Developer confirms Xbox One VR is coming, but how powerful is the console likely to be?

An anonymous eu developer has showed that a chief eu studio is running on a VR title for the Xbox One improve currently anticipated in 2017. Microsoft is expected to announce the brand new console at E3 this yr, and the new identify will likely debut there as properly.

Microsoft intends to paintings with Oculus Rift to help VR on the Xbox One in preference to constructing its personal in-house solution, in line with Ars Technica. At this stage in the sport that’s likely clever; VR headsets historically take several years to expand and the new Xbox One (Xbox 1.5? Xbox two? Xbone Xtreme?) will already be hitting markets behind ps VR and the playstation  4K / four.five / Neo. in contrast to Sony, which has mandated strict backwards compatibility requirements, Xbox One VR may additionally most effective be to be had on the 2017 model because of VR’s excessive performance demands. This makes experience, given that the Xbox One generally lags the playstation  in overall performance checks, despite the fact that its games commonly run at a decrease resolution.

How will Microsoft improve the Xbox One?

If rumors are actual, Sony’s ps Neo is a truthful replace with an stepped forward GPU structure, a quicker CPU clock, and faster GDDR5 reminiscence. Microsoft, in assessment, may additionally ought to make some difficult choices approximately the future of its platform.

The Xbox One’s present day layout combines 4 DDR3-2133 channels with a 32MB SRAM cache. fundamental memory bandwidth is 68GB/s, even as the SRAM cache gives 109GB/s. The SRAM cache is dedicated totally to the GPU, as mentioned in this Microsoft presentation, and its designed to relieve stress on important memory. some developers have complained that the SRAM is just too small to allow for 1080p; a faster, larger SRAM cache may want to prove extraordinarily beneficial to the platform.

in keeping with the presentation linked above, the CPU at the Xbox One is incapable of saturating the quad-channel DDR3-2133 reminiscence bus, while the GPU can without problems saturate it. This causes significant problems for the CPU clusters, that's why Microsoft recommends that the GPU use SRAM as a lot as feasible.

If Microsoft wants the subsequent era of Xbox One to run VR titles, it’s going to want a miles large pipe for the GPU. Theoretically the agency should redesign its major reminiscence bus and upgrade it to DDR4-3200, however that best works if it could additionally make certain the CPU doesn’t become memory starved. DDR4-3200 handiest offers ~102.3GB/s of reminiscence bandwidth. even as that’s 50% greater than the modern Xbox One, it’s now not almost sufficient to feed a present day midrange GPU, that is what we assume an up to date Xbox One to target.

Microsoft has  primary alternatives: it can remodel the console to use GDDR5 or HBM, thereby fixing the bandwidth problem, or it can double down its SRAM cache. the second choice could seem to maintain backward compatibility more without problems, so it’ll be exciting to look wherein Microsoft is going from here.