Xbox 360's 65nm Jasper chipset in the works for August release?

While our primary gripe with the 360 continues to be drive noise, any improvements to the console that might subdue the impression it's eating our games and heating our continent would certainly be welcome. Microsoft's Jasper 65nm chipset has been in the works for the Xbox 360 for a while, and now reports are coming fast and furious that Taiwanese companies are picking up the contracts for the chips, and the new setup will be sucking down less wattage and pumping out less heat by August of this year. After that attention will turn to the rumored Valhalla, to be built by the same Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., which will combine the CPU and GPU into a new super-efficient chip for fall of '09 if these reports are anything to go by.

[Via Joystiq]

[carbonrain @ May 8th 2008 12:04PM]

bout damn time, this thing is a noisy oven. i love mine, but improvements are welcome, too!

[MooseMuffin @ May 8th 2008 12:38PM]

It actually blows my mind that my xbox can be so loud and not be broken. I knew about the red ring issue when I bought it so when I first powered it on and heard the noise it was making, I would have guessed it only had a month or so to live. Its been rolling right along for a year and a half now though, living through its share of extended halo/mass effect/gta sessions.

[Jagster @ May 8th 2008 1:28PM]

The new ones are much quieter. My launch box just RROD'ed so I took it back to Costco and picked up a new one. This one I can't tell if it's on unless the CD is spinning up whereas the launch one had noticeable cooling fan noise. My launch box wasn't terrible though, I'm sure some models were louder than mine, and it only bugged me when watching movies at night when I had to keep the volume down and there were quiet parts. In games with all the music and effects sounds, it was not bothersome at all. But now, the fan noise from my projector is louder than my new 360.

[sam @ May 8th 2008 12:09PM]

what about a lower nm gpu? wasnt that supposed to be released 6 months after falcon chipset??

[Burrens @ May 8th 2008 12:14PM]

The Jasper chipset is said to include the 65nm GPU revision.

[Low Ranked @ May 8th 2008 1:06PM]

Can anyone provide a graph or chart comparing the amount of BTU's given off by a 95nm vs a 65nm? I'm curious as too exactly how much heat this would reduce.

On another note, as long as your Xbox is well ventilated it won't overheat. The noise of the drive however, would be my primary concern to resolve.

[mkim @ May 8th 2008 1:41PM]

i'm kinda over it. the big noise is the drive and even that is drowned out with even the smallest bit of volume. if it lowers the cost and energy usage, that's great though.

So all those speculations of the xbox having a 65nm chip before were just bs? that's funny because so many were convinced they had 65nm chipsets.

[Mauricio @ May 8th 2008 12:16PM]

Jasper Johns?

[iamjason @ May 8th 2008 12:17PM]

guess ill have to swap mine out with one of these from walmart again. hopefully this one dosn't break within a matter of months and sounds like an airplane taking off in my room.

[martin @ May 8th 2008 12:19PM]

hmm maybe with the gpu and cpu on one chip and a smaller process they can put the power brick inside the console or at least make the two devices smaller.. i'd happily replace my 360 with a smaller/quieter one.
but by late '09 isnt the 360 gonna be a bit old hat

[Ray-- @ May 8th 2008 12:19PM]

ummm its the DVD drive thats so noisy.. thats what needs fixin'!

[Slug @ May 8th 2008 12:23PM]

agreed, absolutely, all right, assuredly, aye, roger, undoubtedly, unquestionably, yea

[roflercopterer @ May 8th 2008 12:29PM]

Jasper is a town in Marion County, Tennessee, just 9 miles south of Whitwell, Tennessee. The population was 3,214 at the 2000 census

[Low Ranked @ May 8th 2008 1:08PM]

Thanks for that juicy little fact!

I copied and pasted that into an e-mail and sent it to my entire contact list incase they were wondering about the origins of Jasper...

[roflercopterer @ May 8th 2008 7:55PM]

It's just what I think of when I hear the name Jasper...its the southern town where everything you hear about the south is true.

[mahmud @ May 8th 2008 12:36PM]

Every time i turn on my 360 I hold onto something stable, because you never know.

[Shane @ May 8th 2008 12:51PM]

My Xbox 360 is so quiet the only way I know it's on is by looking at the green light on the front. Mine is a launch version though. Some dolt (not me) stood in line for it for 15 hours the day they were released, and then sold it to me for a measly $150 profit.

[roflercopterer @ May 8th 2008 12:59PM]

This "dolt" made $10/hr, which is more than many of the posters on this blog.

You're the dolt that paid $150 over retail.

[Reader @ May 8th 2008 1:04PM]

Sounds like a good high school job. Hell even college.

[tekdroid @ May 8th 2008 12:55PM]

waiting for the Ballmer chipset revision.

[Geoffrey Sperl @ May 8th 2008 1:08PM]

Does that come with a free "Dance Dance Revolution: Monkeyboy Edition"?

I would hate to see the moves for that one. Probably trash the dance pad...

[ZeroCorpse @ May 8th 2008 1:08PM]

I have the newest chipset in my current 360, and yes, the drive noise is still too loud, but the console runs extremely cool. After all-night GTA sessions, it's barely warm.

If there were only some way to get a quieter DVD drive in the 360...

[Alexander @ May 8th 2008 1:37PM]

There is. I modded mine to have some little rubber washers inbetween the case and the drive and the damn thing is almost silent now.

You can still hear it--the hum is just a lot lower now. It's not the loud buzzing that it used to be.

If your not afraid of voiding your precious warranty from Microsoft that is. :P

[turban @ May 8th 2008 1:11PM]

priorities. gotta love them. like how my 360 and my last few have had the red rings. iv followd all these tips but it's getting to the point where it's not worth shipping....


so i gave a new one away.

[Shane @ May 8th 2008 1:14PM]

Yeah, this guy was an adult, not a kid. And I'm pretty sure he had a real job. And it was cold, and raining, and he had to wait outside. I paid $800 for the package he got, which he paid $650 for at Best Buy. He also paid eBay fees on top of that, so he probably really only netted less than $100.

[Ryan @ May 8th 2008 1:17PM]

So yea my xbox360 broke in november of last year. Called xbox support and they told me $129 to fix. I told them to F@ck off becuase they wont fix it anyway. So I found someone on ebay whos been fixing them since launch and they charged me $45 plus shipping. Needless to say I got my system back in 4 days after I shipped it and I have all new x clamps on my mother board, new fans keeping my system even cooler and all new heat sync paste...plus the kid even cleaned all the dust for me and made sure it shined like new. Thanks for nothing microsoft...but hey at least I have my 360 back now so I can finally buy GTA4 haha.

[tekdroid @ May 8th 2008 1:39PM]

November last year? Didn't Microsoft know acknowledge the Red Ring Of Death well before then, and offered free repairs and extended warranty coverage (or something like that) well before Nov 2007?

[Ryan @ May 8th 2008 1:45PM]

Actually Microsoft only "repairs" systems with the RROD and in the case of my system the GPU failed becuase of the crappy x clamps they put on the motherboard...so that the GPU would become unseated and therefor no video...my system would boot fine and there was sound but no video. So Microsoft wouldnt "fix" my console for free. Im actually so happy they didnt because they never fix your system...they just fix it enough to work for 5 minutes and send it right back only for it to break again as soon as you turn it on. Microsoft can kiss my ass I'll get my own system fixed from kids who know what they are doing.

[tekdroid @ May 8th 2008 1:56PM]

Ryan,
ah that's a shame. You'd think they'd have better warranty than that. Oh well, can't say it surprises me.

[Ryan @ May 8th 2008 2:04PM]

tekdroid,

Yea doesnt surprise me either...Microsoft really is a horrible company when it comes to customer service and making a product that doesnt break. But hey Im glad I found this kid whos been working with electronics his whole life...thats what his dads job was and he taught this kid ever since he was little. Hes been workin on all kinds of systems and he does custom case mod jobs too.

[w00t @ May 8th 2008 1:29PM]

But wait, there's more!

[ajfarson @ May 8th 2008 1:38PM]

I just bought an Elite and the thing is super loud! I actually put it in the room behind the screen and closed the door... no more noise! It seems to me the loudest two things on the whole unit is the fans, and the DVD drive. So maybe a mod is in order...

[Kerrick @ May 8th 2008 1:41PM]

BAAAAAAAAHAHAHAH! 45nm is the new standard for PC CPUs, and Microsoft is just now getting to the aging 65nm architecture?! BAAAAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!111!!one11!!

[zachary Pruckowski @ May 10th 2008 2:49AM]

In regards to 45nm vs. 65nm, it varies. There are a lot of foundries that can do 65nm, but only a few 45nm foundries. At the moment, currently selling computer GPUs range from 55nm processes up to 80nm processes. Basically all the nVidia 8x00 series were 80nm, and that didn't stop them from smoking the 55nm ATI cards.

[chris @ May 12th 2008 12:53PM]

The current(falcon mobos) in the 360 have a 65nm microprocessor and a 90nm gpu, iirc. I know, i gots one. compared tot he older models, it is far quieter, and way cooler(and the power brick is under 200 watts) The dvd is still loudish, but it doesn't bother me as mine sits in a media closet. i crack the door open for airflow to keep it cool. After 10+ hours of use, it's barely lukewarm to the touch, as is the brick

[Drake @ May 8th 2008 2:32PM]

Wonder if ths one will finally work... Given Microsoft's past, I doubt it, there will b a cost saving in there somwewhere that fucks it up.

[Dave @ May 8th 2008 3:07PM]

My xbox is ultra quiet..that's because I never switch it on and play all the games on the PS3 instead.

[David Dickman @ May 8th 2008 3:39PM]

Thank you Dave, hellva report on what you do.

[David @ May 8th 2008 8:04PM]

lol. the ps3 is leaps and bounds ahead of the 360 in terms of quality. and everything else. i wuv my ps3

[Shane @ May 8th 2008 4:14PM]

Funny comment there Dave. My experience is the exact opposite. My PS3 sits there not being used because I'd rather play games on my Xbox 360. The PS3 is almost exclusively used as a DVD/Blu-Ray player. I just don't care for the PS3 controller, and the graphics are virtually identical.

[Dustin D @ May 8th 2008 4:27PM]

So is the 65nm out or what? All these people with quiet drives, do you have the 65nm chip?

[Duke 2 @ May 8th 2008 4:38PM]

Alot of confusion around here.

Yes, the 65nm chip is out as part of what's commonly known as the Falcon console. The Jasper is the next version which will also have the smaller 65nm GPU- both down from 90nm. Valhalla comes later and is an integrated chipset.

And yes, the Falcon consoles are way cooler and also quieter than their predecessor. If my surround sound is turned on even a bit, you can't hear the XBox unless you put your freakin head next to it.

Hope that helps.

[Mike J @ May 8th 2008 7:19PM]

Duke2 seems to already own one wow.

How do you know it's quieter? It's likely to be noiser than PS3 still, as PS3 is already 65nm, and has a more advanced cooling system.,

[Duke 2 @ May 9th 2008 9:15AM]

@Mike

As you implied, I know it's quieter because I own a falcon console.

Much quieter than the Zephyr I owned back in November of last year.

Not as quiet as the PS3... but then I didn't choose a console for how quiet it is, but rather how awesome the games are that I can play on it on a 52" 1080p w/7.1 surround sound.

I've played both and for the stuff we enjoy (from COD4, Rockband to Viva Pinata!), this is a no-brainer.

Enjoy your super cooled, quiet PS3 Mike (yaaaawn)

[Castaa @ May 8th 2008 5:21PM]

I agree. The drive noise is the loudest DVD/CD-ROM device I've ever heard. My 360 on a hardwood floor is cartoony loud and even creates a rumbling sound when the drive is accessing data! And I just bought mine last November 2007. This isn't first rev hardware I'm talking about...

I think if Microsoft would have released a better device (meaning no 20-30% no red of death failure rates and a relatively quiet DVD-ROM drive) they'd be way out front on the current generation console race. It's greatly held them back.

[sinai @ May 8th 2008 7:43PM]

video games are increasingly becoming a story-telling medium. you can't tell a story when there's a loud whirring sound in the background.

i think it's good that you're making improvements, microsoft, but what about the 360 that i own now? are we getting the shaft?

[David @ May 8th 2008 8:05PM]

yeah. thats why i think changing up the processors and upgrading them like microsoft is doing and sony is planning to do is STUPID. if just shafts everyone else.

design the console with quality in mind (at least sony didnt forget that with the PS3, they just upgrading the CELL) at the very beggining and you'll sell WAY more in the long run and spend LESS trying to fix it.

i dont remeber ANY hardware changes for like 5 years on the original ps2. well besides the little optical drive thing at the beginning. and i dont think the original Xbox was changed at all.

[Juaquin @ May 8th 2008 9:25PM]

Just bought my 360 Arcade today, but it's not like I could wait until August to play GTA IV anyways, so I'm cool.

[Schfelzerberg @ May 9th 2008 6:28AM]

Finally! I can buy another Xbox 360 and be at peace.

[Mojo @ May 16th 2008 9:37AM]

New to all this: how can you tell what chipset you are running, is it marked on the unit itself? When I buy an xbox sometime soon I want to be able to check that I do indeed get either the falcon/jasper chipset

Thanks