The hardware

Staff Writers | Jan 1, 1900 12:00 AM

Possibly the most interesting feature of the Xbox is its similarity to a PC in terms of its hardware specification. Unlike other games consoles, like the Sony PlayStation2 and Nintendo GameCube, which tend to use specialised proprietary processors, the Xbox is based around PC technology and uses many off-the-shelf components, though slightly modified for its specific purpose of 3D graphics, and polygon and pixel pumping.

When rumours of the Xbox first surfaced back in September 1999, there was talk of Microsoft going for an AMD Athlon-based processor as the CPU of the Xbox, although it was soon announced that Microsoft had entered into an alliance with Intel to produce the brains of the operation. The Xbox processor itself is basically a Pentium III based around the Coppermine core running at 733MHz. The only real difference between the Xbox CPU and a regular Coppermine Pentium III is the packaging, with the Xbox processor soldered directly to the motherboard, and the reduction in cache from 256KB in the normal Pentium III to only 128KB in the Xbox processor. Other than this, they both have 16KB of L1 cache, SSE support and run on a 133MHz FSB.

NVIDIA inside
The motherboard is also manufactured by Intel, although the central nervous system, the chipset, is an NVIDIA creation. Like the CPU, the chipset is based around a PC design, though in this case NVIDIA developed the chipset for the Xbox first, then adapted it to the PC as the nForce (see January 2002, page 56).

This chipset is made up of two primary components, the north bridge or IGP (Integrated Graphics Processor), which incorporates the usual north bridge functions, like memory management, as well as the integrated 3D processor, the NV2A. Unlike the nForce, however, which has a variant of the GeForce2 MX as the graphics processor, the NV2A has a more advanced graphics chip based around the GeForce3 architecture. The NV2A runs at 233MHz and has four graphics pipelines, along with all the usual GeForce3 features, such as vertex and pixel shaders and Quincunx antialiasing; although unlike the GeForce3, it has dual vertex shaders instead of just one. Even though this is an integrated graphics package, which traditionally dont deliver comparable performance to dedicated chips, it packs a considerable amount of 3D graphics muscle.

The south bridge or the MCP (Media and Communications Processor) handles all the I/O functions, and also incorporates all the sound and network processing. It is essentially identical to the MCP-D in the nForce chipset, with the D referring to its support for Dolby Digital 5.1 sound output. Networking is basic 10/100 Ethernet, and is essentially identical to PC Ethernet standards.

The memory on board is 64MB of 200MHz DDR (effectively 400MHz) soldered directly to the motherboard, though there is space for another 64MB if Microsoft ever chose to increase the memory of future Xboxes. The memory uses two channels through the IGPs TwinBank architecture, which delivers a total of 6.4GB/s memory bandwidth, which is a lot compared to PC memory, with 2.1GB/s for PC2100 DDR SDRAM or 3.2GB/s for twin-channel PC800 RDRAM.

Though 64MB might not sound like a lot by PC standards, the Xbox doesnt have the same operating environment as a PC and as such doesnt require as much memory. A PC has the operating system, which in the case of OSes like Windows XP can hog quite a bit of memory. It also has numerous applications running in parallel in a multitasking environment, and dozens of drivers and DLLs that are being frequently accessed. The Xbox only has its Dashboard, run from ROM (Read Only Memory), and the game itself, with the games operating system loading from the game disc. There is essentially no multitasking, the drivers are streamlined and the OS is as basic as it needs to be to run the game. Also, its resolution is usually no more than 640 x 480 in 3D, which is considerably less than the resolutions that current PCs use for 3D gaming, and means the memory requirements are significantly less overall.

Storage
Another interesting feature that makes the Xbox technologically more like a PC than a traditional console is the inclusion of a hard disk. Initial Xboxes use 8GB drives from either Seagate, in the form of a U5, although some come with 10GB Western Digital Protege disks that have been formatted to 8GB with 2GB partitions. Both drives are ATA/100 and run at a 5,400rpm spindle speed, making them slow for PC standards. The disk is not used to install the games themselves, but for game saves and configuration data, as well as
storing custom music tracks (which well get to in a second). The file system is a form of NTFS, but it is not compatible with PC operating systems, so even if you do plug an Xbox hard disk into a PC, it will appear unreadable.

Interestingly, the capacity is not referred to in conventional MB or GB terms from within the Xbox, but instead the disk is listed as having a 50,000+ blocks capacity, and each game takes up a certain number of blocks. Microsoft has not announced what each block equates to in terms of bytes, but it seems as though each block is around 16KB. Apparently this is to keep the Xbox in line with the non-technical nature of the console market, and not to confuse users with PC terminology, although additional memory cards that plug into the controllers are still sold as 8MB and the PC terminology is fairly ubiquitous. Therefore, one wonders whether having the two capacity naming conventions might be more confusing than if Microsoft had just stuck with MB. The memory cards are pretty funky though, and they are fully plug and play, so you can just throw one into a controller, and with the Dashboard interface it is very easy to copy games to and from the memory card if you want to use them on another Xbox.

Like the PlayStation2, the Xbox comes standard with a 2-5x DVD player, and the games themselves come on DVD-9 discs, which are single-side, dual-layer. Unfortunately, you cant play DVD movies straight out of the box; youll need the $49.95 DVD Movie Playback Kit to enable them. The kit comes with a an IR receiver that plugs into a controller port and a remote control. Of course, the Xbox is DVD region locked, although it is probably only a matter of time before someone releases a fix to unlock the regions.

In your hands
The controllers utilise a form of USB, although the connectors are still proprietary, so you cant plug other USB PC controllers into the Xbox. The controllers themselves are quite large, and surprisingly comfortable and easy to use, especially if you have medium to large hands. Kids might have difficulty handling them though. There will be a scaled down Microsoft control released in Japan and possibly locally as well, which could appeal to the hand-span challenged.

One nice feature of the controller is the two plugs on each cable. One to go into the Xbox itself, with a firm attachment, and another part-way down the cable that is a looser fit and will pop out if someone trips over the cable which happens dangerously often in a living room environment. This is especially important given the fragile hard disk in the Xbox, which is particularly susceptible to shock.

When you first fire up the Xbox without a disc inserted you are greeted by the Dashboard, which is the default interface. From here you can access three submenus: Memory, Music and Settings. In Memory you can review your storage situation on the hard disk as well as any memory cards you insert, and you can move or delete any games or music. In Music you can play CDs, or record your own CD audio tracks to the hard disk in WMA (Windows Media Audio) format, which is similar (uncannily so) in size and quality to MP3. In games like Project Gotham Racing, which support the featu

This article appeared in the February, 2002 issue of PC Authority.