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Inside the target specs of the next Xbox 'Project Scarlett,' 'Anaconda', and 'Lockhart' (WindowsCentral.com )

onQ123

Member

In the 2019 reveal video, Xbox cloud architect Kareem Choudhry said Scarlett could "eat monsters for breakfast," and indeed, Anaconda looks as though it will be able to. According to several sources familiar with Microsoft's plans, Anaconda is targeting around 12 teraflops (TF) of computing power, compared to the Xbox One X's 6TF, and the Xbox One S's 1.4. Lockhart conversely will sport around 4TF, and according to marketing materials we've seen previously, it is being positioned as the most-affordable entry point to next-gen experiences.

It's important to note, however, that TF doesn't really tell the entire story of next-gen systems, owing to piles of custom tech Microsoft is planning to bake into these consoles. For example, Microsoft already spoke about how ray-tracing will be a factor in next-gen systems, and while Lockhart has less raw power than the X, it will have capabilities that elevate it further than the X in various ways.

Both Lockhart and Anaconda reportedly sport eight CPU cores targetting around 3.5GHz, with Anaconda reaching a bit higher per core than Lockhart. The relatively modest increase in clock speed over the previous-gen systems may seem mild, but vast improvements to caching, new silicon architecture, and other general bespoke, proprietary optimizations will see Anaconda perform anywhere up to four to five times better than the Xbox One X, if targets are met. We're told that Scarlett will guarantee 13GB of RAM for games, with 3GB on the OS a total of 16GB. The X, by comparison, offered a "maximum" of 9GB for games, which often varied based on what the OS was doing. Microsoft also said in its reveal video that the SSD could be used to throw in virtual RAM as necessary. Speaking of which ...

Games with load times anywhere up to a minute will be reduced to mere seconds.
One huge focus area for Lockhart and Anaconda is on NVMe SSD proprietary tech, which dramatically decreases load speeds, nigh-on eliminating loading completely. Games with load times anywhere up to a minute will be reduced to mere seconds as a result of these SSDs, and the inclusion of Project XCloud across all Xbox systems will allow you to start gaming via streaming while waiting for games to download locally. Next-gen is all about saving you time, increasing read speeds by gigabytes per second, while also providing cutting-edge visuals that will elevate games to all new heights.

We've been told that while many games will function across generations, next-gen features such as ray tracing for dynamic reflections and the like will most probably be exclusive to Lockhart and Anaconda, requiring new APIs that come as part of Game Core OS (which is also part of the Windows Core OS effort we've been covering). That said, Scarlett will be able to run all previous-gen games that are available on Xbox One today, including backward compatible games as Microsoft has already announced.

Similarly to the Xbox One X, games with unlocked frame rates and dynamic resolution will perform better on Scarlett, once again, being able to take advantage of the improved hardware. For example, Monster Hunter World struggles to maintain 60 FPS on the Xbox One X even in its performance mode. Even without an update, it should manage to hit its target FPS without an issue on Scarlett. Games will also be able to take advantage of the increased SSD loading speeds on the newer consoles as well, without needing an update.

As noted, always take rumors with a pinch of salt, but we're confident in our sourcing on this. It's difficult to do direct comparisons between Project Scarlett consoles and off-the-shelf PC parts, due to the unknown quantities in Microsoft's proprietary optimizations. The proof, as always, will be in the pudding.

Plans can change between now and launch (looking at you, Surface Mini), but it's looking almost certain that Project Scarlett is, in fact, two console SKUs across Lockhart and Anaconda, with Anaconda representing the higher end, and Lockhart representing a more affordable entry point to next-gen features.

Either way, across Scarlett, bigger investment in games, and Project XCloud, 2020 is looking incredibly exciting indeed.
 
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jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
and the inclusion of Project XCloud across all Xbox systems will allow you to start gaming via streaming while waiting for games to download locally.
This makes a lot of sense and is my biggest "wishlist" item for next-gen after full backwards compatibility.

I picked up Days Gone over Black Friday - that fucker took over an hour to install to my PS4 then had to download a 30GB update which took over 30 minutes to apply. By the time it was done installing / updating, I had already been playing a different game on my PC and had lost interest entirely.
 

TLZ

Banned
Is Windows Central considered official?

I hope this is all true. Maybe more ram but 13 for games is still great
Ram can be increased still I think, like Sony did with PS4 same year of release. If they can or need to I'm sure they will.
 
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Codes 208

Member
This makes a lot of sense and is my biggest "wishlist" item for next-gen after full backwards compatibility.

I picked up Days Gone over Black Friday - that fucker took over an hour to install to my PS4 then had to download a 30GB update which took over 30 minutes to apply. By the time it was done installing / updating, I had already been playing a different game on my PC and had lost interest entirely.
My experience with shitty connection goes back to when MCC first launched. With the og xbox one’s shitty download speed and MCC being 80+gb’s it took around 10-12 of non-stop downloading.

Hell even with the new improvements of the X, it must’ve taken me close to 4 hours to reinstall MCC after reach came out (though granted the game jumped to 100+gb’s)
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
My experience with shitty connection goes back to when MCC first launched. With the og xbox one’s shitty download speed and MCC being 80+gb’s it took around 10-12 of non-stop downloading.

Hell even with the new improvements of the X, it must’ve taken me close to 4 hours to reinstall MCC after reach came out (though granted the game jumped to 100+gb’s)
The actual download of the 30GB update on my connection took around 20 minutes to download. But then another half hour to install it. The network speed was fine, just seemed like the hardware / storage that was bottlenecked.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
4TF, same Ryzen octa core CPU as Scarlett, but with a lower clock speed.

We knew that leaked already a couple of days ago, but they strangely have the specs for "Anaconda", but where is "Lockhart"?

20 gigs of RAM? Is that even needed? I thought 16 gigs was about right? What are PCs running these days. I got 16gigs of RAM in mine and have considerable overhead on most if not all the things I do.

What is the RAM on your GPU? Remember, this is shared memory.

More is always better.
 
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Jigsaah

Gold Member
We knew that leaked already a couple of days ago, but they strangely have the specs for "Anaconda", but where is "Lockhart"?



What is the RAM on your GPU? Remember, this is shared memory.

More is always better.
hmmm a great question. I'm at work, I'd have to double check. Or look up the GPU. I got a EVGA 1070ti if that helps. I wanna say 8GB
 
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Fake

Member
We knew that leaked already a couple of days ago, but they strangely have the specs for "Anaconda", but where is "Lockhart"?
Lockhart conversely will sport around 4TF, and according to marketing materials we've seen previously, it is being positioned as the most-affordable entry point to next-gen experiences.
Both Lockhart and Anaconda reportedly sport eight CPU cores targetting around 3.5GHz, with Anaconda reaching a bit higher per core than Lockhart.


4TF is aroung what people are discussing, but we just espectulate the CPU. As he wrote, same Ryzen, same threads, same cores, but with lower clock speed.
Is the same vague info as Scarlett receive.
 
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DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Lockhart conversely will sport around 4TF, and according to marketing materials we've seen previously, it is being positioned as the most-affordable entry point to next-gen experiences.
Both Lockhart and Anaconda reportedly sport eight CPU cores targetting around 3.5GHz, with Anaconda reaching a bit higher per core than Lockhart.


4TF is aroung what people are discussing, but we just espectulate the CPU. As he wrote, same Ryzen, same threads, same cores, but with lower clock speed.

It was more of a rhetorical question.
 
Lockhart conversely will sport around 4TF, and according to marketing materials we've seen previously, it is being positioned as the most-affordable entry point to next-gen experiences.
Both Lockhart and Anaconda reportedly sport eight CPU cores targetting around 3.5GHz, with Anaconda reaching a bit higher per core than Lockhart.


4TF is aroung what people are discussing, but we just espectulate the CPU. As he wrote, same Ryzen, same threads, same cores, but with lower clock speed.
Is the same vague info as Scarlett receive.
Ryzen 2 gets a lot more power hungry as it goes over 3.2Ghz. I find it really hard to believe it'll be 3.5Ghz.
 

quest

Not Banned from OT
20 gigs of RAM? Is that even needed? I thought 16 gigs was about right? What are PCs running these days. I got 16gigs of RAM in mine and have considerable overhead on most if not all the things I do.
I think 16 is a fine compromise. You can't have everything. There has to be cuts from somewhere. You can cut the GPU or Cooling, SSD out or shave some ram. I think shaving ram makes the most sense since this next gen is staying at 4k and they will have fast SSD for caching. Would you rather have 4-8 gigs of ram and drop SSD or drop 2-3tf to cut costs to balance the ram. It is not just the ram the wide bus costs die space memory controller built into apu and makes more shrinks more costly.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
False. CPUs and SSDs are same. Difference will be between gpu and ram. Only difference you will see be graphics details.
It will be like playing high and Ultra on PC.

Now if it was X and Scarlett then i would have agreed with u as X cpu is jaguar

But Booty claims there is no Scarlet exclusives and they will be running on those as well. But that may just be for their 1st party, I doubt they would mandate that for 3rd.
 
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4 TF is a pathetic minimum spec for entry level next-gen Xbox.

The 12 TF of the high-end Xbox won't matter, devs will never be able to fully use that because it'll just be for getting games to render the same games (built for the 4TF console) at 4K with brute force.

PS5 specs, with 10+ TF (or close to Anaconda) will be fully utilized, devs can always count on PlayStation base specs.

Microsoft is pulling another dumbfuck move that developers reportedly hate, Lockhart is a pain in the arse/bum, they said.
 
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bitbydeath

Member
But Booty claims there is no Scarlet exclusives and they will be running on those as well. But that may just be for their 1st party, I doubt they would mandate that for 3rd.

Phil said he wants third parties too as well but it sounded like that decision would be up to them.
 
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Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
False. CPUs and SSDs are same. Difference will be between gpu and ram. Only difference you will see be graphics details.
It will be like playing high and Ultra on PC.

Now if it was X and Scarlett then i would have agreed with u as X cpu is jaguar

Correct if the GPU nowadays was only doing graphical “fluff“ while it can and does a lot more. Balancing an 8 TFLOPS delta in only graphical details means that the top end console is limited in what you can accelerate gameplay wise with that extra compute power.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Or just talking launch window and eventually xbox one support will be via the xcloud. People read way to much into stuff to fit their agenda. MS won't support xbox one for ever outside the xcloud.

Who's fault is that... the customer, or cryptic PR pieces with no clear cut message?

Even you are assuming something as well. That is the problem with ambiguous messaging.
 
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Wouldn't 4 scarlett TFs work out about the same as an X? If so then my guess would be that lockhart is a replacement for the one family with some extra ram and cpu oomph, and scarlett is the actual new gen dogs danglies.
 

onQ123

Member

Romulus

Member
So why are devs complaining about RAM shortage in lockhart is the GPU is really a measly 4tf? Wouldn't that be a bigger issue?
 

diffusionx

Gold Member
4 TF is a pathetic minimum spec for entry level next-gen Xbox.

The 12 TF of the high-end Xbox won't matter, devs will never be able to fully use that because it'll just be for getting games to render the same games (built for the 4TF console) at 4K with brute force.

PS5 specs, with 10+ TF (or close to Anaconda) will be fully utilized, devs can always count on PlayStation base specs.

Microsoft is pulling another dumbfuck move that developers reportedly hate, Lockhart is a pain in the arse/bum, they said.

To the extent that this is true, I don't think it matters to MS. They are already supporting the PC which has a huge range of configurations obviously. I said it before but MS Flight was one of the standout games at E3 and MS says it's coming to the One S. Developers can complain about whatever they want, but MS is trying to push Xbox as a service, and to do that, they need to cast as wide a net as possible. They're not going to do that by saying you need a $500 console to get your foot in the door. Ultimately developers write games for popular platforms, even if they are supposedly underpowered or a pain.
 
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