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65nm GPU coming for Xbox 360

by on12 May 2008

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Joins the 65nm Xenon CPU to reduce cost

While the jury is still out on if Microsoft is really planning a Blu-ray version of the Xbox 360 or not, despite all of the rumors indicating that they are, cost reduction is the name of the game as we already suggested. To this end reports are trickling in from Taiwan that Microsoft has given the go-ahead for wafer starts for a 65nm version of the Xbox GPU to TSMC.

When Microsoft announced that they were moving the Xenon CPU to 65nm, this really came as no surprise, but the fact that they were not going to go ahead and shrink the GPU to 65nm at the same time was a bit of a mystery. According to various sources, Microsoft is also seeking an improved higher performance cooling solution for the 360, as well, to be part of this new version of the Xbox.

This new all 65nm version of the 360 which is being called the “Jasper” platform should arrive in late August, according to our sources. It might be hard for consumers to know if they will be getting the 65nm version unless Microsoft does, in fact, change the packaging or release a Blu-ray version of the Xbox 360.

Microsoft should be able to solve much of the cooling challenges that they have had with the Xbox 360 by moving to having both of the CPU and GPU at 65nm. If the yields are good for Microsoft at 65nm, they should be able to either drop the price on the console or gain some much-needed cost savings per unit.

In the meantime, rumors continue to circulate that TSMC is already working to move the chips to a 45nm for 2009 which is said to feature a redesign to a much slimmer form factor for the Xbox 360. This version is said to use a multi-chip-module package which will have the CPU, GPU, and eDRAM all on one package, which should yield more cost savings and the ability to shrink the console into a much smaller form factor.

It should be an interesting fall to see what Microsoft plans to do to deal with Sony’s PlayStation 3 this holiday season. We still suspect that despite all of Microsoft’s denials that we will see at least one Xbox 360 version this holiday season that will include a Blu-ray drive and a larger hard drive, as well.

While the manufacturing numbers of this console may not be large, it could be enough to cause Sony some headaches, as they will not be the only Blu-ray console in the game. Microsoft, on the other hand, with the release of a Blu-ray console could, in fact, test the waters and see how much real demand there is for Blu-ray on the 360 before defining a more exact strategy to deal with the PlayStation 3 going forward.

Last modified on 12 May 2008
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