While we’ve been hearing rumblings of new Xbox 360 motherboards and chipsets, we haven’t come across anything solid yet. While not verified, the information from 8bit Joystick is definitely interesting, and if it’s right, we’ll see two new motherboard/chipset configurations for future Xbox 360s.
You probably already know about the Xenon (original), Zephyr (Elite) and Falcon (current, with a 65 nm CPU) chipsets, and there’s also a Jasper, which hss both a 65 nm CPU and a 65 nm GPU. Now we hear about the “Opus” and “Valhalla” — wow, what epic names.
8bit Joystick describes the rumored Opus to be a Falcon generation motherboard designed to fit in a Xenon case, sporting a 90 nm GPU and a 65 nm CPU. Why would they do that? They say it might be a recycling measure, which would put these new mobos in the casings of old RROD’d systems. How Eco-friendly — frankenboxes! They add that since the original launch Xbox 360 had no HDMI port, the Opus will not have the feature either.
The other, the Valhalla, seems like a dream Xbox 360. It is said to use a unified chip containing both the CPU and GPU, which would make a cheaper, more reliable, energy efficient Xbox 360. 8bit Joystick says to expect a price drop with this system, as costs would be reduced.
When will we see these? They estimate that Japser will hit this year or next, and the Valhalla will make it out by late 2009 or mid-2010. C’mon, Xbox 360. Hold out until then!
[Thanks, Jake]
