Xbox 360 Hardware Disassembled and Analyzed

Hack Jandy writes "Here is the first article I've seen about the Xbox 360 hardware internals. The article details everything from the storage devices to the CPU and GPU core."

It's just cool

[cybrthng]

Thats all i can say. I'm no big microsoft fan. I'm an open source, open idea and freedom of information zealot however the xbox 360 is just cool.

Been plenty of stories on it here but i have to agree with what others have said. The entire package of the 360, the games, the service (xbox live) and the experience is going to make for one hell of a system.

Marked for inflation the 360 costs less than what i spent on an atari years ago, and that is pretty amazing.

I'll be buying it at day one.

I've got 30-45 mins a day at max i can play, and the experience, ease of use and integration of the xbox and xbox live service is what makes it for me.

Game on!

Does anyone remember ...

[Anonymous Coward]

When Anandtech did this for the original XBox and (after months of XBox fanboys saying 'it's a Pentium 3 processor, not a Celeron') they removed the heat sink to display 'Celeron' on the top of the processor.

The moral of the story is that Fanboys are dumb and uninformend.

It's just boring

[pubjames]

Well, I think it all looks pretty boring - just new versions of old games with prettier graphics. It's not the massive leap in performance I was hoping for.

I'm waiting for the PS3 to come out, then I'll decide.

USB?

[vertinox]

Since the Xbox360 has USB ports do you think the FPS games would support a USB keyboard and mouse?

Re:Huge Power Supply

[ivan256]

Having it external is much preferable to having the console be huge... You can hide the power brick behind your gear, but the console has to be out in the open so you can insert disks, connect accessories, etc...

An added bonus is that console power supplies are the cheapest retail multi-amp DC switching power supplies available. If you need 45 watts at 12 volts for some project you're building, a suitable switching supply from your favorite electronics components dealer would cost you $50-$100. A Gamecube brick can be had for $10.

Congrats to AnandTech

[geomon]

Not an easy disassembly.

The comment early in the article about Microsoft wanting to lock down their console just amazes me. The company has done a good job of placing themselves into an already competative market and securing themselves a place somewhere just ahead of Nintendo. But the idea that they could engineer themselves a completely tight console just shows the trouble they have with their customers. They are not exclusive in their anal-retentiveness, but the position that they have staked out is confusing. They are, after all, the company who gained the most from an open computer architecture.

Despite the fact that the 360 has a robust design and integrated hardware, it is still a PC. The GPU will probably have the greatest impact, but since the technology is shared between Microsoft and ATI, it will be exclusive. The Balkanization of game code will ratchet up one more level with this release.

I hope that the folks who have invested serious cash in game titles for the older console are ready for emulation. Or should I say, I hope the 360 can run them effectively. With a more powerful processor and amped up GPU, that shouldn't be a problem. Alas, things don't always sort themselves out so cleanly.

I personally don't believe that HD gaming is coming in a big way to the game market yet, but it is good to see Microsoft positioning itself to take advantage of the market when it comes. I guess we will have to see how the DVD wars sort themselves out, but having an HD-capable system now means at least on less add-on to convince consumers to buy later.

It would have been nice if Microsoft had provided some path for modification. I know they are not alone in controlling their equipment, but that added 'configurability' may have tipped the scales in Microsoft's favor. I know their are die hard fans of Sony and Nintendo who will never want (or, at least, admit to wanting) to move over to 360, but that nod to the modding community could have been a galvanizing moment for users.

Despite my gripe, it is a nice looking machine. I'd love to load an alternative OS on it.

Xbox360 hardware disassemblered...

[snowman75]

This guy got his Xbox360 Delivered days ago on Monday, and started taking picsures and taking things apart.... check it out: http://softlife.blogspot.com/ [blogspot.com] He's also listed some usefull info about the new TSOP that MS is using to store the software. snow

Re:It's just cool

[fwitness]

If that means something to you, the fact that you will "have" an XBox360, then so be it. What the grandparent post states is logical reasoning. If you are gaming less than an hour a day, it's very likely that the current generation has a multitude of gaming experience that you haven't tried and will likely miss out on as you spend your money on 360 games. If you have a choice between a 360 game, which will showcase your fancy new system, and an XBox game that will play on your 360, I think your dollars will go to the shiny. The *only* benefit you'll have buying on day one is that you'll "have" a 360.

That said, if you're into the conspicuous consumption thing, I'm not going to stop you. Have fun and I hope you enjoy it. Me, I've still got a least 10 games (bought for less than $20) for my cube, ps2, and current XBox that will occupy me until the new generation dust settles.