That’s right – at this very moment, you could own an Xbox 360 sporting the much fabled 65nm CPU and GPU. It appears – according to a thread on the official Xbox forums – that Microsoft has, under the guise of the recently released Halo 3 360, soft-launched the 65nm edition of its console.
What does this mean in layman’s terms if you happen to own one? Firstly, it means you’re much more awesome than all of your friends. Even the hot ones. Secondly, the 65nm chips run cooler and consume less power than their tardy 90nm counterparts… which can be found in every other Xbox 360 in the world. Except your one, of course.
We were under the impression for a long time that such hardware would debut in the Elite. But, it didn’t. I don’t entirely understand why Microsoft hasn’t made a bigger deal out of the 65nm Halo 3 consoles… maybe they were concerned they’d anger everyone who’s already forked over the dosh for the Elite.
Finding out whether you’re 65nm-enabled – as it were – is not exactly simple: you need to take your console apart. Let’s just assume if your Halo 3 box is a lot cooler to the touch and quieter than a standard unit, you’re probably one of the chosen.
Update: Quote from one of the forum posts with some insight on how to identify your unit without slicing it in two:
Damn Lucky me. I just traded my old console in for the Halo 3 console. I haven’t had the chance to check it out with a flashlight, but I’m almost certain i have the new 65mn heatsink. Simply because the machine is about 50% more quiet then original premium I had. I think it’d be helpful if those who have the halo 3 console check to see if they too have the heatsink and then post the manufactuer date, to maybe help give a rough estimate of what consoles to look for, for those who’d like to purchase or trade in for a newer Xbox 360.
How to see if you have a 65nm (Falcon) console… [Xbox.com forums, thanks Steve Walker!]
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