Project Scorpio specs revealed -- what to expect from the next Xbox powerhouse

The next addition to the Xbox family is code-named Project Scorpio, and today details about the next-generation console have emerged. Rather unusually, these details have come neither direct from Microsoft nor through a series of leaks.

For reasons best known to Microsoft, the company chose to invite Digital Foundry to its Redmond campus and reveal Project Scorpio details. Due for release later this year (Q4 to be a little more precise), the console is said to be running ahead of schedule, and boasts some impressive specs that will have gamers drooling.

Let's cut straight to the chase: Project Scorpio sounds seriously impressive. The CPU is an 8-core affair clocked at 2.3GHz, and the GPU boasts no fewer than 40 customized compute units at 1172MHz. There's 12GB of GDDR5 RAM giving throughput of 326GB/s. Storage is a 1TB 2.5-inch unit, and there's also a 4K UHD Blu-ray drive. Aesthetes will be pleased to learn that there's an integrated power unit.

Microsoft is going all-in on 4K gaming, and Eurogamer reports seeing a Forza Motorsport demo running on the machine at native 4K at 60fps. Kevin Gammill, group program director of the Xbox Core platform, says:

To me, [4K] means a very specific set of things. It's a lot more than delivering than those eight-million-plus pixels to the screen while playing games. It's about delivering those pixels with 4K assets, so they look great. It's about delivering those pixels with HDR and wide color gamut fidelity. It's about delivering those pixels with no loss of frame-rate compared to the 1080p version of that title -- that's super-important to us. Spatial audio adds to the immersive experience as well: to truly land that gameplay experience, it's not just about what you see, but what you hear.

You can check out the full video from Digital Foundry below, and learn more about Project Scorpio.