How to: Spot a Xbox 360 "Jasper" unit

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Okay, for the noobs: a Falcon unit has a 65nm CPU, 90nm GPU while a "Jasper" unit, the new one, still has a 65nm CPu but a nice, shiny 65nm GPU!

So, how do I buy the newer one then?

OK here's the star of the show -- the new GPU. The main body is the same size as the past GPU's, which I did not expect, but there are a lot less components on the surface and the main heat die is considerably smaller and not centered on the package, either.

Old 90nm GPU for reference.

The CPU hasn't changed much from the Falcon.

I'll do some heat tests with this unit once I inevitably slap it into an Xbox 360 laptop. Now let's move onto how you can spot one of these new units in the store!

The Xbox 360 box has a hole at the top of it where the bar code of the console is visible. Clerks usually scan this when you buy one. What you need to do it look at the lower left corner of this box. If you peer closely you can make out at least half of the voltage/amperage rating of the unit. The # of amps used by the 12 volt rail is the key to determining which console it is. The photos below show this in detail.

14.2 amps equals a Falcon unit (65nm CPU, 90nm GPU). Please keep in mind there's nothing wrong with having one of these, I play mine a lot and it's fine. You might not be able to see the whole voltage listing just through the peep-hole, but you should at least be able to see if a 14.2A or 12.1A is just to the left of the "5V".

12.1 amps equals a Jasper unit (65nm CPU, 65nm GPU). This voltage rating is also listed above the power input, but of course you can't see that when it's in the box.

There has been a lot of discussion about lot #'s, power supply ratings, and things of that nature being used to find Jaspers. I have found those to be unreliable. For instance, this Jasper was lot #0842X. However at Circuit City today I saw a 0843X Arcade unit, but it was 14.2 amps.

Also this particular Jasper came with a 175W power supply (like the Falcons used). They are probably trying to use up all the older PSU's and thus it was packed with the unit. Keep in mind that even if this Xbox only needs 150W it's not a issue to power it with a 175W supply, just like people who put 700W PSU's in their PC's for no apparent reason.

Above we see the power port of the Jasper 360. Note how it has a slit in the middle of the top plastic bar. The plugs on the PSU's are designed in a way to be forwards not backwards compatible. That is, an original 203W PSU will fit in any Xbox 360, but because of these 'keying", a new 150W PSU will only fit in an Jasper. Likewise a Falcon PSU will fit in a Jasper but not vice-versa.

So yes, check the amperage rating of the unit at the back -- it's the most sure-fire way to find a Jasper from what I have seen.

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