Microsoft reveals Xbox Series X specs: 12 teraflops of power and highly customized hardware

Today Microsoft revealed some much-anticipated hardware specifications for the forthcoming Xbox Series X, including the console’s speculated 12 teraflops of power. That’s eight times more power than was available in the original Xbox One and twice the power of the Xbox One X.

Details around Microsoft’s Xbox Series X have been scarce, to say the least. Microsoft is slowly revealing a picture of both power and speed — set to please serious gamers looking for their next console.

Microsoft is out to destroy the PS5 — The next generation of console wars is amping up to be fought with power. Sony hasn’t revealed much about the PlayStation 5’s hardware just yet, but leaked specs put it at 9.2 teraflops — 25 percent less than what’s being offered by the Series X.

Next-generation graphics and features like ray tracing and variable shading rates will pull from the consoles’ power modules, which means they’ll need more than ever to perform well. The Series X could be putting itself miles ahead of the competition if its performance matches its specs.

Customized everything — Microsoft’s blog post touches on just how much customization is going into the Xbox Series X. There’s the custom processor, which was built on AMD’s Zen 2 and RDNA 2 architecture. There’s the console’s customized variable rate shading, which allows the Series X to “prioritize individual effects on specific game characters or important environmental objects.” Oh, and did we mention the custom, optimized latency controls to make controls more precise and responsive?

It’s all in the details — Take Quick Resume, for example. Past Xbox consoles have allowed for one game to be put in a suspended state while another is loaded, but making the switch back and forth between games has been cumbersome in the past because of long loading times.

With the Series X, Microsoft is promising a new “quick resume” feature to make switching between games effortless — ”almost instantly,” according to the company’s announcement. Small details like this have the potential to make the Series X’s user experience stand out amongst the competition.

Microsoft says it’ll be sharing more details about the console soon. The Xbox Series X is set to launch in time for the holidays this year.