Xbox 360 Hardware Guide

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Xbox 360 Hardware Guide
Everything you wanted to know about the Xbox 360 hardware, but were afraid to ask.
by Douglass C. Perry
November 1, 2005 - In this new generation of consoles Microsoft intends from the very start to do things differently. Different than Sony, Nintendo, 3D0, or Sega before it. Starting with the hardware, the company once known for its operating systems and word documents has created an internal beast of an engine and an external design that appeals to a mass worldwide audience. While Microsoft's strength is, and has always been, software, the giant corporation has had to bear down and create a console that can create fantastic graphics, incredible sound, and handle multiple functions simultaneously. This means from receiving voicemail from a friend online while playing a game, to playing online with 31 other players, to cranking out millions of polygons a second -- all at the same time.



What kind of machine can do that? For all intents and purposes, one that you've never seen before. Thus, getting to know the innards of console you're going to buy is important. First, it means you'll have a better understanding of the power and sophistication behind the flashy polygons on screen, and second, you'll have better ammo with which to backwardbrag to your friends. In all seriousness, the Xbox 360 console may be the first console to start this generation, but like Sony's PlayStation 3, one of the most significant aspects of its construction, of its architecture, is its specifications.

But first a short summary of the Xbox 360. Microsoft's Xbox 360 is its second console in the worldwide market, designed to play videogames, music, movies, and to play online games. Microsoft will ship the system on Tuesday, November 22, 2005 in North America at the core system price $299.99 (Xbox 360, one standard wired controller, a faceplate, and a standard AV cable, but no hard drive), or the premium price, $399.99 (Xbox 360, a detachable 20-GB hard-drive, a wireless controller, faceplate, headset, a component HD AV cable, an Ethernet cable, and for a limited time, a remote controller).


In Europe, the premium and core systems will sell for, respectively, £279.99 and £209.99 in the UK and €399.99 and €299.99 in the rest of Europe. The Japanese launch date is Saturday December 10. The price excluding tax is 37,900 yen (about $350) and every console will come with hard drive, remote control, and wireless controller. While X360 launches globally this holiday in North America, Europe, and Japan, the launch unfortunately doesn't include all world territories. In calendar year 2006, X360 will launch in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, Mexico and Colombia. Microsoft would not clarify what quarter, month, or date "calender year '06" was.

The system plays 12X dual-layer DVD-ROMs now, though Bill Gates said the system might support different storage media in the future.

Below are the official specifications for Xbox 360:

Custom IBM PowerPC-based CPU

3 symmetrical cores running at 3.2 GHz each

2 hardware threads per core; 6 hardware threads total

1 VMX-128 vector unit per core; 3 total

128 VMX-128 registers per hardware thread

1 MB L2 cache

CPU Game Math Performance

9 billion dot product operations per second

Custom ATI Graphics Processor

500 MHz

10 MB embedded DRAM

48-way parallel floating-point dynamically-scheduled shader pipelines

Unified shader architecture

Polygon Performance

500 million triangles per second

Pixel Fill Rate

16 gigasamples per second fillrate using 4X MSAA

Shader Performance

48 billion shader operations per second

Memory

512 MB GDDR3 RAM

700 MHz DDR

Unified memory architecture

Memory Bandwidth

22.4 GBs memory interface bus bandwidth

256 GBs memory bandwidth to EDRAM

21.6 GBs front-side bus

Overall System Floating-Point Performance

1 TFLOP

Storage

Custom detachable and upgradeable 20 GB hard drive, sold with Xbox 360 tier, or separately from the Core System.

12X dual-layer DVD-ROM

Memory unit support starting at 64 MB

I/O

Support for up to four wireless game controllers

3 USB 2.0 ports

2 memory unit slots

Optimized for Online

Instant, out-of-the-box access to Xbox Live features, including Xbox Live Marketplace for downloadable content, Gamer Profile for digital identity, and voice chat to talk to friends while playing games, watching movies or listening to music.

Built in Ethernet Port

Wi-Fi Ready: 802.11 A, B and G

Video Camera Ready

Digital Media Support

Support for DVD-Video, DVD-ROM, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, CD-DA, CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, WMA CD, MP3 CD, JPEG Photo CD

Stream media from portable music devices, digital cameras, Windows XP PCs

Rip music to Xbox 360 hard drive

Custom playlists in every game

Windows Media Center Extender built in

Interactive, full screen 3D visualizers

HD Game Support

All games support 16:9, 720p and 1080i, anti-aliasing

Standard definition and high-definition video output supported

System Orientation

Stands vertically or horizontally

Customizable Face Plates

Interchangeable to personalize the console
Parental Controls

Parental Controls to restrict the games and movies that are played; Xbox Live controls to manage Friends List, voice and video communication, and Gamer Profile sharing

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Hardware Analysis: What Do Those Numbers Mean?
So, let's start with basic stuff first. The IBM PowerPC-based CPU, with three symmetrical cores running at 3.2 GHz each, is different than any console structure before it and any current day PC. Why? Because it's running with three processors, not one. Perhaps one could make a comparison to the Sega Saturn, which also had multiple processors, or even the current generation Sony PlayStation 2, with an architecture that's so spread out, developers have to program code differently than with a single chip console or PC. Each processor runs at 3.2 GHz, and each contains two threads. This is important to programmers, but not really to gamers. Threads represent individual sections of code that can be written to separately from others, essentially meaning that programmers can send distinct information about AI, sound, physics, etc, to a thread, which can process that code individually and, more importantly, simultaneously. Right now, separate threads means a giant headache for programmers, because they'll create more complex code but are required to create much cleaner (i.e. less sloppy) code. Eventually, it will mean more control, power, and greater games from all developers. They just have to acclimate to a new system, one that's designed with multiple processors.



The 500 MHz ATI graphics processor, or GPU, is a powerhouse graphics chip. It can handle a minimum of four times the polygons that the Xbox could handle, plus four times the amount of pixels. Xbox 360's GPU is based on ATI's next-generation graphics chip, putting it at least one generation beyond its current X850 card for PCs. The unified shader architecture is really the component most developers are raving about, as it gives them easy access to create fantastic lighting scenarios, incredible geometry on screen, and more texture, realism, and surface area to manipulate than ever before. However, while the GPU runs at 500MHz and features 48 shader units, these numbers are not directly comparable to traditional pixel pipelines. Rather than having pixel and vertex shaders work as separated elements like on current PC video cards, each shader unit can perform either pixel or vertex shading as necessary. This allows the system to move performance to where it's needed, either for more effects or more raw geometry rendering.


Backing up the GPU is 512MB of GDDR3 unified system memory and 10MB of embedded DRAM for the framebuffer, which is eight times than the original Xbox. The system RAM enables developers to use the console's unified memory architecture however they want to partition it. Each hardware component (such as the CPU and GPU) can access the memory. The Xbox 360 makes use of a shared memory architecture, which means that the 512MB of RAM will be used for graphics and texture memory as well as things like sound, animation source and of course, the actual game code itself.


While the majority of the graphics data will be housed in the shared system RAM, like textures for instance, the video framebuffer will use NEC's dedicated embedded DRAM technology. Long story short, by embedding the framebuffer RAM directly onto the graphics chip, Xbox 360 will be able to perform post-processing features much more quickly, like anti-aliasing and motion blur. The Xbox 360 has 10MB of embedded DRAM. The 360 doesn't have a dedicated physics processor, though each PowerPC processor core has its own 128-bit vector math unit, which could be used for physics calculations.

High definition is supported in full. HD abounds on Xbox 360. Microsoft's minimum specs for any developer are to support 720p, widescreen, and Dolby 5.1 sound, plus a surplus of online options. The Xbox 360 supports HD output and 16:9 video; and 720p and 1080i are both supported out of the box (though 480p and 480i are also supported). Analog TV owners, however, shouldn't freak out. 480i is a supported output resolution. But even when playing on a 4:3 display, games will run in widescreen by default. Gamers will have the option to switch to 4:3 should they so choose.

Xbox 360 supports composite video, S-Video, component, and VGA. Nothing has been announced in the way of DVI or HDMI connections as of yet. Both provide an even better signal than component, and being that Microsoft is being very, very aggressive with image quality at the moment, it's possible that some sort of DVI and/or HDMI connection may be available in the future. Also, there will be different than those of the original Xbox. The Premium package will ship with component cables in the box..



The sound support is less of a leap as are the graphics from the Xbox to Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 supports in-game Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Pro Logic II. DD, DPLII and DTS output during DVD playback are also supported. Both RCA stereo and optical audio connections are supported, and the audio will play at a bit and frequency rate of 16-bit/48khz.

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What's In The Box? Well, How Much You Got?
Microsoft, much to the immediate dismay of its hardcore fans, revealed two pricing SKUs for the Xbox 360 in August at the German Game Convention, a Core package and a Premium package. The Core System is priced at $299.99. It comes with an Xbox 360, one standard wired controller, a faceplate, and a standard AV cable. The Premium System runs for $399.99, and comprises an Xbox 360, a detachable 20-GB hard-drive, a wireless controller, faceplate, headset, a component HD AV cable, an Ethernet cable, and for a limited time, a remote controller.

With its two pricing SKUs, Microsoft has smashed the invisible pricing taboo with its $399.99 tier. Considered too pricey for the last two generations, and with great examples of overpriced failures set before us with the 3D0 and Neo-Geo to name a few, Microsoft's pricing structure has multiple functions, reasonings, and maybe even a little politics behind it. First, the Core system is priced at $299, the standard pricing console games have become used to. This package is an introductory MSRP, and it's a bare-bones deal for folks who simply want to play videogames without much hassle, fuss, backward compatibility, etc. It's basically for the mom who wants to get her kid an Xbox 360, but who doesn't want or need the extra stuff. Of course, that mom will be wrong, and her kid will immediately let her know so, forcing her to spend extra to get all the stuff that's bundled in with the Premium Kit.

Core Bundle


Premium Bundle


The Premium pricing, while $100 more, is really a better deal. Why? First, for $100 more, you get a detachable 20-GB hard-drive, a wireless instead of a wired controller, a headset, a component HD AV cable, an Ethernet cable, and a remote controller. When you add those items they easily cost more than $100. Second, while Microsoft has been rather quiet about it, in order to play backward compatible games, you'll need the Hard Drive. Any Xbox game you want to play on your Xbox 360 will need data sent over Xbox Live to be stored on your hard drive. Some of this data could fit on your memory card, but Microsoft has suggested it will be inadequate for backward compatibility in the medium and long run.

Why does Microsoft think it can get away by charging this extra $100? Like we've been saying, the extra stuff included in the Premium SKU is easily worth another $175. The hard drive alone costs $100. Second, Microsoft's Premium system offers you out of the box Internet access, a wireless controller, which is a first to launch with a console, and instant backward compatibility. The fact is today's systems will do way more than the current generation of systems, and an extra $100 is a drop in the bucket relatively speaking. Sure, when you add up $399.99 for a console, which is $400 just for the console, plus one game, which seem to be priced at $59.99 each (OK, $60), you're going to spend, $460. This doesn't include any peripherals you might want, such as extra controllers, headsets, faceplates, etc. Most people will buy at least two games, perhaps three. If you buy three, that's $180 plus $400, which is $580. Damn, that's expensive. But that's what the cost of the next generation looks like.

What are the politics behind the two pricing tiers? Perhaps "politics" isn't the best word. Maybe "strategy" is a better word. Whichever you choose to accept, Microsoft's prices challenges Sony and its next generation PS3, which is believed to cost more than $299, according to Sony's head honcho Ken Kutaragi. The two prices indicate that people have a choice, low end or high end. They're not being forced to buy a console at one price. And given that Microsoft thrives on giving choices, two prices not only serves its own internal purposes from a fundamental financial standpoint, it enables the company to come in at a traditional price-point as well as its desired price-point, which is actually a deal for the gamer (as long as you consider a 20-Gig Hard drive to be worth $100).

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Backward Compatibility
Without officially announcing the details on backward compatibility, Microsoft has basically outlined what is needed to make it work. Initially, the manufacturer said it would support backward compatibility for the "best selling Xbox games." Meaning… a handful of its own first-party titles such as obvious picks Halo, Halo 2, Fable, Forza, etc., plus a select few third-party games, ranging from Madden to Ninja Gaiden to Splinter Cell Chaos Theory. Of course, Microsoft hasn't officially said any of this. But people can put two and two together. Actually, officially, Microsoft has said Halo 2 will be backward compatible in its sell sheets, so that title is confirmed.

The other major part of Microsoft's rather stealthy backward compatibility issue is that for all intents and purposes, gamers will need the hard drive to support it. The 64 MB memory card won't be enough. This makes the Premium Package a little more appealing every second we think about it. The reasoning behind the labyrinthine messages comes down to Microsoft's graphics chip strategy. On Xbox, it used an nVIDIA graphics card, while on Xbox 360, it's using an ATI card. To make a long story short, the new custom GPU chip is nothing like the nVIDIA-based GPU on Xbox. One of the main complications is that Microsoft would have to pay a small sum, a percentage of every Xbox 360 sold, to nVIDIA, if it were to include that chip in its new system. As it is, Microsoft has to pay nVIDIA for the emulation chip it's running on Xbox 360, but apparently that sum is far less than it would be had Microsoft used the official nVIDIA GPU.


Halo 2?


Forza?


Since every game is coded differently, Microsoft has to look at each backward compatible Xbox game individually. It has to test each one and create a game nugget to store on Xbox 360 to enable backward compatibility. This is a long and arduous process, and it's forced Microsoft to prioritize some games over others. Thus, "the best-selling games" will come first, and others will come after. Also, Microsoft is trying to get third-party publishers to include code nuggets in this fall's games so those will be instantly backward compatible from day one. Either way you look at it, if you want the Xbox 360 to play Xbox games, you'll want the hard drive, and a little patience from Microsoft on this one.

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Peripherals

The launch window accessories include a bevy peripherals, some of which are highly useful, some of which enable HDTV connections, while others support wireless conrollers and connections. Here are the products coming down the pipe.


Xbox 360 Faceplates: $19.99: Faceplates are new to the console world. Borrowing stylistic customization to the consoles from extreme sports such a snowboarding, skateboarding and surfing, Microsoft's faceplates are detachable front panels that show off a gamers' preference in style. They're easily detachable and do not affect the system's functionality. The Xbox 360 comes with a standard faceplate. Additional versions cost $19.99, though independent peripheral makers are already selling theirs for $9.99.


Xbox 360 Hard Drive (20 GB): $99.99: This 20-GB hard drive comes with the premium bundle or is sold separately for $99.99. The custom hard drive is not necessary for Xbox 360 games, as all developers are mandated to make 360 games function without them. However, to play backward compatible games from the Xbox 1, consumers will require the space of the hard drive. The Hard Drive contains a custom soundtrack, a few videos, one of which is "The Making of Xbox 360," a few gamer tiles, and the arcade puzzle game, Hexic. It's detachable, is constructed with a specialized port, fits snugly on the Xbox 360's top section, and is portable.

Xbox 360 Memory Unit (64 MB): $39.99 The 64 MB memory card is twice the size of the original Xbox memory card. With it, consumers can save game data, Xbox Live data, and Xbox Live Arcade games. It's easy to carry it around in pockets, briefcases, and backpacks. With the Xbox 360, the memory card now plugs directly into the console, freeing up space on the controller.


Wireless Networking Adapter: $99.99 Whether you want to play single or multiplayer games in the comfort of your living room with wireless controllers, the wireless network adaptor is a key device. The adapter installs with no power cables or other attachments, connecting to the back right of the Xbox 360. The adaptor uses sophisticated radio wave technology (802.11 a/b/g) so you can stream entertainment (images from camera, video, and music from iPods, etc.) from your Windows XP or Media Center PC to boot.


Xbox 360 Wireless Controller: $49.99 Taking note of the popularity of Nintendo's WaveBird, Microsoft's wireless controller is a lightweight, well-crafted, ergonomically designed tool. It's bundled with the Premium package, sold separately from the Core package. What are the biggest changes over the Xbox controller? The black and white buttons have been moved to the left and right bumpers, which sit directly above the left and right triggers. And it's wireless. The controller features two analog sticks and a Dpad, which are placed in the same positions they were in the previous Xbox controller, a start and back button, and the new Xbox 360 Guide button, which sits in the top-center portion of the controller. The Xbox 360 Guide Button can pull up the new GamerCard menu screen at any time, and it's illuminated. It blinks when friends send messages or when batteries in the controller run low. In that case, players have the option to plug in the controller and continue playing while the battery recharges. It features an optional removable battery pack (or two AA batteries). The wireless controller is easily the most sophisticated wireless controller on the market. It uses "frequency-hopping spread spectrum" a thousand times a second or so, changing frequencies, cutting down drastically on the amount of interference you might encounter from other devices in your house. It's already a tried-and-true system with an extended range of 30 feet in any direction. Headsets connect directly into the audio jack on the controller, eliminating the need for Xbox communicators.





Xbox 360 Wired Controller: $39.99 Microsoft's wired controller is exactly the same in design as the wireless controller: it's lightweight, well-crafted, and ergonomically designed for maximum comfort. It's bundled with the Core package, and sold separately from the Premium package. The console offers three USB ports, all of which can connect to wired controllers. What are the biggest changes over the Xbox controller? The black and white buttons have been moved to the left and right bumpers, which sit directly above the left and right triggers. The controller features two analog sticks and a Dpad, which are placed in the same positions they were in the previous Xbox controller, a start and back button, and the new Xbox 360 Guide button, which sits in the top-center portion of the controller. The Xbox 360 Guide Button can pull up the new GamerCard menu screen at any time, and it's illuminated.


Xbox 360 Play & Charge Kit: $19.99 Required for the wireless controller, the play and charge kit enables continuous play, and in our opinion it's a must-have device with wireless controllers. Each full charge is good for 30 hours, and gamers can determine the battery fuel level via the Xbox 360 dashboard. The kit includes a Play and Charge Cable and a NiMH rechargeable battery pack.


Xbox 360 Rechargeable Battery Pack: $11.99 This is a no-brainer for gamers who own the wireless controller. The Battery Pack works in tandem with the play and charge kit, providing up to 25 hours of play per full battery charge using a high-level NiMH rechargeable battery cell. Charge this up while playing and when your battery runs out switch it out for the full charged one. Makes good sense to us.


Xbox 360 Headset: $19.99 Much like the headset for the first Xbox, the Xbox 360 headset fits over your skull, including one earphone and an adjustable boom microphone. It's lightweight and plugs directly into a small port on the bottom of either wireless or wired controllers. It features in-line volume control, mute switch, and the noise-cancelling offers crisp sound recognition while muting sounds other than your voice.



Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote: $29.99 The Xbox 360 remote control is nifty specifically for two reasons: A) it turns your console on and off, and B) it features controller face buttons so you can play games without using a controller! The remote offers the Xbox 360 guide button (just like the controller), DVD playback functionality, including a button for opening and closing the disc tray. It supports universal TV and console functionality with volume and mute buttons as well as up-and-down channel changing, a Windows XP Media Center Edition button and Media Center Edition functionality, and numbered and backlit keypads.


Xbox 360 Component HDAV Cable: $39.99 Designed to transfer high definition visuals to TVs, these component connections connect to your HDTV, playing high quality audio with a standard stereo or the optical audio port for digital sound. The eight-foot long shielded cable enables 720p or 1080i output (on any HDTV), supports progressive scan DVD playback in 480p, Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, and component (Y, Pr, Pb) high def video output or composite outputs for standard TVs.


Xbox 360 S-Video AV Cable: $29.99
The eight-foot long, shielded S-video AV cable is an excellent choice for gamers whose TVs aren't component enabled. The S-Video cable provides enhanced clarity over standard composite connectors in addition to high-level quality Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. It includes digital optical audio outputs and stereo audio outputs.


Xbox 360 VGA HDAV Cable: $39.99 These cables are designed to deliver high-definition graphics to either your HDTV or PC monitor using VGA input. The eight-foot long shielded cable plugs into video output settings of 480p, 720p, or 1080i and requires a DV-15S Standard VGA connector. It also offers Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound output.