Confirmed: new Xbox 360 is quieter, less of a power hog
The new, slimmed-down Xbox 360 may be prone to scratching a disc here and there, but there are two key areas where it improves over its predecessor: its noise level and how much power it requires. My current Xbox sounds like a jet taking off. So what can you do for me, New Xbox?
Anand Shimpi, founder of the hardware website AnandTech, has busted out his hardware guru hat and given the new Xbox 360 a complete and utter teardown. For Shimpi, it's personal, as he's gone through enough original Xbox 360s to make the slimmer offering his sixth. Tearing it apart must have felt good.
His findings? The insides of the 'Box are consolidated, meaning less cooling. Less cooling means less noise, and Shimpi found that it was "noticeably quieter," dropping down to 45dB when idle or 51dB when using a nonstandard 1.5GB Hitachi hard drive — that's in comparison to the previous revision's 50dB and 54dB, respectively. If you're still somehow rocking a first generation 360 — in which case DVICE salutes you — the reduction in noise will be even more noticeable.
As will the drop in power. The new 'Box uses a whopping 50% less power than one from 2005, consuming 0.6W when shut off and just over 90W at its maximum load.
