The new consoles look the same on the outside; inside, however, you'll find a new motherboard and a smaller graphics chip, and that means (hopefully) fewer Red Rings of Death.

VentureBeat reports that the new Jasper consoles are trickling onto the market, although actually finding one might be something of a challenge. Nope, there's no "Jasper" sticker on the box; instead, you'll have to hunt for clues. Kotaku notes that the power bricks on Jasper 360's list an output DC wattage of 150 on the power brick; also, if you've got a console built after October 23, 2008, chances are it's a Jasper-based model.

OK, so what's so special about Jasper? As VentureBeat's Dean Takahashi explains, the new consoles come with a smaller graphics chip—a 65-nanometer AMD-branded chip, to be exact, versus the older 90nm chips on previous models.

No, you won't notice any performance enhancements with the new chip, but because it's smaller, it requires less power and should run cooler—and with any luck, that'll mean fewer hardware failures and Red Rings of Death. (If you don't know what the Red Ring of Death is … well, good for you. If you're curious, details are here and here.) Some gamers are also reporting quieter consoles thanks to Jasper, a nice change from the jet-engine roar my Xbox makes when the DVD drive spins up.

So, what's the best way to make sure you're getting an Xbox 360 with the new Jasper chipset? My advice: Wait a few weeks before ordering (or at least a week or so if you're looking to put a console under the tree). Many older 360's with 90nm graphics chips are still in retail channels, so the longer you wait, the better chance that you'll end up with a Jasper model.

Related:
Microsoft finally addresses Red Ring of Death with Jasper-based Xbox 360 consoles [VentureBeat]