New Xbox 360 S Uses Less Power, Makes Less Noise

Vigile writes "Microsoft unveiled a new Xbox 360 S console at E3 this month, and without delay the new machine has been dissected and tested. The most dramatic change is the move to a single-chip CPU/GPU hybrid processor that is apparently being built on the 45nm process technology from GlobalFoundries, AMD's spun-off production facilities. With the inclusion of the new processor, the Xbox 360 S uses much less power (about 30-40%) compared to previous generation machines, and also turns out to be much quieter as a result of a single, larger fan. This article has photographic evidence of the teardown, with comparisons between this Valhalla platform and the older Falcon system, along with videos of the reconstruction process and noise comparisons." The new console also takes measures to protect itself from overheating, so RRoDs shouldn't be a problem with this revision.

Comments

Re:Scratches disc and improved dpads

[grumbel]

Just because people have lowered their standards and accept such defects doesn't make them any better.

Re:Scratches disc and improved dpads

[Richard_at_work]

Should MS really cover every violation of common sense? I don't really consider this to be a defect - the XBox360 was not designed as a portable platform, and as such there is a reasonable expectation that the unit should never be moved when in operation.

Re: New Xbox 360 S Uses Less Power

[Sockatume]

Less cooling my arse. It has a much larger heat-sink and a proper 120mm fan bolted right on top of it. It's got comparable cooling to my enthusiast desktop. Not to mention the simple, inescapable thermodynamic certainty that a machine that is consuming less electrical power will produce less heat.

Console in a minivan

[tepples]

the XBox360 was not designed as a portable platform

A lot of platforms that aren't ostensibly portable get used as such. Case in point: a game console run off an inverter in a minivan or RV for 3-hour road trips. These subject a machine to whatever road vibration the suspension doesn't absorb.

Re:Console in a minivan

[somersault]

That doesn't really negate his point. You might as well get annoyed at toaster manufacturers for not making bath-friendly models.

I wouldn't be surprised if someone now pastes a link to a bath-friendly toaster, but the point is still that if you want to be gaming on the move, you buy a system that is designed to be portable!

Re:AdDot

[haroldK]

It could also be a social thing. If your friends are getting Xbox'en then even if the titles are available on the PS3, they are typically hosted on separate servers, so you need to be using the same console.

That's the Only reason I bought a 360. I had a PS3 already, but I wanted to get some gaming done with my local friends. All the folks with whom I played PC games had moved 2 time zones away and it was hard to schedule gaming time. All the local people had 360s and were playing Halo 3 and Gears of War. Before that I never would have considered playing an FPS on a console.

  It turns out I have a lot of fun with the 360 and play on it by myself as much as I do on the PS3. I've learned not to be a snob when it comes to consoles because the only person losing out would be me.

Re:AdDot

[SuiteSisterMary]

A friend of mine is on his twentieth xbox. All RROD. Of course, he plays it a hell of a lot more than I do, but still... that's getting ridiculous.

...maybe it's something he's doing? "This piece of shit console. Every time one dies, I get a new one, open the glass door on my stereo cabinet, put it on top of my amp, you know, right over the ventiliation slits, close the glass door, and start playing. And every time, the goddamn thing overheats and dies eventually!"