Xbox 360: New Jasper boards to eliminate Red Ring of Death?

by Stevie Smith - Dec 1 2008, 13:07

New Jasper motherboard could eliminate the Red Ring of Death. Image: Tomasland/Flickr.

Being hit by hardware failure in the form of the devastating Red Ring of Death (RRoD) is the greatest worry of every Xbox 360 owner, with the console's abruptly flashing red controller LED striking absolute fear into the most hardened fans of Microsoft's powerhouse videogame console.

However, current Net chatter suggests that newly introduced internals and technical tweaks could finally put an end to a damaging reliability shortcoming that has plagued Microsoft's gaming and multimedia platform since its retail release back in 2005.

According to industry publication MCV, the new 'Jasper' motherboard technology is equipped with 65nm CPU and GPU units, which deliver lower operating temperatures and reduced power consumption.

Problems with excessive heat production have long-since been linked with the RRoD problem on existing Xbox 360s, which utilise more demanding 90nm CPU and GPU units.

“The graphics chip will likely consume less power than previous versions, allowing it to fit snugly into its motherboard socket,” said renowned industry commentator Dean Takahashi. “That should lead to fewer system failures due to the graphics chips coming loose.”

Red Ring of Death issues that have repeatedly tarnished the Xbox 360's reputation emerged due to insufficient thermal protection and the subsequent overheating of 90nm chip technology, said Takahashi.

“With the new design, Microsoft has a chance to rise above the problems associated with the Red Ring of Death,” he added in a EuroGamer report. “We'll see if the systems prove reliable.”

Adding to the advantages of reduced energy intake, the console's current power brick is being downgraded from 203 watts to 150 watts.

And, on a different note, the new Xbox 360 models will also come complete with 256MBs of internal memory as standard, which will negate the need for a memory card in the basic Arcade hardware pack.

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StoniJan 10th, 2009 - 17:05:43

I think this will work, because a friend of mine took some usless metal out of the inside of the console, and it quit doing the red ring of death. It didn't get as hot, and it started working properly again.

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