Microsoft's Xbox Series X silicon reveal: is this the biggest console processor ever made?

Microsoft's gradual ramp-up to the full reveal of the Xbox Series X continues with Xbox chief Phil Spencer sharing the latest clue towards the technical makeup of the new console. On the face of it, updating a Twitter profile picture with a low quality shot of Project Scarlett silicon might not sound like a big deal - but when Microsoft's stated aim is to deliver the most powerful console of the next generation, commentators (including us!) will grab every opportunity we can to learn more about the new machine. And the evidence does suggest that we're looking at the largest console processor released by Sony or Microsoft to date, further solidifying expectations of extreme performance.

Actually getting any kind of meaningful measurement from this latest controlled leak from Microsoft isn't easy. Perhaps purposefully so, the image is of a low resolution, taken at an angle and with a curious lens distortion effect. The measurement of silicon area is important though - we can safely assume that the Scarlett processor is fabricated with the same 7nm lithography as AMD's latest Zen 2 and Navi chips - the core building blocks at the heart of this year's wave of new consoles. Stacked up against AMD parts using the same production techniques, we can get some idea of the scale of its graphics core.

Ascertaining the size of Microsoft's chip gives us some idea of its architectural makeup - but more than that, area on a microprocessor isn't cheap. Every square millimetre adds to build cost and it has to count. Yes, comparisons against new AMD parts could be valuable, but comparing chip measurements with prior console generations also gives us some idea on just how much investment Microsoft is sinking into this new console - and by extension, how much it'll cost to build and how much we may end up paying for it.

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