New AMD Chip Could Drop Price of Xbox One

AMD and TSMC have developed an enhanced version of the APU used by Microsoft’s Xbox One. The new processor is not only more power efficient, it’s also smaller: 20nm, compared to the 28nm of the old chip. The shrinking gives the chip a 30% speed boost, or reduced power of 25% at a density rate of 1.9 times.

The move was first rumoured last year, as reported by WCCF Tech, which was then seemingly confirmed by the LinkedIn CV of an AMD chip designer. WCCF Tech said last year, “The 20nm GPU architecture will be integrated into all of AMD’s future GPU and APU products, including ones based on project Skybridge, so we’ll see this architecture in low power ARM based SOCs as well as good ol’ APUs which bodes very well for its potential power efficiency and scaling.”

The main processor of an Xbox One is one of the console’s most expensive components – the current Xbox One APU costs Microsoft $50 per chip – so a smaller, more efficient model will decrease cost, a saving that is hoped will be passed on to the consumer. It would not be surprising to find a new, slim iteration of the Xbox One console hit stores by the end of the year.

Source: Tech Times