Microsoft confirms Xbox One is more powerful without Kinect hooked up

Justin Kahn

Posts: 752   +6

Initially, it was thought that the Xbox One Kinect sensor does not take any processing power from the console, but according to a recent interview that may not be the case. Microsoft said Xbox One will actually be able to make use of additional GPU power when the system does not have to accommodate Microsoft's voice and motion interface.

"Yes, the additional resources allow access to up to 10 percent additional GPU performance," a Microsoft rep recently told Eurogamer. "We're committed to giving developers new tools and flexibility to make their Xbox One games even better by giving them the option to use the GPU reserve in whatever way is best for them and their games."

There seems to be some confusion as to whether or not this particular GPU boost is specific to the new Kinect-less Xbox One SKU, but from the sounds of it, Microsoft is simply saying all Xbox One consoles will have a little more GPU to play with when Kinect isn't present. The company also mentioned plans to release a new SDK that will allow developers to tap into the additional GPU (which was previously reserved for Kinect). This follows up quite nicely with recent tweets from Xbox head Phil Spencer saying that additional GPU bandwidth will be made available in the future. 

"In June we're releasing a new SDK making it possible for developers to access additional GPU resources previously reserved for Kinect and system functions…With this SDK, we will include new options for how developers can use the system reserve," Microsoft said.

It is nice to hear that Micrsoft is allowing developers to use the avialble GPU resources as they see fit as oppsed to reserving a cetain portion for its motion/voice technology. Hopefully we will see devs push the new console's technical capabilites even further with the new SDK.

Permalink to story.

 
Was there anyone at MS, who thought otherwise? If so, they would be better off keeping quit. Why on earth would anyone think speech/visual recognition wouldn't use processing power? That's almost as bad as thinking AV software doesn't use processing power.

Does MS's PR department want us to think they are as ignorant as everyone else? If so, they are doing an excellent job!
 
Really its more powerful without the resource hogging kinect what a surprise!

I must admit microsoft really do think their customers or potential customers are mega-tards.
 
Was there anyone at MS, who thought otherwise? If so, they would be better off keeping quit. Why on earth would anyone think speech/visual recognition wouldn't use processing power? That's almost as bad as thinking AV software doesn't use processing power.

Does MS's PR department want us to think they are as ignorant as everyone else? If so, they are doing an excellent job!

It's not that obvious. For example, you could upgrade your CPU and not see an improvement in a game like Watch Dogs because it's intensive on the GPU. And you could upgrade your video card and not see an improvement in Star Craft 2 because it's CPU intensive. You could upgrade both and not see an improvement in load times because you'd need an SSD. Not all performance is equal.

I think it's cool MS makes this stuff public. I don't ever remember a company being so flexible and open with a product as MS has been with the XB1. Changing the online/offline requirement... making the Kinect no-longer required; even selling the unit without them. And now telling everyone how to boost performance a little. I hope others follow suit.
 
Was there anyone at MS, who thought otherwise? If so, they would be better off keeping quit. Why on earth would anyone think speech/visual recognition wouldn't use processing power? That's almost as bad as thinking AV software doesn't use processing power.

Does MS's PR department want us to think they are as ignorant as everyone else? If so, they are doing an excellent job!
Maybe some people thought it did its processing independently and just relayed the data back to the main system.

As a side note, my friend has an Xbox One and the Kinect actually is very impressive. I thought it was just a gimmicky add-on, but seeing it in person I was impressed.

Here's one example, when you're playing with 2 players or more, it doesn't matter if you physically switch controllers. YOU will always control YOUR in-game character. This is because the Kinect can sense which player is holding which controller and switches which controller controls which in-game character as necessary.

The voice commands also worked without hassle and were a huge convenience. It's nice to be able to say "Xbox off" or "Xbox on" when you might be standing 15' away from the console and controller on the other side of the room.
 
RIP Kinect.

Microsoft:
"GameX will run at 900p with Kinect, or 1080p without"

Everyone proceeds to disconnect their Kinect.
 
Back