Earlier this week, Jeux Video’s Ken Bogard and Giant Bomb co-host Jeff Bakalar claimed that Microsoft’s flagship next-gen console, the Xbox Series X, could get extremely hot – “like a fireplace shaft.” Those reports may have been total FUD.
According to Xbox marketing boss Aaron Greenberg, who was asked about the Xbox Series X’s temperature levels this morning, the amount of heat it generates is no different than its predecessor, the Xbox One X (Project Scorpio).
“The console will output system heat out of the exhaust, just as any other console will,” Greenberg explained. “Our engineering team confirmed the heat leaving the console is not significantly different than Xbox One X. This matches my experience at home quiet, fast & impressive power for the size.”
The console will output system heat out of the exhaust, just as any other console will. Our engineering team confirmed the heat leaving the console is not significantly different than Xbox One X. This matches my experience at home quiet, fast & impressive power for the size.
— Aaron Greenberg 🙅🏼♂️❎ (@aarongreenberg) October 8, 2020
“The Series X is hot, like really hot! It doesn’t make any noise, but damn it’s hot!” claimed Bogard in his video (which has now been removed). “The console is emitting heat like crazy. It’s almost like a fireplace shaft. You can heat up your flat with it.”
Giant Bomb co-host Jeff Bakalar offered similar thoughts in a separate video (via Video Games Chronicle), claiming that his Xbox Series X console was generating some serious levels of heat even in standby mode.
“Here’s what’s crazy…this was just plugged in in standby mode behind me and you guys, the entire thing is a little toasty,” Bakalar said, emphasizing that the console is pre-release hardware.
“It seems like in the way like a lot of the other consoles were doing stuff while you were not using them, it seems like this thing might be doing something while you’re not using it, to the point where it needs to exhaust heat.”
The Xbox Series X features what appears to be a meticulously designed cooling solution (e.g., large axial fan and vapor chamber), so we’re not sure what those streamers were experiencing. Other testers, who have raved about the console’s quiet operation, didn’t seem to have any issues with its operating temperature, either.
“Xbox Series X features the most powerful System on Chip (SoC) ever from Xbox, and creatively cooling that chip with a single axial fan is what unlocked the solution to the form,” Microsoft wrote in an article regarding the console’s engineering. “By splitting the motherboard in half and bolting each side to the central aluminum chassis, the team was able to pull a huge amount of air through the entire system at a low enough acoustic level to keep the console running quietly and efficiently.”
The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S will be released on November 10, 2020.