Project Scorpio's GPU is 4.5x faster than Xbox One

More details have been leaked on the upcoming Project Scorpio console from Microsoft, with a GPU that is still capable of 6 TFLOPs of performance, providing 4.5x the GPU compute performance of the Xbox One.

Digital Foundry's new report states that Microsoft has removed ESRAM from Project Scorpio, which has been in the center of the Xbox One and Xbox One S consoles, with the site reporting: "ESRAM remains essential to achieving high performance on both Xbox One and Xbox One S. However, Project Scorpio and PC are not provided with ESRAM. Because developers are not allowed to ship a Project Scorpio-only SKU, optimising for ESRAM remains critical to performance on Microsoft platforms".

Furthermore, it looks like Project Scorpio will have a GPU that falls more in line with AMD's current-gen Polaris GPU architecture, rather than Vega. This is something I've said for a while, as I don't see AMD providing Microsoft with a semi-custom APU based on a GPU architecture that's not even available yet. We might see a Polaris-based GPU with Vega features thrown in, but not an entire Vega GPU. Zen CPU cores should be featured, and I'd be surprised if Microsoft didn't tap AMD's revolutionary leap in CPU technology inside of Project Scorpio.

Digital Foundry continues: "There are other clues as to Scorpio's final hardware set-up within the whitepaper. The six teraflop GPU is once again confirmed, with the GPU's compute power rated at around 4.5 times the capabilities of Xbox One. Four times more L2 cache is also confirmed - a new detail that does not tell us that much, except that that the GPU architecture in Scorpio is at least as modern as AMD's Polaris line. Based on our discussions with Mark Cerny on PS4 Pro, we can reasonably assume that Microsoft can customise its GPU core just as Sony did, with access to Radeon roadmap features up to - and perhaps beyond - AMD's upcoming Vega architecture. Microsoft gives away little here, other than to confirm that delta colour compression (DCC) is a part of the Scorpio GPU feature set, just as it is in PS4 Pro".

I'm concerned over the use of AMD's upcoming Ryzen CPU architecture, as Microsoft confirmed an 8-core processor with a higher clock speed from its current CPU technology inside of the Xbox One for Project Scorpio. Microsoft could flick over to Zen, but this is something we'll have to wait and find out.

Digital Foundry writes:

Project Scorpio will release Holiday 2017, likely for a price point of $599 or so. Check below for everything we know about the console so far.

Project Scorpio confirmed specs:

• 6 TFLOPs of performance
• 320GB per second memory bandwith
• 8 CPU Cores

Everything we know so far about Project Scorpio:

• Project Scorpio renders games in native 4K
• Project Scorpio to deliver new era of 4K console gaming
• Project Scorpio won't be $399, and here's why
• Project Scorpio devs can choose native 4K or 1080p 60FPS
• Xbox Scorpio confirmed, rocks 6TFLOPs, 4K gaming, VR, coming in 2017
• Project Scorpio's custom GPU could sit between Polaris and Vega
• Xbox Scorpio could be powered by 14 nm Polaris + Zen SoC for 4K gaming
• The next-gen Xbox Scorpio will be capable of 90FPS in VR
• Project Scorpio won't run all current Xbox One games at 1080p 60FPS
• Next-gen Xbox Scorpio to support native 4K gaming?
• New 4K Xbox to support Oculus Rift VR headset
• New Xbox will be '5 times more powerful' than PS4 Neo, rocks 10 TFLOPs
• Xbox and Windows are merging under Microsoft's Project Helix strategy
• Next-gen 4K-ready Xbox coming in 2017, could sport external GPU