Xbox 360 Elite vs. classic: the test
By Ryan Block 
posted April 26th 2007 5:19PM
posted April 26th 2007 5:19PM
We tested the consoles with a Sharp 46D62U (46-inch) 1080p LCD and a 5.1 surround system -- we went HDMI vs component, since it's safe to assume the majority of people don't have VGA inputs on their HDTVs (including us). We played the first stage of Gears of War (on casual, so what?), and then plugged in our HD DVD drive and watched a few scenes from Batman Begins.
Console noise
We know how much you all wanted your Xbox 360 Elite to quiet down a bit, but we have some bad news for ya. As we heard from our sources who supplied us with much of our info about the Elite, unfortunately the noise level is about the same as before. It doesn't use the new 65nm chips, so it seems to require the same number of case fans.
The same is true of the disc drive. Our Elite and classic drives do sound different, and it's obvious they're not the same make or model. However, unfortunately, they're equally loud. Sorry guys, you're still going to have to put up with the same level of noise as before -- don't come looking to the Elite for something that sounds less like a shop-vac.
Heat
As we said before, these are using the old round of 90nm chips, not the 65nm variety. So it goes without saying that using the same chips as before, these things are going to produce the same amount of heat. We didn't run an 18 hour stress test or anything (obviously), but both units did feel about the same after an hour of playing games and movies, and they both felt like they were outputting about the same amount of heat.
HDMI 1080p vs component 1080p/i
We're going to be totally honest here, we hardly noticed a damn difference at all. We figured the best visual test would be playing in 1080p on both HDMI and component video, and we were right. What little difference we did notice, we noticed it with that test. In a couple of darker scenes in Gears there seemed to be a little more depth to the blacks (and a bit more distance detail because of it). But to tell you how subtle it was, we didn't even notice it until we literally started flipping back and forth as fast as we could. Fast motion, spinning, action, all the rest -- it looks almost identical on both consoles.
When watching an HD DVD in 1080p on HDMI and 1080i on component, we definitely didn't really notice anything different. The age old question though, right? Is 1080p actually noticeably different? Not to us, and probably not even if you have a 720p set -- assuming you're viewing on anything less than a massive, massive display. By the way, before you make any judgments about perceived visual quality based on our screen caps, please remember that those were taken with a regular camera, not pro screen capturing tools . In other words, what you may think is a big difference in quality may actually just be a small change in light metering or exposure. In other words, you'll kind of have to take our word for it when we say it looks almost identical.
Audio
We can now definitely confirm that despite its HDMI output, the Xbox 360 Elite still doesn't enable advanced codec support (like Dolby TrueHD). You still have the same three options as you had before: digital stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1, and DD with WMA Pro. When we played back an HD DVD with TrueHD audio (Batman Begins), it just stayed on DD5.1, nothing else happened. Bummer. But again, that's what we were expecting.
Other minor bits
We did notice that the front power button on the Elite console is much clickier than the squishy power button on our classic 360. Probably not enough clikiness to actually justify the purchase in and of itself, we'd imagine.
Also, the black controller is entirely matte, whereas the white controller is matte everywhere except the slick silver strip on the bottom. Since that bottom strip is where a couple of your fingers rest when holding the controller we found the entirely matte black controller slightly preferable.
We haven't yet checked out DVD upscaling, but that's on our list of thing sto do. Anything else you want to know or see? Leave us a comment.
Final thoughts
Basically, unless you are seriously eagle-eyed, have a massive friggin screen, or for whatever reason need to use HDMI because you're all out of component inputs, your investment in the first-gen Xbox 360 is probably safe. Do yourself a favor, just buy that 120GB drive if you need the space, the HDMI really just doesn't justify replacing your whole console for a new $480 unit. Then again, if you're truly "elite" then all the stuff we just said really doesn't matter, and you're probably gonna buy this thing anyway. Cheers, enjoy!
Well, to anyone who thinks this is a good test of 1080p you are greatly mistaken. Gears of War is NOT 1080p. The 360 SCALES the image to 1080p. 1080p IS more than twice the resolution of 720p. Look at a PS3 game running natively in 1080p and compare to a game running in 720p on a 1080p native display and then decide for yourself. Trust me on this one... Big difference.
sadly, i need the hdmi to combat an electrical issue i have. i have too much electrical noise being picked up in analog signals (ghosting, shadowing). i know call an electrician. but this is an easy fix. Goodbye $500, hello hdmi.
thx MGMT
So this is pretty much a review for people who already have a 360 it seems. Would it be a good choice if you've never had one?
Ummm... There is CLEARLY more shadow detail with the HDMI. Whether or not that justifies the purchase... I guess you have to be crazy like me :)
someone else said it first, it's amazing how little people know about HD.
put side by side, a native resolution 720p, 1080i, 1080p on PROPERLY calibrated tv's will be *almost* indistinguishable from each other. the difference would be akin to a blind soda taste test only to realize you liked RC Cola the most.
but what i love most about reading comments are folks who pipe in who don'teven have the platform, bash it and walk away saying they are saving for a ps3 but they aren't "fan boys"
@ jbd6
i hope you don't take this personally but i have to dissect your post...
"Not holding a grudge against a manufacturer that has totally screwed you and willing to pay them twice for the same unit... I seriously admire that kind of gaming love."
i'm curious if you know aything about manufacturing and especially high end electronics manufacturing. having been in manufacturing myself for over 10 years, i can state, without a doubt, that the 360 fall out rate is within standard tolerances. the problem lies with how much people bitch about it; it inflates the perception that be design, the hardware is faulty. being an AVID gamer myself iththe first system iever owned being Pong, owning and to this day, collecting every system ever released in North America (yeah, i'm 36, old fart), there are only two systems that had serious design flaws, the PS1 and PS2. both of those systems had horribly designed disc mechanisms that resulted in folks buying multiple systems oncoe the warranty had passed. myself? i owned 3 different PS1's and am on my fourth ps2.
i'm not going to quote your second paragraph but will address the points you made. you didnt get a 360 for quality of games but you spent an extra $200 for a ps3 on faith? you wanted to get a 360 but odds indicate you would have to get a replacement? actually, odds indicae you won't have to get one. seeings how the fall out rate n bad hardware is about 5 to 7%, the odds of you getting a machine that wouldn't need replacement are about 93 - 95%. if i were in vegas and walked by a casino that had black jack tables with those odds, i'd never leave.
i will quote your third paragraph since it isn't as long :)
"So I bought a Wii and a PS3 and game on my PC as well. I'm dieing for all the great games that will arrive on both systems very soon. Waiting sucks. And if I had slightly less patience, I'd buy a 360 as a temporary solution. But it won't be long before there are more killer PS3 and Wii games than I have time to play. And I have full faith that my money is better invested in those systems. And there's the self satisfaction in knowing I didn't give my money to a manufacturer that makes unreliable hardware and doesn't care enough about its customers or reputation to fix their design."
are you talking about MS or Sony not caring about its customers? i personally know one of sony's north american engineers, he's told me that the CD drive in the ps1 was garbage, that sony cheaped out with the drive in the ps2 when they released it to save costs. MS extended their warranty on launch machines to show they care about their customers and ai've never read anything about sony having done the same (knowing full well that the drives were cheap).
i work for one of the top 5 video game publishers in america. so i don't lose my job, i won't mention who :)
ALL of the systems will have killer games, there is no doubt about that. the question is, who will have the best exclusives? the days of exlusive titles is winding down, and it's doing so quickly. it costs entirely to much to develop a next gen game and only release it on one console. there will be exclusives, no doubt, you just have to weigh which ones you would rather play. rpg? put final fantasy next to fable, i'm going with the console that has fable.
to everyone else that sits, waits and complains about the reasons they hate the 360:
1. they break. fallout rate is acceptable for manufacturing.
2. over heat. follow the instructions and keep it well ventilated and there is a 95% chance you won't have any issues.
3. they are too loud. do have speakers? u realll should get a pair, it adds to the gaming experience and i swear, unless the 360 is in your lap (no reason it should be, controllers are wireless), if are enjoying the game with audio on, you wont hear the drive.
4. the "i'm waiting for the new chip" guys. seriously? worst excuse i have ever heard. will the new chip run thegames differently? no. and i know what you are going to say next, "it will run cooler and have less chance of dying". see points 1 and 2 above. really.
i know folks will scream "M$ fan boy" and you couldnt be more wrong. i'm a mac user, i HATE MS. what i DO love is gaming. being able to see games in developmet that we are working on, knowing that the PS3 and 360 are EXTREMELY close in power and that the 360 has killer apps right now, on the shelf, go check it out... makes the decision for me easy.
will i get a ps3? i'm a collector, of course i will. and youthe best thing that i will like about it? thefew games that i cant play on any other system; the same reasons i love my 360 and every other system i own.
quit complaining folks, nextgen started november '05, anyone tells you different, they want something from you
"i am no sony fanboy but they have a damn fine line of games coming this fall so i think its almost better to get a ps3...its still more powerful then the "elite" and it has wifi and hdmi all you need is the cables. and blu ray has like 15 times the space so games like gears of war could be 10 times longer on the ps3"
Oh man. I am so SICK of hearing about the storage space of BR disc. Are you also willing to pay 10x more for the same game? Because longer game = more artist, level designers and time to make. More time and employees = more cost to produce. So it doesn't matter what THEORETICAL space for games a format has. The only thing that matters is it economically viable from a business standpoint?
Especially in the era of cross platform titles...doubtful many (any?) publisher is going to take their same game and greatly expand it's size just for the PS3. Ain't gonna happen. Not to mention that such a game would again, take more time to produce and as such would not release even close to the same street date as the other platforms. It just makes no sense at all from a business perspective. Especially for a console that isn't selling as well.
poor game choice gears only surports hdtv/480p/720p/1080i/ where as a game like lost planet has hdtv/720p/1080i/1080p surport so why would you us a game like that?now that the 360 surports 1080p they can now make the games look better ! if i was to hook up now VHS to my plasma it will still look like crap but if i put a bluray/HD-DVD player you would see a differnce, same thing with games if they make a game that has 1080p first you will start to seen the differnce!
The HDMI format connector is mostly for convienience, as I know I wish I had one. But the signal is identical, the only difference between HDMI and component is the format of the connector. Same component signal (hence VGA, HDMI and Component basically are all the same signal)
The Elite is quiter than my launch day 360. Even the wife noticed the difference. Could depend on your 360. As for the picture quality, I noticed nothing. HDMI looks just as good as component, thats ok though because I only purchased it to lower down the noise level.
Is there any word on if the elite controller has a "fixed" direction pad?
I've traded in my Premium 360 and purchased the Elite yesterday. I have all 4 ways (Svideo,Component,VGA,HDMI) to connect a 360 to a nice TV.(61' SAMSUNG DLP 1080P) I have to say that I could tell a noticeable difference in clarity, sharpness, and shades of color especially Black. When going from the lowest quality connection to the best on games and movies. I also notice that the ELite is much quieter than my Premium. I dunno maybe I got a better drive this time. In all I'm very satified with the upgrade. With a trade in of your Premium for $250 with EB. If you need or want a bigger hard drive. Consider this the Elite is $479.00 minus $250.00 that leaves $229.00 around 247.00 after tax. The stand alone HDD is around 195.00 after tax. For another 50 bucks you get HDMI the best quality connection for your system with the HDMI cable. Now I waiting on my free data transfer cable that you can get from XBOX.com
P.S. It helps if have a friend at EB that will hold your old hard drive for a week or so, till your able to borrow, copy and return formated.
So does anyone know if they are coming out with a black wireless adapter?
hey i tried the dvd upscaling with the matrix revolutions, it looks a hell of alot better than my dvd player, much sharper, you know, it just has that hd feeling when its upscaled, definately going to use my elite360 for a dvd player now as well. i just want my elite360 to play divX and i'll be all set up.
Best article...
A kid at school told me that the 360 elite has 2 more processers then the regular 360 which makes the graphics on both 360 and original xbox games look better and the console runs faster because of the 2 extra processers and he also said that it has a built in backwards compatibility instead of having to download the update. Is any of this true?
Wow. Have any of u read that Gears of War is formated for a maximum resolution of 1080i, not 1080p. no wonder there wasn't much of a difference.
FYI: I really struggled with the 1080i/p thing this past week. I ended up purchasing 40in samsung LCD that supports 1080 through the VGA connector.
I was playing GRAW2.
I first connected my XBOX 360 core using the Psyclone component cables. IT looked pretty good; it was kind of blurry. I tried the 1080i and the 1080p settings on the xbox - with no appreciable difference. Then I connected the Xbox via VGA cable and set it to 1080. Wow! It was GRAW2 was like a whole new game. Amazing definition and super stable image.
The moral of the story: I was going to settle for 1080i over component until I decided to buy a higher quality TV and got the VGA cable just for comparison; huge difference.
Good luck!
does the elite break down like the regular, and why does the regular break down/ and ho to prevent it.