cheesecake000,
new DVDs are quiet
My 360 is with a BenQ drive and is quiet as a mouse

BrayanA

damn I thought the falcon/benq set was the prime well if mine ever rrod's ill be all over that but the falcon/benq vs launch box wow night and day- very quiet and has not froze on me yet(I am a oblivion addict) I wonder if it will be as big of a leap from the falcon set and if it will come with an even better dvd drive? time will tell.

Molockian

Ah man! I'm just about to get one of those price-cut 360s already! Then I hear of ANOTHER new chip =/

Ah well, at least I'll get Falcon. Maybe if THAT one finally RRODs, I could get a Jasper chipped one when I send it in for repairs...

Byakko

But will you be able to tell the difference from the box which one it is? This (especially if it includes a price drop) might finally be what nudges me into a 360.

sqlrob

@Devster: Maybe the statement isn't as stupid as you make it out to be. Maybe because they are redesigning for the new smaller and lower power chip set, they probably have to modify the power specs which allows them to make changes to other larger components hence the hint at a new quieter drive. You just can't take a component that has different different specs then the existing and plop into systems on a production line.

okenny :)

LOL....new chip....LAWL,Yeah whole lotta good the last 2 NEW chips did.But seeing as how by summer we'll have this travesty sorted,lets move on to the Fisher Price plastic that surrounds my below average last gen computer components.Maybe a little paint,i don't fuckin know,tired of it looking out of place everywhere but my kids room.

SlowDeath420

Too little, too late. I don't know if they heard, but besides Gears of War and Halo, your exclusives suck.

Note: I can play BioShock and Gears, and Mass Effect on the PC. :( Sorry, MS.

Voteforme2020

If this is the case and the 360 stops r.r.o.d.ing then i will fork over $500 for the damned system. Otherwise all my money is going into sony and nintendo products....I like reliability. Sorry

Jnkzm4

Question: Can I bring a perfectly working 360 that's under the product replacement plan and exchange it for this?

idkmybffgreg

@PapaBear434: I haven't seen any evidence of 360s with Falcon chipsets getting the RRoD. Not all of the HDMI units are Falcon.

mind in rewind

Whatever you take from my clearly anti 360 rants on here, I want the product to be good. I want the games, and I'd love to get one if I could trust it.

Good luck, guys! I hope this fixes some issues! (Then because they lied so much about so many issues, I'll have to wait another couple years to see if it's REALLY safe, stable, and reliable, but as soon as it works, I'M THERE.)

fuchikoma

I've had my Xbox since its first launch and haven't had a RROD yet. *furiously knocks on wood!* But I would trade it in in a second for a quieter drive!

maniacmayhem

@goldwings: My housemate had "disc read" errors with Dead Rising, but it never overheated. We played an 11 hour marathon to get one of the survival mode achievements on one of the hottest days last summer and it survived. We were constantly worried about RRODs 10 hours in or some other stupid crap like that. I actually stopped right after getting the achievement so I wouldn't lose it to a hardware error.

So it would seem that there are "some" X360s that can actually handle their own heat, but the thing is still loud as hell with its two-bit DVD drive.

ludwigk

@gozirah: Yeah I was going to make a similar comment.

Had a good laugh when I read the post.

1.21 Noisawatts!

yashichi8bit

So this may be what officially leads to a NA price drop, maybe in the fall. The thing is still too expensive for how long its been out and not enough distance between it and the PS3 price (considering the Blu Ray player). Maybe the US dollar will be better by then ...

In other news, though we'll probably know more after next Tuesday, the potential 360 lineup this fall is honestly looking much stronger than the PS3 lineup. Some epic battles are being set up for fanboys (LBP vs. Banjo 3, R2 vs. GeoW2). Seriously, take a look and see how this could play out for the 360 this fall with a significant price cut.

DARTH_TIGRIS

nice job with the pic. but someone WILL have to test this, I mean Play for 24 hours straight, even if it means taking turns with someone else. if it doesn't crap out, then I'll be getting a new 360.

Grimmjow Jeagerjaques

3 cheers for progress!

I hope they make 120GB standard now. Or at least 80 so its on equal footing w/ the PS3. And increase the elite to 200GB.

20GB is way too small. With all the DLC (Halo, Forza, GTA, etc..) that has to stay on the HDD; theres no room for demos or movies. How are they expecting to rent movies if people don't have room to save them?

string_theory

Please hurry, I'm dying to play Dead Rising again. The case is just sitting there

*Note: I got one at launch, but it crapped out on me... twice! So all I've been doing is wait until I hear something like this to come as well as playing on my PS3.

**Also Note: I sold my crapped out 360 to buy the PS3.

goldwings

lol at the picture of the sun.

Incidentally, I've had a 360 since day 1 and have never had any problems with it, even though I sometimes leave it on for several hours at a time to charge up my controller. The noise is annoying, but nowhere near as loud as my damn computer. I really need to get a new power source for that thing...

Cloral

@KittenKiller: I'd recommend open-air headphones that allow you to hear ambient noise (children coughing, car alarms, etc).

FuglyFloom

Although purely nitpicking I find it amazing that the x360 chipset in fact USES noise to power some of its systems. With this new chipset less noise is required and as such they can lower the fan speeds.. I guess.

Jilkon

I purchased a Best Buy warranty specifically for hardware improvements like this one. I'd love to have a cooler, quieter 360!

Arttemis

@FuglyFloom: You expressed my opinion better than I. I need headphones.

KK

KittenKiller

@ysleiro: Hi troll.

I didn't say my 6.1 couldn't drown it out. It's just that my wife doesn't like hearing "f'er" in every sentence. Yay GTA4.

As someone mentioned above, I can hear the thing in other rooms of the house so there is a problem. I am not saying I hate the console. I AM saying that the jet engine I currently play GTA4 on is insanely loud. Are you saying it is not?

I'm asking for help and advice. I like how the only person who replied to my comment was some fleshbot troll. Any chance a PC DVD drive could replace it?

KK

KittenKiller

@ysleiro: I play late at night with headphones, and agree that the 360 is too loud. I was really hoping the rumors of an optional GTA IV install would mean I could run the game off the HD and not have to hear the disc drive.

If I turned the volume on my surround system high enough to overcome the drive noise, the household would probably not enjoy being lulled to sleep by the callers of WKTT.

FuglyFloom

Out of the people I know the failure rate has been right at 50%, which is what I think the failure rate is closest to. Considering that people who haven't had it break yet have a ticking timebomb.

flamincheney

I bought an HDMI Xbox thinking foolishly that two years on the market would have enabled MS to get their crap straight, well I was wrong because my system is no in Mesquite, TX getting fixed.

I has really soured me on the whole thing. If the same games were less glitchy on the PS3 I would sell the Xbox and move on. The 360 doesn't need minor tweaks it needs to be redesigned.

flamincheney

"uses less noise"

Xbox360 harnesses the power of noise? That's amazing technology!

trigger2

@iNime:

If you followed a post back then, a new source claimed that the 360's return rate (including RROD) has reduced to a more acceptable +-10%. It's probably true since most repairs are done on non-hdmi 360.

mcool93

@DugDawg: Yup. One thing I have to do when i'm done playing COD4 and staying on the dashboard to watch videos is open the disc tray. Right after the COD4 disc stops it makes a humming noise and as soon as the tray opens it goes away. That is the only game I have to do that to, I can leave GTAIV in there and it doesn't make the humming. Strange.

Rebel Without Applause

@ysleiro: because its cheaper for them to manufactuer and reduces the cost of building a console and over the longer run turns a profit?

2 solutions to perminantly fix your 360.
Install pc fans on the heatsinks on the inside, put good high speed fans in the rear. These 4 new fans will drown out the sound from the dvdrom drive. Funny thing is, my 360 runs cool as hell now but now the dvd drive is failing lol. Maybe I can rig a good pc dvd drive to work in it.

Derigor

Cool. Hopefully we will soon be at the point where every new 360 is RROD proof, and they can actually start repairing the other 360s to make them permanently fixed as well.

CCCombobreaker

@chrisgriner:

No need to hammer. I think many of us have had the same problems. After my last console went back for repairs, I had hoped they would send me one of the new, upgraded elites with HDMI and the new chipset, but no luck. They just sent me another refurb, which again, is likely to fail. I'm not sure why they are doing that, because it seems to me like it really isn't fixing the problem, but who knows. It still is my favorite game system I've ever owned.

DugDawg

@Rebel Without Applause:

I agree, I don't know why, but COD4 does make a lot of noise on the 360. I don't know if it's because so much information is constantly being cached or what, but it's weird.

DugDawg

"Jasper uses less noise and simpler cooling systems"

SIMPLER?!?!? are they trying to shorten a 360's lifespan even more?

I think the better term would be "efficient cooling systems" because the current heatpipe/heatsink add-on isnt doing a good enough job to stop consoles from committing suicides(/pun).

Thankfully mine is still working as of this time *knocks on wood*

doesntlikedede

I want one of these 360s that use less noise. My current one uses way too much noise. I can hear it using noise from other rooms in the house. This is good news that Microsoft is finally getting with the white noise movement to make devices that use less noise.[/typo fun]

RykinPoe

This is something that should have been done along time ago. Wait, wasn't the Falcon chip supposed to make life better in that little white box? Maybe MS doesn't want to fix long standing 360 issues. After all I'm sure come 2010 its successor will be available. Eh.

Replica23

I purchased an elite for the HDMI connection. It presented me the three red rings a month or so ago. What is funny is that my older system which was probably a year older than the Elite had never had an issue. Until yesterday. RRoD on yet another 360. I was hoping that older one would never do that cause I thought it was funny that my older system had never had issues when my Elite had been replaced because of RRoD.

I know there are exceptions out there, but everyone I know who has a 360 has had to send it off to get it replaced/repaired. I would LOVE to know how much if any money Microsoft has lost from said malfunctions.

I know one thing, if it comes down to having to buy another 360, there better be one hell of a game exclusive to the 360 out there. There's no way I would choose a multi-platform release for the 360 over the PS3.

Course those are just my experiences. And I'm sure I'll get hammered for my opinions as well.

chrisgriner

"Jasper uses less noise"

Oh, I see the noise is somehow put to work for useful purposes. Before the 360 used 60 noisawatts, but nows it down to mere millinoisawatts.

gozirah

What a bunch of whiners masquerading as 360 owners.

No freaking way that a 360 is louder than your 6.1 sorround system! Unless you don't freaking turn it on.

Guys the Falcon chipset is more reliable, otherwise why would MS waste millions producing it for nothing?

ysleiro

Less noise? Last time I checked MS doesnt put fans on the processor anyways. Atleast my 360 when it came back from RRoD hell had no fan on it.

Dunno how they are reducing noise when there is no fan to begin with. Oh well, I helped them out by adding in my own pc fan on top of the gpu heatsink and beefed up the rear exhaust fans.

Simpler cooling systems? Simpler than what? passive air? dunno how they get much simpler than that. I'd love to see the internals on this one. How do you get simpler than 1 verticle heatsink on the proc, an air duct and 2 exhaust fans? My repaired 360 came back with a heatsink infront of the proc heatsink connected to the gpu. Can we get some fans on the heatsinks please? I shouldnt have to modify my console because MS doesnt understand simple concepts such as "heat rises" and 130degree F chips need fans.

Derigor

@karateka: I don't think either of the two are nasty looking, in fact. It's just that the PS3 is huge and the 360 has a huge battery pack.

@KoopaTroopa: Oh, well I didn't even think of that. But i'm just saying that the PS3 is a slot loader and the disc goes in a lot deeper and is surrounded by a thick case. As the 360 case is thin and you can hear a lot more of the insides.

Rebel Without Applause

Just for comparison a theoretical bluray 12x runs at 10,000 rpm so 2x is about 1700rpm.

A 12x DVD runs approx 7,070 rpm (single layer) and about 5,180 rpm (dual layer). Reminds me of my early pioneer slot load dvd drive that sounded like a plane taking off.

cactaur

Sweet, one more price drop/sku change and I'll finally "jump in".

majatt

@Rebel Without Applause: I believe the Blu-ray drive is only a 2x drive, which explains why its quieter than the 12x(or is it 16x) dvd-rom in the 360.

KoopaTroopa

@garytek: I didn't think Falcon's came out until September of last year right around the Halo 3 launch. I think you've got a Zephyr model, which I have 2 of and haven't had an issue with yet.

Friscodude

@karateka: Er, he did put pretty in quotes. What amazes me is that Microsoft seems to be taking design cues from early 1990's Macintosh cases:

[en.wikipedia.org]

Perhaps in 15 years time the current XBOX will be all shiny black and chrome, like the iPhone...erm PS3...

Gidim

But... haven't a number of people come forward and said that the majority (but not all) of RROD issues are caused by the GPU, not the CPU?

Soooo... when are they going to manufacture a new GPU?

BtownDesignGuy

"Jasper uses less noise and simpler cooling systems."

... I didn't know the xbox was powered by sound...

;)

alphex

The problem with the 3rrod is caused by the xclamp design, an x-shaped bit of metal that puts pressure on the underside of the motherboard pushing the GPU die away from the ball grid array. I've fixed a few of these 3rrods and at the same time modded the fan shrouds so that airflow is more efficient. This in turn allows more heat to be dispersed away from the heatsinks and means the fans run quieter. However 90% of the noise is from the DVD drive motor and fan. When they can fix that i'll get a new 360. the cpu and rear fans are quiet even in older models compared to the drives.

Jamybarsteward

@Rebel Without Applause: Oh man...you think the 360 is pretty and the ps3 not? I guess everyone got diffeent taste, but I wouldn't put a 360 in the living room. It just doesn't look right, no matter what color.

karateka

I did a little google searching for "Replace Xbox 360 DVD Drive with quieter one" and I found tons of articles of M$ releasing "super quiet" drives back in Feb. 2007. I picked up an Elite in Oct. 2007 and if it has one of these drives I HATE to think about what the other drives before it sounded like.

The whir factor of these drives really annoy me. I have a loud PC and the Xbox system completely drowns out any other sounds in the room. So much so, that I'm about to start using headphones over my 6.1 speaker system.

Does ANYONE have suggestions on where to put the drive that will keep the thing quieter? I am getting ticked since it's kinda hard hearing some of the radio and dialog of GTA4. Can't afford PS3. Apparently not white enough.

KK

KittenKiller

I honestly feel like not only getting a PS3 but replacing my 360 with it. Not only because of space restrictions due to my shitty fabulous apartment. But because I feel like when my launch console dies I am going to cry.

Plus, I really don't like this multi-chip nonsense.

Kanik

It is strange, I have some games that seem to make more noise and others that don't. Like COD4 makes the most noise, which is fine because there is so much gunfire & explosions going on that I don't notice. Now that i'm playing GTAIV it doesn't make any noise, it's crazy. I think it is the way it reads the discs that would make it louder or not.

And i'm sure the PS3 makes the same amount of noise, it is just that the drive for the 360 isn't buried within 11 pounds of blackness.

If only Microsoft kept the same design as the original, man that console was a beast. I remember every sony punk ripping on the original Xbox, but now that the PS3 is larger than that, it's all of sudden ok.

Stupid of Microsoft to sacrifice reliability for a "pretty" design.

Rebel Without Applause

@jihadjoe343: The heat causes the pcb to warp, which breaks the ball solder contacts that connect the chip to the board.

cactaur

The people here bitching mindlessly are either Sony ****riders masquerading as angry Xbox 360 owners or impatient people with the old Xenon hardware version Xbox 360s.

I have a Falcon Xbox 360 which I bought last February. Lately I've been playing GTA 4 for 4 to 6 hours straight. You don't see me barging around here acting like the typical wreckless dude who doesn't have a college degree, do you?

garytek

@PapaBear434: Aww man. Here I thought the Falcon Chip model was more stable.

@icepick314: Do they test these DVD drives near an airport? They must be deaf engineers...I swear.

SigmundTheSeaMonster

Well, the new Falcon chips weren't suppose to RRoD, but they did. So I'll wait to SEE that these won't crap out before I believe it.

PapaBear434

MS is ramping up for an expected huge Q3 and Q4 for the Xbox360

LosDaddie

Does it use less nois or create less nois...I'm not getting that. I don't think the chip is the loudest part of the 360...so what's the point. It's silence just increase the loudness of other parts.

karateka

Yes please, simplify the cooling so we can continue to experience the red ring until the end of the console's life cycle. Also, chips don't make noise, the fans that cool them do.

Heyyou27

"We can rebuild him..."

Caduceus

Jasper and Blu-Ray may be what pushes me over the line to finally getting a current gen system. We'll see what comes about this.

KoopaTroopa

forget quieter chip cooling...

install quieter drive, dammit!!

icepick314

I think the new chip set is just to stop overheating problems, namely RROD. I would have gone for this but I just upgraded to a elite for GTA4.

H2oGatesy

@JakeDunn: Yeah! I got a 16 speed dvd drive that is close to silent and it was cheap a chips! sort it out microsoft!

GOD

@cheesecake000:

+1

it's the drive responsible for most of the noise, sometimes very annoying

JakeDunn

If it's quiet and doesn't RROD i might put my finger back in the Microsoft pie. At the moment though i'm well and truly dipped in the Nintendo and Sony chocolate gateau of love! X X X

GOD

"Compared to the current Falcon chip, Jasper uses less noise and simpler cooling systems."

Microsoft needs to get out of consoles and start marketing this noise technology - the spinning drive coupled with whatever Jasper uses to absorb noise could be the key to the energy crisis to come!

Devster

The noise of the 360 made me opt for the PS3 version of GTA4. I like to roll around with the radio off and enjoy the tranquil side of things...at night, on street corners...

Do Microsoft really care about the noise issue, i doubt it. I doubt they will change fans and disc drive- this is probably just to cut costs.

Arcadewolf

@iNime: Well I don't have any links but from what I understand, the RROD is caused by clamps melting and falling off of the chip board or something, so if it's running a lot cooler then I'd assume that problem is solved. Can't be 100% though.

jihadjoe343

What use is quieter chips when the DVD drive still sounds like a jet whenever you play a game?

cheesecake000

the real question... does it still RROD?

PS - if you are gonna respond, please provide some links for me, thanks peeps!

iNime

meh I just bought an elite.. -.-

phatseejay

If only we could have had these nice quiet chips from the beginning. :(

collinc