Microsoft Xbox One to get a CPU boost in retail units

As we get nearer to a still unknown November release date, details about Microsoft's next generation console are slowly coming out, enticing gamers to prepare themselves, and their wallets, for the official launch. The news this time is quite positive, with the Xbox One said to be sporting a faster CPU speed than previously seen.

News about the Xbox One's features are slowly making its way out over the Internet. Just recently, we received confirmation that the Xbox One will be able to support up to 8 controllers simultaneously. This is double the amount that the previous generation Xbox 360 could support. The interesting implication of this fact is that there might be upcoming games that utilize 8 controllers. That and the fact that the Xbox One might require a larger TV screen, as splitting a smaller screen into 8 active parts my seem a tad uncomfortable to use.

Last month, we got word that Microsoft has boosted the GPU performance of the Xbox One by 6%, increasing the graphics chip's speed from 800 MHz to 853 MHz. Though it might not seem much, but in the world of gaming and computer graphics, even such a seemingly insignificant increase could mean a lot in terms of overall performance. The fact that Microsoft didn't have to change the hardware to pull this off could mean that the GPU could still be overclock just a bit more.

That may just be the same case now with the CPU of the Xbox One. The eight-core AMD processor of the console will now be running at clock speeds of 1.75 GHz. Previous data coming from developer versions only showed the Xbox One running at 1.6 GHz, so this is quite a boost. The Xbox One's CPU and GPU may be made for low-cost and low-power uses, but it will be quite enough to run games smoothly and beautifully, especially with this performance boost across the two most important units.

We still have no exact date for the public availability of the Xbox One, but Microsoft has thrown hints at a November ballpark. That leaves enough time for more information to come out that will leave gamers and fans of the console pining for it.

VIA: Ars Technica