• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Durango Out in 2013, Lacks Optical Drive: Report

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
46,201 (7.69/day)
Location
Hyderabad, India
System Name RBMK-1000
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory 2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s) Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s) BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s) ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard Gamdias Hermes E2
Software Windows 11 Pro
Microsoft's next-generation Xbox game console, codenamed "Durango", will arrive in 2013. More importantly, it is said to completely lack an optical disc drive. The lack of a disc drive could mark a milestone in the evolution of console game distribution. Microsoft already has a high-volume digital distribution platform in Xbox Live, its significance in a post-disc console era will only increase.

This is not to say that Microsoft will completely do away with physical media, an interchangeable NAND flash-based media could also take shape, seeing how prices of NAND flash-storage has come drastically down over the past couple of years. It would be a going back to solid-state game cartridges, for home consoles. Some portable consoles use solid-state media even today.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site
 

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
46,201 (7.69/day)
Location
Hyderabad, India
System Name RBMK-1000
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory 2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s) Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s) BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s) ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard Gamdias Hermes E2
Software Windows 11 Pro
Many Thanks to NdMk2o1o for the tip.
 
Joined
Oct 8, 2006
Messages
173 (0.03/day)
i think that they need to have a disc or cartridge cause internet speed is too low for the high prices we currently have. ideally if i could go to a friends house log onto steam and download a game in 1-5 minutes and then play it then yea no need for that but currently it takes some 30-1hr+ to download an alright sized game but it also goes against your internet cap if you have one. Canadian internet providers gouge us horribly so wont happen for a long time. just my thoughts
 
Joined
Sep 3, 2010
Messages
3,527 (0.71/day)
Location
Netherlands
System Name desktop | Odroid N2+ |
Processor AMD Ryzen 5 3600 | Amlogic S922X |
Motherboard Gigabyte B550M DS3H |Odroid N2+ |
Cooling Inter-Tech Argus SU-200, 3x Arctic P12 case fans | stock heatsink + fan |
Memory Gskill Aegis DDR4 32GB | 4 GB DDR4 |
Video Card(s) Sapphire Pulse RX 6600 (8GB) | Arm Mali G52 |
Storage SK Hynix SSD 240GB, Samsung 840 EVO 250 GB, Toshiba DT01ACA100 1T | Samsung 850 Evo 500GB |
Display(s) AOC G2260VWQ6 | LG 24MT57D |
Case Asus Prime 201 | Stock case (black version) |
Audio Device(s) integrated
Power Supply BeQuiet! Pure Power 11 400W | 12v barrel jack |
Mouse Logitech G500 |Steelseries Rival 300
Keyboard Qpad MK-50 (Cherry MX brown)| Blaze Keyboard
Software Windows 10, Various Linux distros | Gentoo Linux
Guess what will happen? Indeed, MS having to lay boxes in the stores, containing a memory card with a game on it within a year from the release date.

Edit: dimaster was quicker with posting. The reasons he gave are indeed the reasons.
 

sneekypeet

Retired Super Moderator
Joined
Apr 12, 2006
Messages
29,407 (4.49/day)
System Name EVA-01
Processor Intel i7 13700K
Motherboard Asus ROG Maximus Z690 HERO EVA Edition
Cooling ASUS ROG Ryujin III 360 with Noctua Industrial Fans
Memory PAtriot Viper Elite RGB 96GB @ 6000MHz.
Video Card(s) Asus ROG Strix GeForce RTX 3090 24GB OC EVA Edition
Storage Addlink S95 M.2 PCIe GEN 4x4 2TB
Display(s) Asus ROG SWIFT OLED PG42UQ
Case Thermaltake Core P3 TG
Audio Device(s) Realtek on board > Sony Receiver > Cerwin Vegas
Power Supply be quiet DARK POWER PRO 12 1500W
Mouse ROG STRIX Impact Electro Punk
Keyboard ROG STRIX Scope TKL Electro Punk
Software Windows 11
Games on USB sticks FTW?
 
Joined
Sep 3, 2010
Messages
3,527 (0.71/day)
Location
Netherlands
System Name desktop | Odroid N2+ |
Processor AMD Ryzen 5 3600 | Amlogic S922X |
Motherboard Gigabyte B550M DS3H |Odroid N2+ |
Cooling Inter-Tech Argus SU-200, 3x Arctic P12 case fans | stock heatsink + fan |
Memory Gskill Aegis DDR4 32GB | 4 GB DDR4 |
Video Card(s) Sapphire Pulse RX 6600 (8GB) | Arm Mali G52 |
Storage SK Hynix SSD 240GB, Samsung 840 EVO 250 GB, Toshiba DT01ACA100 1T | Samsung 850 Evo 500GB |
Display(s) AOC G2260VWQ6 | LG 24MT57D |
Case Asus Prime 201 | Stock case (black version) |
Audio Device(s) integrated
Power Supply BeQuiet! Pure Power 11 400W | 12v barrel jack |
Mouse Logitech G500 |Steelseries Rival 300
Keyboard Qpad MK-50 (Cherry MX brown)| Blaze Keyboard
Software Windows 10, Various Linux distros | Gentoo Linux
Nostalgia, that is. Games from a store, on solid-state media. Those were the days! :D
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2007
Messages
7,180 (1.18/day)
I dont mind digital distribution on pc's as there is much choice of what service you want to use but with Xbox you will be stuck with only their service and whatever prices are charged. I like to shop around for the best price. Using flash memory will be good in performance but expensive, Xbox games are already expensive at £40 or £35 retail price.
 
Joined
Apr 6, 2011
Messages
700 (0.15/day)
Location
Pensacola, FL, USA, Earth
Increased durability from a cartridge or similar item would be welcome I would hope.
 

baggpipes

New Member
Joined
Feb 12, 2009
Messages
163 (0.03/day)
System Name R2D2
Processor AMD FX-4100
Motherboard MSI 970 G45
Cooling Stock
Memory Kingston T1 8GB 1600 DDR3 @ 1800mHz
Video Card(s) AMD Sapphire 6850
Storage RAID 0 WD Caviar Blue 1TB total
Display(s) Acer 19" widescreen and Sony 32" Bravia 1080p 60hz
Case NZXT Gamma Series
Power Supply 700w OCZ Mod Stream Pro
Software Windows 7 Professional
Benchmark Scores hit 4.5ghz stock cooler....
Back to the days of blowing your games before you played them....
 
Joined
Nov 13, 2009
Messages
5,614 (1.07/day)
Location
San Diego, CA
System Name White Boy
Processor Core i7 3770k @4.6 Ghz
Motherboard ASUS P8Z77-I Deluxe
Cooling CORSAIR H100
Memory CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB @ 2177
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 680 CLASSIEFIED @ 1250 Core
Storage 2 Samsung 830 256 GB (Raid 0) 1 Hitachi 4 TB
Display(s) 1 Dell 30U11 30"
Case BIT FENIX Prodigy
Audio Device(s) none
Power Supply SeaSonic X750 Gold 750W Modular
Software Windows Pro 7 64 bit || Ubuntu 64 Bit
Benchmark Scores 2017 Unigine Heaven :: P37239 3D Mark Vantage
Joined
Jan 25, 2011
Messages
531 (0.11/day)
Location
Inside a mini ITX
System Name ITX Desktop
Processor Core i7 9700K
Motherboard Gigabyte Aorus Pro WiFi Z390
Cooling Arctic esports 34 duo.
Memory Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB 3000MHz
Video Card(s) Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 Gaming OC White PRO
Storage Samsung 970 EVO Plus | Intel SSD 660p
Case NZXT H200
Power Supply Corsair CX Series 750 Watt
I hope they put a better card than 6670 in the next xbox.
 
Joined
Apr 21, 2010
Messages
5,731 (1.13/day)
Location
West Midlands. UK.
System Name Ryzen Reynolds
Processor Ryzen 1600 - 4.0Ghz 1.415v - SMT disabled
Motherboard mATX Asrock AB350m AM4
Cooling Raijintek Leto Pro
Memory Vulcan T-Force 16GB DDR4 3000 16.18.18 @3200Mhz 14.17.17
Video Card(s) Sapphire Nitro+ 4GB RX 580 - 1450/2000 BIOS mod 8-)
Storage Seagate B'cuda 1TB/Sandisk 128GB SSD
Display(s) Acer ED242QR 75hz Freesync
Case Corsair Carbide Series SPEC-01
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply Corsair VS 550w
Mouse Zalman ZM-M401R
Keyboard Razor Lycosa
Software Windows 10 x64
Benchmark Scores https://www.3dmark.com/spy/6220813
One can only hope as I am not paying a cloud gaming service!:shadedshu

It's a full blown hardware console so it wouldn't be a cloud gaming service like onlive, if anything you would be downloading your games ala steam/D2D etc
 
Joined
Dec 12, 2011
Messages
79 (0.02/day)
64 GB Flash ROM cards would be very cool. The thing is that a lot of people used to play their DVD's or Blu-Ray's on the console if it had the possibility (360 can only play DVDs, Wii without Wiibrew can not play nothing, and PS3 can play both DVDs and Blu-rays).

Flash cards would give speedier installs and random read accesses, but of course not anywhere near of SSD speeds.
 
Joined
May 21, 2008
Messages
4,113 (0.71/day)
Location
Iowa, USA
System Name THE CUBE 2.0
Processor Intel i5 13600k
Motherboard MSI MPG Z690 EDGE DDR4
Cooling Phanteks PH-TC14PE BK 2x T30-120 Fan mod mount
Memory G.Skill TridentZ 3200 MT/s C15 32GB 2x16GB
Video Card(s) Gigabyte Aorus 1080 Ti 11GB OC: Core 2GHz, Mem 5.7GHz
Storage WD SN770 250GB / 3x WD SN850X 2TB / Toshiba X300 4TB / 2x RAID1 Toshiba P300 3TB
Display(s) Samsung 49" Odyssey OLED G95SC 240Hz 5120 x 1440
Case "THE CUBE" Custom built, pure Red Alder wood
Audio Device(s) Beyerdynamic DT 880
Power Supply Corsair RM1000X
Mouse Logitech G700
Keyboard Logitech G910
Software Windows 11 Pro
I really like the idea of games on Flash Memory, but if they get rid of the OD then how will I and others watch DVD's I use mine as a DVD player.
 
Joined
Nov 13, 2009
Messages
5,614 (1.07/day)
Location
San Diego, CA
System Name White Boy
Processor Core i7 3770k @4.6 Ghz
Motherboard ASUS P8Z77-I Deluxe
Cooling CORSAIR H100
Memory CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB @ 2177
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 680 CLASSIEFIED @ 1250 Core
Storage 2 Samsung 830 256 GB (Raid 0) 1 Hitachi 4 TB
Display(s) 1 Dell 30U11 30"
Case BIT FENIX Prodigy
Audio Device(s) none
Power Supply SeaSonic X750 Gold 750W Modular
Software Windows Pro 7 64 bit || Ubuntu 64 Bit
Benchmark Scores 2017 Unigine Heaven :: P37239 3D Mark Vantage
it's a full blown hardware console so it wouldn't be a cloud gaming service like onlive, if anything you would be downloading your games ala steam/d2d etc

pass!
 
Joined
Apr 21, 2010
Messages
5,731 (1.13/day)
Location
West Midlands. UK.
System Name Ryzen Reynolds
Processor Ryzen 1600 - 4.0Ghz 1.415v - SMT disabled
Motherboard mATX Asrock AB350m AM4
Cooling Raijintek Leto Pro
Memory Vulcan T-Force 16GB DDR4 3000 16.18.18 @3200Mhz 14.17.17
Video Card(s) Sapphire Nitro+ 4GB RX 580 - 1450/2000 BIOS mod 8-)
Storage Seagate B'cuda 1TB/Sandisk 128GB SSD
Display(s) Acer ED242QR 75hz Freesync
Case Corsair Carbide Series SPEC-01
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply Corsair VS 550w
Mouse Zalman ZM-M401R
Keyboard Razor Lycosa
Software Windows 10 x64
Benchmark Scores https://www.3dmark.com/spy/6220813

MS will be deeply saddened by you not buying their next gen console :laugh: jk ;)

Can't tell if this would work or not tbh on one hand I pretty much buy all my games on the likes of steam etc though on the other hand I have 30Mb download so I can whereas a lot of the population still struggles to get anything close to 5Mb download.

Then there's the talk of using nand/flash rom etc which would work though any kind of solid storage is many many times more expensive than optical media :rolleyes:
 
Joined
May 21, 2008
Messages
4,113 (0.71/day)
Location
Iowa, USA
System Name THE CUBE 2.0
Processor Intel i5 13600k
Motherboard MSI MPG Z690 EDGE DDR4
Cooling Phanteks PH-TC14PE BK 2x T30-120 Fan mod mount
Memory G.Skill TridentZ 3200 MT/s C15 32GB 2x16GB
Video Card(s) Gigabyte Aorus 1080 Ti 11GB OC: Core 2GHz, Mem 5.7GHz
Storage WD SN770 250GB / 3x WD SN850X 2TB / Toshiba X300 4TB / 2x RAID1 Toshiba P300 3TB
Display(s) Samsung 49" Odyssey OLED G95SC 240Hz 5120 x 1440
Case "THE CUBE" Custom built, pure Red Alder wood
Audio Device(s) Beyerdynamic DT 880
Power Supply Corsair RM1000X
Mouse Logitech G700
Keyboard Logitech G910
Software Windows 11 Pro
MS will be deeply saddened by you not buying their next gen console :laugh: jk ;)

Can't tell if this would work or not tbh on one hand I pretty much buy all my games on the likes of steam etc though on the other hand I have 30Mb download so I can whereas a lot of the population still struggles to get anything close to 5Mb download.

Then there's the talk of using nand/flash rom etc which would work though any kind of solid storage is many many times more expensive than optical media :rolleyes:

You are very lucky to have 30 Mb I have only 256Kb. If they go DL for all games it will be the end of my gaming.

And I don't know if its just me, but I always like to keep my Game cases.:cool:

America needs to realize how much we are lacking in the internet speed.
 
Joined
Jun 2, 2007
Messages
5,106 (0.83/day)
Location
Kansas
Processor Core i5 3570K
Motherboard AsRock z77 Pro4
Cooling Zalman CNPS10X Extreme
Memory 2x4GB GSkill Sniper
Video Card(s) MSI GTX970 Gaming
Storage 240GB OCZ ARC 100, Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB
Display(s) LG 23" 1920x1080
Case Antec P100
Audio Device(s) Onboard
Power Supply Antec Edge 750W
Software Windows 8.1 Pro 64
And for those of us without uber-internet speeds:

 
Joined
Nov 13, 2009
Messages
5,614 (1.07/day)
Location
San Diego, CA
System Name White Boy
Processor Core i7 3770k @4.6 Ghz
Motherboard ASUS P8Z77-I Deluxe
Cooling CORSAIR H100
Memory CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB @ 2177
Video Card(s) EVGA GTX 680 CLASSIEFIED @ 1250 Core
Storage 2 Samsung 830 256 GB (Raid 0) 1 Hitachi 4 TB
Display(s) 1 Dell 30U11 30"
Case BIT FENIX Prodigy
Audio Device(s) none
Power Supply SeaSonic X750 Gold 750W Modular
Software Windows Pro 7 64 bit || Ubuntu 64 Bit
Benchmark Scores 2017 Unigine Heaven :: P37239 3D Mark Vantage

imitation

New Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2011
Messages
131 (0.03/day)
Processor Intel i3-2120
Motherboard ASUS P8H77-V LE
Cooling CPU: AQ Cuplex Kryos Delrin /// GPU: Custom water /// Inno HPPS+ /// 2x 240 Rad /// Noiseblocker PWM
Memory 8G Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1600
Video Card(s) XFX HD5870 @ 1G/1.25G
Storage Samsung 830 128G + some HDDs
Display(s) LG W2242T + Benq W700+
Case Cooler Master CM690 II Advanced USB3
Power Supply beQuiet Pure Power L7 430W
Software W7U64
All i get is 786k - assuming a game will be at least 20G, the download would take more than two days, taking up all my bandwidth. Let's hope they do offer some kind of cartridge, else the 720 would be a no-go for me.
 

jbunch07

New Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2008
Messages
5,260 (0.90/day)
Location
Chattanooga,TN
Processor i5-2500k
Motherboard ASRock z68 pro3-m
Cooling Corsair A70
Memory Kingston HyperX 8GB 2 x 4GB 1600mhz
Storage OCZ Agility3 60GB(boot) 2x320GB Raid0(storage)
Display(s) Samsung 24" 1920x1200
Case Custom
Power Supply PC Power and Cooling 750w
Software Win 7 x64
I've been thinking this for years...with usb3.0 speeds this would be more than practical! Only issue I see is no Support for blueray...but I'm sure digital copies will take care of that
 
Joined
Jul 10, 2011
Messages
786 (0.17/day)
Processor Intel
Motherboard MSI
Cooling Cooler Master
Memory Corsair
Video Card(s) Nvidia
Storage Samsung/Western Digital/ADATA
Display(s) Samsung
Case Thermaltake
Audio Device(s) On Board
Power Supply Seasonic
Mouse A4TECH
Keyboard UniKey
Software Windows 10 x64

Benetanegia

New Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2009
Messages
2,680 (0.51/day)
Location
Reaching your left retina.
Using flash memory will be good in performance but expensive, Xbox games are already expensive at £40 or £35 retail price.

I'm not so sure about that. It wouldn't be too expensive for them, not so expensive that they couldn't handle the additional cost without increasing the price*. Considering that you can often find 8 GB cards for little more than $5 and 16 GB for less than $10 on retail nowadays, the hardware itself cannot cost more than $1. M$ buying flash cards in mass from the fabs through closed deals would cost them a lot less and then there would be no need for all the packaging that current games have, which costs money too.

And I honestly think that digital distribution will take over anyway (in PC it's doing it at amazing rates), so they only need to cover demand in those areas where internet connection is slow, so volume for retail sales should be a fraction of what it is today, shrinking every year until it apporaches zero. IF flash cards do indeed cost more it's probably a cost they could swallow during the first years after which the cost of distributing would approach zero too, due to digital taking over. They save up by not including the optical drive too.

* Does anyone really expect prices to stay like they are anyway? I certainly expect "next-gen" games to cost $5 more than they do know, just because they are "next-gen".

PS: I started using Steam when I had 512 Kb/s connection and I didn't die. It took several hours and sometimes a day to download, but nothing happens, really, you stay alive and all is well. Game is the exact same the next day, I promise.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Joined
Jan 19, 2009
Messages
331 (0.06/day)
Location
New York, NY
System Name The Baconator
Processor Phenom II X4 965 @ 4.00GHz
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-790FX
Cooling Zalman 9900 CPU Cooler
Memory 16Gb DDR3 @ 1600MHz
Video Card(s) ATi Radeon HD 5870
Storage OS: WD 300Gb @ 10,000rpm. Storage: 2 x 1Tb @ 7,200rpm
Display(s) ASUS 27" LED 1080p Monitor
Case Cooler Master Sniper Medium Tower
Audio Device(s) MoBo Integrated
Power Supply Corsair PSU 750W
Software Windows 7 Ultimate x64
I really, really hate where we're going with this cloud/streaming crap -_-;
 

btarunr

Editor & Senior Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Oct 9, 2007
Messages
46,201 (7.69/day)
Location
Hyderabad, India
System Name RBMK-1000
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 5700G
Motherboard ASUS ROG Strix B450-E Gaming
Cooling DeepCool Gammax L240 V2
Memory 2x 8GB G.Skill Sniper X
Video Card(s) Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER GameRock
Storage Western Digital Black NVMe 512GB
Display(s) BenQ 1440p 60 Hz 27-inch
Case Corsair Carbide 100R
Audio Device(s) ASUS SupremeFX S1220A
Power Supply Cooler Master MWE Gold 650W
Mouse ASUS ROG Strix Impact
Keyboard Gamdias Hermes E2
Software Windows 11 Pro
Joined
Jul 19, 2006
Messages
43,585 (6.75/day)
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard ASUS TUF x670e
Cooling EK AIO 360. Phantek T30 fans.
Memory 32GB G.Skill 6000Mhz
Video Card(s) Asus RTX 4090
Storage WD m.2
Display(s) LG C2 Evo OLED 42"
Case Lian Li PC 011 Dynamic Evo
Audio Device(s) Topping E70 DAC, SMSL SP200 Headphone Amp.
Power Supply FSP Hydro Ti PRO 1000W
Mouse Razer Basilisk V3 Pro
Keyboard Tester84
Software Windows 11
Cartridges would be a great idea. There's quite an allure to this with people who grew up using cartridge based consoles. I'm glad that optical drives are being phased out.
 
Top