch could get delayed by at least a few weeks by coronavirus.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]