Filed under: Gaming

Hey, those Jaspers we’ve heard so much about are finally popping up in Xbox 360 consoles — a bit behind the anticipated August release date, but better late than never right? If you’ll recall these boards come equipped with 65nm chips that draw significantly less power, along with reduced heat output. If you’re thinking about picking one of the new models up, you might want to check that the manufacture date is no earlier than August 6, 2008, and lot number is 8031 or above. So if you just bought a new console, it’s time to go foraging for that receipt, but if you’re still not sold there’s always Valhalla to look forward to.

[Via Joey Gadget]

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Filed under: Gaming

We think we’ve already got a handle on the various chipset revisions planned for Microsoft’s too-beautiful-for-this-world Xbox 360*, but it looks like that planned 45nm “Valhalla” combined CPU / GPU motherboard design we’ve been hearing about might also come in a redesigned, smaller case. That’s certainly news to us, but TG Daily has the refresh happening on the same fall-2009 timeline we’ve been hearing about, so at least all these sketchy rumors line up. We’ll see when we see — it sounds like the 65nm Jasper units are coming off the line for that August release in the meantime to keep us all warm at night.

*Guess which Engadget ed had his 360 go RRoD over the weekend? You only get one try.

[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

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Filed under: Gaming

Although word on the street is that Microsoft is planning to release the successor to the Xbox 360 in 2010, the company is still apparently planning on updating the 360 design several more times in the next couple years. Just like the “Falcon” motherboard now on shelves updated the original 360 design with a 65nm CPU, the upcoming “Jasper” revision should take the GPU to 65nm as well — but that’s more or less common knowledge. What we’re hearing now is that all those RRoDed 360s sitting in warehouses are going to be retrofitted with the same 65 / 90nm CPU / GPU combo as Falcon, but on a mobo design called “Opus” that fits the original Xbox case molds. That means no HDMI, since pre-Falcon cases didn’t have the openings — but apparently MS is only planning on sending these out as warranty replacements. The real action, however, appears to be “Valhalla,” a supposed final rev of the 360 that integrates the GPU and CPU into a single “superchip.” Details on that are more than sketchy, and we’re definitely skeptical — especially since we’d been hearing chatter about 45nm CPUs, but nothing about a unified architecture. We’ll see when we see — as long as all these boxes play CoD4, we’ll be happy.

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Filed under: Gaming

After Falcon, there’s Jasper. At least that’s how Dean Takahashi of the San Jose Mercury News claims the Xbox 360 timeline will progress. The Jasper motherboard is said to extend the 65-nm shrinkage to the ATI-built graphics chip. As the source for most of the Xbox’s heat, that should make Jasper-based 360s more reliable than the existing 90-nm versions. The updated gaming rig will also pack physically smaller memory chips. With any luck, the lower material costs will hopefully be passed along to us when these pop for retail sometime around August 2008.

[Via Joystiq]

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