New Xbox 360 production revision hits shelves
Monday 01st October 2007, 11:11:00 AM, written by Rys
DailyTech are reporting that the Falcon revision of the Xbox 360 is
shipping. As far as the 360 goes, Falcon means a 65nm revision of the
Xenon system processor.
The savvy consumer interested in the internals of their console should note that Falcon is a cost reduction for Microsoft, rather than a fix for any inherent hardware defect that causes the well-publicised faults. However the new 65nm foundry process will allow Xenon to run cooler and consume less power for the same frequency, desirable attributes which may do something for overall reliability.
That should be of minor interest to consumers looking to avoid issues with their console, but then it's only possible to tell that you have the latest Falcon revision after purchase, since designation is nowhere to be found on the packaging.
Xenos (known internally to ATI as C1), the graphics processor in the Xbox 360 so famously documented by Dave Baumann here at Beyond3D, remains in production at 90nm, even in Falcon revision 360 consoles.
A move to 65nm for that dual-die piece of the console's logic remains on the cards, and indeed it seems that the work to deliver the main die design to Microsoft on 65nm via TSMC has been complete for some time. Whether there's a holdup with mass production of the eDRAM die (currently produced by NEC) at 65nm via TSMC (it's likely that Microsoft would enjoy a single supplier for the graphics package), or some other issue, we're not sure.
The net result is that another revision of the 360 is needed before the two major silicon ICs used to create the console have process parity.
The savvy consumer interested in the internals of their console should note that Falcon is a cost reduction for Microsoft, rather than a fix for any inherent hardware defect that causes the well-publicised faults. However the new 65nm foundry process will allow Xenon to run cooler and consume less power for the same frequency, desirable attributes which may do something for overall reliability.
That should be of minor interest to consumers looking to avoid issues with their console, but then it's only possible to tell that you have the latest Falcon revision after purchase, since designation is nowhere to be found on the packaging.
Xenos (known internally to ATI as C1), the graphics processor in the Xbox 360 so famously documented by Dave Baumann here at Beyond3D, remains in production at 90nm, even in Falcon revision 360 consoles.
A move to 65nm for that dual-die piece of the console's logic remains on the cards, and indeed it seems that the work to deliver the main die design to Microsoft on 65nm via TSMC has been complete for some time. Whether there's a holdup with mass production of the eDRAM die (currently produced by NEC) at 65nm via TSMC (it's likely that Microsoft would enjoy a single supplier for the graphics package), or some other issue, we're not sure.
The net result is that another revision of the 360 is needed before the two major silicon ICs used to create the console have process parity.
Tagging
xbox ± 360, falcon, 65nm, process, foundry
Related xbox News
E3 2008: Microsoft Press Conference Highlights
XBox 360 Price Cut Imminent
CES: Microsoft signs XBox Live content agreements
Bungie Studios to gain independence
CEDEC 2007: Capcom on Lost Planet Part I
Xbox 360: Focus shifts from Japan to Europe?
Europe gets Xbox 360 Price Drop
XNA Game Studio 2.0 Announced
New Xbox 360s include HDMI
Xbox 360 price drops by $50
XBox 360 Price Cut Imminent
CES: Microsoft signs XBox Live content agreements
Bungie Studios to gain independence
CEDEC 2007: Capcom on Lost Planet Part I
Xbox 360: Focus shifts from Japan to Europe?
Europe gets Xbox 360 Price Drop
XNA Game Studio 2.0 Announced
New Xbox 360s include HDMI
Xbox 360 price drops by $50
