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[Xbox-Scene]

Xbox 360 prep migrating chief components to 65nm Posted by XanTium | February 2 09:52 EST

From digitimes.com: Microsoft and its foundry partner, Chartered Semiconductor announced last April that it would start producing Xbox 360 CPUs on 65nm silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) technology in the first quarter of 2007. However, later rumors have suggested that the migration might be delayed to mid-year. A Chinese-language Commercial Times report February 2, 2007 cited industry makers commenting that Microsoft could shrink the cost of three key Xbox 360 components - CPU, northbridge and graphics chip - to below US$150, or 30-40% lower, if it introduces 65nm manufacturing. Full Story: digitimes.com

[Axl_Mas]

It means that the next 360 version will have lower temperatures?

[bucko]

QUOTE(Axl_Mas @ Feb 2 2007, 02:19 PM)

It means that the next 360 version will have lower temperatures?

Not by much, you can fit more processors on a wafer, making it more efficient for MS.

[Landlocked]

Won't these consume considerably less power too?

[NoFace]

QUOTE(Landlocked @ Feb 2 2007, 03:38 PM)

Won't these consume considerably less power too?

Think so.

[itchy]

with $150 in savings, they could easily drop the price by $100 and still come out ahead.  It'll also be interesting to see if they add any new features.

[HamSandwhich]

I hope they do this before my warranty runs out, cos I'm going to suffocate my 360 with a pillow in the night!

[the soul poet]

QUOTE(HamSandwhich @ Feb 2 2007, 04:03 PM)

I hope they do this before my warranty runs out, cos I'm going to suffocate my 360 with a pillow in the night!

That's murder, you'll go down now for confessing  (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

[vengeancegoon]

QUOTE(HamSandwhich @ Feb 2 2007, 05:03 PM)

I hope they do this before my warranty runs out, cos I'm going to suffocate my 360 with a pillow in the night!

Hahaha, great idea, I think I might drown mine in coke

[Enygma]

Itchy: It doesn't say that the cost of an XBOX 360 will be reduced by $150. It says that the cost of the CPU, northbridge, and graphics chip would be reduced by 30-40%. Which means it now costs less than $150 for those 3 components, compared to $200+ before.  So we may possibly see a decrease of $50 or more.

With Sony's PS3 not selling very well, MS has little incentive to lower prices. But since MS isn't losing money on every box they sell, they might lower the price to force Sony to lower theirs. End result.... MS sells more systems while making a profit, and Sony sells more systems while losing more money.

I used to work in retail... so those who purposely damage their game systems to get a newer replacement can go to hell. It causes more time and effort for the stores, plus it ends up increasing prices of what you buy.

[TheIrishLad]

QUOTE(Enygma @ Feb 2 2007, 10:57 AM)

I used to work in retail... so those who purposely damage their game systems to get a newer replacement can go to hell. It causes more time and effort for the stores, plus it ends up increasing prices of what you buy.

Might as well get some use out of the warranty eh?

[dhrandy1]

Hopefully they'll do a lot of test first.

[incognegro]

QUOTE(Enygma @ Feb 2 2007, 05:57 PM)

Itchy: It doesn't say that the cost of an XBOX 360 will be reduced by $150. It says that the cost of the CPU, northbridge, and graphics chip would be reduced by 30-40%. Which means it now costs less than $150 for those 3 components, compared to $200+ before.  So we may possibly see a decrease of $50 or more.

With Sony's PS3 not selling very well, MS has little incentive to lower prices. But since MS isn't losing money on every box they sell, they might lower the price to force Sony to lower theirs. End result.... MS sells more systems while making a profit, and Sony sells more systems while losing more money.

I used to work in retail... so those who purposely damage their game systems to get a newer replacement can go to hell. It causes more time and effort for the stores, plus it ends up increasing prices of what you buy.

Its a little more complicated than that. Sony will most likely switch to 65nm the same time as MS (both CPUs are being manufactured by the same company). So the ps3 will be cheaper too, plus we need to consider how smart sony is when it comes to hardware. They will most likely revise the hardware to a point where it has less parts thus incurring less cost. Now MS has never been a leader in price, the have always been a follower so will it be different this generation? Time will tell...Sony can still surprise us.

[thax]

The section of the article that states "Another component teardown report from iSuppli reveals that..." is actually over 1 year old. http://www.isuppli.com/news/xbox/
Isuppli states in the old article that a price reduction of 50 dollars through better chip yields over 2006 would be possible.

xbox 360 Premium
Sale Price: 399
Estimated Cost: 475 (Conservative, probably lower through other cost reductions)
Loss: 76

xbox 360 Core
Sale Price: 299
Estimated Cost: 430 (Conservative, probably lower through other cost reductions)
Loss: 131

On the other hand the costs for the PS3 in the article are current.

PS3 Premium
Sale Price: 499
Current Cost: 840.35
Loss: 241.35

PS3 Core:
Sale Price: 599
Current Cost: 805.85
Loss: 306.85

This places the manufacturing cost of the PS3 nearly 400 dollars higher than the x360.

[R-Dawggy Dawg]

QUOTE(thax @ Feb 2 2007, 01:58 PM)

This places the manufacturing cost of the PS3 nearly 400 dollars higher than the x360.

Effin BluRay........