So, it looks like the next NXE Dashboard update is on the way. Should be available to everyone on August 11th, but those who got in on the preview beta are already reporting notable performance boosts. First, the dashboard itself is speedier to navigate through; the Friends list, for example, doesn't take nearly as long to load up as before. Second, the complete installs for a number of games actually take up LESS HDD space, and several games have shown even greater improvement in load times as a result:
http://kotaku.com/5328027/xbox-live-pre … tall-sizes
CAG has an excellent work-in-progress chart of games that have seen said improvements in the installation due to the new update. Definitely worth keeping an eye on:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/sho … ostcount=1