Inside Microsoft's Xbox 360
by Anand Lal Shimpi, Kristopher Kubicki & Tuan Nguyen on November 16, 2005 5:09 AM EST- Posted in
- Systems
The Xbox 360 Chipset
As we mentioned before, the Xbox 360's North Bridge is integrated into the GPU, similar to most PC chipsets with integrated graphics. The North Bridge is on the main die of the GPU and shares the same 128-bit GDDR3 memory controller that the graphics core uses to access the Xbox 360's 512MB of memory. This bus runs at 1.4GHz offering just over 22GB/s of bandwidth to main memory.
On the other side of the North Bridge there's the CPU's FSB interface, which offers 10.8GB/s of bandwidth in each direction (21.6GB/s total). You can see the serial FSB laid out in the image below:
The North Bridge also features a 500MB/s interface to the Xbox 360's South Bridge, which was designed by SiS (pictured below).
Once again, you don't see any non-Microsoft logos on any of these chips. It's clear this time around who the IP belongs to. The South Bridge is responsible for communication with the audio codec, storage devices, USB ports, controllers, and any other I/O devices.
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apriest - Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - link
HD gaming, but no DVI or HDMI?!! Shame, shame Microsoft...Coherence - Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - link
Agreed. I was very surprised to see that DVI/HDMI was left out of the first production run. My HDTV has all its component video inputs used up already, so it would have been nice to plug the 360 into one of the spare HDMI ports. I hate using switchboxes, but that's what I'll have to do with the component inputs now.glennpratt - Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - link
Does you HDTV have VGA? Thier is a VGA out.apriest - Thursday, November 17, 2005 - link
VGA (analog) isn't nearly the quality of DVI (digital), though it would be better than component.JarredWalton - Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - link
My Toshiba HDTV has an HDMI port (no DVI, but a DVI to HDMI cable works). However, it also has two component inputs, and that's far more common than DVI, HDMI, or VGA inputs on HDTVs.cruzer - Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - link
Very slick design, looking forward to getting one!!cruzer - Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - link
On page 5, "two dice on the chip", should that be 'dies' instead of 'dice'?cruzer - Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - link
Nevermind, dice is correct.apriest - Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - link
I was wondering that myself until I looked it up!bldckstark - Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - link
Two dies as in tooling dies, are not referred to as dice. Dies is the correct word. The same applies to computer mouses. The plural for computer mouse is not computer mice, but computer mouses. Mice is a group of more than one animal, not more than one tool. I have thousands of dies here at work, and have worked around millions of dies, never once has anyone even suggested the use of the word dice for them.From dictionary.com -->
die2 pl. dies or dice (ds)
1. pl. dies - A device used for cutting out, forming, or stamping material, especially:
1. An engraved metal piece used for impressing a design onto a softer metal, as in coining money.
2. One of several component pieces that are fitted into a diestock to cut threads on screws or bolts.
3. A part on a machine that punches shaped holes in, cuts, or forms sheet metal, cardboard, or other stock.
4. A metal block containing small conical holes through which plastic, metal, or other ductile material is extruded or drawn.
2. pl. dies Architecture. The dado of a pedestal, especially when cube-shaped.
3. pl. dice
1. A small cube marked on each side with from one to six dots, usually used in pairs in gambling and in various other games.
2. dice (used with a sing. verb) A game of chance using dice.
tr.v. died, die·ing, dies
To cut, form, or stamp with or as if with a die.
I don't care if AT gets it right or not as long as I can understand what they mean, but if we are going to discuss it, let's make sure we are correct.