First Zepher, then Falcon. Next up....JASPER

[Carsonal]

The next incarnation of the 360s motherboard set for next year.
Should give them more leg room for price drops

Found on GAF, sourced from mercury news.
Source

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.

[WonsAuto]

Better, more reliable game consoles are always welcome.

[snooper71]

Better, more reliable game consoles are always welcome.

Indeed, but my launch unit is stil going strong. I was considering switching to an Elite when I experienced bad slow downs awhile ago, but the problem seems to be completely gone for now...

With all the revision MS is going through right now, I decided to wait out replacing my premium and see if one of the future SKU's will include a built in HD-DVD so I don't have to purchase the add-on.

The good news with the new boards is that RROD's issues and complaints seem to be gone now.

They seem to be taking their sweet time to cost reduce the hardware wich is most likely due to the PS3 still being at a superior price range. I think they might speed up the process to introduce the JASPER board now that Sony as a SKU under 400$

[FantasyStar]

Indeed, but my launch unit is stil going strong. I was considering switching to an Elite when I experienced bad slow downs awhile ago, but the problem seems to be completely gone for now...

With all the revision MS is going through right now, I decided to wait out replacing my premium and see if one of the future SKU's will include a built in HD-DVD so I don't have to purchase the add-on.

The good news with the new boards is that RROD's issues and complaints seem to be gone now.

They seem to be taking their sweet time to cost reduce the hardware wich is most likely due to the PS3 still being at a superior price range. I think they might speed up the process to introduce the JASPER board now that Sony as a SKU under 400$

knock on wood buddy, knock on wood!

[One-Shot]

Yeah I think this has been on the net for a bit. I really hope no one is waiting for the falcon or jasper before getting a 360. If you are so worried then get a warrenty. Besides my 360 was off for like 2 days and then when I turned it on I got the rrod right away so I donno if its something with heat.

[TH3 GAM3]

Yeah I think this has been on the net for a bit. I really hope no one is waiting for the falcon or jasper before getting a 360. If you are so worried then get a warrenty. Besides my 360 was off for like 2 days and then when I turned it on I got the rrod right away so I donno if its something with heat.

Wow, that kinda sucks that your 360 got the RROD. The jasper would be the best 360 though.

[One-Shot]

Wow, that kinda sucks that your 360 got the RROD. The jasper would be the best 360 though.

It was a couple weeks before halo but was really a blessing since I just went to the store to get a new one and it was the new hdmi one which was a lot quieter then my original.

[Carsonal]

Wow, that kinda sucks that your 360 got the RROD. The jasper would be the best 360 though.

No doubt.
The real question remains whether the current stock has a cooling system good enough to avoid over heating.
Signs so far point to yes.

[WonsAuto]

Who's naming these motherboards, anyway?

[C.T.E.]

Who's naming these motherboards, anyway?

I don't know, but I feel sorry for their kids if they have any.

[mickice]

Who's naming these motherboards, anyway?

It would have been cool if they called them 'Foxtrot' 'Uniform' 'Charlie' 'Kilo'.

[skarekrow]

It would have been cool if they called them 'Foxtrot' 'Uniform' 'Charlie' 'Kilo'.

Im going to go out on a limb and say that you are a blood hound gang fan.

[A7MAD]

It would have been cool if they called them 'Foxtrot' 'Uniform' 'Charlie' 'Kilo'.

The 'Foxtrot' 'Uniform' 'Charlie' 'Kilo' -- 'Yankee' 'Oscar' 'Uniform' sku.

[Fekz]

Unh, to the left... take it back now ya'll, one hop this time *dun*, one hop this time *dun*.. sliiiiiiide to the left, *sliiiiide to the right* hands on ya kneeees hands on ya kneeees, cha cha now ya'll.

[Soldierboy]

Who would have thought already right after the 65nm falcons comes ANOTHER reason not to buy a 360 this holiday. lol this is totally started by fanboys

[A7MAD]

Seeing as the X360 will combat Sony's 40Gb sku in price especially in the UK, Joe public will not really care about Falcon or Jasper.

[coolguy]

the falcon thats out now with the 2 heat sinks are good.
much better then the older 360s i think i will be pciking up a 360 in a few weeks

[Jabjabs]

Yeah I think this has been on the net for a bit. I really hope no one is waiting for the falcon or jasper before getting a 360. If you are so worried then get a warrenty. Besides my 360 was off for like 2 days and then when I turned it on I got the rrod right away so I donno if its something with heat.

The problem isn't directly with the heat in terms of over heating but more the overheating of the motherboard which can cause warping, that's why it bricked when you switched it back on and not during peak usage, the same thing is happening to my Geforce card now days since it is starting to warp from to much heat. This solution on smaller chips and additional heat sinks seams to work very well so it's not a major issue long term any more when it comes to reliability.

[furby]

So how can MS keep jumping from company to company? What about contracts?

[Soldierboy]

So how can MS keep jumping from company to company? What about contracts?

meh they can hire people to ebay those old stuff and keep the contracts