New details about the Jasper-chipped, Red Ring of Death-free Xbox 360s

The infamous Red Ring of Death (RROD) has been a plague on the conscience of Xbox 360 owners since the system debuted. Playing a round of Halo 3 or exploring the world of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, only to have your system freeze up and then instantly parish is not something gamers wanted on their minds, especially considering that it might take two weeks – or longer – to get their systems back.

I know it’s something I think about whenever I turn my system on and I bet it’s on your mind as well. Now however, it looks like the RROD epidemic may be something of the past as Microsoft has started introducing Jasper chips into fresh Xbox 360s hitting retail shelves.

VentureBeat has exposed some details on the newly outfitted Xbox 360s, including why the systems should be RROD-proof.

For starters, the new systems will pack a 65-nanometer graphics chip (down from 90-nanometers) that will use less power to operate and has a better fit in it’s designated socket on the motherboard. The key symptom of the RROD was that graphics chips were “popping” off the motherboard due to intense heat which would melt away the (arguably cheap) solvents on the chips. Dean Takahasi, the author of the VentureBeat article, goes one step further with this theory by revealing:

The main failure cause was “thermal fatigue” of the leaded C4 connections between the graphics chip die and its organic carrier. The underfill had too low a glass-transition temperature for the amount of heat generated. That caused cracking over time, resulting in graphics chips coming loose.

New graphics chips aren’t the only upgrade the new systems are packing though, there’s also the pleasant upgrade of 256 megabytes of internal flash memory over the old standard of 16 megabytes. As Dean points out, this will most likely be used to store the New Xbox Experience Dashboard update, which means that even consumers looking to just buy an Arcade or Core Xbox 360 bundles (the bundles without a hard drive) will be able to experience (sorry about that) NXE.

The final revision comes from the power supply which has received a downgrade from 175 watts to 150 watts. If you are thinking 25 watts is not a lot of voltage, check your electric bill. You can even feel better about playing your games so long knowing how much electricity you’re saving, just remember to take a break every now and than for your own sake. The new power supplies will even come with new plugs which will help you differentiate between a Jasper-ized system and pre-Jasper system.

Speaking of differentiating, unfortunately, there is no known way of determining which system is packing the Jaspers yet but those details should be revealed soon as systems with Jaspers make way to retailers.

It may have taken a while but it seems Microsoft may be on track to shedding the Red Shroud around their system. So fess up, kids, are you going to hunt one of these newly upgraded systems down or are you too set in your warding off the Red Rings rituals?

Read [VentureBeat] Via [1UP]