Xbox Series X

[Aikouka]

No. only Live Gold - i want to apply a third year before I do any switches.

I'm not entirely sure, but I do know the limit is 36 months. Maybe there's some weird thing about how they look at the duration where they want you to be less than 36 months (i.e. "up to 3 years" vs. "3 years")? I think I just added about 1.5 to 2 years to mine before converting it, so I didn't run into any issues.

 

[simas]

I'm not entirely sure, but I do know the limit is 36 months. Maybe there's some weird thing about how they look at the duration where they want you to be less than 36 months (i.e. "up to 3 years" vs. "3 years")? I think I just added about 1.5 to 2 years to mine before converting it, so I didn't run into any issues.

This is still correct (you are correct) - 36 month is a limit right now. All I had to do to apply last code is wait a single day and it added without an issue this morning giving me 36 months of Xbox Live Gold . I will convert this to Gamepass later this month . Thank you to all who suggested this earlier.

 

[Asterox]

In details, RDNA2 52 Ray Accelerators for 4K 30fps Ray Tracing gaming performance.

Page 2 - AMD 6000 reviews thread

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

forums.anandtech.com

 

[purbeast0]

@purbeast0 Have you managed to win one yet from Taco Bell?

*cough*

 

[Aikouka]

*cough*

Are you doing the multi-account thing? I've been using the free three codes each day, but since it requires a separate mobile number, I've only been doing it on one.

 

[purbeast0]

Are you doing the multi-account thing? I've been using the free three codes each day, but since it requires a separate mobile number, I've only been doing it on one.

Yeah with 2 accounts. Been doing 6 tries a day basically lol.

 

[JujuFish]

I didn't even know that existed. Will try to win it too.

 

[Aikouka]

Yeah with 2 accounts. Been doing 6 tries a day basically lol.

Quite lucky! I’ve been trying to win a PS5 from Burger King too, but no luck there either. Unfortunately, they don’t have any easily attainable codes.

 

[purbeast0]

I'll have my Xbox Series X on Friday from Taco Bell.

EDIT:

Actually looks like Monday. Got an email today that it has shipped with 2 day shipping, but it has the ship date of tomorrow.

 

[blckgrffn]

Haha, one of 20 awarded. How many free tacos did you win? Do you have a gamepass to spot me?!? Ha. No winning here :/

 

[blckgrffn]

So I was seriously considering getting the Series S as I just sold my One S for $180 and am getting ready to sell my other OG One w/Kinect and 500GB internal SSD upgrade (which in side by side comparisons with my One S made it much more responsive and quick to boot, launch games, etc.) for hopefully more, but that would have put the S as a zero dollar option and probably one with better availability.

BUT.

The Series S is stuck with One S levels of detail and resolutions with Xbox One and earlier titles! They don't get and of the One X improvements. That sucks, IMO, especially given the first couple years are going to be real thin on real next gen titles. I don't understand why the Series S can't play those titles at One X performance levels unless it's a ram thing and they just aren't making the calls on a game by game basis.

Xbox Series X/S review: Beautiful, powerful—but whatcha gonna play?

Finally, you can enjoy our first lengthy tests of the weirdly positioned $299 Series S.

arstechnica.com

So I guess it's Series X or bust.

 

[jpiniero]

The Series S is stuck with One S levels of detail and resolutions with Xbox One and earlier titles! They don't get and of the One X improvements. That sucks, IMO, especially given the first couple years are going to be real thin on real next gen titles. I don't understand why the Series S can't play those titles at One X performance levels unless it's a ram thing and they just aren't making the calls on a game by game basis.

RAM is probably the reason it's not by default. Presumably the games could be patched.

 

[purbeast0]

So I was seriously considering getting the Series S as I just sold my One S for $180 and am getting ready to sell my other OG One w/Kinect and 500GB internal SSD upgrade (which in side by side comparisons with my One S made it much more responsive and quick to boot, launch games, etc.) for hopefully more, but that would have put the S as a zero dollar option and probably one with better availability.

BUT.

The Series S is stuck with One S levels of detail and resolutions with Xbox One and earlier titles! They don't get and of the One X improvements. That sucks, IMO, especially given the first couple years are going to be real thin on real next gen titles. I don't understand why the Series S can't play those titles at One X performance levels unless it's a ram thing and they just aren't making the calls on a game by game basis.

Xbox Series X/S review: Beautiful, powerful—but whatcha gonna play?

Finally, you can enjoy our first lengthy tests of the weirdly positioned $299 Series S.

arstechnica.com

So I guess it's Series X or bust.

Yes, the Series S is a complete waste of money.

I heard today too that out of the 512gb, there is only 364gb usable.

Only 364GB of the Xbox Series S' 512GB SSD is actually usable

29% lost to the OS Anyone who buys an Xbox Series S will probably find themselves scrambling for extra storage...

www.destructoid.com

 

[blckgrffn]

RAM is probably the reason it's not by default. Presumably the games could be patched.

Yeah, pretty sure that's not happening. Even BC 360 games get the One S treatment.

Buying a Series S I am not expecting to get the same experience I could have gotten on my One S. That's crazy. (outside of loading times, of course)

@purbeast0 honestly the space thing doesn't bother me that much, I've my external SSD from my old setup just sitting here and not worth much. As long as it can hold Minecraft + 1 game on nvme storage I don't feel the need to buy more at this point. My current usage is about ~30GB with apps and games installed. Costume Quest being my #2 disk usage culprit. Ha.

What really irritates (again) me is the idea that for most of the currently library my current xbox is too close to what the Series S is offering from a graphical standpoint. My bogey was One X graphics, fast loading times for all games and apps and quiet and reliable operation. They botched it.

My current xbox *also* plays bluyrays, the kinect games are good for my kids and so on and so forth.

 

[jpiniero]

What really irritates (again) me is the idea that for most of the currently library my current xbox is too close to what the Series S is offering from a graphical standpoint. My bogey was One X graphics, fast loading times for all games and apps and quiet and reliable operation. They botched it.

Things will get better over time as games get optimized. But as it stands, the Series S is worse than the One X in RAM and compute power that you can't just use that target like you can on the Series X.

 

[quikah]

Things will get better over time as games get optimized. But as it stands, the Series S is worse than the One X in RAM and compute power that you can't just use that target like you can on the Series X.

It is only worse in ram, CPU and storage is FAR superior to the One X. GPU is probably about equivalent, but has more features. The ram is the main sticking point, the One X enhancements are targeting 4K, using higher res textures, etc. which won't fit in the RAM.

If you are hooking it to a 4K TV it makes no sense. 1080P or 1440P monitor, it might be a good idea. Wait for reviews.

 

[MattRandallo12]

I also lost interest in the Xbox, probably because I don't have time to play now.

 

[jpiniero]

It is only worse in ram, CPU and storage is FAR superior to the One X. GPU is probably about equivalent, but has more features.

The GPU is 50% more powerful in terms of TFLOPS (6 vs 4). You'd need to drop the resolution in the game to 1080p or maybe 1440p and upscale to 4K. So there would be some work on the developers end. New games will take care of this but existing XBO games might not.

 

[quikah]

The GPU is 50% more powerful in terms of TFLOPS (6 vs 4). You'd need to drop the resolution in the game to 1080p or maybe 1440p and upscale to 4K. So there would be some work on the developers end. New games will take care of this but existing XBO games might not.

RDNA TFLOPS <> GCN TFLOPS.

Digital Foundry did an interesting theorycraft about it

Anyway, no one should be buying the Series S with the intention of upscaling to 4K.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I would not be surprised if this is all on purpose to push people toward the series x.

 

[Aikouka]

The weaker backwards compatibility has been known for a while; Microsoft was actually quite forward about it not using the One X profile.

I don't think the Series S was ever a consideration for me. The weaker backwards compatibility combined with the lack of a disc drive and half the space... just not worth it. Unless you want a cheap machine for the kids that can really make use of Game Pass (and streaming video over discs), I don't see a ton of value in it.

 

[purbeast0]

We in business boys!

This sucker is heavy, noticeably heavier than the Xbox One X.

 

[Aikouka]

One thing that I found kind of amusing given how much flak Microsoft (deservedly) gets over the name. My mom messaged me yesterday talking about the new PS5 and asked if it could play PS3 games. I eventually remarked about there being a new Xbox coming out this week too, and she was taken by surprise. Keep in mind that she found out about the PS5 from Target's weekly ad, and the latest Xbox was literally listed on the opposite side of the page from the PS5.

We in business boys!

This sucker is heavy, noticeably heavier than the Xbox One X.

I never saw these two questions related to movies answered in a review...

1. How noisy is the optical drive while playing a movie?
2. Does it support Dolby Vision during disc playback?

I'll be picking up mine tomorrow from Best Buy. I did also get a pre-order from Target, which I was trying to see if a friend wanted (at cost, of course). Didn't get an answer in time to cancel, so I'll likely end up just returning it on Thursday. On that note, I have to say that Target is rather slow at shipping. My memory card "shipped" on Friday, but FedEx hasn't even received it yet.

 

[quikah]

I never saw these two questions related to movies answered in a review...

1. How noisy is the optical drive while playing a movie?
2. Does it support Dolby Vision during disc playback?

I think I saw some confirmation that it does not support Dolby Vision for disc (only streaming sources, so just like Xbox One today). No word on if it will.

No idea about noise level.

BTW: Spawnwave did a teardown

Looks like a massive project to completely take it apart. Seems like it will be fairly easy to pop off the back panel to clean though.

 

[jpiniero]

I saw a teardown of the Series S and that is using an M2 2230 SSD. It's not exactly in a user replaceable place though.