GamePro gets 360 Debug kit (power supply?)

[Mefisutoferesu]

The reason it's getting discussion is probably because no one was expecting it. From everything we heard and just the overall feel, I don't think anyone was really expecting a brick for the 360, so it was a surprise. Combine that with the fact that it's rather large and you've got plenty to talk about. Had this been the brick for the Revolution I don't think it would have garnered as much attention simply because everyone expected a brick. Indeed, I think it smacks a bit of the fantasy vs the doable reality of what these consoles will be. Hype has a much farther reaching grasp than just graphics and games and who's number one.

 

[mckmas8808]

Generally, I agree that most consumers will not care of the size, as long as it can still easily be stowed out of sight.

Or unless they want to catch ghost. *dances screaming ghostbusters*

 

[Sis]

Designers will tell you otherwise. Pretty much everything has an impact on the overall experience. The feel of the plastic, the shape of the connectors, and every other little experience has, by their reckoning, at least a subconscious effect. It's not something you'd necessarily pick up on when opening a package, but if you were to do a test-case study with 100 people opening an XB360 with a dinky, stylish PSU and another 100 people opening an XB360 with a huge grey lump of a PSU, and you asked them at the end to rate the XB360's design etc., those with the dinky PSU will likely rate the experience higher. But as I say it's a miniscule rating and not much worth bothering about.

Though I will say the external PSU can prove a problem if cables don't run long enough, and even then some people have their console squeezed in a little space where there's not much option to hide the PSU.

I agree that everything has an impact (and the Apple folks have this "out of the box" experience down to an art form). I was stating probably the obvious: that the brick arguably won't have a negative effect and most definitely not a positive one. In my mind, a wash.

(It's an interesting discussion--I hope I didn't come across as condescending in dismissing the size of the power brick.)

.Sis

 

[BlueTsunami]

Of course its better to have a brick externely than internally. I can only imagine that thing inside the 360, it would make a noticeable difference aesthetically. Now the ghost catching part, I find that kind of gimmicky. Hopefully developers come up with some good uses for it.

 

[Bad_Boy]

It was a joke.

EDIT: On a more serious note, are there any exhaust ports on the PS3 pics? I havent seen any yet. Could it be possible to cool that electronics without an exhaust/fans? MY understanding is that even watercooled setups have some quiet fans somewhere in the pipeline...

J

lol mybad, sarcasm is a bitch online

about your edit:

maybe we will see if they made any design changes during the oct 22nd-30th stuff

 

[Acert93]

Now the ghost catching part, I find that kind of gimmicky. Hopefully developers come up with some good uses for it.

Like I said, the thing is hideous. But a smaller console + huge brick or huge console + internal PSU I take the smaller console every time. Just my preference...

Not to mention I like to catch ghosts! Gimmick or not catching the undead and storing them in your 360 could be a HUGE advantage in online games!

 

[scooby_dooby]

lol mybad, sarcasm is a bitch online

about your edit:

maybe we will see if they made any design changes during the oct 22nd-30th stuff

If the PS3 is standing like the picture above the vents on the bottom would be blocked, the only vents that can flow are up by the BR drive, leaving no vents down by the CPU and GPU????

 

[DigitalSoul]

If the PS3 is standing like the picture above the vents on the bottom would be blocked, the only vents that can flow are up by the BR drive, leaving no vents down by the CPU and GPU????

I don't think there are vents at the bottom. At the bottom is where the HDD slot is, I believe.

 

[aaaaa00]

There are nowhere near enough vents in the prototype PS3 pics that I've seen posted on the net.

Either we're missing some angles, or they're going to add more vents on the final console.

 

[Tap In]

much ado about nothing

 

[mckmas8808]

Not to mention I like to catch ghosts! Gimmick or not catching the undead and storing them in your 360 could be a HUGE advantage in online games!

OMG! This quote is so funny I can't stop reading it. Oh I got to go to the bathroom now. *runs*

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I don't think there are vents at the bottom. At the bottom is where the HDD slot is, I believe.

Airflow will be interesting with only one set of holes. Where's air in and air out? Also it looks like a 3 pin AC 'Kettle plug' connection for power, suggesting an internal PSU. There's going to be a lot of heat there and need for some hoofy cooling setup.

 

[LunchBox]

Why is there so much discussion about the size of this PSU? Who cares!

I think it's because most of the other components were already exhaustedly discussed before...

psu's for now...

plastic interiors next

 

[London Geezer]

Right, not to detract from the silly talk, but i'm still not sure why this thing is so bloody big!

I mean i have a 450W PSU in my PC, and i really really don't think the X360 PSU will be that powerful, it just doesn't need to be. My 450W PSU is a standard sized PC PSU, which is much smaller than that Ghostbusters trap.

My LCD screen has an external PSU and it's rather small, surely much smaller than the trap.

i just don't know why this thing is so big!

 

[Sis]

Right, not to detract from the silly talk, but i'm still not sure why this thing is so bloody big!

I mean i have a 450W PSU in my PC, and i really really don't think the X360 PSU will be that powerful, it just doesn't need to be. My 450W PSU is a standard sized PC PSU, which is much smaller than that Ghostbusters trap.

My LCD screen has an external PSU and it's rather small, surely much smaller than the trap.

i just don't know why this thing is so big!

Well, like I said in an earlier post, my Dell inspiron has a huge PSU:

Dimensions (WxDxH): 3.4" x 6.7" x 1.6"

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/...6&category_id=5436&brandid=56&c=us&l=en&cs=19

The Inspiron is a 3.2 ghz p4. Of course, the X360 won't be powering a monitor, but it will have the tri-core chip and 12x DVD constantly spinning...

.Sis

 

[Mefisutoferesu]

Well, you have to remember a brick is passively cooled, though I have seen passively cooled computer PSUs (550watts even) as well, but they count on airflow from some other fan in the rig.

 

[MrWibble]

Well, you have to remember a brick is passively cooled, though I have seen passively cooled computer PSUs (550watts even) as well, but they count on airflow from some other fan in the rig.

Not necessarily true in either case.

I have external power bricks for a couple of things that have small fans in. And I have a PC which has a pretty decent PSU and the whole PC is entirely passively cooled...

 

[Mariner]

Not necessarily true in either case.

I have external power bricks for a couple of things that have small fans in. And I have a PC which has a pretty decent PSU and the whole PC is entirely passively cooled...

Yes, but how hot does your passive PSU get? Even the most efficient/coolest passive PC PSU (currently the Antec Phantom) gets quite hot under load and there were reliability problems with the early models.

For silent PCs you want to remove as much of the heat from the case as possible and I'd expect the same should be true of the new consoles. Therefore, it seems much better to me to have a DC-DC converter (which emits an insignificant amount of heat) in the PC itself in conjunction with an external AC adaptor brick. Shuttle are actually doing this with a couple of their new PCs - I believe one of them has a 220W brick which is the highest-powered (fanless) brick that I've seen reported.

The (apparent) size of the XB360 AC brick makes me wonder how much power this needs to supply although I'd still be amazed if the console required more than 200W.

Personally, I'd be more alarmed if the system didn't have an external PSU as this would tend to indicate that more internal cooling was required. I'd also be very surprised if PS3 and Revolution didn't have eternal bricks unless, of course, PS3 requires more power than current 'bricks' can supply!

As for the size of the brick itself. Who cares?

 

[MrWibble]

Yes, but how hot does your passive PSU get? Even the most efficient/coolest passive PC PSU (currently the Antec Phantom) gets quite hot under load and there were reliability problems with the early models.

Note, it's not the PSU that's passive but the whole PC... however the machine gets very hot to the touch, but is not unstable in the slightest. It hasn't been turned off in months. It's not top-end in spec but that was a deliberate choice and not a requirement of running without a fan.

I have a fanless PSU (yes, an Antec Phantom, as it happens) in another machine but it does have airflow due to my cooling the drives mounted nearby. It's no good for a comparison but FWIW it's stable too...

Personally I do care a little about the size of the PSU because I don't have anywhere good to hide it - however it's only a minor issue and not one that'd seriously sway me for long.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Personally, I'd be more alarmed if the system didn't have an external PSU as this would tend to indicate that more internal cooling was required. I'd also be very surprised if PS3 and Revolution didn't have eternal bricks unless, of course, PS3 requires more power than current 'bricks' can supply!

As I mentioned earlier, that pic of PS3 looks very much like a conventional AC plug. And if it isn't, the design choice is confusing; why design a proprietary connector so close to an existing standard? So either this is a prototype and PS3 will really have an alternative external AC adapter, I'm seeing the picture wrong, or the AC conversion happens in the PS3 itself.

Can we (or rather, people other than me ) make a guess on power requirements of 4 GHz Cell and 550 MHz RSX (assume as G70) based on existing info?