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Posts from the ‘xbox’ Category

31
Dec

Xbox 360 + PS3 case = PS360

Xbox 360 + PS3 case + many Dremel bits = PS360

Apparently impressed by the stunning success (and $157 winning bid) of his earlier Wii64, the modder who goes by the name n8bog is back with another brute-force console hybrid, this time shoving an entire Xbox 360 into a disused PS3 case. We wouldn’t say it’s a perfect fit, as there’s been a rather large hole cut into the front to allow access to the tray, and that HDD just laying on top of the DVD-ROM looks a bit precarious, but if you have a hankerin’ for something Microsoft but prefer the look of something Sony (or just really like gratuitous neon) all this can be yours at a starting bid of just $100. Any takers? Read
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30
Dec

IXtreme 1.5 unlocks your Xbox 360 drive

We love a good hacker vs. hardware battle, and while Microsoft has thus far done a reasonably good job of keeping miscreants from diddling with the details of the Xbox 360′s firmware, applying patches and dropping ban hammers on those who don’t comply, as of this morning it seems to be losing the arms race. Team Jungle has released version 1.5 of its IXtreme firmware, allowing for (relatively) easy cracking and unlocking of Xbox 360 consoles containing LiteOn, BenQ, and Samsung DVD drives (i.e. the majority of them). That leaves only Hitachi owners out in the cold, but if that’s you don’t fret: your version is just a few weeks away. Happy homebrewing! Read

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29
Dec

Xbox Pro "Jasper" Units now shipping

So yeah, finding an Xbox 360 Jasper in Arcade form isn’t all that difficult these days, but we certainly haven’t seen a glut of Pro models shipping out with the supposedly cooler, smoother and altogether more melancholy Jasper hardware within. A lucky soul over at PDAToday has acquired one such unit, and while he may just be incredibly fortunate, we’d say it’s about time you to-be Pro owners start looking out for a few telltale signs. As you can see in the closeups in the read link, there here FDOU team Pro — which was ordered from Amazon on December 22nd — boasts a 12.1 amp rating and the unmistakable Jasper power port. Of note, it did come bundled with a Falcon revision (175-watt) power supply just like in my guide, though we suspect Microsoft is just clearing out excess inventory given that the older PSU won’t damage the Jasper machines. Any others out there run into any holiday luck? Let us know!

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11
Dec

How to: Spot a Xbox 360 "Jasper" unit

Welcome Xbox360forum Members! This is a Xbox Arcade, while the Jasper Xbox Pro is now shipping. Please subscribe to this blog if you found this interesting.

Okay, for the noobs: a Falcon unit has a 65nm CPU, 90nm GPU while a “Jasper” unit, the new one, still has a 65nm CPu but a nice, shiny 65nm GPU!

So, how do I buy the newer one then?

OK here’s the star of the show — the new GPU. The main body is the same size as the past GPU’s, which I did not expect, but there are a lot less components on the surface and the main heat die is considerably smaller and not centered on the package, either.


Old 90nm GPU for reference.


The CPU hasn’t changed much from the Falcon.

I’ll do some heat tests with this unit once I inevitably slap it into an Xbox 360 laptop. Now let’s move onto how you can spot one of these new units in the store!

The Xbox 360 box has a hole at the top of it where the bar code of the console is visible. Clerks usually scan this when you buy one. What you need to do it look at the lower left corner of this box. If you peer closely you can make out at least half of the voltage/amperage rating of the unit. The # of amps used by the 12 volt rail is the key to determining which console it is. The photos below show this in detail.

14.2 amps equals a Falcon unit (65nm CPU, 90nm GPU). Please keep in mind there’s nothing wrong with having one of these, I play mine a lot and it’s fine. You might not be able to see the whole voltage listing just through the peep-hole, but you should at least be able to see if a 14.2A or 12.1A is just to the left of the “5V”.

12.1 amps equals a Jasper unit (65nm CPU, 65nm GPU). This voltage rating is also listed above the power input, but of course you can’t see that when it’s in the box.

There has been a lot of discussion about lot #’s, power supply ratings, and things of that nature being used to find Jaspers. I have found those to be unreliable. For instance, this Jasper was lot #0842X. However at Circuit City today I saw a 0843X Arcade unit, but it was 14.2 amps.

Also this particular Jasper came with a 175W power supply (like the Falcons used). They are probably trying to use up all the older PSU’s and thus it was packed with the unit. Keep in mind that even if this Xbox only needs 150W it’s not a issue to power it with a 175W supply, just like people who put 700W PSU’s in their PC’s for no apparent reason.

Above we see the power port of the Jasper 360. Note how it has a slit in the middle of the top plastic bar. The plugs on the PSU’s are designed in a way to be forwards not backwards compatible. That is, an original 203W PSU will fit in any Xbox 360, but because of these ‘keying”, a new 150W PSU will only fit in an Jasper. Likewise a Falcon PSU will fit in a Jasper but not vice-versa.

So yes, check the amperage rating of the unit at the back — it’s the most sure-fire way to find a Jasper from what I have seen.

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