Microsoft will be taking a unique approach to the next generation of consoles. The plan is to release two systems that play all the same games, one on the low-end in the form of the Series S and the other other on the high-end with the Series X. It’s part of strategy to hit both the mainstream and more hardcore audiences in one swipe. But with all that power, how quiet will the Series X be? Well, Microsoft claims pretty quiet.
This ending generation of systems had its share of jet engines. While Microsoft was largely fine in their redesigns, the original Xbox One definitely had some noise, and on the Sony side some of their PS4 designs have gotten loud. In sharing some more details about the Series X design, Microsoft says the system is designed to keep the system running efficiently, but also quietly.
“The team got lots of great feedback from the customers they shared the Xbox Series X prototypes with, so it was time to dive into the work of solving the technical challenges that came with it. Xbox Series X features the most powerful System on Chip (SoC) ever from Xbox, and creatively cooling that chip with a single axial fan is what unlocked the solution to the form. By splitting the motherboard in half and bolting each side to the central aluminum chassis, the team was able to pull a huge amount of air through the entire system at a low enough acoustic level to keep the console running quietly and efficiently.”
The Xbox One X is largely a pretty quiet system despite the power inside, so I’m inclined to believe the Series X will live up to the expectation. Let’s just hope that Sony’s PS5 follows suit. I imagine I’m not alone in wanting those jet engine consoles to be a thing of the past. The Xbox Series X and S launch on November 10th and pre-orders for both are live now.