XBox Question: Laying it on its side

[GoinAllTheWay]

/\/\/\/\/\

Most intercoolers sold these days no longer use power from the Xbox. First one I had did, the newest one I have plugs into it's own outlet.

[NHL009]

My Xbox 360 has always been on it's side and on a carpet the last bunch of years as well.

[Nage Waza]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Completely false and stupid playground rumor started by teenagers who don't know what they are doing.

Yiiiikkkes, I should have known not get involved in video game threads...

[3 Justin 3]

First of all, there have been like 5-7 revisions to the 360. There are a ton of different versions, all have problems.

With that being said I never suggest to play it standing vertically. It does keep it a bit cooler, but you can ruin a disc very easy with the console this way. Vibrations from the floor, speakers, etc. may move it a little, and the laser reader is so close to the disc that it may dig into the disc. It has happened to me twice (I didn't learn the first time). Once it digs in, your disc is almost certainly screwed.

Also, intercoolers suck, don't use them. I know the old ones used to use the xbox's power, and that was bad, but I am not sure about the new ones, I would assume so unless they are plugged in obviously. But using one also void's the warranty (not sure how M$ could tell you used one, but still).

Preferably you should use it on the carpet either, because of static electricity or something. In my experience I have had no problems. I didn't break mine until months (if not a year), after I stopped using the carpet and put it on a glass shelf instead. My brother's hasn't broken either and he has it on the carpet for the last 1.5years.

[3 Justin 3]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Completely false and stupid playground rumor started by teenagers who don't know what they are doing. There's no such thing as burning in or reheating thermal paste or thermal pads. Heating thermal paste (typically silicon emulsion) will only reduce the moisture content future, and make it more brittle. If you really are worried about the thermal paste, void your warranty, open your system. Remove the heatsink and heatpipe assembly, and apply some Arctic Silver.

As I stated before. The problem is due to the leadless solder. Temperature fluxes or cold solder joints cause the ball grid array solder to crack or separate between the GPU and CPU and the motherboard. The same issue happened with nvidia graphics chips in several laptops last year causing their stock price to plummet.

BTW, Microsoft recommends not using an intercooler because it takes it's power by going into the power chain between the powersupply and the unit and earlier versions were known to damage the console or prevent it from getting enough power.

Never revisions like the Jasper are switching to 65nm fabrication which consumes less power and generates less heat but RROD is still possible if the solder joints fail.

Not sure what rumor your talking about, but the problem WAS the thermal paste holding the CPU or GPU card in place. Apparently the system would get too hot and they would crack or something and the CPU/GPU would twist under the heat. I don't know why the towel trick works, however briefly it works, but it does work.

Sorry for the double post.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by 3 Justin 3

Not sure what rumor your talking about, but the problem WAS the thermal paste holding the CPU or GPU card in place. Apparently the system would get too hot and they would crack or something and the CPU/GPU would twist under the heat. I don't know why the towel trick works, however briefly it works, but it does work.

Sorry for the double post.

Thermal paste does not hold the CPU in place. Thermal paste is simply a heat conductive (but hopefully not electrically conductive) paste that goes between the CPU and the heatsink to fill in the microscopic holes and air-pocket gaps between them so that heat conducts from the chip to the heatsink more efficiently. It has the consistency of toothpaste and can't hold anything. The actual heatsink assembly is held down by screws and bolts.

You're probably thinking of the solder.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Nage Waza

Yiiiikkkes, I should have known not get involved in video game threads...

Sorry, it has nothing really to do with videogames but I get annoyed at crazy theories that kids come up with that are totally wrong.

All these things just remind me of days on the playground when us kids would make up wild theories as to why certain tricks work...Like blowing into the Nintendo cartridge. Years on, you realize that things like blowing into the cartridge actually did nothing and was simply imagined or misunderstood. The problem was corroding contacts or the contacts on the female end inside the Nintendo being bent away or worn down over time.

If the towel trick actually works, it is probably temporarily reflowing the solder between the CPU/GPU and motherboard much like how you can stick PCBs with cracked solder joints in an oven.

[3 Justin 3]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Thermal paste does not hold the CPU in place. Thermal paste is simply a heat conductive (but hopefully not electrically conductive) paste that goes between the CPU and the heatsink to fill in the microscopic holes and air-pocket gaps between them so that heat conducts from the chip to the heatsink more efficiently. It has the consistency of toothpaste and can't hold anything. The actual heatsink assembly is held down by screws and bolts.

You're probably thinking of the solder.

Yeah, it was the solder I was thinking of, my bad.

[Russic]

As mentioned before, I'd just keep my system on it's side to prevent the scratching of discs should the unit fall over while running. I'd probably mount the 4 corners though so there can be airflow under the unit.

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by Russic

As mentioned before, I'd just keep my system on it's side to prevent the scratching of discs should the unit fall over while running. I'd probably mount the 4 corners though so there can be airflow under the unit.

Actually thats a really good idea, I never even thought of that! There's not much room above it as its in an entertainment centre, but there's still about 6-8 inches of room above, it should work.