What Makes The Xbox 360 S So Much Better

Dean Takahashi is cracking into Xboxes again with his latest report on the Xbox 360 S. Prepare to find out way more about the inner workings of the new console iteration than most of us could ever understand.

The surface elements of Microsoft's redesigned 360 have been widely reported and experienced by those who now own one: it's smaller, runs much quieter, and produces less heat. But Takahashi describes a full rundown on the technical inner workings of the system over on his GamesBeat blog. As the author of two books on the previous Xbox consoles (Opening the Xbox and The Xbox 360 Uncloaked), this guy certainly knows what he's talking about when it comes to hardware.

Here are a few choice highlights from the piece:

"The code name for the project was Vejle, named after a city in Denmark. (It’s not Valhalla, as some thought)"

"The company’s engineers created a chip that combined the machine’s microprocessor and its graphics chip on a single piece of silicon."

"The combined chip uses 60 percent less power than the original 2005 pair of chips, and it uses 50 percent less space."

"The system can also get by with a single, much quieter system fan. The new console is whisper quiet, and even in hot environments the fan doesn’t really have to go above 55 percent of its capability."

Be sure to check out the full article for all of the in-depth details on how the Xbox 360 S works.