As suspected, the latest word from our sources is that Durango's "16 CPU cores" are actually logical cores, which would likely mean eight physical cores running two threads each. This brings its processing power into line with modern high-end PC specs, which might even have eclipsed it come Christmas next year. These words, for instance, are being typed on a machine with an Intel i7-980X CPU that's over a year old. It has six cores, which thanks to Intel's HyperThreading technology act as 12 logical cores.
Now consider that November of last year saw Advanced Micro Devices' "Bulldozer" technology deployed in its "Interlagos" series Opteron processors, which with their eight dual-core modules and four memory units fall right into line with this rumoured Durango spec. The current pre-beta of Microsoft's Windows 8, furthermore, has diagnostic support for up to 640 logical cores.
This kind of insane horsepower is really only useful to web hosts and other high-octane users. What a four or eight-core CPU with multithreading means for a games console is a much more efficient handling of variously demanding tasks. In a media box with integrated Kinect support, background downloading, personal video recording functionality, social connectivity and high-end gaming, the advantages become clear.
And Durango most certainly is a media box. Our sources tell us it even has a standard aerial socket in the back - a kind of integrated version of PS3's PlayTV dongle - to give it complete ownership of your TV activities. The Blu-ray drive is a dead cert, we're told, and joins Freeview, Sky and a wealth of on-demand services in being controlled by Kinect.
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