The Xbox 360 has a brand new motherboard. Dubbed the Jasper, it presumably has a new 65nm process GPU. The new box has a 150W power supply instead of the former’s 175W brick. They’ve changed the plug design to prevent usage with old consoles. The most notable change is the onboard flash memory upgrade. Earlier consoles only had 16MB; new ones have 256MB. The majority of this storage will be used for the new dashboard, the NXE. The remaining space can be used for game saves. With the new storage, Arcade units are no longer including memory cards. You can see more images of the boards on Xbox-Scene.

Recently, SEMI (Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International) released its World Fab Forecast report. This report mentions that projected decline in world semiconductor fab equipment spending of 20 percent is likely for 2008. However, a rebound of over 20 percent in spending is expected in 2009, driven by over 70 fab projects.

The August 2008 edition of this report lists 53 fab equipping projects and up to 21 construction projects for fabs in 2009. It is sincerely hoped that at least one of the fabs likely from the Southeast Asian region is from India!

With the help of Scott Smith Senior Manager, Public Relations, SEMI, I was able to get in touch with Christian Gregor Dieseldorff, Senior Manager of Fab Information and Analysis at SEMI, in an attempt to find out more about the decline in global fab spends, these new fabs, and how these fabs can lead a turnaround in the global semiconductor industry. Thanks Scott!

So what are the chief reasons for the decline in fab spends during 2008? According to Dieseldorff, given the weaker economic conditions globally, coupled with higher energy and commodity prices and the financial crisis, the overall outlook for semiconductor growth in 2008 is for low-single digit growth in both revenues and units. As such, device makers have responded by cutting back their capital spending and pushing out fab projects or putting them on hold.

I was keen to find out the geographic breakup of these 70 new fabs that are likely yo come up in 2009.

Dieseldorff advised that these are not 70 new fabs coming up in 2009. Rather, the numbers reflect 300mm fabs only, and is a mix of on-going and new projects for fabs equipping and fab construction projects in 2009.

For equipping 300mm fabs, SEMI expects about: Americas 8, China 5, Europe and Mideast 4, Japan 7, South Korea 11, SE Asia 3 and Taiwan 15.

For 300mm fab construction projects, SEMI expects about: Americas 3, China 2, Europe and Mideast 1, Japan 2, South Korea 3, SE Asia 2 and Taiwan 8.

What are the salient features of some of these new fabs likely to come up next year (for instance, new tech nodes)? Dieseldorff highlighted that about 90 percent of the investments are for 300mm capacity, and the amount of spending for advanced nodes, such as 65nm, is increasing.

“Also, device makers are building larger fabs, which are termed “mega fabs,” so, to potentially realize a greater return based on scales of economy,” he added.

How will these new fabs contribute to a better performance from the global semicon industry? This will be quite interesting to witness.

Dieseldorff said that over the past several years, demand for semiconductor devices has been quite strong, and so, the industry has had to bring on capacity to support this need, both in terms of needed capacity and technology. Even with the slower market growth in 2008, recent industry data shows healthy levels of fab capacity utilization, especially for the advanced technology generations and for 300mm manufacturing.

He added: “The expectation is that demand for semiconductors will strengthen once global economic conditions improve. So, the capacity addition that is coming online this year and the fab projects that are equipping and beginning construction in 2009 are necessary to meet the future demand.”

So how will all of this affect the overall memory market (e.g., 42pc increase in share for memory)? Dieseldorff shared his thought, a fact, known well to those in the semiconductor industry, that the memory market has been battered by declining average selling prices and a condition termed by some as “profitless prosperity.”

“Looking at demand forecasts specific to memory, tremendous growth is anticipated,” he forecasted.

However, the manufacturers in this device segment are battling it out for market share, and the general expectation is that consolidation will continue.

Also, joint-ventures and partnerships are becoming increasingly critical in the memory sector as manufacturers seek to leverage their existing resources to meet future technology and capacity requirements.

It would be interesting to find out why Taiwan and Korea are forecasted as likely to exceed Japan in fab spend?

According to Dieseldorff, in Korea, Samsung has been and is the key spender, and as a company, it will continue to invest so to have a dominant share in the memory sector.

He said: “In 2009, our expectation is for the DRAM manufacturers in Taiwan to boost spending after cutting back this year. We expect seven new 300 mm fab lines in Taiwan to come into production over the next two years.”

However, spending in Japan has been more measured and is likely to remain so. Toshiba, and its joint-venture partner, Sandisk are the big spenders in Japan, when it comes to new fab capacity. Other Japanese semiconductor manufacturers are more cautious and are focused more on technology spending.

Last we heard, it was still up in the air somewhat as to whether upcoming PlayStation 3 consoles would house the elusive 65-nanometer RSX graphics processor. According to a curious buyer of Sony’s newest 80GB unit, there is a smidgen of data that hints at a 65nm chip actually being under the hood. By using the oh-so-scientific Kill-A-Watt, he discovered that his older 40GB PS3 sucked down 125.8-watts when idle, while the fresh 80GB edition ate up just 111.9-watts. The findings were similar when looking at power draw during DVD playback and while spinning Metal Gear Solid 4. Unfortunately, this mighty fine fellow is planning to return the new unit after being disappointed by the minimal energy savings, so he’s not apt to rip the thing open and prove once and for all what kind of GPU is in there. Meanwhile, we heartily suggest that someone do just that and put this question to bed.

Before the 40GB PS3 has lower power consumption than the 60 and 20GB models. Now, the 80GB PS3 might have a 65nm GPU. A buyer of a new 80GB PS3 used Kill-A-Watt, discovered that the 40GB consumed 125.8-watts when idle and the 80GB consumed 111.8-watts of power. Findings similart to a DVD during playback or loading up MGS4. This person is going to, unfortunately, return this new 80GB PS3 and not rip up the hood and see whats in the belly of the monster. This question still remains unanswered and Engadget suggests,

we heartily suggest that someone do just that and put this question to bed.

New 80GB PS3 provides minimal power savings, might have 65nm RSX GPU – Engadget.

On Tuesday, AMD announced a new version of its flagship “Black” Phenom X4, as well as two energy-efficient versions of the Phenom X4 chip. However, the AMD Phenom X4 9950 Black Edition does not command a flagship price: AMD is charging a suggested retail price of just $235 for the 2.6-GHz chip. AMD also released the AMD Phenom X4 9350e, a 2.0-GHz processor for $195; and the AMD Phenom X4 9150e, a 1.8-GHz version for $175. All three chips are manufactured on AMD’s 65-nm process, contain 2 Mbytes of a shard level 3 cache and include 512 Kbytes of level-2 cache per core.

AMD’s new Black processor consumes 140 watts at maximum, an increase over the 9850, which consumes 125 watts. However, the chip also ships with AMD’s OverDrive software with clock multiplier control, allowing users to scale down the performance to save power, or dial it up for more performance. At Computex, Asus released a list of boards that could accept the new 140-watt Black chips. The energy-efficient Phenom X4s, on the other hand, consume no more than 65 watts in total. All of AMD’s current chips are built with 65-nanometer transistors. Processors with 45-nanometer technology are expected this year. Starting late last year, Intel moved its product line to 45 nanometers, which means more transistors on a chip to deliver better power-to-performance ratios.

Source: Martin

Codenamed GT200, the chip is developed using 65nm technology and has the following specs:

1.4bil Transistors @ 602Mhz
240 Cores
1296Mhz Processor Clock
1gb 512 bit (clocked to 2.2ghz) GDDR3 RAM
141.7gb/s bandwidth
32 ROPs
80 texture filtering units
HDCP Support
400mhz RAMDAC
And tons more specs here.

You can find more images here.

I have wanted to buy the PlayStation 3 ever since it came out in November 2006 (USA and Japan). I waited and waited. Then finally Sony released the PS3 in Europe in March 2007. After finding out that Sony had removed the “Emotion Engine” CPU from the European PS3, I was angry. This limits the compatibility with PS2 games on the European PS3 because only software emulation is being used rather than hardware emulation. For some who has a large collection of PS2 games, this is huge smack in the face. Unsure of what to do I waited and thought to myself that this situation is temporary.

Not long after (maybe a month, or two) Sony replaced the 60GB European PS3 with a lower-class 40GB PS3 that completely removed PS2 backward compatibility by removing the “Graphics Synthesizer” GPU, the last of the PS3 hardware. This new “downgrade” also removes the flash card readers, SACD support as well as lowering the number of USB 2.0 ports to 2 from 4.

I then heard rumours that there was a 65nm PS3 being developed. This means a small and less power hungry Cell and RSX chip. This in turn would make the PS3 run a lot cooler. I also heard rumour of DUALSHOCK3 coming to the PS3, which is basically the SIXAXIS with rumble. So I decided to wait (again) for them both.

Currently, I believe you can get the PS3 with the 65nm Cell microprocessor, but I think that the power hungry RSX chip is still at 90nm. Recently, IBM announced that they will soon move the console chip onto the company’s much-ballyhooed, next-generation 45nm high-k process. There are various advantages for this. The SIXAXIS is no longer being produced and being replaced by the new DUALSHOCK3 controller as we speak. All retail packages will include one or two SIXAXIS controllers and/or a DUALSHOCK3 controller beginning on June 12, 2008.

So Sony, when are you going to release the 80GB PS3 with the 45nm Cell microprocessor, 65nm or lower RSX GPU, flash card readers, SACD support and at least 4 USB 2.0 ports? And don’t forget, I will be waiting.

Hope you liked my post. If there is anything incorrect here or anything else, don’t be afraid to drop me a comment. Peace.

Update 1: Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Kaz Hirai has confirmed that PS3 Cell processors manufactured since last holiday use the more efficient 65nm technology, while smaller RSX chips are due in the fall (autumn).

Update 2: It seems Sony will be releasing an 80GB PS3, arriving in Europe, the UK, Middle East, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand on August 27 (with Russia to follow two weeks later). The 80GB PS3 will cost €399 in Europe and £299 in Britain. However, it will only be the “core” version, meaning that it lacks backward compatibility and other premium features above. It looks like we may never get backward compatibility with the PS1 and PS2 back.

Sony what the hell are you playing at! We all want the premium version back, with backward compatibility, 4 USBs, flash card readers, etc.

Update 3: The release date for the 80GB PS3 has been moved from 27th to 22nd August. I’ve ordered mine, even though it has missing features compared to the first PS3s that came out. Also, Play.com are offering a few select platinum titles and Blu-ray titles 2 for £25. Yeah that’s £12.50 each! I ordered Resistance: Fall Of Man and Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune.

Update 4: 160GB PlayStation 3 Announced for Europe and North America

Update 5: It seems the new 80GB “Core” has minimal power savings over the old 40GB “Core”, might have 65nm RSX GPU.

Update 6: Joystiq have put together a table comparing the PlayStation 3 SKUs.

Sources: My Own Knowledge | Wikipedia | And other technology websites.

Last Updated: 24-08-2008