Microsoft chairman Bill Gates finally took the wraps off the X-Box at the Game Developers Conference keynote keynote address. Rumors about the console have been flying around for the better part of six months, but as of this morning, the X-Box's existence was confirmed, giving Sony, Sega, and Nintendo yet another competitor in the home-console marketplace.

　　While most of the system's rumored specifications turned out to be true, some of what Gates unveiled during his speech did come as a surprise. The full specs of the Microsoft X-Box are as listed:

　　· CPU: Intel Pentium III at an undisclosed speed· Graphics: Nvidia NV15 GPU· OS: Windows 2000 kernel with DirectX 8· Memory: 64-megabytes of 200MHz DDR unified system and video memory· Sound: 64-voice I3DL2 processor· Media: 4X DVD drive with movie playback· Storage: 8GB hard drive· Ports: four game ports, one expansion port· Connectivity: 10/100 ethernet connection· A/V: Custom outs for VGA monitor, flat-panel screens, TV, and HDTV.

　　Of particular interest is the lack of an AMD processor. Late last night, published reports indicated that Microsoft had dropped AMD in favor of Intel for the X-Box's CPU. This shouldn't come as a big surprise, as Intel is much more capable of chopping the price of its Pentium IIIs down to acceptable levels for Microsoft - certainly much more so than AMD. The X-Box's graphics processor is also noteworthy. To ensure the console's longevity, Microsoft has chosen to use the Nvidia NV15, a graphics chip that's two generations ahead of the GeForce 256, Nvidia's current processor. According to Gates, the X-Box's NV15 will be running at 300MHz, and it is capable of processing 300M triangles per second (150M textured triangles).

　　Microsoft's Seamus Blackley showed off a number of demos on the X-Box - all impressive, none that took advantage of a quarter of the X-Box's capabilities.

　　Gates confirmed that the X-Box would ship in the fall of 2001 but didn't make any comment regarding its pricing. Knowing Microsoft's marketing power and deep pockets, however, we expect the console to ring in between US$249 and $349.

　　We'll have more details of the X-Box and the Gates' presentation a little later today. Stay tuned.