Microsoft's working to address the Xbox Series S' biggest downside
Published: 5th August 2022 | Source: Microsoft | Author: Mark Campbell
Microsoft's latest Game Development Kit (GDK) is giving the Xbox Series S access to more RAM and improved graphics performance
The Xbox Series S may be a current-generation console, but its hardware specifications are somewhat lacking when compared to Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5. While all three systems utilise 8-core Zen 2 processors, GDDR6 memory, and RDNA 2 based GPUs, Xbox Series S users have access to a lot less total memory, making the system harder to develop for.
With the release of their latest Game Development Kit (GDK), Microsoft is boosting the performance of their Xbox Series S consoles by giving developers access to more memory on the console. In their video about their July GDK update, Microsoft has stated that developers will have access to "hundreds of additional megabytes of memory", a change that will be music to the ears of developers who are struggling to downsize their memory requirements for Xbox Series S.
Having access to additional memory has the potential to increase the performance of Microsoft's Xbox Series S console in memory-limited situations, though this additional memory will not have an impact on Xbox Series S systems when memory performance and capacity is not a limiting factor.
Hundreds of additional megabytes of memory are now available to Xbox Series S developers. This gives developers more control over memory, which can improve graphic performance in memory-constrained conditions.
PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X both feature 16GB of combined memory, and the Xbox Series S has access to only 10GB of memory. This memory needs to be shared between games, each system's operating system, and other background tasks. Having access to hundreds to megabytes of additional memory is a big deal for Xbox Series S users, as it significantly increases the amount of usable memory that developers can access.
In addition to increased memory access, Microsoft's GDK update also fixes issues with how the system assigns virtual addresses, increasing the graphics performance of the system.
We’ve addressed an issue where graphics virtual addresses were being allocated considerably slower than non-graphics virtual addresses…
Microsoft's latest GDK update will be a welcome one for all Xbox Series S developers. Access to additional memory will allow developers to get more from the console, allowing the system to deliver better gaming experiences. That said, the Xbox Series S's 10GB frame buffer will continue to be a limiting factor for the system.
You can join the discussion on Microsoft's Xbox Series GDK performance update on the OC3D Forums .