Xbox 360 CPU Change Won’t Affect Performance

Earlier this week we reported on the 360 getting a CPU upgrade in 2007 and a lot of gamers felt out of luck for buying the launch system, but a Microsoft representative announced today that :

“The move to 65 nm technology will lower our manufacturing costs. ItÂ’s standard practice in the semiconductor industry to reduce transistor sizes every few years to be able to place more CPUs on a wafer. Doing so results in higher CPU yields and higher yields lead to lower manufacturing costs. We anticipate system performance will stay the same. The primary reason for moving to 65nm over time is not to reduce heat, but to reduce manufacturing costs”

Maybe the rumors about the $100 premium and $80 core system price drop might have something to do with the new 65 nm CPU. If so, great news for those who don’t have a 360 yet and pretty lame news for the people that payed $400 dollars or more for their system.

Earlier this week we reported on the 360 getting a CPU upgrade in 2007 and a lot of gamers felt out of luck for buying the launch system, but a Microsoft representative announced today that :

“The move to 65 nm technology will lower our manufacturing costs. ItÂ’s standard practice in the semiconductor industry to reduce transistor sizes every few years to be able to place more CPUs on a wafer. Doing so results in higher CPU yields and higher yields lead to lower manufacturing costs. We anticipate system performance will stay the same. The primary reason for moving to 65nm over time is not to reduce heat, but to reduce manufacturing costs”

Maybe the rumors about the $100 premium and $80 core system price drop might have something to do with the new 65 nm CPU. If so, great news for those who don’t have a 360 yet and pretty lame news for the people that payed $400 dollars or more for their system.