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PC Hardware
Microsoft spills beans on new Xbox chip
45nm SoC, integrated CPU GPU die
Microsoft has revealed quite a few details on chip that powers the ne Xbox 360 Slim.
The Vejle SoC integrates the CPU, GPU, I/O logic and memory controller on a single 45nm die, which seems quite convenient.
It packs 372 million transistors and consumers 60 percent less power than its predecessor. The original Xbox featured a 90nm discrete GPU and the consoles total silicon area, including the CPU and GPU was some 50 percent greater than with the new SoC.
Interestingly, the designers also had to use an “FSB replacement block” within the chip’s architecture. It’s supposed to simulate the latency and bandwidth characteristics of the previous platform. In other words it’s used to slow down the chip, as it would have ended up faster than the original and it would have faced compatibility issues.
More here.