6:23 AM on 10.10.2007
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
Dean Takahashi of the San Jose Mercury News posted a blurb to the Mercury's technology blog early this morning and the news, while technical, seems mostly positive for fans of Microsoft's little white (or black, or Spartan ...) console. According to Mr. Takahashi, the newest iteration of the motherboard powering the 360 is going to be called Jasper -- a name once fitting only for coal miners, and the dogs of coal miners -- and will begin fabrication in August of 2008. It will boast "a 65-nanometer graphics chip from ATI Technologies, as well as smaller memory chips," two moves aimed at reducing cost, but which will also help prevent the molten temperatures exhibited by most current 360s. It is assumed that Jasper will also include the 65nm IBM triple-core processor currently shipping in Falcon, the second generation motherboard now being shipped in Microsoft's consoles. Obviously this does nothing for those of us with consoles purchased prior to Falcon's rollout, but at least Microsoft is paving the way to a better world for our children, and our children's children -- assuming we're all too miserly in our old age to purchase whatever hot new consoles the kids of the future will be shooting (with lasers) and stabbing (with laser knives) each other over. [Via NeoGAF] |
|
| |
-icon.gif){kind=icon}
21 comments + 95764 views
I heard that 65nm makes for a better lover. Size matters.
That's great, Microsoft. Thanks a ton. I'll be sure to ponder this as I fearfully turn on my 360 and worry that, with each power cycle, I'm bringing about the death of my console.
Let's think about this academically for a second. With the updated graphics subsystem, memory and new heatsinks, the 360 is now constructed like it should have been right from the start. So, in a way, Halo 3 could have been the 360's launch app.
It goes to show that Microsoft can't resist making its customers pay for the privilege of being beta testers. A word of advice to prospective buyers of the revised consoles: wait. Even when MS launches something new there's usually some horrible flaw found shortly thereafter, so be cautious and caveat emptor and all that.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the first Elite systems to roll out contain a Falcon motherboard right? Does this mean that they have the 65nm CPU as well, or is it currently only in the LE Halo 3 systems? I haven't really ever been able to find any decent clarification on this. :(
Nevermind, I followed the link to the second article on that page and it answered my question. I'm a nub.
@owenkun
Correction: the graphics and memory don't get fixed until August of next year. Which is precisely when I'll buy a 360, I assume.
YAY! Xblox is nearly out of BETA! All kidding aside, I hope my box doesn't give me the RRoD any time soon. I wonder if the redesign will give us any marked improvement as far as execution of the games (frame rate drops, load times, things of that nature). The redesigned PSP loads games faster than the original. Will these hardware updates to the 360 help my "blades" slide in faster when I hit they Xbox button?
I barely used my 360 when I first got it...maybe 60 hours total over the fisrt 103 days of ownership (90 days + 13 after warranty) and it RROD'd on me.
Got my replacement in 2 weeks after shipping back. I've played that one a ton and it has been flawless. It's been a year now since I got it.
There was some question about plugging it into a power strip which I had done with my original. I guess the power brick conditions the power on its own so a power strip is not needed and may actually be detrimental. Anyway, I've had the new one plugged into direct AC since I got it repaired. Using the older Nyko coolers that tied into the 360 power supply and leached power also seemed to wreck havoc on the 360. I just wonder if starving the 360 of power is the cause of a lot of the failures...?
Anyway, mine has been flawless for a year now so I would not be too concerned about getting another one. I've got a lot invested in games to where the console itself is now a small part of the overall investment. Besides, I spend a ton less on keeping my pc updated for video games which cost way more yearly than a 360 premium.
Sucks that I have to now send my 360 racing wheel in for repair. It seems like you can never have anything new from MS as all their kit ends up becoming a refurb unit after not too long...
What a great thing to let slip, just before the holidays! Thanks MS, for giving Falcons to Europe in Q1 2008 and then another new one in Q4. Almost as smart as announcing new rumble in your controllers, and then start selling xmas SKU's without them....
So will most those people that have been waiting for the Falcon to come out now continue to wait for this?
Wow, this has fail written all over it.
You announce a supposed fix for RROD and its more than a year away? Big mistake.
It's not a fix to RRoD at all, people think it is, but they lack the skill to think...so.
If any of you guys know this or not, what happens when you send your fucked 360 in is, they give you an old case, and put the new motherboard and diskdrive and guts inside of it.
So when the new 360's do come out with the new motherboards, people will still probably get old 360 motherboards, cause' i guarantee they are not going to clear all of there old stock.
Plus if you guys think a smaller procsser dye is going to help the 360, trust me, it wont help that much.
USE BETTER SOLDER!! MOAR 2!!
My 360 is fine, its only a small percentage of people who get the RROD, i even bet sony added a few flames to the fire.
Just buy one, they are so cheap anyway!
"So will most those people that have been waiting for the Falcon to come out now continue to wait for this?"
I probably will... :(
Cool... now I won't have to buy a xbot till after Christmas 08 (*so all the NEW red ring of death, cousin to the BSOD, issues are handled). This is great, I can continue to enjoy my PS3 and Wii till then, and I'm sure, with TF2, Haze, AC, Raving Rabbids, (the list goes on and on) even a few prior xbox properties showing up on my two OTHER consoles, I'll still be interested in a toy from a company I struggled with for almost 10+ years.
Good Job Microsoft... hey, I heard you are replacing the driver installation subroutine for Windows 3.11... make em work better too... Way to make me a believer again...
Well, I've gone this long without a 360 - I might as well wait another 10 months and see what happens. Smooth move, Microsoft. 8|
So if I kill my console and go to Best Buy with my replacement plan, does this mean I get a new 360 that wont RRoD?
I think they named it after Jasper, Alberta, Canada. You know... a cool (cold) place with beautiful scenery... also the new 65nm chips are being produced in Canada, even stamped on the new CPUs, eh?
Lazer Knives? Sort of like mini lightsabers or what?
@TorpedoTed
What exactly do you consider to be a "small percentage"? Out of my friends (humour me by pretending that they are my friends, ok, rather than people I meet on the bus and won't stop talking to) I only know one who hasn't had to send their 360 to MS. That leaves about 50 or 60 consoles, all of which have to have been repaired. Some of them multiple times. I believe it's not just a small percentage of consoles. That's what Microsoft originally wanted us to think. Then it started getting into the realms of civil suits and they issued an official apology. There is an inherent flaw in the first generation of 306s. How quickly it kills your console may differ but for most people (hands up members of the audience) if they haven't had it fail yet, it's just a matter of time.
So, not including the Wii, you have a choice of Sony's console which doesn't have much going on, and MSs console, which will eventually die. I have both, well, I mean, I own both but the 360 is being repaired and I'm not really playing anything on the PS3.
Still don't want a Wii. It's getting sorely tempting but, not yet.
@TorpedoTed- how can you say it is a small percentage? it is at 30%- and almost everyone that I know who owns a 360 has had the rrod
@glipe- dood you got a xbox 306? wow that must really be beta
Im done waiting to pick up a 360. Ill pick up my Elite bundle @ the end of the month. I cant wait for another year for this shit.
Lol @ Not Jasper
I wont support microsoft until they prove they can make good hardware. As long as i see rrod here... from now on im looking to rrod in the falcon consoles and next year in the new ones.
ok, so Sony has until August 08 to get their act together or i'll be buying a 360 then, playing Wii and DS all the while :)
Why do these hardware revisions always take so damn long?
(I just remembered the PS3 stories from the past week)
...It is a tightrope, to be sure.
Dammit Microsoft, just when I thought I was set buying the Falcon chips that are practically out, you announce a better chipset. You know what? Fuck it. I'm buying a Falcon, and if it breaks, you better be replacing it with a Jasper, MS.
Meh. There's no way I'm waiting another year to play Mass Effect and Bioshock and Assassin's Creed and all that other cool shit.
August 2008?! That's a long ways off..
This guys are taking too long to get their act together... at this pace the 360 will be a good hardware console for the next console war...
Returning Dtoiders: login now to post a comment
Destructoid is an open discussion community. You don't need to "audition" to post a comment - just Create an avatar now - it's fast and free: PLUS you also get your own gaming blog and begin posting stories and uploading videos in our open community area that may also appear on our home page. Sign up and we'll guide you through it, it's easy and 100% anonymous.