Microsoft finalizes the Xbox Specs

At a press conference today in downtown San Francisco, Microsoft released the final specifications for its video game console, the Xbox. According to Microsoft's specification sheet, the Xbox will feature a 733MHz CPU and a custom-designed 300MHz graphics chip, which has been dubbed X-Chip and is developed by Microsoft and nVIDIA. The console will utilize 64MB of system memory with a bandwidth of 6.4GB/second and will reportedly feature a sustained polygon performance of 100 million polygons per second at a maximum resolution of 1920 x 1080. The Xbox will support full scene antialiasing and texture compression at a 6:1 ratio. The pixel fill rate will be 4.8 gigapixels per second, while the particle fill rate weighs in at 150 million particles per second.

Xbox software will be produced on standard DVD discs with a storage capacity of 4.5GB. DVD movie playback will be an on-board Xbox feature, and the DVD drive will run at a speed somewhere between 2x and 5x. The console will come with four controller ports, and it will feature broadband capabilities via an Ethernet port and the option for modem technology. One controller will be included with the system. The Xbox will also include an 8GB hard drive in addition to an 8MB memory card. The Xbox's audio capabilities allow for 256 audio channels with full 3D audio, MIDI, and GLS2 support. The console will be compatible with HDTV.

Microsoft did not reveal the Xbox console design or the Xbox controller, but a reel of upcoming Xbox software was shown. No information regarding peripherals was announced. The Xbox will be released in the fall of 2001.