The Falcon Has Landed
Yesterday I purchased an XBOX 360 with the new 65 nm “Falcon” chipset, which is smaller and more energy efficient than the previous 90 nm build. The biggest differences between this new chip and the old one is heat, which is the prime suspect behind the dreaded RROD. It took a few days of research to understand how to discern whether a unit has this new chipset by inspecting the outside of the box. The best ways to tell all involve a quick glance at the barcode label on the box:
- The build team should be FDOU. This is the only build team that has been confirmed to have access to the Falcon chip.
- The power supply should be 175 watts. The Falcon chip requires less power than the previous 203 watt power supplies.
- Lot # 735 or higher.
- Manufacture date 8/24/07 or later.
The sales person at Best Buy was cooperative about going to the stock room to check on the label for me, and he understood exactly what I was looking for. He told me they sell through a lot of units and are constantly restocked by Microsoft, and at this point ALL of their stock is Falcon-based. I hooked it up last night and fired up a few games. So far, so good. Assassin’s Creed is going well, although I’m back to the beginning so there is some tedious rework until I’m caught up to where I was before. Hopefully no RROD on this one. I purchased the 2 year no-bull extended warranty thing through Best Buy, so if there’s so much as a minor glitch I’m heading back there for a replacement.
Bring on the beasties! I’m looking forward to some serious clobbering this week.