GPU

Xenos

The original Xenos, Y1
Introduced	Late 2005
Designed By	ATi Microsoft NEC (eDRAM)
Type	GPU
Used In	Original Xbox 360
Clock Speed	500MHz
Memory	10MB eDRAM
Successor	XCGPU

See also: XCPU and XCGPU

Xenos is the graphics processor, northbridge, and memory controller used in the Xbox 360. It also has an NEC designed eDRAM which contains additional logic.

The processor was developed by Microsoft and ATi, and the first version was codenamed Y1, which stands for Year 1.

Specifications

GPU

• 500Mhz clock speed
• 48 floating-point vector processors divided into 3 dynamically scheduled SIMD groups (16 each)
• Unified shader architecture
• 16 texture addressing units
• 16 texture filtering units
• 8 pixel rendering pipelines
• Direct access to CPU L2 cache

eDRAM

• 10MB 256GB/s eDRAM
• Contains logic for:
  • 4-sample anti-aliasing
  • Alpha compositing
  • Color
  • Z/stencil buffering

Versions

Y1 (90nm)

Main article: Y1 (GPU)

The initial version of Xenos, known as Y1, entered production in 2005 and is used on the Xenon and Zephyr_A motherboards. Initial versions were defective while later versions became reliable.

Y2 (80nm)

Main article: Y2 (GPU)

In 2007, Xenos was shrunk to 80nm, while the eDRAM remained at 90nm. Known as Y2, it is used on the Zephyr_B motherboard.

Rhea (80nm)

Main article: Rhea

Later in 2007, The Y2 version of Xenos was revised with an 80nm eDRAM. Known as Rhea, it is used on the Zephyr_C and Falcon motherboards. Later versions of the chip were the first chips installed on newly produced consoles to be reliable. Multiple versions of Rhea were created as Microsoft experimentated during the attempts to make the chip reliable.

Elpis (80nm)

Main article: Elpis (GPU)

In 2009, fixed 90nm Xenos chips stopped being produced, however Microsoft still had Xenon to repair and refurbish. Since the fixed 80nm Rhea chip was still being produced, Microsoft chose to slightly modify it in order to allow an 80nm chip to be retrofitted in place of a defective 90nm chip. This modification to Xenon boards was known as Elpis, which served as the name of the GPU and the motherboard with this GPU installed.

Zeus (65nm)

Main article: Zeus

In 2008, Xenos was redesigned for the 65nm process. The eDRAM remained at 80nm. Known as Zeus, it is used on the Jasper motherboard. It is the first chip where all variants are reliable.

Kronos (65nm)

Main article: Kronos

In 2009, the Zeus version of Xenos was revised with n 65nm eDRAM. Known as Kronos, it is used on the Jasper (July 2009 only) and Tonasket motherboards.

XCGPU (45nm)

Main article: XCGPU

In 2010, Xenos was shrunk to the 45nm process and combined with the XCPU to create a system-on-a-chip, called the XCGPU.