Build Your Own Xbox Series X as a Gaming PC, Like This YouTuber
The Xbox Series X (pictured) won't be out until Holiday 2020 but one YouTuber went for an early spec-build anyway. | Source: Microsoft
- YouTube builds Xbox Series X as replica gaming PC.
- Specifications matched as closely as possible to the console.
- Xbox Series X likely to cost $599 to $799 to produce.
Can’t wait to get your hands on the next-gen Xbox Series X? You’re not alone, but they may be a solution. YouTuber randomfrankp took it upon himself to build the console as a gaming PC trying to match the known physical and component specifications of the real thing.
Xbox Series X PC
While not an exact replicate, it’s a decent effort with the YouTuber going so far as to find a case with a similar grated exhaust top underneath which he fitted a fan sporting RGB lighting set to Xbox’s signature green. The case is slightly shorter and a tad wider than the estimated dimensions of the real thing.
Some compromises were, of course, made, notably for the graphics card. While we know the GPU is a custom Navi-based AMD chip that can push a whopping 12 teraflops , the specific details are a closely guarded secret for obvious reasons. randomfrankp opted to find the next best thing among the GPUs on the market today and went for a GeForce RTX 2070 instead.
The CPU in the Xbox Series X is a custom eight-core, sixteen-thread AMD Ryzen Zen 2-based chip, but it’s not something that exists in its exact form on the market today. For the build, randomfrankp fits an AMD Ryzen 7 2700 to approach those specs as closely as possible.
With claims that the SSD is set to be the battlefield for the next-gen skirmish between Sony and Microsoft, the NVMe based ultra-fast SSD is equally shrouded in mystery. The best theory circulating at the moment is that the SSD with employ a custom derivative of datacenter center tech that grants the consoles more flexibility in terms of access to the GPU and CPU to drastically up access speeds.
Short of firm confirmation from Microsoft, the mock Xbox Series X features a 1TB NVMe SSD.
Price & Performance
How much for all this then, I hear you ask? All the components came to a grand total of $1330, which should send shivers down the spine of anyone who rightfully expects the Xbox Series X to retail at roughly around the $500 mark.
As randomfrankp explains, mass production significantly cuts down on cost per unit to mere cents for certain components, which he estimates brings the price down to anywhere between $599 and $799. Microsoft is likely to sell that hardware at a loss, sitting the production estimate in the right ballpark. What’s clear is that it will be significantly cheaper than buying or building an equivalent PC.
As for performance, it’s hard to make an apples-to-apples comparison given the unknown variables that are the custom components, Xbox Series X games, and Microsoft’s custom Windows 10-based Xbox operating system. Nevertheless, the build performed well in various benchmarks, and fared well when gaming on the machine at 4K and 60 FPS.
