In-depth Xbox 360 Hardware Article

Codenamed Xenon, the multicore PowerPC CPU that IBM designed for the Xbox 360 boasts a number of unique features that set it apart from any microprocessor seen to date. The present article covers these features in detail, from the processor's triple-core design, to its caches, deep pipeline, lack of an instruction window, and expected performance. Before we talk in detail about the way that IBM put together the Xenon CPU, we should first discuss Microsoft's vision for the role that Xenon should play in powering the next generation of games. Thus Part I of this series will be devoted to exploring the types of applications for which the Xbox 360 was designed, with a particular emphasis on 3D gaming and the real-time procedural synthesis of in-game geometry.