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.

Re:AdDot

[Vectormatic]

a teardown to PCB level of a new large revision of a gaming device isnt news for nerds?

Sure /. could have given it a better title, but TFA is actually quite interesting

As for the slim machine, if i didnt already have two 360's, i might consider getting this, less noise and all, but as it is, i have enough gaming hardware.

And still slightly annoyed by the fact that this probably means no new xbox for two more years or so..

Re:Finally...

[tepples]

If something like this came out five years ago, it would have been more expensive than a PLAYSTATION 3 was at the time.

Re:Scratches disc and improved dpads

[Xest]

I have around 170 retail XBox 360 games, I've had 4 XBox's due to 3 RROD failures in the early years. I've had my dog knock my console over whilst playing once or twice and have knocked it over myself once and since moved it and placed it horizontally.

Through all this I've yet to have a single disc scratch. I suspect to get disc scratching you have to go through some quite speciifc motions, which seems to be what happens in this video- a quick abrupt shake:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdOjzuJByXg [youtube.com]

I also suspect that it's something that effects many DVD drives in general as there's nothing specific about the XBox 360's, only most people don't tend to give their DVD player or PC an abrubpt shake.

Just as most people have learnt that putting a device like a mobile phone or an iPod in your pocket along with your keys (the screen will get scratched) is a bad idea, I think this is probably one of those problems that just requires a bit of common sense to solve.

Certainly with all the general wear and tear my 4 XBoxs have faced and the amount of discs that have been through them, the amount of usage they've had, although the RROD has been a frustrating problem until the latest one which seems fine now at around 2 years old, disc scratching has been an absolute non-issue.

Re:AdDot

[Eraesr]

I've owned my XBox 360 for almost 3 years now and I've never had it fail on me or so much as even crash. I dunno what if I'm doing things right or other people are doing things wrong...

Re: New Xbox 360 S Uses Less Power

[KDR_11k]

Are you sure about that? Hairdryers consume a LOT of power, take a look at the meter when you're using the dryer since you'll see it speed up massively. I doubt the 360 draws as much even in its old incarnation.