Microsoft Claims Xbox One Can Make Due With Faster GPU, Less Compute Units

From DailyTech: The Xbox One may be 1080p "capable", but that doesn't mean that all Xbox One games will render at 1080p according to a recent interview by Eurogamer. And that's a good thing according to lead Xbox One engineers Andrew Goossen (software) and Nick Baker (Hardware), both of which answered the interview questions about Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT) new console, which launches on Nov. 22.

"We've chosen to let title developers make the trade-off of resolution vs. per-pixel quality in whatever way is most appropriate to their game content. A lower resolution generally means that there can be more quality per pixel. With a high-quality scaler and antialiasing and render resolutions such as 720p or '900p', some games look better with more GPU processing going to each pixel than to the number of pixels; others look better at 1080p with less GPU processing per pixel."

Microsoft also revealed that it's mandating at least 2x anti-aliasing in all its titles, a guideline that had not yet received significant media attention. Additionally, Mr. Baker and Mr. Goosen detail in the interview how the Xbox One operating system, firmware, and hardware are designed to allow system apps (e.g. a messaging client) to run alongside games at minimum cost.

The GPU powering the Xbox One, Microsoft clarified in the interview, will be a Sea Islands family design from Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD). Mr. Goosen says that this is the same family used inside Sony Corp.'s (TYO:6758) PlayStation 4. Microsoft's design uses 12 compute units (CUs) versus 18 CUs in the PS4 chip; hence Microsoft's design is somewhat analogous to Bonaire (the GPU in the Radeon HD 7790) while Sony's is similar to Pitcairn (the GPU in the Radeon HD 7850).

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