Anyone else waiting for a 65nm 360?

R

roaf85

2[H]4U
Joined
Jan 8, 2005
Messages
2,766
I want to get a XB360, but I am currently waiting for the "cooler and quieter" 65nm systems of Q1 2007. I swear I must dream in games I have not even played and the $350 received in gift cards does not help. Someone tell me to wait, hell someone say they are waiting too, or someone tell me they are on their 5th XB360. All I do is use the following past work experience (EBgames) and personal experience to justify waiting:

PS2: Bought with the GT3 pack. System still runs fine only giving DRE every so often, but the system has not bricked. Work experience: All of them sucked sans the 2nd and so on batches of the slim that did not overheat.

Xbox: Bought halo edition, V1.6 Phillps drive. No problems. Work experience: Thompsons sucked.

Gamecube: Bought the black one about 6 months after they came out. No problems. Work experience: Do not recall any problems or different revisions of GC hardware better different.

Point say my research could be bias whatever. I am not saying it is based on any specific research method, but from what I have gathered and MS extending the warranty to 1 year I would say ~5% of XB360 fail.
 
sakurakana1003 said:
I'm debating, with the Microcenter deal, I don't know ...................
Click to expand...

well all my giftcards are at worse I mean BestBuy.
 
the newest revision isn't going to help you much...buy the console, enjoy the games.

Gears of War is worth the price of admission by itself.

Your not going to necessarily even see any improvements --- you have no idea of MS will even revise the cooling method when they shrink the die size --- not only that but you have no idea when the die size shrink will actually happen, nor if you'll be buying one when they hit store shelfs.

the way i look at consoles is ---- buy a launch unit. Then you get your full four years of use. If you buy two years later you only get two years of use before you need to upgrade again. Since the price doesn't drop that much it's better to buy it at the beginning of the cycle.
 
I just did a little bit of research and found that the new revision isn't gonna help much with the noise because it's mostly coming from the DVD drive and they aren't doing anything about that, as long as the drive spins at 48x when you are playing a game it WILL be noisy no matter what, and if that problem was to be solved it has to be done through software to limit how fast the drive can spin. Run a demo and the unit is super quiet, put a game in and it's like a little vacuum cleaner.
 
It should help on the heat and size of the power brick though which are the two things that keep it out of my AV setup.
 
Darakian said:
It should help on the heat and size of the power brick though which are the two things that keep it out of my AV setup.
Click to expand...


power brick?

it can stand outside of your cabinet easily enough...no worries there. Just like a high performance PC shouldn't be put inside a cabinet ---neither should the xbox 360...and probably not with the die size shrink either. There is still going to be considerable heat output. Put the brick behind your cabinet and the 360 on top.
 
One thing worth noting... unless MS add features to the package it's likely that none of us will even know when they move to 65nm. As has been already noted, it's the DVD drive that makes most of the noise - which is also why some 360s are much quieter than others, and probably why the Wiis I have have seen are just as loud.

Oh, and yeah, just throw the power brick behind the cabinet - isn't that what everyone does?
 
i wouldn't bother waiting.. just buy one already..

i got one like 3 weeks ago... and i love it.. i got a 3 year warranty on it too
 
I'm thinking about about it too, got a ps3, want a 360 in the future the new system will be a bit more power saving, thermally efficient aka will solve some of the heat problems with the systems bricking. Hopefully they add some HDMI maybe include a bigger HD, I almost got one,toys r us had a $100 gift card with purchase of 360 premium but they had none in stock, the other store had some but it was about 25miles away and it was late so it was a no go. Until gta4, fable 2 or blue dragon come out I still waiting till I get a 360. My friend killed 5 units so far so I am a little questionable on it's quality.
 
ellover009 said:
I'm thinking about about it too, got a ps3, want a 360 in the future the new system will be a bit more power saving, thermally efficient aka will solve some of the heat problems with the systems bricking. Hopefully they add some HDMI maybe include a bigger HD, I almost got one,toys r us had a $100 gift card with purchase of 360 premium but they had none in stock, the other store had some but it was about 25miles away and it was late so it was a no go. Until gta4, fable 2 or blue dragon come out I still waiting till I get a 360. My friend killed 5 units so far so I am a little questionable on it's quality.
Click to expand...

5? Does he have them set up in an air tight safe? I've had 2, the quality is fine. I sold mine for other reasons. One was a launch 360.
 
There's no reason to wait for the 65nm version. There's no telling exactly when it will be released and it's not going to offer any advantage. Plenty of people have 360s that have not had any problems.
 
Archaea said:
power brick?

it can stand outside of your cabinet easily enough...no worries there. Just like a high performance PC shouldn't be put inside a cabinet ---neither should the xbox 360...and probably not with the die size shrink either. There is still going to be considerable heat output. Put the brick behind your cabinet and the 360 on top.
Click to expand...
I have a bit of a strange setup. No room behind my unit (it's not really a cabinet) and I have a door way on either side. Space is at a premium with the setup. That and this is in Hawaii (no AC) so heat is an issue
 
AMD's new 65nm chips are only about 15W more power efficient then the older chips under load, and consume the same amount of power at idle. I wouldn't expect the 65nm 360 chip to run a whole lot cooler. Also, is the GPU going to be manufactured under the same process or is MS shrinking both chips?

The consumer will see next to no benefit from a move to 65nm. In fact, the more mature 90nm process might even be better for consumers then a newer 65nm process. The biggest effect of a move to 65nm wont be felt by the consumer, but by Microsoft. MS should be able to increase their yields by a good 40%, at least the chip will be that much smaller so they fit that much more per wafer. It is likely they won't yield the same %, but still more of the total wafer should be usable.

Anyways, the point of my ramblings is :

- Heat benefit of 65nm is minimal
- Noise benefit of 65nm is nothing
- To Microsoft the cost benefit of 65nm is a lot

Really MS are the people who benefit from 65nm, not us. The only way it benefits us is that 65nm makes the inevitable price drop that much easier for MS to make.
 
Erasmus354 said:
. Also, is the GPU going to be manufactured under the same process or is MS shrinking both chips?

.
Click to expand...

My understanding of it is that the two GPU dice will be combined into one die in the near future, probably around the time of the CPU shrink.
 
I've been waiting for the 65nm, only reason im getting a 360 is for an NCAA basketball game, because I know the Wii probaly wont have one, or just wouldnt be the same. :cool:
 
Gregor7777 said:
My understanding of it is that the two GPU dice will be combined into one die in the near future, probably around the time of the CPU shrink.
Click to expand...

The GPU doesn't really have two die. There is the GPU die and then there is 10MB of EDRAM which is placed on the same chip so that the GPU can have faster access to it. There isn't a whole lot of benefit I could see from integrating that into the GPU die. Sure it would be faster performance wise, but programmers already have to make games to work on the lowest denomination.
 
Erasmus354 said:
The GPU doesn't really have two die. There is the GPU die and then there is 10MB of EDRAM which is placed on the same chip so that the GPU can have faster access to it. There isn't a whole lot of benefit I could see from integrating that into the GPU die. Sure it would be faster performance wise, but programmers already have to make games to work on the lowest denomination.
Click to expand...
You sound like you may be more informed than I on the topic. I just remember reading about them combining the chips into one unit on Anand or Beyond3d. I'll see if I can dig up a link later.
 
Gregor7777 said:
Erasmus354 said:
Also, is the GPU going to be manufactured under the same process or is MS shrinking both chips?
Click to expand...

My understanding of it is that the two GPU dice will be combined into one die in the near future, probably around the time of the CPU shrink.
Click to expand...

I think Erasmus354 was wondering if they were going to put the GPU and CPU on the same chip, like AMD wants to do with its Fusion system. I could see Microsoft doing this with their next system but not with the 360.

I am waiting for the 65nm 360s because hopefully MS will put HDDs on all systems and increase their capacity. There may also be a small price drop by then (will likely depend on how well the Wii sells). Hopefully MS gets rid of the noisy DVD drives drives by then too.
 
MH Knights said:
I think Erasmus354 was wondering if they were going to put the GPU and CPU on the same chip, like AMD wants to do with its Fusion system. I could see Microsoft doing this with their next system but not with the 360.

I am waiting for the 65nm 360s because hopefully MS will put HDDs on all systems and increase their capacity. There may also be a small price drop by then (will likely depend on how well the Wii sells). Hopefully MS gets rid of the noisy DVD drives drives by then too.
Click to expand...


I was actually wondering if MS was doing a die shrink on just the CPU, or a die shrink on the CPU and the GPU. Everything I have read seems to lean towards only the CPU moving towards 65nm, which would mean you still have the GPU putting out the same amount of heat.
 
I highly doubt you will 'fusion' products that are anywhere near as sophisticated as the X360's GPU and CPU for a long time. However, the only real benefit from the 65nm refresh is an inevitable price drop. Hopefully as they switch to a 65nm process they may also revise the dvd drive with either rubber shocks or something to dampen the sound (which I hear can get pretty loud!)
 
miskari said:
how loud is this thing?
Click to expand...
Seems to vary a lot. My cousin's one is no louder than a Wii, but my bro's one sounds like a jet engine when it reads a game.
 
Erasmus354 said:
I was actually wondering if MS was doing a die shrink on just the CPU, or a die shrink on the CPU and the GPU. Everything I have read seems to lean towards only the CPU moving towards 65nm, which would mean you still have the GPU putting out the same amount of heat.
Click to expand...

I think its just going to be the CPU for now. The ulimate goal is to put both the CPU and GPU on the same chip, but its still way to early for something like that right now.

I'm waiting for a black 360 for my 2nd 360... which hopefully they release with the 65nm chip.
 
miskari said:
how loud is this thing?
Click to expand...

Loud. Mine sounds like it is going to self destruct when I'm playing Viva Pinata.

I've heard anectdotal data that says it is quieter if you lay it flat than if you stand it up, sorta like wome.... err, nevermind. Anyways, I'll have to try that out whenever I find time between killing people in GoW and killing sours in VP. :p
 
Overclocking or something? :p

nah but for real the noise is from the DVD player. That will never change. DVD 12X readers at full tilt are loud.
 
texuspete00 said:
Overclocking or something? :p

nah but for real the noise is from the DVD player. That will never change. DVD 12X readers at full tilt are loud.
Click to expand...

The plextors in my PC aren't even remotely as loud as the 360's drive.

There has already been a link posted in this thread that shows proof of multiple drive models in the 360, and they went on to say that one brand drive is much louder than the other.

...or we could just buy ps3s, hehehe, that drive isn't noisy at all. CAV >>> CLV when it comes to noise.
 
I got mine last week. No reason to wait. It is not loud and it is not hot. I played for 6hrs straight and it was just fine. I did not notice it being "loud". I have it layed flat. I find it very quiet. Also, when playing games, if it the system itself is to loud for your liking...dont you have your volume up?
 
2Fresh said:
I got mine last week. No reason to wait. It is not loud and it is not hot. I played for 6hrs straight and it was just fine. I did not notice it being "loud". I have it layed flat. I find it very quiet. Also, when playing games, if it the system itself is to loud for your liking...dont you have your volume up?
Click to expand...

more like you have the samsung drive ;)

and about the ps3 being quiet, the thing is pretty much completely sound-proofed which obviously adds to weight (and heat? I dunno I'm not up on my physics..)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top