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Rumor has it 3 new motherboards are in the works for the Xbox 360. It's already known that one of them is named Jasper, and it's set to introduce a 65nm GPU as well as CPU. However, a claim by Joystick says that there are two more named Opus and Valhalla.
Opus is said to be created to be used in old Xenon cases (So they can get rid of their millions of cases from dead 360's they've gotten) but with a 65nm CPU and 90nm GPU. The catch? No HDMI. Fear not though, it's rumored that only replacement units will contain Opus motherboards.
Here's the one that truly interests me. Valhalla is supposed to combine the GPU and CPU into a sort of 'Superchip'. It is rumored to combine both into a single chip, needing only one cooling system, which will, in turn, reduce the console's noise output.
The Opus project is a "Falcon" generation motherboard designed to fit in a Xenon case. You can expect an 90 nm GPU but a 65 nm CPU. Opus solves a major hardware recycling and inventory problem since Microsoft currently has millions of used Xenon cases from RRODed dead systems and this lets them use most of the good parts from the millions of dead Xenons but with a newer tested more reliable motherboard.
Comments
Im intrigued about this CPU+GPU="Superchip" thing.
It doesn't make for a superchip, it just combines the technology into a smaller package. AMD and Intel are trying to aim for similar inclusions to reduce motherboard space consumption on PC's for entry level video.
Given that processing is down to 45nm these days, it should be possible to scale the GPU and CPU of the 360 down onto a single die.
Those a bit more versed in hardware would know that the processing ability of the GPU and CPU wouldn't be combined, instead they would work in a single pin array instead of across 2. The only possible benefit though is how the interconnect works to run commands between the GPU and CPU since there's less distance to overcome either way it wont change the potential of the chip, it may just result in faster data to the GPU or back to the CPU to compile.
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