Yeah baby yeah.........that bad boy is out in the open.
The Graphics Processor
The new Xbox will have a next-generation ATI graphics chip much more powerful than the current top-of-the-line Radeon X850 desktop graphics chip.
Microsoft will pair the IBM processor with an advanced 500MHz ATI graphics chip. The ATI chip will have "48-way parallel floating-point dynamically-scheduled shader pipelines." Today's PC desktop video cards max out at 16 pipelines, but the technologies aren't quite the same. The new ATI graphics chip will be based on a new unified shader model that processes vertex and pixels through the same multipurpose pipelines. Current PC video cards have pipelines dedicated to pixel processing or vertex processing. ATI's current top-of-the-line Radeon X850 XT PE graphics chip, for example, has 16-pixel pipelines and 6-vertex pipelines. We don't know how these new hybrid pipelines will perform compared to the older, dedicated pipeline designs, but with 48 of 'em, we're betting that the next-gen ATI chip will live up to expectations.
This advanced technology has allowed Microsoft to substantially raise the bar on visual requirements for Xbox 360 games. Next-generation games must support at least 720p HDTV resolution, 5.1 multichannel sound, and full 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio (no letterboxing). Games must also have at least 2x antialiasing to improve image quality. According to Microsoft's Peter Moore, "Jaggies need to be a thing of the past," and there's no doubt the Xbox 360 hardware will be powerful enough to make them so. The graphics chip will also have 10MB of superfast embedded DRAM, which is just large enough to fit in an HD resolution frame buffer with antialiasing.
The Xbox 360 will have 512MB of system memory, which is shared between the CPU and the GPU. However, the graphics will take up much of the space since the HD video requirements mean developers will have to use larger high-resolution textures to give games extra detail. The extra memory also allows for larger game levels for improved gameplay. Sound will be 5.1 out of the box, but since the all the audio is done in software, the Xbox 360 can easily support additional sound channels if games wanted to move up to 6.1 or 7.1-channel output. Check out our Xbox 360 hardware page for a full list of specifications.
How Much?
Microsoft hasn't announced if the Xbox 360 will be backward compatible, but the system is powerful enough to emulate the original Xbox. Microsoft also hasn't discussed pricing or release dates just yet, and the contents of the final retail package are still in a state of flux. When we last spoke with company officials, they told us they're planning a worldwide holiday launch. And right now, the current package includes a 20GB hard drive, the base console, and a single wireless controller. Microsoft hasn't ruled out offering different retail packages just yet. Because the system components are so modular, the company can easily swap accessories in and out of the final package to create an attractive offering. It's very possible we'll see a completely different package after Microsoft gets more feedback on its 360 plans during E3.
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