DF: First Xbox 3 Devkit leaks, 8 Core Intel CPU, nvidia GPU, More than 8GB RAM

**ONQ** · 07-29-2012

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/di...go-devkit-leak

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=484451

Beyond that, further information is sketchy and unreliable. DaE reckons that the current devkits were dispatched to studios in February, and feature Intel CPUs and a graphics card that carries the NVIDIA brand - but he doesn't identify either part more specifically. He also claims that the Durango kit features more than 8GB of memory (other sources have suggested 12GB), and that it is 64-bit in nature - at this point it's worth bearing in mind that dev hardware typically features double the RAM of retail kit in order to accommodate debugging tools and other systems. DaE also says that Microsoft is targeting an eight-core CPU for the final retail hardware - if true, this must surely be based around Atom architecture to fit inside the thermal envelope. The hardware configuration seems difficult to believe as it is so divorced from the technological make-up of the current Xbox 360, and we could find no corroborative sources to establish the Intel/NVIDIA hook-up, let alone the eight-core CPU.

However, another source, speaking in the wake of the Durango developer meet-up that took place in London just before GDC this year, corroborates that the system is 64-bit in nature, adding that current DirectX 11 engines developed on PC can be ported to 64-bit and that they will run with no problem on Microsoft's new console. The platform holder achieved immense success by basing the Xbox 360 workflow closely on existing PC development tools and the DirectX API and it looks as though it aims to continue that recipe for success with its next-gen offering.

In an effort to prove the authenticity of his devkit leak, DaE also leaked a screenshot of Microsoft's Visual Studio coding tool, apparently set-up for Durango. None of the developers we spoke to disputed what they were seeing. "As an aside it's got my favourite MS return code in there: ERROR_SUCCESS," chuckled one source.

The presence on this screen of the "immintrin" element strongly suggests that the Durango coding environment is built around x86 CPU architecture, supporting the AVX (advanced vector extensions) instruction set that was added in last year's Sandy Bridge revision. However, AVX is now supported on some of the most recent AMD processors too.
Of course, this anonymous-looking PC box is not the machine Microsoft will be selling at retail next year - it's alpha kit, assembled from existing parts to best emulate the hardware configuration of the console and actual silicon will be in the closing phases of development as we speak. In a world where games typically take two years or more to develop, these units are lashed together to give game-makers a headstart in the absence of final hardware - Xbox 360 alpha kits were little more than PowerMacs with ATI graphics cards installed, and were still being used to demo code as late as E3 2005, mere months before the retail launch.

It's the mooted choice of hardware partners that is perhaps the most surprising element of this new twist in the Durango story, and the most crucial element that we could not double-source. Microsoft negotiated poor licensing deals with Intel and NVIDIA on the original Xbox that made the console uneconomical to produce in later years - thought to be one of the major reasons that the platform holder shifted to IBM for the 360's Xenon CPU and ATI (subsequently bought by AMD) for the Xenos graphics core. Unarguably, it is this graphics core that gave Microsoft its advantage over the PlayStation 3 in multi-platform games, and a shift back to NVIDIA would not only be surprising, but it would also outright contradict most of the rumours that have emerged about Durango to date.

At the very least, the x86 nature of the leaked Visual Studio shot is intriguing - in combination with the AMD rumours swirling around PlayStation 4, there's the very strong suggestion that the era of custom console hardware is now very much a thing of the past. Licensing revised versions of existing architecture - exactly as Sony did with PlayStation Vita - appears to be the most efficient way of getting the most powerful consoles without breaking the bank in terms of R&D. In a world where many blame consoles for the decline in PC gaming, it would be richly ironic if the next-gen platforms from Microsoft and Sony were based almost exclusively on PC technology...

**DeviousOne** · 07-29-2012

VERY VERY interesting!

**Ghost-Rhayne** · 07-29-2012

I like the part about custom hardware being a thing of the past. There is no need for fancy hardware configs, just keep it uniform and standard. 3rd party are the back bone of the industry and their titles should have parity from next gen on. Then it will be down to each companies 1st party offerings to offer the real differentiation.

**radgamer420** · 07-29-2012

Originally Posted by Ghost-Rhayne

I like the part about custom hardware being a thing of the past. There is no need for fancy hardware configs, just keep it uniform and standard. 3rd party are the back bone of the industry and their titles should have parity from next gen on. Then it will be down to each companies 1st party offerings to offer the real differentiation.

Bingo. Ever since the rumor that Sony was going to follow MS footsteps by going with traditional PC type architecture I have said the same thing. I think we will definitely see console parity on 3rd party games next gen. And thats vitally important seeing as how 3rd party are indeed the backbone of the industry. Also with less R&D costs we will hopefully see these consoles launching at a more reasonable price.

**itachi73378** · 07-30-2012

**keefy** · 07-30-2012

If that is the case (standard hardware) then backwards compatiblity isgoing to be easier int he future there will be no need to include or emulate special custom hardwares because they do not exist.

**ONQ** · 07-30-2012

I think DaE is trolling lol now he say it's AMD

**D3seeker** · 07-30-2012

hmmmmmm..... Interesting nonetheless.

**DeviousOne** · 07-30-2012

And the plot thickens LOL

**itachi73378** · 07-30-2012

Well its the other anonymous devs that agree with DaE that make the rumour believable

**Soldier 95B** · 07-30-2012

I don't know what any of that means, besides the RAM. So are those good numbers?

**itachi73378** · 07-30-2012

Well this particular leak doesn't tell anything specific about the CPU and GPU models so we can't know, but the RAM certainly seems good. If the dev kit is 8GB-12GB than the retail can be 4-6gigs.

**Vulgotha** · 07-30-2012

Lol Atom CPU's? The weakest intel core out there?

Hrm.

**DeviousOne** · 07-30-2012

The more i look into this the more i think BS....

X2 · 07-30-2012

What I like about it is, is that the 720 will have a dedicated media processor to run the OS and all the services it will have. In addition to that Kinect 2.0 will also have a dedicated processor, so the 720 main processors will be freed up for gaming goodness!

**D3seeker** · 07-31-2012

lol, I almost got about the 8 cores thinking of intel for some reason. Then I read Atom and was like, oh, not the best but not god awe-full. So now for the next clue.

**itachi73378** · 07-31-2012

I was at gaf yesterday and saw a supposed spec sheet which said that the ps4 and 720 had the same CPUs. Most probably false but if that were true, porting would be really easy