360 Falcon: 50% cheaper to manufacture?
- Thread starter 22psi
- Start date
No no no... man these guys are crazy!
We'd need to know what the actual die size at 65nm vs 90nm for the CPU and GPU would be, and only then we could surmise a little more about what the costs could theoretically - over time and for those components - move down to as the process matures. And it's not all clear cut, because in Microsoft's situation their costs will be determined also by whatever they come to in terms of an agreement with TSMC.
Anyway, so certainly not 50% from this alone, but potential for a sizable savings, definitely.
The power supply, motherboard, and RAM all have the potential to enjoy their own trickle down costs savings... but in terms of this news story as it applies to the cost savings, we need to remember that the die shrink - although affecting the most costly components - does not affect the entirety of the system.
We'd need to know what the actual die size at 65nm vs 90nm for the CPU and GPU would be, and only then we could surmise a little more about what the costs could theoretically - over time and for those components - move down to as the process matures. And it's not all clear cut, because in Microsoft's situation their costs will be determined also by whatever they come to in terms of an agreement with TSMC.
Anyway, so certainly not 50% from this alone, but potential for a sizable savings, definitely.
The power supply, motherboard, and RAM all have the potential to enjoy their own trickle down costs savings... but in terms of this news story as it applies to the cost savings, we need to remember that the die shrink - although affecting the most costly components - does not affect the entirety of the system.
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Hey, they just said it could... It's not like they're promising anything! 
Johnny Awesome
Veteran
This news certainly makes a $299 Premium possible for this holiday though.
My guess is that all future revisions of the mobo will have HDMI anyway so unless black and the big HD (and probably an HDMI cable) are must have features you're likely all set.
Johnny Awesome
Veteran
Yes. I imagine the demand for X360 at $299 would be fairly insane. There's a lot of pent up demand because of the lack of price drop for 20 months. Especially when Halo 3 and GTAIV ship.
hm... ya I would have thought it'd make sense for them to make the HDMI a standard rather than to have two different manufacturing lines setup for HANA/HDMI and ANA/non-HDMI...
The Halo 3 edition box is essentially the Elite with a 20GB drive (or Premium with HDMI!). Perhaps it is the beginning of standardized HDMI? And maybe they'll have 65nm ready in time for the Halo 3 Edition too. *shrug*
quest55720
Regular
Just a question would it not be cheaper to have all falcons output HDMI? I know there are costs to it but would that not be cheaper than having 2 assembly lines and 2 mother boards ect? I figured the 65nm revision would have HDMI on all SKUs.
Love & Sacrifice
Newcomer
That article is rather misleading. It's farther along than you think. The Falcon has been in production for the last couple of weeks. MS is ready for a price drop even now as I type.
Supposedly they're going to redesign the mobo and PSU too when they do the die shrink, 50% is alot but its not impossible if they do it right.
Love & Sacrifice
Newcomer
Yes --- The northbridge of the system has been drastically reduced. Along with both chips. Power Supply. Heat Sinks. And overall internal metal casing of the system.
standing ovation
Regular
Apparently, the migration to Falcon is a gradual process that culminates in a smaller form factor.
Microsoft Corp. will take a phased approach to updating its Xbox 360 videogame console. Following the footsteps of the Sony Playstation2, Microsoft is gradually moving its existing chips to new process technologies as it evolves toward a smaller, quieter, cooler system dubbed Falcon.
It's not clear exactly when Microsoft will roll out its Falcon version of the Xbox 360. The source close to the company said Microsoft plans to introduce multiple flavors of the system over time, each with its own internal and external code-names.
Each new version generally integrates or moves to new process technologies various chips inside the box. At some point Microsoft will redesign the case, making it noticeably smaller and quieter for the version likely known as Falcon.
Source: EETimes.com
It's not clear exactly when Microsoft will roll out its Falcon version of the Xbox 360. The source close to the company said Microsoft plans to introduce multiple flavors of the system over time, each with its own internal and external code-names.
Each new version generally integrates or moves to new process technologies various chips inside the box. At some point Microsoft will redesign the case, making it noticeably smaller and quieter for the version likely known as Falcon.
Source: EETimes.com
Love & Sacrifice
Newcomer
Apparently, the migration to Falcon is a gradual process that culminates in a smaller form factor.
Microsoft Corp. will take a phased approach to updating its Xbox 360 videogame console. Following the footsteps of the Sony Playstation2, Microsoft is gradually moving its existing chips to new process technologies as it evolves toward a smaller, quieter, cooler system dubbed Falcon.
It's not clear exactly when Microsoft will roll out its Falcon version of the Xbox 360. The source close to the company said Microsoft plans to introduce multiple flavors of the system over time, each with its own internal and external code-names.
Each new version generally integrates or moves to new process technologies various chips inside the box. At some point Microsoft will redesign the case, making it noticeably smaller and quieter for the version likely known as Falcon.
Source: EETimes.com
This is happening over the course of 6 months. It started in May already. When Xenos went to 65nm. Now that MS has bled the retailer space dry. They are ready to start putting the new hardware on shelves. Retailers already know when the price drop will hit.
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