Microsoft's Xbox 360 goes 65nm: Falcon Dissection and Power Consumption
by Anand Lal Shimpi on November 15, 2007 11:55 PM EST- Posted in
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The New Chips
Microsoft never released die sizes for the Xbox's chips so we had to break out the trusty ruler and measure both the old and new chips, to get an idea of how things have changed. The table below shows our findings:
| Chip | Old Die Size | New Die Size | % of Old Die |
| CPU | 176 mm^2 | 133 mm ^2 | 75.5% |
| GPU | 182 mm^2 | 156 mm^2 | 85.7% |
| eDRAM | 80 mm^2 | 68 mm^2 | 85% |
Here's what's interesting: the CPU, GPU and eDRAM die all seem to have gotten smaller, but at different rates. The CPU sees the biggest reduction in size, the new core being about 75% the size of the old one, while both GPU components are around 85% the size of their predecessors.
The old CPU
The new CPU
The old GPU
The new GPU
It's possible that all three chips are now 65nm, or a mixture of 65nm and 80nm (TSMC's 80nm half-node process was used in ATI's R600 GPU). Needless to say, the chips are all smaller, which should yield some nice power savings.
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Locutus465 - Friday, November 16, 2007 - link
I too was wondering about heat durring operation... Is there no way to gage this? I know it won't be totally accurate at the core level, but still relitive heat off the heat sink has got to tell you something.jamesbond007 - Friday, November 16, 2007 - link
Does the same techniques for identifying a Falcon-based 360 work on the Elite and Halo Edition consoles?Anand Lal Shimpi - Friday, November 16, 2007 - link
Yes the same flashlight techniques work, although the lot numbers may not correspond. The Halo 3 edition consoles seem to have to be lot 734 or later *and* be built after 8/24. I had the best luck getting a Premium console with a lot 738 or later.Take care,
Anand
Voidberg - Wednesday, June 8, 2011 - link
I know i some how fucked this up but i have a falcon mptherboard with a heatpipetipoo - Monday, December 12, 2011 - link
Falcons have a heatpipe connecting the two GPU heatsinks, just not in the CPU heatsink anymore.Voidberg - Wednesday, June 8, 2011 - link
Google it the power supplys are diff and man up and open the xbox