
Microsoft Xbox Series X Architecture Deep Dive at Hot Chips 2020
Today at Hot Chips 2020, Microsoft will detail more of the internals of the Xbox Series X system architecture. Much of the information in the pre-published presentation covers details we already knew, but with the new slides in hand, there are some additional juicy morsels inside, including a diagram of the processor die. The full slide deck is at the end, but let's quickly hit a few of the highlights.
First, while we've known Xbox Series X would have an 8-core/16-thread Zen 2 CPU and a 52 CU GPU, this is the first time we've seen the full die shot. That GPU section is, not surprisingly, massive. The full chip is 360.4mm square, with 15.3 billion transistors. Doing some quick image analysis, the GPU takes up roughly half of the die (47.5% if you want a more precise estimate).
As expected, the Xbox Series X will support HDMI 2.1 output, allowing for 120Hz 4K output, or even 8K60. There's no DisplayPort output, not that it was expected, but that does limit the capabilities if you were hoping to hook the console up to a traditional .
The presentation occurs at 7pm PT tonight, at which time we will update the article with more information from the live presentation.
Ongoing story: We're digging through the slides and will be updating this article with additional highlights.