Xbox Series X, Microsoft's next generation console, aims to be everything a technical portento with twice the graphic power of Xbox One X, eight times higher than the traditional Xbox One. Although all their numbers are still to be confirmed, we know that it will have an AMD architecture composed of Zen 2 CPU and AMD Navi graphics, which will have GDDR6 memory. In addition, ** it will have the already known SSD hard drive that, according to Phil Spencer, can be used as virtual RAM. **
"Thanks to its speed, developers can now use SSD virtually as virtual RAM," says Xbox boss, Phil Spencer, in an interview with PC Gamer Hardware. «SSD access times approach the memory access times of the current console generation. Of course, the operating system must allow developers access beyond that of a pure storage medium. Then we will see how the address space will increase greatly, comparable to the change from Win16 to Win32 or, in some cases, Win64. »
Being the first generation of consoles that will mount this type of memories, it seems to catch us all a little new, but Digital Foundry has already advanced this possibility Previously when dealing with the possible implications that SSD disks would have, being the use of part of the memory as RAM one of them. A technology similar to the Radeon Pro SSG (Solid State Graphics) workstation announced by AMD a couple of years ago.
“Of course, the SSD will continue to be slower than the GDDR6 RAM that is directly on the matrix. But the ability to provide data directly to the CPU and GPU through the SSD will allow to create game worlds that will not only be richer, but also more fluid. Not only in terms of pure load times, but also in terrain mapping. A graphic designer no longer has to worry about when GDDR6 ends and when SSD begins. »
Does the future of video games go through the SSD hard drive?
This is not the first time we have heard about the benefits of SSD hard drives for game development, so Spencer also remembers Sony in this matter to make the industry evolve together in this direction. Although the latest leak says PlayStation 5 would be less powerful than Xbox Series X, both will use SSDs. "I like that Mark Cerny and his team at Sony are also investing in an SSD for PlayStation 5, engines and tools can implement the corresponding functions," says the manager. “Together we will ensure a larger installed base, and developers will do everything possible to master and support the programming of these hardware capabilities. I don't have a PS5 development kit, I don't even think our Minecraft team has it. But it will be exciting to see how the industry will benefit from the comprehensive use of such solutions. »
For the moment it is not clear that it will be a unique quality of Xbox Series X, since PS5 uses the same AMD architecture and some claim that it is the easiest to work. In just a few months we will leave doubts.
