x360 cpu and gpu go into production

[jvd]

http://www.xbox-evolved.com/article.php?artid=2273

Word also has reached us that many of the components to Xbox 360 for the retail version of the machine, such as the GPU and CPU have gone into production.

 

[Sonic]

This is good news. It gives developers enough time to polish games that were on beta dev kits for launch.

 

[Shark Sandwich]

Thanks for the link. This is good news. It also mentions that developers received the beta development kits. I THINK those kits include the final CPU and GPU. . . I'm still trying to figure out what this convoluted sentence is trying to say:

We have received word that developers are now receiving the hardware to make the final Xbox 360 titles for launch. These beta kits, which are a key part of the development will help make games that before were at only 30% of what they could be a full 100% with no excuses.

 

[jvd]

I think its saying that hte kits are indeed final which means a xenos graphics chip and a tri core x360 cpu . However i do'nt think they are at final speeds. I think the xenos is only in the 400mhz range and the x360 cpu is only at 2.8 ghz . Not sure though , only what i heard .

 

[kyleb]

Since the term 'beta' means feature-complete but still working the kinks out, that explantation does make sense.

 

[Wunderchu]

I think its saying that hte kits are indeed final which means a xenos graphics chip and a tri core x360 cpu . However i do'nt think they are at final speeds. I think the xenos is only in the 400mhz range and the x360 cpu is only at 2.8 ghz . Not sure though , only what i heard .

even if it's clocked lower, as long as they get the actual final architecture to work with, they should be able to develop as if they had completely final hardware

i.e.: they can just target 50 - 55 fps instead of 60 FPS or 25-28 fps instead of 30 fps on the beta kits, and then they can expect the game to run at 60 or 30 fps on the actual final hardware @ final clockspeeds...

 

[jvd]

yup i understand that wonderchu . But thats why they are still considered beta because they aren't final speeds. I believe in late august final kits go out with the bulk of them hitting by october.

 

[SanGreal]

yup i understand that wonderchu . But thats why they are still considered beta because they aren't final speeds. I believe in late august final kits go out with the bulk of them hitting by october.

I heard the final dev kits would be out in July. A quick google search (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=final+dev+kits+july+360), however, indicates that while everyone has "heard" this noone offers a source.