Xbox 360 Jasper Identification

For those of you who don't know, the 'JASPER' is the newest incarnation of the XBOX360 and the obvious hopes are that the latest edition might red ring less.

Prior to 'JASPER' we had the 'FALCON' series of XBOX. The FALCON had a 65nm CPU, 90nm GPU (earlier version of XBOX had a 90nm GPU). The conventional thinking was that a smaller CPU would produce less heat etc and perhaps cut down on the fail rate (RRoD). So they downsized the CPU and changed the heatsink configuration.

The effectiveness of this move may be debatable, we'll never really know. Some people claim the 'FALCON' was an improvement, but I've had two of them red ring in the past 2 weeks... so maybe I'm an exception - I dunno.

Nonetheless, the reasoning seems logical. If heat is the primary suspect in the majority of red rings, it just stands to reason that less heat is a good thing.

So that brings us to 'JASPER'. 'JASPER', like the 'FALCON' has a 65nm CPU but they have dropped the size of the GPU as well for 'JASPER' down to 65nm. There may have been some other changes, but this is probably the main thing that's different.


So how do you know if you've got one?

The easiest way is to check the amperage rating. You'll find this in the bottom left corner of the back plate of the XBOX just above the MADE IN CHINA (more importantly...right next to the barcode you can see thru the retail box).

If it says 12V - 14.2A:5V you are looking at a 'FALCON'

if it says 12V - 12.1A:5V you've got yourself a 'JASPER'


Bottom line being 'JASPER' has a smaller GPU and apparently some slightly different power requirements.