Xbox 360 Questions

Hey all


I purchased a XBOX360 the day after xmas, and have been extremly happy with the unit so far. However, I've done some reading, and I'm a bit concerned. Apparently the cpu and gpu are posistioned besides each other, and currently the cooling for the system isn't as good as it should be to keep these processors cool. Thus after using the system over time, the contacts on the cpu "melt" and lose contact with the board, ultimatly leading to a failure

Some reports I've heard claim that this will occur in all current 360's, while others claim that it was mainly a launch issue.

My 360 is quite loud (twice that of the original xbox) namely due to the fans, however, i've had the unit run for 3 hours, and only notice a very minor warmth on the top of the case, and semi warm air from the exhaust vents...Hell the power brick gets warmer than the 360.

What I'm asking is, is this something i should be concerned about? Or is it just another 360 myth?

Sincerley

Ryan

 

I strongly disagree with this theory. It's the initial manufacturing process, not the overall design. If it's any consolation, I've had almost no 360's manufactured since around summer '05 in my shop suffering from the dreaded red ring of death.

Is your 360 working? Then nothing to be concerned about. I beleive MS's warrantly extension covers *all* 360's, so you have a year before you have to start worrying. My advice is to not due somthing stupid to void the warranty.

 

Both. The thermal design of the 360 is horrendous and does lead to overheating issues if the console is not carefully placed in its environment. However, while there will always be isolated failures, I do not think that melted contacts is a major concern.

Though if the pictures of the HDMI enabled 360 floating around are true, then we will have to upgrade our systems well before they fail...

 

Lol, thanks for the re-assurances. I've always tried to keep my consoles in the best condition i can, and i'd hate it if my 360 died on my due to a design failure

However, the same can't be said for my Ds Lite...Damm thing has 2 hinge cracks in it

Ryan

 

Then contact MS about an extended warranty. Piece of mind for a little extra $.

 

Another question....I'd like to go wireless with the 360, but i dont feel like shelling out $130 cdn for the 360 wireless adapter.

Is there any cheaper solutions to this?

Ryan

 

yea, buy a wii

 

well, not really cheaper...and...well i haven't seen a wii since the 19 of november lol

Ryan

 

If this ever happens to you, get a fire extinguisher ready as your 360 will burst into flames pretty soon...

Actually, In my 12 years of working in electronics, I've not heard of this happening - Solder which bonds these contacts together melts at aound 190°C (374°F). Rest assured this will never happen unless you are unfortunate enough to have an actual real fire breakout in your 360 which of course unfortunately could happen in ANY electronic device. 360's are no more prone to this than anything else.

What's more likely to happen is that due to the heat generated by these powerful processors and the design of the case cooling, the heat trapped in the case may cause the processors to stop functioning correctly which will lead to games crashing etc.
Just think of the super conducters that require cooling to stupidly low temperatures to make them work quicker.

I've had my 360 since launch and reguarly use it for upto 6 hours at a time. I've never had the red rings of death and mines one of the first 360's.
I keep it out in the open and not tucked away in a video cabinet. One of my friends keeps his in a video cabinet and when he forgets to open the door to let the air circulate his unit crashes after a hour or so.

Don't worry mate. Just follow the usual sensible advice for these sorts of products and you should be fine.

 

360's are using lead free solder which have higher melting points than the standard 190/374. This also tends to cause weaker joints, particualry when exposed to the extreme heat cycles the 360 undergoes. I hypothosize that the manufacturers who originally produced the 360's were not properly calibrated for this type of solder, as evidenced by the hundreds of cold joints I've seen on 360 mobos so far.

Take any 360 with the red ring of death, look for the component that produces the most heat with the least amount of cooling (the GPU), remove it, re-ball it, and reflow it. Presto, working 360.

 

From what I've seen, it's best just to get a decent warrenty and if it's defective it'll die within that time, and if not then you'll be fine. My first 360 ran excellent for 5 or 6 months I think, then wham it started randomly crashing. Maybe it was caused by these cold joints in soldering and eventually they gave way. I had a replacement plan and got a new one. Sadly I needed a new replacement plan to shield this one.

So either get the warrenty from, M$ or from where you buy it.

 

My 360 is REALLY loud and hot too I've noticed. I had DOA4 freeze on me but that was the disc, I have noticed GOW stutter here and there though, but maybe it's normal and just me. We got a year warranty though, so maybe if it does die I can get the newest revision and maybe that'll be quieter lol. Are they all that loud?

 

I think that the noise comes from the way that the fan is seated in the metal chassis. I noticed this after taking them apart and putting them back together so many times. The stock fan has two speeds, and it usually runs full blast when playing a game. I've noticed that after reseating the fan and taping the shroud down, even at full blast its *barely* noticable. Quieter than any other console I own that has fans, sans gamecube.

 

time to own a wii. it's quiet as a whisper

 

The noise you hear is the disc drive spinning at DVD 8X speed. More than half the noise of your 360 is all the drive. And yes, from time to time the drive will make strange sounds that may scare you. But it's nothing to worry about if you get an extended warrenty like you probably should.

The reason it seems not as loud while not in a game has nothing to do with CPU/GPU load or fans, because you could play a demo off the harddisk and it's not loud. So yes, it's the disk drive thats loud as hell. And Gears of War streams textures which means the drive could certainly make some interesting noises. Did you ever listen to the DreamCast drive? It made some nice noises, though still nothing as fun as the 360.

But atleast with my two 360 units, the sound is all the drive and the fan noise is not significant.

 

Soeey to bring up a dead topic..

on november 22..MS launched their whole media download service..offering tv shows and movies on xbox live, or so i've read

Now my question is...where is it?
I've looked al throughout XBL and found nothing

My theory is:
A. Canadians aren't included in this feature
B. It hasn't been released
C. I need a stronger pair of glasses

Ryan

 

It's all about Point A my friend.

Though Point A would be more accurate if you replaced "Canadians" with "Anyone outside the US."

-hl718

 

Ok, heres how to solve it. I'll get an XBL Vision camera, point it at my screen, send you a chat invite, and wala! Problem Solved.

 

hahahahhaha...hmm sounds like a plan then!

I was somewhat interested in this service, though it's sad to see that it's not available up here..most likely have to do with different broadcast station licensing than in the U.S. or so i assume

Something tells me we aren't going to get IPTV either

Edit* Saw the commerical on tv for this brand new tv show : Forza Motorsport Showdown
http://www.speedtv.com/articles/automotive/lifestyle/33715/

Seems that MS will do anything to hype a game these days

Ryan

 

IPTV is US only for right now. Remember up north here the rights to shows are held by other people (i.e. CTV, Global etc...)