10 Xbox One X Facts You Should Know

Formerly known as Project Scorpio, Microsoft hope to start a whole new race of super-consoles with the most powerful console ever made with the recently unveiled Xbox One X. But what do we really know about it for sure? Here’s ten interesting facts about the new Xbox One X console.

1. Graphics and RAM get an upgrade
The Xbox One X takes what made the Xbox One S so popular and amps it up to the next level. Graphical capabilities have increased, with 40 Radeon cores providing graphical muscle. This is an increase on the 12 Radeon cores that were in the Xbox One.

RAM has been increased from 8GB of DDR3 to 16GB of GDDR5. This gives it a massive 6 teraflops of power allowing it to run most of titles in 4K resolution and 60 frames per second.

2. Built for 1080p gaming
The Xbox One X will offer advantages over the Xbox One S when gaming on a 1080p TV. Games on 1080p TVs will get faster loading times on the Xbox One X, thanks to anisotropic filtering.

3. A full launch roster of 1080p titles
At launch, the Xbox One X will offer at least seven titles that run in full 4K with 60 frames per second. This has been confirmed as Forza Motorsport 7, Middle-Earth: Shadow of War, Assassin’s Creed: Origins, Crackdown 3, Sea of Thieves, State of Decay 2 and Metro Exodus.

4. Many Xbox One X Enhanced Games
Microsoft mentioned that many titles will have several key visual improvements that you only get on the Xbox One X. It may be just supersampling, Microsoft have not made the full details clear, but it will be more than 4K and HDR.

5. A console smaller than the Xbox One S
Microsoft say that the Xbox One X is the smallest Xbox that they have ever made. This is welcome, because many fans complained about how much the Xbox One S looked like an 80s video recorder. While it doesn’t look different on the surface, the Xbox One X is a much leaner console.

6. All your Xbox One accessories will work
Microsoft say that the full range of Xbox One accessories will be fully compatible with the Xbox One X. This includes both Xbox One and Xbox One S accessories. That means that if you have an Xbox One S Elite controller you enjoy for playing Forza then you can just continue using it on the Xbox One X.

7. You can still use the Kinect
For those of you who enjoyed using the Kinect, you will be happy to know that with a special adapter, you can continue to use it. Unfortunately, though, this adapter will be $40. The promotion of it being free has now ended.

8. It will feature a 4K Blu-Ray drive
This is something that is exclusive to both Microsoft and the Xbox One X. The Xbox One X will be the only console (so far) to feature a 4K Blu-Ray drive. This is something you won’t even find on the PlayStation 4.

9. It has a completely new liquid cooling system
Microsoft doesn’t want a repeat of the red ring of death fiasco of the Xbox 360. So, for the Xbox One X, Microsoft have developed a liquid cooled vapor chamber to keep the powerful Xbox One X’s hardware from overheating. It is nice to see Microsoft taking note and bringing this to the new Xbox as a console first.

10. Massive potential for VR gaming
It makes sense for Microsoft to bring virtual reality to the Xbox One X. This is something that many fans have been asking for. This was because the Xbox One was just not powerful enough to provide a VR experience. But it may be that Microsoft go with the augmented reality approach instead, seeing as they are the creators of the Microsoft HoloLens.

The Xbox One X is due for release in November 7th, priced at $499. There is no doubt that the price may be off putting for many but the benefits of those who want to be on the bleeding edge of console technology may be too hard to resist. Whether it will persuade them to switch from Sony to Microsoft to experience “the most powerful console ever made”, is something we will have to wait until November to find out.