“Series X 6nm! YESSSSSS! We found it!” Not my words, but the excited exclamations of Austin Evans, with a brand-new video that tears down the new disc-less edition of the Xbox Series X, revealing what’s generally believed to be the first major console revision for Microsoft since 2020. It’s an interesting contrast with Sony, who have revised the PlayStation 5 annually, moving to a 6nm processor way back in 2022 and delivering a further-revised ‘Slim’ edition a year later. 6nm silicon brings with it apparent cost-reductions and efficiency improvements – but this is no game-changing update in the way it was with the Xbox One S and the PS4 Slim. In concert with a $599 Xbox Series X 2TB, a $449 disc-less Series X and a $699 PlayStation 5 Pro, the days of console cost-reductions are clearly over and the whole nature of what next-gen will actually be is up for debate.
Going back to the Austin Evans video, the nature of the Series X revision is fully revealed. By moving from 7nm to 6nm, the chip itself is smaller. Evans is seen measuring the processor but doesn’t offer a die-size. Having spoken to him, his measurements for the older chip don’t meet the acknowledged 360mm2 (it’s more like 380mm2), but comparing his measurements for the new chip to the old, it’s around 87 percent of the size. This would suggest a 6nm die-size of around 313mm2. Truth is, package size and die size can be slightly different, perhaps explaining the discrepancy in measurements. Even so, the size reduction is broadly in line with PS5’s shrinkage, with similar, modest power consumption improvements up against the prior 7nm models.
Thanks to this, Microsoft follows Sony in also reducing the quality of the cooling assembly. The impressive heft of the old cooler with its vapour chamber is swapped out for a more conventional design with copper heat pipes. While internal temperatures aren’t measured in the Evans video, the end result is a console that basically looks very similar to the old one, and has a similarly quiet acoustic profile. Sony took the opportunity to build a new form-factor around its efficiency improvements, but Microsoft has not. Despite the emergence of the trash can-like, adorably all-digital Xbox Series X in Microsoft’s self-leaked FTC disclosures, it’s clear that the current form-factor remains the same.
0:00:00 Introduction0:00:59 News 1: New Series X has 6nm SoC, revised internals0:18:08 News 2: Xbox Partner Showcase reveals new games0:38:36 News 3: Analogue 3D announced!0:49:38 News 4: Halo battle royale game was cancelled0:59:18 News 5: Tomb Raider 4-6 remasters announced1:10:58 News 6: 3GB GDDR7 memory modules announced1:17:16 News 7: Killing Time: Resurrected released1:27:34 Supporter Q1: Will PS5 Pro have an expanded VRR range? When will we see the Ultra Boost Mode? And can it unlock frame-rates without developer intervention?1:34:54 Supporter Q2: What type of CRT tube does John prefer?1:38:40 Supporter Q3: What would need to change for an Nvidia powered Xbox or PlayStation to happen?1:44:45 Supporter Q4: Could PS6 skip PS4 backwards compatibility?1:48:53 Supporter Q5: What do you think of the ModRetro Chromatic?1:52:16 Supporter Q6: How should we view AI-powered visual modifications to games?2:01:20 Supporter Q7: Does AMD regret the 5800X3D?
In this week’s DF Direct, a Supporter asks us why it took so long for Microsoft to produce a new Xbox, bearing in mind Sony embraced 6nm two years ago – and the Series X has a markedly larger processor, meaning a potentially higher cost saving. We’re also asked why the power saving isn’t more pronounced than PS5’s, bearing in mind the larger chip. Well, on the latter point, PS5 and Series X at 7nm consumed similar power so it stands to reason it’s the same situation at 6nm too. Microsoft’s chip might be larger, but Sony’s is pushed to higher clocks – on the GPU side at least.