MS May be Upgrading the Specs of the Xbox One

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
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Microsoft is either getting soft or getting smarter in dealing with the upcoming release of the next-gen Xbox One. There has been persistent rumors and speculation that Microsoft is about to upgrade the Xbox One’s hardware prior to the scheduled release in November to satisfy perspective buyers and be more competitive with the PS4.

Additionally, the Xbone development team is asking designers what other changes to the console they’d like to see — which comes off as a little desperate, especially considering the hardware is supposed to release in around four months.
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The only thing they can do at this point is increase the clock rates, increase the memory capacity (DDR3), or drop the price and take a bigger loss and the might end up doing all 3.
 
Yeah Microsoft has messed up and they are backtracking because they know ps4 is going to kick their butts but too little too late I say.
 
Hardly matters. the kiddie demographic that hears phrases like "x baux" and "call of daycare" have a pavlovian response and drag mommy to toys r' us to buy it sight unseen. specs dont matter to the kids. half of them will be playing minecraft on it anyway.
 
Lol, I can see Microsoft coming out on top because they have the money to burn. Typical. And all the xbox fanboys are all going to praise Microsoft for it, and forget that they messed up hard.
 
next-Jin said:
The only thing they can do at this point is increase the clock rates, increase the memory capacity (DDR3), or drop the price and take a bigger loss and the might end up doing all 3.
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I would say that's the most likely course of action. Any major change would likely cause delays. Swapping a few RAM chips for bigger ones shouldn't be too much of an issue.
 
refraxion said:
Lol, I can see Microsoft coming out on top because they have the money to burn. Typical. And all the xbox fanboys are all going to praise Microsoft for it, and forget that they messed up hard.
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Thats why Sony was holding its cards close to the chest -- waiting 'til the last second to reveal- catch the competition with its pants down.
 
Does Microsoft have more money to burn than Sony? I mean, Sony is also a huge corporation. I can't imagine MS having THAT much more money. But I don't really look at this stuff.
 
I call B.S.

1. More RAM most likely won't help anything. If rumors are true and its split 5GB/3GB for GPU/OS then what would more RAM do? 5GB isn't enough for gaming? On a 7790 GPU?

2. Higher clock rates sound unlikely. Thermal performance is custom made to the current hardware...can they increase clock speed and still power and cool it efficiently to not have a massive RROD debacle again?

3. Price is remaining where it is. Any lower and they would lose too much. Raise it and no one will buy it.

Either way, if MS decides to change specs it still won't be able to compete with the PS4 and not only that but who is to say Sony won't do the same? They could probably squeeze another 100MHz or so out of the GPU. Increase speed of CPU as well.
 
Can they really do this and maintain their release date? I mean shouldn't these things be in full scale production soon?
 
JoeUser said:
I call B.S.

1. More RAM most likely won't help anything. If rumors are true and its split 5GB/3GB for GPU/OS then what would more RAM do? 5GB isn't enough for gaming? On a 7790 GPU?

2. Higher clock rates sound unlikely. Thermal performance is custom made to the current hardware...can they increase clock speed and still power and cool it efficiently to not have a massive RROD debacle again?

3. Price is remaining where it is. Any lower and they would lose too much. Raise it and no one will buy it.

Either way, if MS decides to change specs it still won't be able to compete with the PS4 and not only that but who is to say Sony won't do the same? They could probably squeeze another 100MHz or so out of the GPU. Increase speed of CPU as well.
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1 is probably right for the given hardware but remember most likely console devs always want a surplus of ram not so much for more performance as much as quicker development. Think if they go a little heavy on ram for a PC game do they want to screw around with the xbone cutting it down? More ram just means devs can port faster in this case.

2 this one I disagree with you on. Thermal performance and power could be swapped out pretty quickly. The xbone is said to have a larger chassis and a removable PSU there for they should have the space to cool it and ability to increase power. That said if RAM bandwidth is limited maybe this wouldn't amount to anything.

3. One can guess that sony hit rock bottom with pricing and would be unable to really push the PS4 further. MS has more cash on hand and could take the hit. But given how they operate now and seemingly are out of touch with consumers in favor of pleasing investors maybe this is unlikely.
 
Kongar said:
Can they really do this and maintain their release date? I mean shouldn't these things be in full scale production soon?
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Everyone one of those fixes is probably fairly small. Apple claims they forced a foxcon factory to add glass to the original ipHone with only 1 month lead time. One would even even suspect they had to reengineer parts of it why would the space be their for glass if it wasn't meant to be in there?
 
Kongar said:
Can they really do this and maintain their release date? I mean shouldn't these things be in full scale production soon?
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I would say so chances are these things aren't into final assembly yet and slapping more RAM chips onto the motherboard in theory shouldn't be too difficult as long as the PCB can accommodate it. If they have to remove the chips and add in new ones that could be quite costly but again time wise should be doable.
 
refraxion said:
Lol, I can see Microsoft coming out on top because they have the money to burn. Typical. And all the xbox fanboys are all going to praise Microsoft for it, and forget that they messed up hard.
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Just this, i have an xbox/icrap fanboy at my work and despite explaining in detail the massive list of flaws and how that impacts gamers nothing could even slightly dull his enthusiasm about getting the xbone. He doesn't care that the specs of the ps4 are better or that a decent pc can shit all over the both of them. The same goes with icrap, i told him how the new phablet i plan on getting has nearly 3x the processing and graphics power than the ipad4 and if couldn't care less.

A lot of people out there were happy with their previous experience with a company's device and and no logical argument can convice them to switch platforms.
 
Serpent said:
Does Microsoft have more money to burn than Sony? I mean, Sony is also a huge corporation. I can't imagine MS having THAT much more money. But I don't really look at this stuff.
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Microsoft has $68 billion in the bank and makes $6 billion in profit every quarter. Sony has lost $9 billion from it's electronics division in the last 10 years, mostly from its lagging TV division. Want to know where they make most of their money? Selling insurance in Japan. An electronics company. Insurance. They are a LONG way off from their high's in the 80's.

Sources:
1) http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/28/b...-its-not-electronics.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
2) http://www.splatf.com/2011/11/sony-profits/

Forbes Sony Profile: http://www.forbes.com/companies/sony/
Forbes Microsoft Profile: http://www.forbes.com/companies/microsoft/

To put it another way, Microsoft could probably buy Sony if they wanted to. That's how far off they've fallen.
 
DPI said:
Hardly matters. the kiddie demographic that hears phrases like "x baux" and "call of daycare" have a pavlovian response and drag mommy to toys r' us to buy it sight unseen. specs dont matter to the kids. half of them will be playing minecraft on it anyway.
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This 100%. It was stated in a past thread that consoles are for kids, and I completely agree. The PC - an elegant device for a more sophisticated mind.
 
rudy said:
Everyone one of those fixes is probably fairly small. Apple claims they forced a foxcon factory to add glass to the original ipHone with only 1 month lead time. One would even even suspect they had to reengineer parts of it why would the space be their for glass if it wasn't meant to be in there?
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Glass replaced the plastic screen, it was not an "addition". Also, it's FAR far easier to replace plastic with glass than the change anything in a system involving computer components that needs to be evaluated long term effects like failing chips. The two are nowhere near on the same level.
 
DejaWiz said:
This 100%. It was stated in a past thread that consoles are for kids, and I completely agree. The PC - an elegant device for a more sophisticated mind.
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And what about people who enjoy both? This is elitism at it's finest.
 
If they increase the specs then fine, im still hoping for them to revert to the features they had prior before everyone whined about their used game sales.
 
gaspah said:
A lot of people out there were happy with their previous experience with a company's device and and no logical argument can convice them to switch platforms.
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Well, if they were happy with the previous version, they may not want to switch. Switching brands for a lot of people is difficult. You're going into some other brand with no knowledge of it. Not everyone is [H]ard and can dig through the specs and tell which one is better. They just want to play games, and as you said - be happy with their experience. That's all it really comes down to.

I don't think the Xbox One buyers are going to be disappointed. They will get to play the games on that system just fine, and they will be great games. For those that want the absolute best - maybe the PS4 or PC is a better choice.

The Xbox One is far from a shitty system that some of you seem to be implying. The 360 isn't just CoD or Battlefield or Halo. There are a lot of other great games. The Xbox One will be the same way.... Of course, I do see a lot of people always ragging on the popular one. Hipster console gaming? Xbox? Too trendy. Probably were TG16 owners, too. :D
 
Serpent said:
Does Microsoft have more money to burn than Sony? I mean, Sony is also a huge corporation. I can't imagine MS having THAT much more money. But I don't really look at this stuff.
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Microsoft has over $60 billion in the bank.
 
Since the APU on the Xbox One and the PS4 are so similar Microsoft might ask AMD to increase the GPU specs (7790 -> 7870). That should be doable in the few months they have left.
 
refraxion said:
Lol, I can see Microsoft coming out on top because they have the money to burn. Typical. And all the xbox fanboys are all going to praise Microsoft for it, and forget that they messed up hard.
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Often times, it is the end result that matters and not how a company got there. I praise competition and even the hardest core PC elitist snob should praise any bumps in the console specifications. After all, the higher the lowest common denominator is, the better off our favorite hobby is going to be for it.
 
next-Jin said:
The only thing they can do at this point is increase the clock rates, increase the memory capacity (DDR3), or drop the price and take a bigger loss and the might end up doing all 3.
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No amount of memory is going to make up for the fact that they are using DDR3 rather than GDDR5. The bandwidth differences between the two are astronomical.
 
dagamer34 said:
And what about people who enjoy both? This is elitism at it's finest.
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If you don't know the difference, you are either too young to remember PC game before the era where they were console ports or you were doing it wrong.

PC gamers aren't elitist. They're bitter. Bitter because of what games were in the short golden period when graphics weren't complete crap and the more sophisticated and varied gameplay styles the PC offered were fully exploited.
 
if anything this will be for the first refresh like how the newer PS3s are faster. no way they can make any changes to the thing before the release date.
 
gaspah said:
Just this, i have an xbox/icrap fanboy at my work and despite explaining in detail the massive list of flaws and how that impacts gamers nothing could even slightly dull his enthusiasm about getting the xbone. He doesn't care that the specs of the ps4 are better or that a decent pc can shit all over the both of them. The same goes with icrap, i told him how the new phablet i plan on getting has nearly 3x the processing and graphics power than the ipad4 and if couldn't care less.

A lot of people out there were happy with their previous experience with a company's device and and no logical argument can convice them to switch platforms.
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Maybe he's ignoring you because you come across as an asshole? Xbone? Phablet? iCrap? Get a fucking life.
 
Like it even matters. Most games are cross-platform and developers aren't going to enhance a game for a system with slightly better specs. For better specs to even make a significant difference, they're going to need significantly pricier parts. The only way I would be impressed is if MS could accomplish 1080p/60FPS and maintain a high level of detail.

Still doesn't change the fact that the Xbox One (as is the 360) will be nothing but a door stop without having a Gold subscription. Stupid crap like that will be the reason I buy a PS4.
 
Also, with how MS seems to be caving to pressure lately, I wouldn't be surprised if they relaxed some of the limitations on Silver members.
 
djoye said:
Like it even matters. Most games are cross-platform and developers aren't going to enhance a game for a system with slightly better specs. For better specs to even make a significant difference, they're going to need significantly pricier parts. The only way I would be impressed is if MS could accomplish 1080p/60FPS and maintain a high level of detail.

Still doesn't change the fact that the Xbox One (as is the 360) will be nothing but a door stop without having a Gold subscription. Stupid crap like that will be the reason I buy a PS4.
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PS4 will need a paid online subscription.
 
DejaWiz said:
This 100%. It was stated in a past thread that consoles are for kids, and I completely agree. The PC - an elegant device for a more sophisticated mind.
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Don't trip over the balcony in your ivory tower there, sparky. Or dislocate your shoulder patting yourself on the back for being so clever.

Many of us run both. I know. Shocking. Enjoying gaming on a PC and on a console! Whoda thunk it?

Who's more annoying? PC gamer snobs or neck-bearded Linux assholes? I cannot quite decide.
 
djoye said:
Like it even matters. Most games are cross-platform and developers aren't going to enhance a game for a system with slightly better specs. For better specs to even make a significant difference, they're going to need significantly pricier parts. The only way I would be impressed is if MS could accomplish 1080p/60FPS and maintain a high level of detail.

Still doesn't change the fact that the Xbox One (as is the 360) will be nothing but a door stop without having a Gold subscription. Stupid crap like that will be the reason I buy a PS4.
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+100 completely agree. Given how games are developed these days, hardware and performance will really have to be drastic for it to really matter in your decision. A factor yes, but not the #1 factor imo.

Waiting for reviews before I make a decision. The blu-ray player (after HD-DVD went down) was the big win for me with the PS3, that an most MS exclusives really weren't that appealing for me (I don't FPS on console, so Halo meh).

I have a feeling this generation, I will be sticking with PS. The MS Gold membership costs just to use online content like netflix is pretty much a deal breaker for me. It is the principle of it... no netflix discount etc to make up for the added cost. Why should I have to pay a sub to use an online service that isn't even "provided" by MS? Makes absolutely no sense. At least with online gaming, MS runs the stats servers and match making and other costs... so it at least makes a little sense for gaming.
 
jpm100 said:
If you don't know the difference, you are either too young to remember PC game before the era where they were console ports or you were doing it wrong.

PC gamers aren't elitist. They're bitter. Bitter because of what games were in the short golden period when graphics weren't complete crap and the more sophisticated and varied gameplay styles the PC offered were fully exploited.
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I do miss the old days of Quake 1, quake 2, Unreal series days. the amount of sheer gameplay you got out of them, through new maps and mods, with some of them completely changing the gameplay. I dotn know why they dont allow more console games to do that..
 
Serpent said:
Does Microsoft have more money to burn than Sony? I mean, Sony is also a huge corporation. I can't imagine MS having THAT much more money. But I don't really look at this stuff.
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Sony is broke and losing money on electronics at a massive rate, MS has $70 billion tucked away. MS can burn huge amounts of cash in a last minute redesign, cut the price, buy several small countries and Sony with lots of cash left over. MS does not like Sony on top of it anyone betting Sony can win this fight long term is making a shaky bet.
 
jpm100 said:
PC gamers aren't elitist. They're bitter. Bitter because of what games were in the short golden period when graphics weren't complete crap and the more sophisticated and varied gameplay styles the PC offered were fully exploited.
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Graphics are better now, they just don't use all the performance of high end PC's and I think the majority of PC gamers are happy with not having to buy a new system every few years to keep on top of things.
 
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