Xbox 360 Hardware

A closer look at Xbox 360 hardware specifications

Xbox 360 will be stacked with hardware that can literally blow the doors off any other gaming machine that preceded it. If any older gaming machine didn't happen to render doors in graphic form, the 360 will render them with its unified shader architecture in beautiful anti-aliased high definition, and then blow them off. As we'll see, the leap from the original Xbox to the 360 is not simply a matter of adding more numbers to the same old formula. The 360 represents a new approach that includes parallel processing for gaming- technology that is already years ahead of PC gaming devices.

At its heart are three symmetrical cores operating at 3.2 GHz each. Each processor will have its own built-in VMX 128-bit vector math geometry co-processor responsible for in-game physics calculations. Multiple processors will present a unique experience in gaming- PCs have never had this because they run off just one processor. The three core system will be capable of two threads per core creating an unprecedented 6 threads of parallel processing in games. This won't affect how you play games, but it affects how games are written.

When writing games for Xbox 360, coders can write multi-threaded hardware processes. Multi-threading simply means there are separate lines of code written for each processor to run simultaneously- two per core to be precise. In the end it should mean some amazingly fast parallel performance with feats we haven't yet seen in gaming. For instance, AI graphics and sound could be processed and run simultaneously. In the short term, this will equate to a pain for developers, but only when developers write their games to specifically take advantage of Xbox 360's parallel processing.

Don't get too far ahead of yourself anticipating unreal gaming experiences this winter. There won't be one game upon 360's release that will take advantage of multi-threading. Give games developers time- any new hardware requires time for the software to catch up.

The ATI graphics processor is a 500 MHz GPU featuring 48 shader units. Keep in mind that unlike conventional pixel pipelines, each shader unit can perform either pixel or vertex shading as the developer desires. The new GPU can handle 4 times the pixel and polygon count as the original Xbox. ATI has pulled out the stops for Microsoft's monster box. With a GPU designed around ATI's next generation of graphics processors, it is one full generation ahead of the PC world.

Developers will be able to take advantage of a unique new feature in the new GPU. Unified shader architecture unlocks powerful geometry, lighting and other graphic effects giving developers the tools to create more realistic environments and more texture rendering than we've ever seen.

Xbox 360 will use a unique shared memory architecture consisting of 512MB of GDDR3 unified system memory. This floating hardware memory can be used either by the CPU or GPU depending on the games need. Graphics and texture memory will be used off the same cache as any other game element such as AI or sound. ATI's GPU will include 10MB of NEC's embedded DRAM dedicated solely to the frame buffer- eight times that of the original Xbox. Dedicated frame buffer RAM located inside the graphics processor means 360 can quickly perform post-processing graphics features that complete the rendered effects like anti-aliasing, motion blur or textures.

HD graphics will be among the standards on Xbox 360 mandated for Microsoft's new gaming machine. All games must support 720P or 1080i widescreen 16:9 HDTV video. But those of you with only a standard TV needn't fret. The 480i standard resolution for old fashioned NTSC television will still be supported. Standard TV gamers will have the choice of playing in widescreen 16:9 mode or standard 4:3 format. Video will be delivered to your display device courtesy component video connection- the only HD option for gamers. The 360 will also support S-Video and composite.

What Microsoft calls RF tuning emulation is an exciting new feature that will allow you to connect the Xbox 360 to your television's tuner, or any other device that includes a standard VHF tuner such as a VCR. The 360 will send analogue audio and video in RF emulation mode to VHF channel 3. Okay, that last feature was a very bad joke. But like RF tuning emulation, DVI and HDMI will be absent on the Xbox 360. This is a cost cutting measure and a good one. Despite rumors the new digital video connections won't necessarily provide better quality video for games, they'd be an obvious addition if future incarnations of Xbox 360 include HD DVD hardware.

Each game will support Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound or Dolby Pro-Logic II. DVD output will include Dolby Digital DPLII or DTS. RCA and digital optical audio outputs will support 16bit/48KHz audio. In-game jukebox functionality will allow you to shuffle your own MP3 collection into the game; this is a wonderful feature for anyone just sick to death of the same old in-game tunes.

All games will support some form of Xbox Live functions. This won't necessarily mean multiplayer gaming, but there will at least be the option of downloading additional content or patches. A Silver Xbox Live subscription will be free to anyone owning a 360. Silver grade account means you can download additional content, use Microsoft's marketplace for game content and free demos. You can even connect for real time chatting with friends; your account, icon and trophy case, which shows your single player game highlights and awards, will be displayed for others to see. The only thing you can't do with a Silver grade account is play games online. That requires the Gold account which will cost no more than a regular Xbox Live account does now, about $50 per year ($60 CND).

By now you probably know that the Xbox 360 will ship in two flavors: the $400 premium and the $300 core package. The biggest difference between the two is the premium packages inclusion of the removable and upgradeable 20-GB hard drive. Although the hard drive won't be necessary for the Xbox 360 to play games, some games will take advantage of it for faster load times- like Elder Scrolls: Oblivion.

The HDD will be necessary to play original Xbox games in 360's backward-compatibility mode. It'll also be necessary for massive multiplayer online games like Final Fantasy XI. Xbox Live will require either a hard drive or at least a $40 memory card, which isn't included in the Core system. The memory card will let you save games without a hard drive. As for downloadable game updates, content or music you wish to load yourself- they require the drive. Extra material like downloadable games from Live, dashboard themes and demo music will also need the drive.

To buy the drive separately will set you back $100 at the time of launch. But the Premium package offers other goodies too (prices in brackets indicate what you can expect to pay if you buy the components separately): wireless controller ($50), headset ($20), Media Remote ($30) is required for DVD playback and Microsoft Extender functionality, and component HD/AV cables ($40) required to see anything better than composite video. So, for the extra $100 you get enough to warrant the extra cost.

Microsoft is smart though; they know that some people will nibble at the tempting $300 price point. They know they'll have another addicted gamer in their clutches who'll turn around and end up buying the hard drive and other add-ons for much more than the Premium would have cost in the first place.

Related Articles

Sony PSP

Simply the best handheld gaming machine made; that is until we get a good look at Evolution by Nintendo.

Read on