HAR HAR ! Im the RED RING OF DEATH !
We all knew it was only a matter of time, and now it looks as if that time has come: Microsoft is implementing codename Falcon in order to reduce overheating in 360s and also greatly reduce the price of manafacturing costs which will translate to a long-overdue price drop across all SKU's. Not a moment too soon either, as Sony has already unwillingly announced the PSDoorstop is getting it's own price rolled back.
Now if only there was a way Microsoft could announce this price cut in a grand fashion, perhaps like a show or some kind of big press event, an expo perhaps. If only...
Hit the jump for all the sexy details and sexy impressions.*
*Note: May not be all that sexy.
Via The Mercury News:
Falcon is the name for the latest internal electronics in the Xbox 360. It will have an IBM microprocessor and an AMD/ATI graphics chip that are manufactured in a 65-nanometer production process. These are cost-reduced chips that do the same thing as their 90-nanometer predecessors, but they’re smaller.
With smaller chips, Microsoft gets a bunch of benefits. They won’t generate as much heat. So the risks of overheating — one of the main reasons behind Microsoft’s billion-dollar write-off for repairs and extended warranties — are much lower. The chips may also cost half of what it took to make them before because they use less material and fewer manufacturing steps to produce.
Everyone knows that console makers cut the prices and costs on their consoles over time. But you may not be aware that the primary chips – microprocessor, graphics, and the Ana video processing chip – are the bulk of the cost of the machine. Microsoft started making the Xbox 360s in August, 2005, with a 90-nanometer process. It is overdue to switch to the newest technology, 65 nanometers, but that day has finally come. It may be some time — a year, maybe two — before it moves on the a 45-nanometer process.
SO i guess, If you have the 65mm nano chip, you 'would' be somewhat in the safe zone.BTW microsoft is still fixing this issue and trying to make it disappear.
here's another source:
"Are you tired of sending your Xbox 360 in to Microsoft every time you get that damned RRoD? Well, if you’re good with electronics, you won’t have to. Introducing the X-Clamp Do-It-Yourself Fix Kit.
But wait, what does this fix kit do? First, you need to understand what exactly causes the RRoD in the first place. What many people believe is that the RRoD is caused when the solder connection between the GPU and the mainboard breaks, usually after a few months. This is caused because the clamp is not providing enough pressure on the heat sink to keep the motherboard connected to the GPU. What this kit does is replaces the x-shaped clamp with a more sturdy, stronger support to keep the pressure on the soldering, which will prevent it from breaking.
It’s an interesting solution to a widespread problem. However, unless you are good with your electronics, there is little to no point in doing this. Unless you’re really fed up with shipping coffin after coffin to Texas for repairs. If you’re curious, there’s a how-to video after the break."
Still crying ???...I got some good news for u Xbox 360 people :D
Microsoft didn’t want you to know about Falcon, and it certainly doesn’t want you to know about its successor Jasper. But that’s another secret we have to unveil.
Jasper is the code name for the next motherboard for the Xbox 360. It will becoming next August, in time for next year’s holiday season. Jasper is going to have a 65-nanometer graphics chip from ATI Technologies, as well as smaller memory chips. That isn’t much information, but it’s enough to tell us about their cost-reduction plan. If you ask me, it’s a bit of a slow pace.
I don’t know why it will take Microsoft essentially three years to cost reduce the size of the graphics chip through a manufacturing shrink. It doesn’t seem like they’re in a hurry to launch a redesigned Xbox 360 graphics chip, considering that Intel introduced its first 65-nm chips a long time ago. ATI uses TSMC to make its chips out of Taiwan, and TSMC hasn’t been the fastest at moving to 65-nm manufacturing. I understand these tasks are difficult and they take a lot of engineering resources. Microsoft has had to divert a lot of engineers to debugging problems with Xbox 360 reliability. Even so, you would think that they would have moved faster, since the move to 65-nm graphics chip will likely be one of the best things they can do to improve the reliability.
As readers of this blog know, Falcon is being used in Xbox 360s that are currently rolling off the production lines. It has a 65-nm IBM microprocessor on it, instead of the previous 90-nm version. It also has built-in HDMI. It carries lower costs than the previous motherboard, but not dramatically so. And Falcon has a 90-nm graphics chip on it.
Here’s something that Xbox 360 buyers will want to know. Both Falcon and its predecessor Zephyr (used in the Xbox 360 Elite) have different thermal solutions than the original Xbox 360. You’ve seen the heat sinks in the cut-out photos posted elsewhere. The Microsoft engineers believe those heat sinks will be sufficient as a solution for keeping Xbox 360s from overheating. From their point of view, you don’t have to wait until Jasper to get a reliable machine.
From a neutral point of view, I would guess that Jasper would be more reliable than Falcon on heat issues, and Falcon will be more reliable than its predecessors. The Falcon board has the same old 90-nm graphics chip on it. And many have pointed out that the big heat problem in the Xbox 360 is due to the graphics chip. The Falcon board will likely give off less heat. But the real serious heat saver looks like it will come with Jasper.
I’m sure that Jasper will carry lower costs than Falcon. That’s because it will have a smaller graphics chip and smaller memory chips as well. That translates into material savings, which means lower costs. If you’re wondering why you should care? Maybe you don’t need to care. But there are folks on the Falcon thread who want to know this kind of information and here it is. Certainly, Microsoft will be in a position to cut prices again by next August. If you recall, after it got Falcon out the door, Microsoft cut $50 off the price of the Xbox 360.
If I were Microsoft, I would try to pull in the date of Jasper as soon as possible. What they need right now is a lower cost so that they can be more competitive against the Wii and so they leave no openings for Sony. As of now, the 65-nm graphics chip isn’t done. They’re still working on it. Microsoft declined to comment, other than to say that it constantly updates the components in the Xbox 360 but doesn’t comment on them.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No comments:
Post a Comment