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X-Box pricing
schi0249 - Aug 29, 2002

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  schi0249 Aug 29, 2002
Has anyone heard about MS cutting the price of the X-Box again? A couple people I know who work retail say they have heard/read that MS is going to cut the US price down to $99.99. Anyone else hear this? I know Bill mentioned he would give the damn system away, if he needed to. But that was long before the release.

 SkankinMonkey Aug 29, 2002
omg

i might be able to afford it

omg

omg



JSRF AND PD:O HERE I COME!

 Vandal10 Aug 29, 2002
The chances of something like that is very slim due to the fact that Microsoft would be losing even more money from the Xbox.

I own a Xbox and don't regret buying it one bit but the main price of the Xbox will always be near or the same as a PS2.

For example, in the last two days, Sony cut the price in Europe to 169 pounds, and the next day Microsoft cut it to 159 pounds. Therefore, Microsoft wants to stay competitive, but it will be unlikely to see the Xbox selling a $99 any time soon.

 mtxblau Aug 29, 2002
However, if they did something like that around christmas time, it'd certainly boost their sales by a great deal.

Money isn't in the hardware, but software. And what better way to get that software out there by selling the Xbox at a ridiculously low price? They're third in the 'console war', and will probably remain that way in the foreseeable future unless something drastic happens.

 schi0249 Aug 29, 2002
That is what I personaly feel. I took the PSX how many years to reach $100. All I know is that the store manager insists he read it from a credible source. He thought maybe they were thinking of doing a limited time price offer.

 Gallstaff Aug 29, 2002
probably that's more accurate then selling them 99 dollars all the time. Maybe it'll be like a chrismtas 99 dollar deal for the week before xmas or somethin?

 schi0249 Aug 29, 2002
Could you imagine how many units they would move if they ran that price th week of X-mas? It would be insane!! No store would be able to keep in stock.

 Quadriflax Aug 29, 2002
Shoot, even if they knocked the price to $150 I'd be tempted to get one. $100 and I'll buy two ::

 racketboy Aug 29, 2002
I heard that they did sign a deal with some manufacturer to build a less expensive video card for new versions of the xbox. I can't wait to someday get a modded x-box to play MAME (and other stuff) on there! But I sure wish they made the thing smaller and lighter (like the DC) instead of like a beefy PC.

 ExCyber Aug 29, 2002

  
	
	

		
		

			I heard that they did sign a deal with some manufacturer to build a less expensive video card for new versions of the xbox.


It's a less expensive video encoder (the bit that takes the raw RGB/YUV data from the framebuffer and spits out a signal your TV will understand). From what I've heard, it cuts their costs by a staggering $4/unit or so. The graphics processor is integrated into the northbridge (which is a modified nForce core), and the price for that is tied to TSMC...'s prices, among other things.

 3rdman Aug 29, 2002
I wouldn't be a bit surprised to see some very creative deals by Microsoft this Christmas. Don't forget...XboxLive launches on Nov. 15 and that bonus can always be included into any promotions in the future. How about a free Xbox for a two year subscription to XboxLive ($110.00 Approx.). At least this is something I would do.

Also the number of incredible games lined up for this Fall/Winter is truly staggering! I'm already saving.

 Hatecrime69 Aug 30, 2002
I heard microsoft is testing a new version of the xbox with different chips so they can get rid of nvidia (and be able to push the price down more)

 ExCyber Aug 30, 2002

  
	
	

		
		

			I heard microsoft is testing a new version of the xbox with different chips so they can get rid of nvidia (and be able to push the price down more)


I'm not sure how they'd pull that off. As far as I know, the Xbox DirectX libraries are statically linked, which means that they can't just replace them (barring some black magic like what this guy... is working on, but it's highly unlikely that such things will provide 100% compatibility). This means that to use a different chip, they'd have to get the company in question to implement an NVidia-compatible host interface on the chip, and then verify that it introduces no goofy bugs and faithfully replicates any goofy bugs that may or may not exist in the Nvidia silicon. That doesn't sound like my idea of fun.

 racketboy Aug 30, 2002

  
	
	

		
		

			Originally posted by Hatecrime69@Aug. 30 2002, 7:54 am



I heard microsoft is testing a new version of the xbox with different chips so they can get rid of nvidia (and be able to push the price down more)


Umm... that's what I said a few posts up

At least I'm not the only one that heard this

 googlefest1 Aug 30, 2002
so do the xboxes that are being sold now still have the old hardware, or are all the post price drop units diferent

 Hatecrime69 Aug 30, 2002
They are still testing the xbox with the non-nvidia chips i believe

 ExCyber Aug 30, 2002
Reuters... is saying that:

1) MS has found a new source for video encoders. Nvidia has nothing at all to do with this; Nvidia's chips are the mainboard chipset (including audio and Ethernet) and graphics processor.

2) They're in arbitration trying to get Nvidia to lower the prices for the chips used in the Xbox. This suggests that any plans they have for moving away from Nvidia are quite long-term.

3) They want to cut costs (surprise!).

 googlefest1 Aug 30, 2002
then they should look at SIS. they would probably save alot going with them and have virtualy the same performance

so for now all the xbox units have the same hardware as when they first came out?

 ExCyber Aug 30, 2002

  
	
	

		
		

			then they should look at SIS. they would probably save alot going with them and have virtualy the same performance


That says nothing of compatibility. Even if they do have some compatible driver-mangling system that could be used (and there's no evidence to support this that I've heard of), I think SiS chips don't have support for the same shader operations that the NV2A does, which means that those operations would (at best) have to be offloaded to the CPU. In addition, SiS doesn't seem to have a suitable integrated northbridge design, which would mean increasing the number of chips on the Xbox, and thus the size/complexity of the board.


  
	
	

		
		

			so for now all the xbox units have the same hardware as when they first came out?


As far as anyone seems to know, yes.

 googlefest1 Aug 30, 2002
i understand all that but they will have to re-think the board design no mater what new chip they get -- unless its somekind of miracle chip or clone

i thought of SiS because i recently saw their new graphics chip thats suposed to compete with the geforce 2 and i saw the cards priced half as much as the ones with a nvidia chip

-- i saw a promising comparison with it and at the time i was looking for parts to build a pc for my sis and i picked that card up to save some cash and its F-ing awsome for the 25$ price tag -- so far performs just as well as my leadtek geforce 2 ti which cost 3 times as much

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