Faster xbox with 1.4GHz processor!

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rabidrabbit

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http://www.polygonmag.com/news/index.php?id=812

Xbox Goes Turbo

By Dennis Day, News Editor
Published September 22, 2003 -- 05:20 pm CDT

Japanese retailer OverTop, known for their wide selection of import games and unique gaming peripherals, has announced plans to offer an upgraded version of Microsoft's Xbox console. Modified by FriendTech, the upgraded Xbox will boast a 1.4 ghz processor and 80GB harddisk. Although scheduled for release in November, pricing for the new model remains undisclosed. The finished version of the upgraded Xbox will reportedly include a "turbo switch" which will allow players to run the console using default settings. When operated in turbo mode the prototype loaded data at nearly twice the speed of a retail Xbox. Below are several pictures of the prototype.
 
xug1.jpg


xug2.jpg


xug3.jpg



*muahahahahahahahahahahah :D
 
considering the grey area of xbox mods is this even legal? cause I'm so picking one up if this is the case *drool*.
 
Hopefully, the 'standard' setting will avoid Live hardware detection issues.

I remember something simliar from last fall.
This might be the same one with some time for refinements.

Otherwise the processor speed is of little benefit to gamers.
 
hey69 said:
why not trow in a GFFX 5900ultra ? :oops:
Click to expand...

The Xbox has an intergrated GPU.
A 5900 would require a whole new chipset.

What they seem to have added is a partitioned, XB formatted HDD.
And a 1.4GHz Mobile/Laptop Intel Celeron.
 
Box is still way too big (yeah I know they didn't change it), but it looks better than the plain black M$ one.
 
Well I'm not quite sure what to make of this.. the XBox being a closed system with a given set of performance stats, XBox programmers normally don't have to take into account the timing issues that PC programmers do. In other words, some games might simply run faster on a faster processor.

Some games may also be tuned for the peculiar 128 KB cache size on the special edition Pentium III that the regular XBox uses. Who knows what might happen when you put in a regular PC processor (I'm guessing it might be a Tualatin 1.4 with 256 or 512 KB cache)..

The 80 GB HD could be a nice extra. But it's really only useful in combination with a mod chip, so that you can use it to store game disc images, DivX movies or a Linux installation for instance. The regular 10 GB XBox HD provides more than enough space if you only use it for game saves and custom WMA soundtracks, as Microsoft intended.
 
The 80 GB HD could be a nice extra. But it's really only useful in combination with a mod chip, so that you can use it to store game disc images, DivX movies or a Linux installation for instance. The regular 10 GB XBox HD provides more than enough space if you only use it for game saves and custom WMA soundtracks, as Microsoft intended.
Click to expand...

heh, fortunately for them the word 'enough' doesn't enter much into the enthusiasts vocab :)
 
Florin,
Double the clock cycles. What might happen? 30 FPS may convert to 60FPS.
Just a guess. But I figure that is what they were reasoning.

What kind of special edition P3?
If you compare the Xbox CPU with a 'Mobile' Celeron you'll see they are identical.

By partioning the HDD over a few times identically.
Grub or some other boot loader allows you to select which Xbox partion to use.
By the way it's 8GB not 10.
 
Double the clock. What might happen? 30 FPS may convert to 60FPS.
Click to expand...
It doesn't work that way. For one, the game code is finely tuned around the original Xbox system specs (and framerates are typically locked). People thought that adding an extra 64MB of ram onto the empty ram spots on the mainboard (people have done this) would help with games. The reality of the situation is that it doesn't help. Bumping up the processor speed will likely cause more harm than benefit (ie. games will become unstable or they simply won't play).

This is a nice box for the mod scene, but that's about it.
 
David_South#1 said:
Florin,
Double the clock cycles. What might happen? 30 FPS may convert to 60FPS.
Just a guess. But I figure that is what they were reasoning.
Click to expand...

Just rendering additional frames is what would happen with games programmed for a PC. Game programmers make sure that the action happens at the same speed on a wide variety of CPU speeds. It wasn't always like that. If you try to run a game that was programmed back in the days of the IBM XT - when everyone had the same CPU - on a contemporary PC it will in most cases be way too fast to play. XBox programmers also do (did) not have to account for varying CPU speeds.

What kind of special edition P3?
If you compare the Xbox CPU with a 'Mobile' Celeron you'll see they are identical.
Click to expand...

The Mobile Celeron with Intel S-Spec SL5SP is a close relative. But the XBox CPU (SL5SN) inherits the Pentium III's 8-way set associative L2 cache. The Celeron is limited to 4-way.

By partioning the HDD over a few times identically.
Grub or some other boot loader allows you to select which Xbox partion to use.
By the way it's 8GB not 10.
Click to expand...

You're right - there is only 8 GB usable with the normal MS BIOS. But many XBoxes actually have 10 GB drives. A common scheme is to use that additional space as an extra F: drive (which is hidden when switching back to the normal Microsoft BIOS). That's also the point of exchanging your XBox drive for a larger model - getting a very big F: drive for storing all sorts of things.
 
That seems to see what they're saying, yes. I don't think too much else would be positively affected offhand. (In fact, more might be negatively impacted? <shrugs> ) Messing to that level with a locked box doesn't seem like an easy or obvious thing to do.

Regardless, this doesn't smell particularly legal, and if they're trying to make a profitable venture out of this I'm really curious as to what Microsoft plans to do concerning them. Probably be a pretty short trip.
 
Excepting that it's a retailer offering a modified Xbox for sale. (Though still unsure as to the method--there's likely a difference between them buying, modding, and reselling their own versus taking payment to mod for another's box.)

Regardless, the big guys are not too friendly to mod chip makers and such either, so if there's a company being this overt with a rather large mod... Microsoft may not take too kindly to them. (Or at least want to test what a swift kick or five with a lawyer will get them first. ;) )
 
If they could put in a second GPU, a second disc drive and another video out it would be cool to run two xbox games on one machine and two TV's.
 
Jabjabs said:
If they could put in a second GPU, a second disc drive and another video out it would be cool to run two xbox games on one machine and two TV's.
Click to expand...
Eh :) wouldn't it would be more practical to just buy two xboxes :?
 
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