**Official Xbox 360 Jasper Hunting Thread**

[Jopopsy]

Originally posted by: Darrell
Hi guys,

I hope everybody finds their Jasper before Christmas arrives. I am very happy with mine. One word of caution...please don't take it for granted that this new XBOX is indestructable. Don't go placing it on the shag carpet or anything like that.

If you recall, I deliberated about doing the X-clamp replacement. I thought about it for a few days and came to the conclusion that if it helped resurect some dead xboxes, then it could also possibly be used for preventative measures. So, I broke down and bought the hardware for the mod and set out to do it.

In my attempt, I tried an experiment....by no means is it a controlled experiment. It's none of the sorts...I wanted to see if after making the mod if there were any appreciable results from ditching the X-clamps. What I did was power up the xbox without the casing....everything was still connected (don't want a XBOX LIVE ban) just the unit was outside the case. What I found was interesting....I had the fan in it's original location, using the shroud but the DVD drive was tilted upward and sideways so I can access the heatsink. After two minutes in the dash, THE HEATSINK WAS PRETTY DAMN HOT. Like I said, I'm not a rocket scientist and I don't have a infrared temp gun for accurate results. I was a little put back when I put my finger on the heatsink and got the instintive "pull away" response from touching something unexpectedly hot. I put my hand on the CPU heatsink and it was much cooler to the touch, which I expected since I heard most of the heat is coming from the GPU anyway.

Next, I tried the same thing..touching the GPU heatsink after the X-clamp removal. Same results......A HOT HEATSINK. I wish I had a temp gun from a gas powered RC car or something so I could have put some numbers to it. I'm going to go out on a limb and say even though it was hot to the touch, it has to be better than the falcon chips. If I can scrounge up some cash, I am going to get some temp readings.

Moral of my story......continue to treat your XBOX with respect and make sure you don't block the ventilation points.

I wonder if you would have the same 'pull away' reaction from any of the more modern video cards that employ heat sinks ... ???

 

[middlep1]

UK update:

Checked my local Currys and PC world in Durham, uk no Arcade to speak of, sold out apparently, "new" Pro units in at the weekend lot# 0839, this pace of turnover is killing me, I too believe the Microsoft have dumped a load of old inventory in the UK, we always get the crap over here!

 

[kpatm]

I think i might go into my local Curry's tomorrow and have a look at what they have got.Might get lucky but then again if it wasnt for bad luck I would have no luck at all.

 

[Jopopsy]

Originally posted by: Darrell
Hi guys,

I hope everybody finds their Jasper before Christmas arrives. I am very happy with mine. One word of caution...please don't take it for granted that this new XBOX is indestructable. Don't go placing it on the shag carpet or anything like that.

If you recall, I deliberated about doing the X-clamp replacement. I thought about it for a few days and came to the conclusion that if it helped resurect some dead xboxes, then it could also possibly be used for preventative measures. So, I broke down and bought the hardware for the mod and set out to do it.

In my attempt, I tried an experiment....by no means is it a controlled experiment. It's none of the sorts...I wanted to see if after making the mod if there were any appreciable results from ditching the X-clamps. What I did was power up the xbox without the casing....everything was still connected (don't want a XBOX LIVE ban) just the unit was outside the case. What I found was interesting....I had the fan in it's original location, using the shroud but the DVD drive was tilted upward and sideways so I can access the heatsink. After two minutes in the dash, THE HEATSINK WAS PRETTY DAMN HOT. Like I said, I'm not a rocket scientist and I don't have a infrared temp gun for accurate results. I was a little put back when I put my finger on the heatsink and got the instintive "pull away" response from touching something unexpectedly hot. I put my hand on the CPU heatsink and it was much cooler to the touch, which I expected since I heard most of the heat is coming from the GPU anyway.

Next, I tried the same thing..touching the GPU heatsink after the X-clamp removal. Same results......A HOT HEATSINK. I wish I had a temp gun from a gas powered RC car or something so I could have put some numbers to it. I'm going to go out on a limb and say even though it was hot to the touch, it has to be better than the falcon chips. If I can scrounge up some cash, I am going to get some temp readings.

Moral of my story......continue to treat your XBOX with respect and make sure you don't block the ventilation points.

Well, you know what THIS means don't ya? Time to get a Falcon and do a heat comparison, then return the Falcon. What will this gain you/us?

A. You will know for sure, beyond even a Anandtech disection, what the temp diffs are between the two mobo revs
B. You can say you've now owned 6 360s
C. Your wife may file for divorce, thus giving you more time to focus on the 360

You can't lose !!!!

 

[Agentbolt]

The Elite Jasper was gone went I back to Best Buy. I looked at two others that had 14.5a markings. They have no less than 60 units though, so there could be some more Jaspers lurking there. It's just REALLY hard to get a good look at the amp rating on those ones without destroying the box.

 

[imported_Darrell]

Originally posted by: Jopopsy


Well, you know what THIS means don't ya? Time to get a Falcon and do a heat comparison, then return the Falcon. What will this gain you/us?

A. You will know for sure, beyond even a Anandtech disection, what the temp diffs are between the two mobo revs
B. You can say you've now owned 6 360s
C. Your wife may file for divorce, thus giving you more time to focus on the 360

You can't lose !!!!

Well, I won't have to buy my 6th XBOX . My brother has a Falcon, albeit an older Falcon...but nontheless a Falcon. Once I find a temp gun at a local RC shop that won't dent my wallet too much I'll consider running a test. I have to talk my brother into letting me popping the top off his Falcon though.....OUCH

 

[iwantjasper]

Originally posted by: kpatm
I think i might go into my local Curry's tomorrow and have a look at what they have got.Might get lucky but then again if it wasnt for bad luck I would have no luck at all.

I feel the same way about those of us in Canada. It seems microsoft shipped all the new stock to the states and left all the old falcons with us here!

 

[mscrivo]

Originally posted by: iwantjasper

Originally posted by: kpatm
I think i might go into my local Curry's tomorrow and have a look at what they have got.Might get lucky but then again if it wasnt for bad luck I would have no luck at all.

I feel the same way about those of us in Canada. It seems microsoft shipped all the new stock to the states and left all the old falcons with us here!

yeah it really sucks, i have been checking everywhere with no luck. Either we don't get shipped any new stock or all the retailers here were way too keen back in Sept/Oct and stocked up way too much.

 

[iwantjasper]

Yeh i know what you mean. Btw, are u in the GTA area?

 

[mscrivo]

Originally posted by: iwantjasper
Yeh i know what you mean. Btw, are u in the GTA area?

yeah, in Oakville.

Highest I've seen is 841 Pro, but they weren't jaspers. Now those are all gone and all I see are 826-838's

 

[JasperHunter]

Originally posted by: middlep1
Nothing yet as far as I can tell, A guy on a Jasper thread over at AVForums said his Amazon.co.uk purchase that came lst week had a munfacture date of 19th Oct, only 4 days out from the 23rd that is the apparent date to look for. so I don't think they are far off selling the Jaspers.

That date is not a strict cutoff! There are Jaspers before then (I have one in fact) and Falcons after then. That just happened to be the date the first one found was made.

 

[JasperHunter]

Originally posted by: Darrell
Hi guys,

I hope everybody finds their Jasper before Christmas arrives. I am very happy with mine. One word of caution...please don't take it for granted that this new XBOX is indestructable. Don't go placing it on the shag carpet or anything like that.

If you recall, I deliberated about doing the X-clamp replacement. I thought about it for a few days and came to the conclusion that if it helped resurect some dead xboxes, then it could also possibly be used for preventative measures. So, I broke down and bought the hardware for the mod and set out to do it.

In my attempt, I tried an experiment....by no means is it a controlled experiment. It's none of the sorts...I wanted to see if after making the mod if there were any appreciable results from ditching the X-clamps. What I did was power up the xbox without the casing....everything was still connected (don't want a XBOX LIVE ban) just the unit was outside the case. What I found was interesting....I had the fan in it's original location, using the shroud but the DVD drive was tilted upward and sideways so I can access the heatsink. After two minutes in the dash, THE HEATSINK WAS PRETTY DAMN HOT. Like I said, I'm not a rocket scientist and I don't have a infrared temp gun for accurate results. I was a little put back when I put my finger on the heatsink and got the instintive "pull away" response from touching something unexpectedly hot. I put my hand on the CPU heatsink and it was much cooler to the touch, which I expected since I heard most of the heat is coming from the GPU anyway.

Next, I tried the same thing..touching the GPU heatsink after the X-clamp removal. Same results......A HOT HEATSINK. I wish I had a temp gun from a gas powered RC car or something so I could have put some numbers to it. I'm going to go out on a limb and say even though it was hot to the touch, it has to be better than the falcon chips. If I can scrounge up some cash, I am going to get some temp readings.

Moral of my story......continue to treat your XBOX with respect and make sure you don't block the ventilation points.

Interesting stuff Darrell. I'm not sure what to think about the X-clamp stuff. I would think that Microsoft would have figured out by now if it was somehow detrimental, but who knows.

I think it's wise that you reminded everyone that these are not indestructible.

 

[TravisO]

I finally found a Jasper in my area (Ithaca, NY), lot 845, it's great, and obviously light years quieter and cooler than my Frankenstein Xenon (16.5a re-manufactored Oct'07). Unfortunately my wired headset (the new kind with the volume on the clip) I purchased last week won't work on either wireless controller, but they work find on the wired controller. The headset worked fine on my wireless controller on my old Xbox.

At first I thought the new wireless controller had a bad audio port, but when they didn't work on my other headset (which i was just using last night fine on my older Xbox) I realized it has to be something related to the Jasper. I will update this post when I contact support or figure it out.

Update: a few days later, I tried out my headset on my wireless controller and it just worked, oh well.

 

[middlep1]

UK update:

Still no Jaspers, although Anthony1uk over on the AVforums Jasper hunt thread has found a lot 0843 Arcade in Curry's @ kingston park, Newcastle, only 1 though, however it was a Falcon, Manufactured 19th October 2008, 14.2a,

this is torture...

 

[Damn Dirty Ape]

Originally posted by: middlep1
UK update:

Still no Jaspers, although Anthony1uk over on the AVforums Jasper hunt thread has found a lot 0843 Arcade in Curry's @ kingston park, Newcastle, only 1 though, however it was a Falcon, Manufactured 19th October 2008, 14.2a,

this is torture...

I picked up an Elite bundle last evening at a Sam's club. It is FDOU 843x, 10-22-08 date, and 14.2a - I don't think it will be long before they get some in since they are already getting the 843x run. It's for Xmas but if anything happens to it there is a 1 year walk-in replacement warranty, so.....

 

[joe8888]

Short update from Germany:

Media Markt Heppenheim has only 4 PROs left, all Lot 838 one 838X, team FDOU
It seems like the (unofficial) price cut for the PROs in Germany from 239 to 199 EUR has increased the demand significantly. Will visit this market in a few days again, am pretty sure they will have new PRO-stock.

 

[bodybag]

Hi

Checked my local Zavvi, they had 0834's in........i reakon end of jan/feb before uk'ers start to see jaspers...

 

[iwantjasper]

Quick question for Jasper hunters in US, has anyone found any in the Buffalo area yet?

 

[kpatm]

Hm...A few posts back it was mentioned that a manufacturing number of XGX00019 is the magic number for a Jasper.I have just looked on e-buyer and they have an Arcade model with a manufacturing number of XGX00004.

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/99397

Wonder how far of the 00019's are?

 

[TravisO]

Originally posted by: iwantjasperQuick question for Jasper hunters in US, has anyone found any in the Buffalo area yet?

Well your location is pretty much irrelevant, I found mine here in Ithaca, NY. The determining factor when you will see Jaspers is how fast they are moving. Arcades move the fastest, and it seems gamer niche stores move them very fast (ex: Gamestop) but any place is worth checking. Just give them a call and ask if they had any new Xbox shipments come in within the last 7 days (just say you're looking for a specific type of Xbox arcade, don't bother explaining, they won't understand). Don't bother calling larger shops about shipments (Best Buy, Walmart, Target) because the people who stock the shelves don't work the register and usually at different hours of the day, so they won't have a clue when the last shipment was in.

 

[xjim360]

to iwantjasper i live in rochester ny area i already got my arcade jasper at a target last friday night.the lot # was x0846.150 watt on power cord.12.1 .the box had XGX00019.

 

[mscrivo]

Originally posted by: TravisO

Originally posted by: iwantjasperQuick question for Jasper hunters in US, has anyone found any in the Buffalo area yet?

Well your location is pretty much irrelevant, I found mine here in Ithaca, NY. The determining factor when you will see Jaspers is how fast they are moving. Arcades move the fastest, and it seems gamer niche stores move them very fast (ex: Gamestop) but any place is worth checking. Just give them a call and ask if they had any new Xbox shipments come in within the last 7 days (just say you're looking for a specific type of Xbox arcade, don't bother explaining, they won't understand). Don't bother calling larger shops about shipments (Best Buy, Walmart, Target) because the people who stock the shelves don't work the register and usually at different hours of the day, so they won't have a clue when the last shipment was in.

The reason he's asking is because for us here in the Toronto, Ontario area (where no jasper's are anywhere to be found let alone lot numbers above 841), Buffalo is a short trip away that many of us are probably considering

 

[Tanna Tanna]

Originally posted by: kpatmmanufacturing number of XGX00019 is the magic number for a Jasper ... Arcade model with a manufacturing number of XGX00004

These look more like SKUs than sequential manufacturing numbers, they don't tell you how far off anything is.

However, looking at some American sites it appears that the SKU is an Arcade Console which "Includes 5 standard arcade games PLUS Sega Superstars Tennis"; so it's the SKU code for that bundle -- not it does not specify which Arcade unit, could be Jasper or Falcon.

I will go to GAME near my office in Canary Wharf and ask them tomorrow, that is an incredibly high turnover store -- unfortunately its always sold out of everything!

 

[Yumi]

Originally posted by: Tanna Tanna
However, looking at some American sites it appears that the SKU is an Arcade Console which "Includes 5 standard arcade games PLUS Sega Superstars Tennis"; so it's the SKU code for that bundle -- not it does not specify which Arcade unit, could be Jasper or Falcon.

I can confirm that here in Germany, i have seen this SKU with Falcons and Jaspers. So the SKU is not a guarantee for Jasper.

 

[currentswillshift]

Update from Huntington Long Island Best Buy (Suffolk County, New York).

This Best Buy has the motherload right now. About 50 JASPER Arcade FDOU's are on the Floor with Lot numbers between 843x and 846x (everyone I looked at, about 20 of them had 12.1A).

Also, very interesting, they have the first FDOU Pro Jaspers that I have seen, at 845x (although a check of most of these 845's, approx. 35 still show 14.2 Falcon versus 12.1A Jasper). There are about 10 that I could confirm are Jasper. All the CSON 843 Jaspers that I saw last week appear to be gone.

Sadly the two 846x Elites I saw listed 14.2A, the rest are very old. Don't touch the Elite's in this store.

Good luck to everyone.

On another note, I am just hoping that the XGX00019 Arcade that I ordered from New Egg is a Jasper (it comes tomorrow and from the looks of the comments so far on the site for that item number it likely will be). I got a great deal with the 15% Cashback from Paypal and no tax or shipping. I plan on swapping the hard drive between my 837 Falcon Pro and the arcade for netflix purposes in different rooms of my house (upstairs and downstairs).