Kotaku: Zephyr

New "Opus" and "Valhalla" Xbox 360 Chipsets Coming Next?

Mark Wilson — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 11:40:12 MST

Excuse us while we go uberdorky for a moment. We've all heard about the Xbox 360 chipsets Xenon (90nm CPU, 90nm GPU), Zephyr (HDMI and cooling), Falcon (65nm CPU) and rumored Jasper (not out yet, 65nm CPU, 65nm GPU). Now a new rumor has it that two new chipsets could be coming called "Opus" and "Valhalla." Here's the skinny:

The Opus chipset is actually a bit strange. Featuring a 65nm CPU and a 90nm GPU, the Opus seems like a step back because it's merely intended to fit in the original Xenon Xbox 360 cases. With the Opus, all those RRoD systems can be, in some small way, recycled. This chipset will probably be reserved for refurbished systems only.

That means the Valhalla would be the next chipset of choice since it combines the CPU and GPU onto one 65nm chip. Requiring even less cooling that we'd see in the Jasper chipset, the Valhalla could be the Holy Grail for Microsoft to make some serious cash on the console business. And it could happen either in late 2009 or 2010.

Now to sit back and listen to all the, "I have to wait until freakin' 2010 to buy a 360??" comments.

Next Xbox 360 Designs are "Opus" and "Valhalla" [8bitjoystick]

Xbox 360 "Jasper" is Coming Next?

Mark Wilson — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 13:20:54 MDT

According to The Mercury News' Dean Takahashi, having successfully unrolled the Falcon chipset in the Halo 3 Edition Xbox 360s, Microsoft is looking to further cut costs (and heat) from their console. The next project is codenamed 'Jasper.' And where the Falcon shrunk the Xbox CPU to 65nm, the Jasper will continue the shrinkage, miniaturizing the graphics chip to 65nm to match. And memory chips will become smaller as well.

Takahashi also claims that Microsoft engineers feel like the heat problem is under control with both the recent Falcon's and older Zephyr's heat sink solutions, so buyers shouldn't beware when picking up new machines. While we're not waiting until the new chipset hits next August to buy a machine, we're not so certain the Microsoft has solved all their manufacturing issues just yet.

Xbox 360 secrets: After Falcon comes Jasper [via mcv]

New Batch Of Xbox 360s Not Yet Sporting New Falcon Chipset

Michael McWhertor — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 17:40:40 MDT

Brave NeoGAF member and Kotaku Defense Force lieutenant "wonderkins" was bold enough to crack open the chassis on his brand new Xbox 360, one of the newly released Premiums with HDMI output. This inside look at the gory internal workings of the newest Xbox 360 is now largely assumed to be off the "Zephyr" variety, following the motherboard and heatsink form factor of the Xbox 360 Elite. What's that mean? The latest hardware release from Microsoft is most likely not of the "Falcon" 65nm manufacturing spec, meaning the arrival of cooler, smaller, hopefully more reliable CPUs is still unknown.

On the plus side, wonderkins did provide a photo of the new Premium's DVD-drive, the quieter BenQ variety. More shots of the hardware in the gallery below and at the original NeoGAF thread. Thanks to wonderkins for the original photos.

The Falcon and the Snowman: Greatest Movie Ever or The Greatest? [NeoGAF]