Yesterday I decided to disassemble the Xbox One gamepad ( latest version) to finally clean the buttons after they come into contact with... um... beer. In short, I found the instructions on the Internet, took it apart - nothing complicated. But the design itself is quite interesting.

First of all, it's funny that the controller has two boards, not one. They are located at different “depths”, as if one above the other.

Moreover! Button “B” (far right) presses the board farthest from it, unlike the other buttons, which presses the one closest. An extension cord is provided for this purpose.

The 3.5 mm jack, as it turns out, is not secured in the case at all. It is simply clamped with stops during assembly and the contacts are adjacent to the contact pads on the board.

I was also amused by how the wires from the vibration motors go (the gamepad has two vibration motors - one on each side). For them under front panel peculiar grooves are laid. But this, by the way, is convenient when assembling a gamepad - the wires will definitely not dangle anyhow.

In general, compared to, for example, the Dualshock 4, disassembling (and then reassembling) the Xbox One gamepad is a little more pleasant in that the spring does not fall out of the analog sticks. That is, until the need arises to replace these sticks, the spring in them can not be touched at all.

We're at Microsoft's headquarters in Washington, D.C., about to take a look inside the company's latest gaming console, the Xbox One X. Microsoft has invited us here primarily to show us how they developed the most powerful gaming console ever released. The company also wants to answer an important question: why? Why did she make a 4K gaming console just four years after the launch of the original Xbox One console at a time when not everyone has 4K TVs.

Let's start with the components that provide this performance, namely the Scorpio engine. Uses custom 8-core AMD processor Jaguar and 12 GB of GDDR5 memory, resulting in a system capable of delivering 6 TFLOPS performance. What does it mean? More productive computing device, which allows games to load faster and look better even on TVs Full HD. If game developers want, the Xbox One X will run games at 4K resolution at 60 frames per second thanks to some processing techniques.

This console is more powerful than any previously on sale. But the big question still remains: will this be a sufficient basis for successful sales of an expensive device? Will 4K gaming be widely used? Microsoft thinks so. They want to prove that the high processing power and thin, affordable gaming console body will propel console games and help them compete with PC games.

There were quite a few prototypes of the new Xbox console, but in the end, the familiar design of the Xbox One S version was chosen, with some important changes. The new console has to dissipate almost twice as much heat as the Xbox One S. Since the power supply is placed inside the case, there is more heat that needs to be managed and released outside. Microsoft solved this problem by using a vapor chamber heatsink. This design is more often used in expensive servers and video cards.

To make sure they could get rid of the hot air, the developers included holes in the case, like the Xbox One S, to allow heat to escape around the edges, and used extremely thin metal. As for color, Microsoft took care to differentiate the more powerful Xbox One X from last year's Xbox One S. A special matte black color was created, which was called “infinity black”.

The result is an extremely impressive device with a level of performance that cannot be achieved in a computer at the same price. This is exactly what Microsoft has strived for and will not be enough gaming problems problems that the most powerful console in history will not be able to solve. Microsoft still has to catch up with Sony, the PlayStation 4 has been selling twice as much for many years. The Japanese company has its own powerful new PlayStation 4 PRO console. It's not as powerful as the Xbox One X, but we don't know if buyers care or if they'll notice the difference.

There are other problems too. If you don't have a 4K TV, you probably won't want an Xbox One X unless you plan to buy one in the near future. If you have a powerful PC, there's no need for an Xbox One X either, as all of Microsoft's exclusive games will be available on Windows 10.

Finally, Microsoft and Sony are taking a big leap forward. The 4K format is a pretty good marketing hook and changes the usual approach to console refresh rates.

We all know that a new Xbox model will inevitably be released, PlayStation 5 will also appear in the future. Some buyers may decide to wait for them. All this creates difficulties; It’s not entirely clear who the Xbox One X is intended for. Microsoft is banking on enthusiast gamers who want access to the best experience possible and are willing to pay for it. Even if they already have a computer or don't have a 4K TV. But it is unknown how big such a market is.

Microsoft has one big advantage: unlike Sony, the company has invested in backward compatibility. This means new consoles can run older games. This may be the reason for the future accelerated release cycle of new models. This appealing idea makes consoles more like computers, which can be upgraded on a component-by-component basis, and more like smartphones. Whether 4K will allow this to happen and help the Xbox One X catch up with Sony depends on the availability of quality games for it that can effectively take advantage of the available performance. Microsoft promises more than 130 games at launch and their number will grow. The console will go on sale for $499.

It's safe to say that the most powerful gaming console will only be as good as the games it comes with. Because of this, Microsoft has a lot of work left to do, both on its own games and with third-party developers. For now, the company is asking users to believe in its strategy and join it.

We look at what kind of hardware the Xbox One X has inside, plus a video report

• Release date: November 7, 2017 in Europe and the USA, pre-order available

More and more details are being revealed about the most powerful gaming console at the moment - the Xbox One X. The technical parameters of the console have been known for a long time, but now Microsoft has allowed a wider circle of people to look inside new version of its line of Xbox consoles and, moreover, capture all the features on video.

In short, the new Xbox One X is very different in hardware from its predecessor, undoubtedly for the better. Only very similar appearance, which is also made in a minimalist body without any special design revelations.

• Central chip: Scorpion Engine Soc, which includes an 8-core processor. at 2.3 GHz and a 6 teraflops graphics system (for example, GTX 980 5.5 teraflops, 980 Ti 6.5 teraflops) at 1.72 GHz (This is a specially designed chip for the Xbox One X console);
• RAM: 12 GB;
• HDD: 1 TB (as well as 8 GB of additional flash memory);
• Disc drive: 4K UHD Blu-Ray;
• Cooling system: 2 coolers - chamber cooler for cooling the processor and for general airflow of the console.

What is inside the Xbox One X

So far, the game console is positioned as the most powerful device of its kind in the world, with full output of real 4K resolution. Microsoft said despite this big release, this is not a new generation of consoles at all, it is still ahead.