When Microsoft unveiled their newest console at E3 2016, they pushed the promise that it would be the most powerful console ever created. In the ensuing months since the gaming world has been filled with rumors as to what the exact specs for Project Scorpio would be, Digital Foundry recently got an exclusive inside look at the Scorpio after Microsoft invited them to visit their Redmond, Washington campus and today they presented the details of what kind of power the console has.
Breaking down Project Scorpio
Project Scorpio has a custom x86 Jaguar Evolved for its architecture and has a frequency of 2.3GHz, 0.55GHz higher than the Xbox One.
The console also boasts 12 gigabytes (GB) GDDR5 RAM, which is 4GB higher than the Xbox One or PS4 Pro. Of that 12GB of RAM, 8GB is available for games, which is 3GB more than the Xbox One or PS4 Pro could offer. The GPU of Project Scorpio has 40 compute units, compared to 36 for the PS4 Pro and 12 for the Xbox One.
However, its core clock runs at 1172MHz, as opposed to 911MHZ on the PS4 Pro, meaning that Project Scorpio has a 43% compute advantage. Microsoft also delivered on their promise of 6 teraflops, which is four times higher than the Xbox One (1.31TFLOP) and almost one-third higher than the PS4 Pro (4.2TFLOP). Finally, the specs of the console make it so that it is capable of running in native 4K at 60 frames per second (FPS).
A game changer for Microsoft?
The official reveal of the specs for Project Scorpio is just the latest big news for Microsoft this year. At the beginning of March, Microsoft revealed their new subscription-based service, the Xbox Game Pass. Despite this powerful new console, Microsoft may still need to announce some new games at E3 in June to keep their base excited.
This is due to Nintendo having recently launched their new console, the Switch and the critically-acclaimed "Zelda: Breath of the Wild." Playstation has countered with a lineup of exclusive games that are all getting praise like, "Horizon: Dawn Zero," "Nioh," "Nier: Automata," "MLB The Show 17," and "Yakuza 0." In contrast, Microsoft has already canceled "Scalebound" and their only major exclusive so far this year has been "Halo Wars: 2." Other big exclusive Xbox games like "Crackdown 3," "Cuphead," "Sea of Thieves," and "State of Decay 2" do not have a 2017 release date or are TBA. If Microsoft has a hidden exclusive up their sleeve to make use of all that new power in the Scorpio, then it would be big news.
