The Xbox 360 is fast becoming a minefield of different versions and subtle variants on a theme. Between the new heatsink, the new HDMI port, the new Elite model and the rumoured name change for the entire line - it's fast becoming a veritable menagerie of Microsoft branded products. Quick! Someone return fire before they shell us with copies of Windows Vista!
Then, on top of all that, there's also the kerfuffle about the new Xbox 360 chipset which has the enviable 'Codename: Falcon' on it.
According to Mercury News, the new Falcon chipset may be even closer than previously thought and is now in the process of being shipped from China.
The new chipset is hoped to increase the reliability of the console, which has fallen under repeated critiscism for hardware failures - something Microsoft has tried to address after-the-fact.
The new chipset will use a 65nm CPU, which is smaller, thinner and cheaper to produce than the current 90nm version in all current Xbox 360s. The new chip should also be a bit cooler, thus stopping all those pesky red rings of death which seem to kick in just when you were about to save for the first time in five hours.
However, in an odd move the GPU chip will remain at 90nm rather than slimming down with the CPU. According to Dean Takahashi of Mercury News:
“The board does not include a 65-nanometer version of the ATI graphics chip for the Xbox 360. That version of the graphics chip is coming later.”
But is it the GPU or the CPU which is behind all this overheating nonsense? The addition of a new heatpipe to cool the GPU would seem to suggest that its the graphics card which is the culprit and that the new CPU may therefore not perform as hoped, but since we aren't thermal analysts, we can't be sure. What do you think? Let us know in the forums.
Then, on top of all that, there's also the kerfuffle about the new Xbox 360 chipset which has the enviable 'Codename: Falcon' on it.
According to Mercury News, the new Falcon chipset may be even closer than previously thought and is now in the process of being shipped from China.
The new chipset is hoped to increase the reliability of the console, which has fallen under repeated critiscism for hardware failures - something Microsoft has tried to address after-the-fact.
The new chipset will use a 65nm CPU, which is smaller, thinner and cheaper to produce than the current 90nm version in all current Xbox 360s. The new chip should also be a bit cooler, thus stopping all those pesky red rings of death which seem to kick in just when you were about to save for the first time in five hours.
However, in an odd move the GPU chip will remain at 90nm rather than slimming down with the CPU. According to Dean Takahashi of Mercury News:
“The board does not include a 65-nanometer version of the ATI graphics chip for the Xbox 360. That version of the graphics chip is coming later.”
But is it the GPU or the CPU which is behind all this overheating nonsense? The addition of a new heatpipe to cool the GPU would seem to suggest that its the graphics card which is the culprit and that the new CPU may therefore not perform as hoped, but since we aren't thermal analysts, we can't be sure. What do you think? Let us know in the forums.
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