Man, April 29th isn't going to carry as much excitement as we all thought, because some retailers (ahem, Target) just can't hold onto their products until the street date. Llamma.com got their hands on an Elite 360 at a local Walmart in Minneapolis and instead of selling it on eBay, opted to break her open. They ever so kindly posted comparison shots of the new Elite motherboard versus the old and a few CPU/GPU pictures too. But even after ripping the console open they still couldn't figure out whether or not the Elite is sporting an upgraded 65nm CPU or that archaic 90nm version. Maybe we could help out by borrowing them our super scientific microscope and a mini ruler. It's a thought. Though, they did get the full dish on what brands the DVD drive and hard drive are, so it wasn't a total bust. Make the jump for more pictures (including a Microsoft branded HDMI cable) and behold the wonder that is an Xbox 360 Elite gutted with its innards pulled out. Yes, it is sick and vile, but we like it.
[Via Engadget]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
4-21-2007 @ 1:22AM
Manuel said...
The CPU is 90nm, and so is the GPU. Whenever you lower the feature size of a chip, you also lower the die size. If this chip was 65nm, it would be 60-70% of the size of the 90nm part.
That said, it does look like the power consumption was lowered, since the power distribution does seem to have been simplified (on the right side of the picture, you'll notice that there are three missing VRMs and a few missing capacitors). Now, before you go out and say "Ha! that's proof of a die shrink", power consumption can be lowered by lowering the nominal core voltage. This is usually done when production matures and the chips are able to run at the same clock frequency with lower voltage.
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4-21-2007 @ 2:26AM
Teabag said...
^^Yea, whatever he said. I thought him all this anyway. Kiddin. Lame joke. Sorry.
Well, the Elite looks nice. But all this won't matter if the system still crashes and breaks and gets labeled as CrashBox 360! Also, i was quite surprised the Elite has a Hiatchi drive. I thought MS would fill them up with BENQs.
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4-21-2007 @ 2:56AM
Digital Limit said...
Thanks for clearing that up, Manuel.
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4-21-2007 @ 3:18AM
Hey Apples said...
Seems to me this redesign is a tacit admission that the original revision was flawed... why would you drastically redesign a board with no problems ?
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4-21-2007 @ 3:21AM
Matt said...
@#4:
Just because hardware has gone under a revision (they did add more stuff for the elite) does not mean there were issues or flaws. If that is the logic, then why do cars year after year get updates? Is that the car company addmitting they messed up? What about computers? There are hundreds and thousands of different mother boards.
Something can go under a revision to be more production or efficient, but that does not mean there were issues.
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4-21-2007 @ 5:27AM
Ryan said...
Where's the transfer cable so I can get all the information off my old hdd?
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4-21-2007 @ 5:56AM
FJ Noob said...
is it me or is the 360 elite teh sex!
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4-21-2007 @ 6:02AM
Matt said...
". Maybe we could help out by borrowing them our super scientific microscope and a mini ruler."
You mean "...lending them our...". You borrow from someone and lend to someone.
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4-21-2007 @ 8:57AM
allmodcons said...
Quite frankly the Elite is missing some key features that would truly make it Elite. For one it really needs to include wifi, $100 for the add on pushes the Elite price up to almost $600. The inclusion of an HDDVD drive would have been nice, while I realize this would have bloated the cost Toshiba (and the rest of the HD DVD camp) should have some foresight and subsidized the drive, in a the same way that Sony did with BluRay in the PS3. This would certainly help in the format war, Blu Ray's lead in the US market is entirely attributable to PS3 sales. Finally, the lack of HDMI 1.3 and the lack of support for the new high res HD audio formats also makes this latest Xbox less than Elite.
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4-21-2007 @ 9:12AM
ssuk said...
I find it halarious people correcting English used in blogs via the comments. Like anyone actually gives a shit.
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4-21-2007 @ 10:47AM
GRT said...
OK so my receiver is old, no HDMI. It does have optical audio though.
Anyone know if the Elite will let me use the HDMI cable for video and still use digital optical for audio? The PS3 has a setting for choosing between HDMI audio and optical audio...hopefully the Elite does as well? Or just pumps the audio both ways?
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4-21-2007 @ 11:08AM
clivediggs said...
#10
serously...
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4-21-2007 @ 11:12AM
Matt said...
@11:
Yes it will. The elite comes with an HDMI cable and an adaptor for audio. The adaptor plugs into the video port (like on the 360 now), and gives you an optical audio port.
Note: HDMI can still support Audio and Video, but if you do not want it for audio, you use the adaptor.
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4-21-2007 @ 12:28PM
Josh said...
Not everyone wants to pay the extra amout for built-in wifi. I have no need for it. Wired connections are faster and much more reliable.
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4-21-2007 @ 1:35PM
ill trooper said...
"14. Not everyone wants to pay the extra amout for built-in wifi. I have no need for it. Wired connections are faster and much more reliable."
True. But that's why the main model exists - so you can tack things on when you want to buy them. This is the 'elite' model, and frankly I think MS should have just wilded out, thrown price concerns to the wind and made this the ultimate 360 with WiFi and HD-DVD built in - if you're looking at this model price isn't the issue.
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4-21-2007 @ 2:53PM
Phour ZwanZig said...
Sorry, I feel NO console should have WiFi built in.. Ive played ppl on WiFI and it isnt the greatest experience..
In my eyes, WiFi should only be included/available for portables.. Not something that can be wired so easily..
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4-21-2007 @ 3:57PM
Kmkze111 said...
Go to the following link to earn a free Xbox 360 Elite. This is the real deal, no scam.
Just pick one of the trials and complete it then refer 10 people to do the same and your system will be shipped on April 29th.
http://www.3604free.com/index.php?ref=3825161
Email me at [email protected] with any questions
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4-22-2007 @ 1:16AM
Champloo said...
Ah, excellent, it's good to see they're making some internal hardware revisions. It just means we're closer to the new chips, but even more than that it means that we'll see a price cut sooner rather than later.
Personally I believe Microsoft might wait until just before, or just after the holiday season to drop the price. There's two real options: cut it *before* to make the system a better bargain for those trying to decide between a PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii. Or go with a gamble, wait out the holiday season at the current price to try and make more money, and drop it directly after. Either way, I expect a price cut soon.
On the topic of wifi, I believe that the it's a bad idea. Sure you might use it, but I wouldn't. And I personally believe in Microsoft's vision of building your own ideal 360. One of the reasons I don't yet have a PS3 is because I want the 60GB version, I just don't want to pay extra for special ports, built-in wifi, etc etc. If I want wifi, I'll buy the adapter.
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4-22-2007 @ 2:24PM
subaccnts said...
Does anyone know if the elite will be able to display 1080P with the HD player unlike the regular 360 that displays 720p??
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4-23-2007 @ 12:13PM
ShaleX said...
Xbox 360 can already upconvert anything to 1080p if the TV can support it. Unlike the PS3, it can upconvert DVDs over the VGA, and probabbly the HDMI as well... since stupid fucking AACS DRM prevents them from doing over Component. HD DVDs are already runnning at 1080i not 720p. Again.. since the only thing stopping full 1080P-nis is Stupid HDCP DRM shit... then they should hit full 1080p through HDMI.
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