Xbox 720 to be Six Times More Powerful than 360

As Microsoft's Xbox 360 is moving into its seventh year of production since it's release in 2005, game developers have continued to push the console's graphical capabilities far beyond what was initially expected. While the 360's launch titles' groundbreaking visuals were revolutionary at the time, compared to the astounding detail packed into recent releases such as Battlefield 3, Crysis 2, and Skyrim - those once mesmerizing graphics from Call of Duty 2 or Amped 3 almost seem like games from previous generation consoles (see comparison below).

 

 2005 - Amped 3

   

  2011 - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 

Being in the midst of some of the most visually progressive titles, it's hard to imagine what exactly can be done graphically to improve upon what we are currently being exposed to. However, with recent news and rumors of Microsoft's upcoming console (tentatively being called Xbox 720) circling around the Internet, we may not have to wait too long to see what exactly we can expect in the next console generation's graphics department. According to sources close to the project, the next Xbox console will have six times the processing power than its predecessor. More specifically, it has been confirmed that mass production of the system's GPU processor - AMD's Radeon HD 6670 - will begin by the end of 2012. With a retail price around $79.99, the 6670 boasts DirectX11 support, multidisplay output, 3D and 1080p HD output.

 

With mass production projected to begin by the end of this year, it will be interesting to see what Xbox 720 information, if any, will be revealed at E3 2012 and if there is a chance that a new Microsoft console will be released by 2013.