Anand dissects a Jasper Xbox 360

[Queasy]

Nekkid pics here. Also specs, heat use, comparisons, etc.

And I thought the reason people bought consoles was to avoid dealing with the hardware nitty-gritty.

This also provides a nice summary to what the posters in the Official Jasper Hunting Thread have found over the last few weeks in addition to tearing apart a Jasper.

Update: Ben Heck takes apart a Jasper too.

 

[maziwanka]

very interesting article

 

[StageLeft]

Cool, thanks.

 

[SneakyStuff]

I'm glad they confirmed that the Falcon has an 80nm die shrink on the GPU, I always thought it was 90nm up until a few weeks ago but my googling didn't produce any definate answers.

 

[StageLeft]

If you end up with a 175W unit it's not a big deal, it's going to be slightly less efficient than the 150W unit and your system may end up drawing an extra few watts but it's not a big deal at all - you'll still be far cooler/more power efficient than a Falcon (and possibly be red-ring-free).

That doesn't make sense. A power supply is akin to a battery; a larger battery, as a larger gas tank on a car, does not dictate energy but merely offers it. I can possibly see the efficiency, but the system absolutely will not draw more energy itself from a 175 vs a 150; it pulls what it needs.

 

[Oyeve]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

If you end up with a 175W unit it's not a big deal, it's going to be slightly less efficient than the 150W unit and your system may end up drawing an extra few watts but it's not a big deal at all - you'll still be far cooler/more power efficient than a Falcon (and possibly be red-ring-free).

That doesn't make sense. A power supply is akin to a battery; a larger battery, as a larger gas tank on a car, does not dictate energy but merely offers it. I can possibly see the efficiency, but the system absolutely will not draw more energy itself from a 175 vs a 150; it pulls what it needs.

I would rather have the overhead, even if never used, than not. Hopefully the new design won't put too much strain on the PS, otherwise we may see new issues other than the RRoD with Jasper. but I doubt it.


Sweet article BTW.

 

[Kabob]

Good read. I've no clue what board I have in my current 360. I'm sure I started with a Xenon, but I got a new unit with a 12/28/07 mfr date from M$ after the first broke.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

If you end up with a 175W unit it's not a big deal, it's going to be slightly less efficient than the 150W unit and your system may end up drawing an extra few watts but it's not a big deal at all - you'll still be far cooler/more power efficient than a Falcon (and possibly be red-ring-free).

That doesn't make sense. A power supply is akin to a battery; a larger battery, as a larger gas tank on a car, does not dictate energy but merely offers it. I can possibly see the efficiency, but the system absolutely will not draw more energy itself from a 175 vs a 150; it pulls what it needs.

At least in the case of PC power supplies, they tend to be most efficient at the higher end of their range I believe. I've seen ratings on some even that list efficancy on the low and high scale. While its true it would only pull what it needs, a less efficient power supply would dump more of that pulled energy as waste heat.

 

[tk149]

Good article. Although it's disturbing that MS is STILL shipping Zephyrs. MS doesn't care about its customers.

 

[Oyeve]

Originally posted by: tk149
Good article. Although it's disturbing that MS is STILL shipping Zephyrs. MS doesn't care about its customers.

They can afford not to(so they think). But that is changing sure enough.

 

[Dari]

It's sad what Microsoft has brought to the console world-unreliable hardware.

 

[R Nilla]

Does this mean DaveSimmons is finally going to buy one?

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: Dari
It's sad what Microsoft has brought to the console world-unreliable hardware.

That's why I won't buy a 360. Buying one says you're ok with buying defective hardware.

 

[oznerol]

Originally posted by: R Nilla
Does this mean DaveSimmons is finally going to buy one?

You noticed that, too?

It was like a broken record.

 

[Auryg]

Originally posted by: Dari
It's sad what Microsoft has brought to the console world-unreliable hardware.

Eh, I wouldn't say that. A *lot* of people had to replace their PS2s due to DDEs. At least Microsoft is paying for it, as much of a hassle as it is.

I don't think we'll see any super-reliable consoles again until we get away from moving parts again; I'm pretty sure almost every NES/SNES/Genesis is still working, even if you have to blow in the cartridge.

 

[hans030390]

Originally posted by: Auryg

Originally posted by: Dari
It's sad what Microsoft has brought to the console world-unreliable hardware.

Eh, I wouldn't say that. A *lot* of people had to replace their PS2s due to DDEs. At least Microsoft is paying for it, as much of a hassle as it is.

The disc read error really only affected the first couple of PS3 revisions (which were really early on in its lifespan). Most people with those models had to replace them, but that overall likely counts for a small number compared to the number of people total that own PS2s (or even those that have owned them without that problem).

Also, after those couple revisions, the problem was fixed. The 360, however, still has shown that it can still get the RRoD after its revisions (Jasper aside)...3 years after launch. The DRE problem was fixed WELL before that.

 

[Dari]

Originally posted by: Auryg

Originally posted by: Dari
It's sad what Microsoft has brought to the console world-unreliable hardware.

Eh, I wouldn't say that. A *lot* of people had to replace their PS2s due to DDEs. At least Microsoft is paying for it, as much of a hassle as it is.

I don't think we'll see any super-reliable consoles again until we get away from moving parts again; I'm pretty sure almost every NES/SNES/Genesis is still working, even if you have to blow in the cartridge.

I never heard of a 33% (or greater) failure rate with PS2s. I never even heard of DDE's until you mentioned it today, 8 years after the PS2 came out. Face it, MS rushed to get the 360 out the door and everyone has paid considerably for such a rushed product.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: R Nilla
Does this mean DaveSimmons is finally going to buy one?

Yep. Extra reliability plus NXE offering hard drive installs for quiet & better DVD reliability means I'll be buying a Jasper.

I'd already have bought one for my xmas vacation but I have a bunch of other games I want to play first, like finishing Fallout 3, Ratchet & Clank 2 & Dark Sector, then giving Persona 3 FES a try.

 

[tk149]

Originally posted by: Auryg

Originally posted by: Dari
It's sad what Microsoft has brought to the console world-unreliable hardware.

Eh, I wouldn't say that. A *lot* of people had to replace their PS2s due to DDEs. At least Microsoft is paying for it, as much of a hassle as it is.

I don't think we'll see any super-reliable consoles again until we get away from moving parts again; I'm pretty sure almost every NES/SNES/Genesis is still working, even if you have to blow in the cartridge.

Gamecubes are built like tanks. There's even been YouTube videos showing people dropping the thing from 10 feet, and dragging one behind a car, and the cubes still work fine.

I've only heard of Wii's being bricked by firmware updates, not hardware failures. At least one company knows how to build a reliable console.

/me crossing fingers and hugging his PS3

 

[DaveSimmons]

I've only heard of Wii's being bricked by firmware updates, not hardware failures. At least one company knows how to build a reliable console.

I've seen a fair number of posts about overheating causing the video chip to artifact or fail completely. Nothing like pre-Falcon RRoD numbers though, more like at the PS3 blu-ray drive failure level.

 

[zerocool84]

Originally posted by: Auryg

Originally posted by: Dari
It's sad what Microsoft has brought to the console world-unreliable hardware.

Eh, I wouldn't say that. A *lot* of people had to replace their PS2s due to DDEs. At least Microsoft is paying for it, as much of a hassle as it is.

I don't think we'll see any super-reliable consoles again until we get away from moving parts again; I'm pretty sure almost every NES/SNES/Genesis is still working, even if you have to blow in the cartridge.

I guess you don't know about the little problem the NES had with the spring system or "ZIF". Remember having to push the cartridge down??? That's why when they redesigned it, they eliminated that. That's why many 2nd hand NES systems can't even read the games any more.

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

If you end up with a 175W unit it's not a big deal, it's going to be slightly less efficient than the 150W unit and your system may end up drawing an extra few watts but it's not a big deal at all - you'll still be far cooler/more power efficient than a Falcon (and possibly be red-ring-free).

That doesn't make sense. A power supply is akin to a battery; a larger battery, as a larger gas tank on a car, does not dictate energy but merely offers it. I can possibly see the efficiency, but the system absolutely will not draw more energy itself from a 175 vs a 150; it pulls what it needs.

Actually it does make sense if you read between the lines. The power supply is going to have some loss in conversion efficiency. Even though the draw is only going to be 150 watts, there will be some efficiency leakage. Not much, but some.

 

[R Nilla]

Originally posted by: ducci

Originally posted by: R Nilla
Does this mean DaveSimmons is finally going to buy one?

You noticed that, too?

It was like a broken record.

Do an advanced search for "jasper" with "DaveSimmons" as the author.

Hopefully all this waiting will pay off for him, though :beer:

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: R Nilla

Originally posted by: ducci

Originally posted by: R Nilla
Does this mean DaveSimmons is finally going to buy one?

You noticed that, too?

It was like a broken record.

Do an advanced search for "jasper" with "DaveSimmons" as the author.

Hopefully all this waiting will pay off for him, though :beer:

Guilty as charged . But if you do that you'll also see I've told people to go ahead and buy the Falcon, that I've been waiting mostly because I can (plenty of PC, PS2 and PS3 games to keep me busy).

 

[R Nilla]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Guilty as charged . But if you do that you'll also see I've told people to go ahead and buy the Falcon, that I've been waiting mostly because I can (plenty of PC, PS2 and PS3 games to keep me busy).

Oh believe me, I understand.