Shrinkage in store for Xbox 360 GPU

News sources in Taiwan claim that the Xbox 360's Xenos GPU will be shrinking from 90-nm to 65-nm in a cost-saving measure, which could indirectly lead to an eventual price cut for the console.

By Eugene Huang

DigiTimes has recently reported that the Xenos chip, the GPU which powers the Xbox 360's graphical capabilities, will soon be shrinking from 90-nanometers to a smaller, more efficient 65-nanometer model. Although the Xbox 360's Xenon CPU was the first to undergo miniaturization, today's report is the first clear indication that the the GPU will be prepped for a similar downsizing.

Their source, the Chinese-language newspaper Commercial Times, states that the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is handling the project, and predicts a 5% boost in sales revenue as a result of the newly-brokered deal. Production for the new chip is set to begin sometime in May, but Xbox 360 owners may not see the benefits of the more compact GPU until this fall, DigiTimes writes.

A smaller processing unit generally results in cost savings for the developer, which could hypothetically lead to either a price cut for the Xbox 360 or one of the initial steps in putting the console on the road to profitability. GamePro reported last week that Microsoft's entertainment and devices division, which oversees both the Xbox 360 and Zune, experienced a 21% drop in revenue for the first quarter of the 2007 calendar year.

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jason901

The hold Xbox 360 need to be smaller weighing in less than 3lb. and a bulid in hard drive 20gig to 120gig would be nice at a price of 199.99.

It's not a xbox with out a hard drive

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