Xbox Scarlett Project Award: How much will the new Xbox cost and when will we know more?

It's time to start saving for Xbox Project Scarlett, people. We are sitting on the eve of the next generation and, while it is certainly an exciting time to be alive, we are a little afraid that the cost of entry to make the experience is astronomical enough. Wondering what the price of Xbox Project Scarlett will be? It's something we question too. Microsoft has already gone into some details about the Xbox Project Scarlett specs and it's clearly a power – although it's a good thing for the future of the game, it will definitely be bad news for our bank accounts. Let's see why, and try to determine the actual price of Xbox Project Scarlett when it launches in 2020.

While Microsoft aims to retain the nickname "most powerful console" adopted after the release of the Xbox One X in 2016, the Xbox Scarlett project is endowed with impressive technology. Awesome, but expensive. This time, however, this cost does not rest solely on the shoulders of the CPU's capacity, the graphics processing unit (GPU) or the RAM (RAM) . As explained in Scarlett's presentation to the Xbox Project at E3, this new system will include a high-speed "new generation" SSD drive designed to fundamentally improve the game's performance (goodbye long charging times). It could also be the a factor that drives up the price of the Xbox Scarlett project through the proverbial roof, given that the current crop of high-end NVMe 1TB SSDs for PC retail is over $ 250.

How much will Xbox Project Scarlett cost?

(Image credit: Casey Rodgers / Invision for Xbox / AP images)

We will ignore (for a second) that Microsoft actually promises to launch its new console with an SSD outperforms current SSDs for PC, impossible to predict. Instead, we'll make an educated / speculative guess that the Xbox Project Scarlett hard drive will be based on a high-speed NVMe drive. If we take as a reference point the Samsung SSD 970 Pro, the 1TB version only costs £ 299 / $ 350. Now, given that the Xbox project, Scarlett needs to be ready for installation and playback of 4K assets and perhaps 8K – not to mention the tools needed to cope with a surging push towards a digital-centric ecosystem, through services such as Game Pass – and 1TB. hard drive (standard on an Xbox One X) does not seem to have enough space to meet the challenges of the next generation. Not far away.

Integrate a high-speed SSD from 2 to 4 TB to alleviate installation constraints of ever larger installation sizes. We are immediately considering an upscale platform. Before taking into account any other built-in component or the particular shade of metallic black, Microsoft decides of course, Microsoft will strive to reduce costs as much as possible, seeking to make its manufacturing process as economical as possible in terms of costs and resources. Yet, even as SSD prices begin to drop slowly towards 2020, the fact remains that the PCI-E-based NVMe drive – on which Project Scarlett's "next-generation" SSD drive will undoubtedly be modeled – is unmistakable. not so fast falling, still with a premium of 20 to 50% compared to their slower brothers, based on SATA.

Where to turn our attention next? We know that the Xbox Scarlett project is equipped with a SoC, a custom system-on-a-chip platform that integrates the processor and graphics processor. The GPU has yet to be properly detailed, but it is essentially an AMD Navi chip specifically designed for this purpose. It aims to support new initiatives such as hardware acceleration in real time. laser trace. While AMD has not yet unveiled its latest Navi processors and its range of Ryzen 3000 processors, we are probably looking for standard support, such as the RTX 2080 or the Radeon VII. Take into account native 4K resolutions at 60 frames per second (not to mention 8K resolutions and potentially optimized refresh rates for the future) and you're considering a GPU that would cost at least $ 800 for an equivalent PC . Then you have the core of AMD Ryzen Zen 2 processor built with Radeon RDNA architecture and … look, it gets really expensive, real quickly.

Does this mean that the price of the Xbox Scarlett project will cost more than $ 1,000? Of course not. While these individual components may cost incredibly expensive when viewed in isolation, the truth is that Microsoft is still trying to finalize the details – hence the lack of concrete information or the inevitable bragging of teraflops and others. meaningless numbers. In fact, while Microsoft is trying to determine the number of built-in CPU / GPU chips it can make, it is likely that some elements of the chip design will be disabled as the chain's defects get worse. solve low cost. The same was true for the Xbox One, which also included a SoC design, which saw some processor cores initially turned off to mitigate early manufacturing process issues.

In the end, the more Microsoft wants to make this process aggressive, the more complex it is to make the internal elements of the system launch, the more expensive the console will be at the beginning – less and less expensive over time as the process progresses. Manufacturing will improve and that Microsoft, together with partners such as AMD, determine how to streamline the entire process. The price of the Xbox Scarlett project will be high, no doubt, but it will not push the bar of $ 1,000.

How does the Xbox Scarlett project price compare to Xbox One and Xbox One X?

By looking at Microsoft's price history, there is a good chance that the Xbox Project Scarlett's price will rise to just over $ 499. It was the introductory price of the Xbox One in 2013 and its more powerful predecessor, the Xbox One X, in 2016. While the Xbox was launched at $ 299 in 2001 and the Xbox 360 at $ 399, adjusted to take account of inflation, these figures can reach $ 399 and $ 499, respectively. $ 500 is the Xbox Candy.

Given the type of technology and state-of-the-art components built into the Xbox Project Scarlett, believing that the system will cost less than $ 499 would be a foolish undertaking. Microsoft has not yet detailed its launch plans, but Jason Ronald, director of partner programs at Microsoft, told our partner site Windows Central that: "We understand what are the reasonable prices for a console and the expectations of customers about it.At the same time, for you, we innovate, we push the limits of some of these elements … We do not share any details at this time. about price, or, you know, more detailed specs at this point, but I'll say we're very confident in what we're building, something that will create a new bar for console game expectations. " what you want.

Xbox Project Scarlett Award – do not worry about accessories, devices and games

At the present time, a price of $ 499-599 seems plausible, and the same goes for its closest rival, as shown in our overview of the PS5 vs. Xbox Project Scarlett. The jump to this new generation will not be cheap, but it is the price of a real evolution. The price of the Scarlett project on Xbox could be mitigated by the fact that Microsoft is investing as much in compatibility with earlier versions of the Scarlett project.

Think about it, you're paying $ 499 for a console, but it only gets worse by taking into account some launch games specifically designed to sell the system – designed to present all the new benefits and features brought by the new console – with the new controllers, subscriptions and other extras proposed by the publishers. With Xbox Project Scarlett, all your existing Xbox One devices and services are downstream compatible. Achievements, progress, controllers, service subscriptions and accessories go to Scarlett, while the console also allows you to play existing games via (we assume) the optical disc drive, digital download or Game Pass. You could save a few hundred dollars from the start.

This console cycle is not going to be focused solely on finding power: looking for better resolutions when the adoption of 4K is still minimal, trying to get a rate of 120 Hz when developers are still struggling to achieve a rate of 60 fps to 1080p. Instead, it is to improve the basic experience with console use and stability of the game, hence the inclusion of An expensive SSD in the mix.

Yet with Xbox Project Scarlett launch date set for 2020 alongside Halo InfinityMicrosoft will surely not be ready to offer new details and give us a solid idea of ​​what the Scarlett Xbox Project will really cost. Of course, when the company does, we will be sure to update this page. So keep your eyes on GamesRadar to know all the details of the next generation as they arise.