Xbox gaming rig?

[mildgamer001]

it may sound stupid, but i dont have any money but really would liek to build a gaming computer. i have an xbox 360 elite, i have heard of people making xbox360;s into gaming computers...i never use my xbox nor do i have xbox live to play multiplayer on. is it possible to do something like that? sinc eim pretty sure that an xbox is basicly a computer, they should have a cpu, ram, some sort of gpu, a power supply, a hard drive, other than the operating system and type of gpu, arent they pretty much the same? is it possible without spending as much money as building a regular gaming computer would? is it even possible? or just a stupid joke to get people to destroy their xbox360's?

 

[mildgamer001]

im looking for anything on it on youtube as well i havent found anything but i would still like to hear any ideas/ facts about teh compatibility.

 

[deicidechaos]

Whist in theory it could be done, I think theres would be way to much trouble with the firmware and buidling driver. How ever there is rumor of the next console supporting windows 8.

 

[megamanx00]

That only applies to the original xbox which was basically a PC. You could mod it to install linux on it and use Wine to run some windows program. I suppose it might be possible to run XP on the original xBox but the 360 is entirely different.

The 360 is much more customized to only be a gaming machine and it's not like you can reuse anything as the CPU, GPU, and RAM are all soldered on. The CPU is a Power PC CPU which is simply incompatible with x86 32-bit or 64bit code that regular PCs use. There are mods to put PC parts into the 360 housing. You can probably find something like that on an old version of the ben heck show

http://www.element14.com/community/community/experts/benheck

You're better off selling your 360 and then using the money towards PC parts.

 

[mildgamer001]

well, i would sell it, but i wouldnt be abke to get much cash out of it, and my internet provider isnt going to serve my area after october because its to expencive for him to rent the tower up on the mountain he used, not enough people, so i wont be abel to use my computer on the internet as much (as we will probably get stuck with huesnet, which will be awful since they have a 200mb perday limit or something like that) and i will probably start spending money on xbox games if i can, instead of computer or things like that, so i had been wanting a gaming rig but wont be able to afford till i get a real job, which isnt easy for a high schooler in my area to do. so i figured if xbox360 was anything like a regular computer then i could do something like that.
also, isnt powerpc CPU what used to be in macs? if so couldnt i use a mac os on it or something like that? and i wouldnt be re-using cpu ram or gpu, they are all built for performance, so why get rid of them? i just was hoping there was some way to change out some parts like case and hard drive and some way to instal windows 7/xp to use it that way. also what exactly did the original xboxes use for parts? i know they cant handle modern games really but it may be possible for some lower end games...

 

[mildgamer001]

also, im not going to get the next gen consoles anyhow, nor will i probably get the gen after that if i can help it.

 

[megamanx00]

The power PC chips in older Macs are older and not exactly the same as the newer 3 core hyper threaded chips in the 360. The chips on the xbox lack certain features beneficial to an OS (and features the Mac OS would expect) like out of order execution. There are too many hardware incompatibilities, not to mention the 360s firmware protections, to list as to why OSX would not work.

 

[megamanx00]

As for the original xbox it had a pretty standard hard drive (where as it's optional on the 360), a Pentium III 733, DDR Ram, and a DVD drive. Of course, since it used a GPU that was between a Geforce 3 and a Geforce 4 as well as serving as an IGP, there aren't exactly any windows drivers for it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox

As you can see on the wikipedia page using a mod chip can allow you to have Linux or React OS (it's like an unstable windows 2000 clone) running on the xBox. Some mods of the xbox include upgrade the CPU to a T-core Celeron up to 1.4GHz and using a bigger hard drive. Of course, since the original xBox is rather old not too much support going on there .

 

[mildgamer001]

well, i dont particularly think the real wondow 2000 was very stable either, was turning my moms old office computer on for first time in like 2 years and the windows couldnt boot for some reason that the bios page i got sent to didnt explain. anyway im surprised the xbox was a pentium 3, my awful-for-gaming compaq evo has dual cor e2ghz pentium 4 and no video card but it still doesnt gae at all.

and linux on it, would that include ubuntu? because that seems the easiest to use/closest to windows.

 

[megamanx00]

Well a couple of things. First of all only a few 360s with specific firmware versions can use the hypervisor exploit to run Linux. Second, even if you run Ubuntu for Power PC it's not like you will be able to play windows games on it. You can only run code compiled for Power PC (and assuming it doesn't use an extension the 360 doesn't have).

Since you have a dual core P4 it has to be LGA 775 and it should have a PCI-E slot. You are better off looking into upgrading that computer. You may be able to run a Core 2 Duo in it, or at least a faster P4. Throwing in a dedicated video card like a Radeon 5670 would allow you to play some games.

 

[mildgamer001]

lol, i couldnt upgrade that turd in a box if i wanted to withotu gutting it completely, it was a compaq, not custom, the cpu is soddered (i think i didnt check) and yes it does have a pci or pci-e slot, but i probably wouldnt be able to do much with it, i was stupid when i got it (25$ third hand from my high school) and upgraded it from .5gb ram to 1gb, most useless 40$ i ever wasted, it barely changed the performance, in gaming anyway, it is somewhat faster for multitasking, but i did it to play minecraft better and it was almost worthless, i called the company i got the upgrade from (local repair shop) and they said the only way i could return it was by selling it back to them FOR CREDIT and for only HALF of what i paid, WTF it wasnt used it was tested,m how would i know how miuch it would help if i didnt test it first! (i knew nothing about computers then, i learned a lot in one summer) needless to say, im not a fan of that company anymore.

however, if i wanted to spend any money on a old video card for this lump of crap would it be able to do anything? i use a laptop right now with dual core pentium p6100 @ 2ghz, 3gb ddr3, 320gb hdd, and a 15.6" screen. it really would be pretty fast if it had a graphics card, which it doesnt, its really nice for everyday stuff but it cant game almost at all, it avarages at 13-17fps playing minecraft on a dutch server. (im in the US) but it does what i need for now.

so, right now im using my newish asus k52f-bbr5 with a 17" external monitor on the vga port, but i wont be able to start saving money for a gaming rig for quite some time, since how i need to get a real job which isnt as easy for a high schooler, then i need to do some work on my truck, pay for christmas presents for people, then pay for my drivers ED, then anything else i need, then computer, FUN!

and that is why i was wondering about my xbox, ill be losung my internet service october 1st because the guy that rented the tower nearby on a mountain cant afford to rent it anymore for lack of customers in this area, so ill be using my xbox more, since huesnet (i think) has a limit on how many megabytes you can get from teh internet in a day. sooo...yea...

 

[megamanx00]

The CPU should not be soldered on unless it's a slim line or something and even then that's a bit rare for a dual core P4. Also, since it's DDR2 the board itself should be upgradable to 4GB, but since you're likely on a 32-bit OS you would be using a bit less than that. As for the CPU there is a chance that you could drop in an older Core 2 Duo from eBay that would be alot faster than your current P4. As a Java game Minecraft is much more dependent on CPU performance. Even so upgrading your video card to something like a 5670 would allow you to play older and less demanding games while you have no such hope of doing so now.

 

[mildgamer001]

it was prebuilt, and i forget what slimline means, u mean the case? its one of the stocky under-the monitor style ones made by compaq, usually prebuilts are soddered. and no, teh board was so crappy teh max it can upgrade to is 1.5gb, it can only use 512mb ddr/ddr2 it cant hold larger sized ram chips because i think it was a wierd version of a micro atx and only has 3 slots that can only hold shorter modules that can only be half a gig, that is why i cant upgrade it much, its a 6 year old compaq evo desktop, not a custom built etc etc.

 

[mildgamer001]

^ it runs on 32 bit windows xp pro btw.

oh, u think i could stick this thing in it? http://asusrog.com/gtx580/
lol

 

[megamanx00]

I would certainly like to see you try ^_^. As for soldering CPUs to the boards that generally didn't happen on regular microATX boards since it would cost extra to develop a proper cooling system to deal with that. It's just cheaper for them to use a board and chip with a socket and slap on stock cooling.

 

[mildgamer001]

yea...looking at it it doesnt look like a regular heat sinkon it, its also right in teh front of the case, and there isnt much room for a gpu, but there is a slot, and the hsf doesnt look like you rregular one either, if i could post pictured in this i would but i cant. i fneed be, i could probably pm u my old email or something if you really want to bother, but i am poretty sure it would be sodered, did heat sinks back then have thin radiators, and an inflow fan leading from the outside of the case? there isnt much markings, just a long item number or something.

there is only 3 memory slots, and 1-2 pci-e. i really dont think it would be worth upgrading even if i had the money to lol.

not really on topic but iwas looking at ur signature, you have windows xp 64 bit? AND you have windows 7? 64 bit xp is odd enough but how do you run 2 os's at sam etime? or do u?

 

[megamanx00]

They are both installed. I boot to XP x64 to run some utilities and development tools, but for gaming I use Win 7

 

[mildgamer001]

ah i see, did you have to buy a retail disk for each? and where did you get xp?, it could be a cheaper alternative for new computers until win 8 comes out and 7 possibly gets cheaper, i personally liked xp, and i know other people did too.

 

[megamanx00]

Got Xp 64bit for free back when I was a student taking CS courses (well they take it out of your tuition regardless if you download your iso and key or not ). Honestly the 64-bit version is only usefull for a few development tools and preliminary testing for 64-bit OSs. Anyway, you can find XP on the internet if you really need it. If you use Windows 7 Pro you can also download XP mode from microsoft which is just a VM of Windows 7 without 3d GPU acceleration. You can also use virtual box or VM ware to run a virtual XP machine (provided you have a valid key and copy to install) inside windows 7 which is what I do on my laptop and Vista machine.

 

[mildgamer001]

well i meant to use as an altrnative for windows 7 on a new build for say, gaming, if it could run the same programs then hey, extra 50$ off an OS and xp really wasnt that bad of an operating system, just missing some simple functions and extras liek themes and stuff. (and a search bar, i hate not having that thing lol) but, i wont be building anything for a long time for simple lack of money, so by then windows 7 will probly be cheaper and i dont really want a system on windows 8 if its out by then.

also, not related but what do you think about a poor higfh schooler eventually creating a large company of computer manufacturing? like hp, toshiba, asus etc, i dont know i was just thinking about it earlier, getting an IT degree, starting a small company, and maybe i could build a huge corporate empire out of it but not with crappy cheap crap from china lol. im taking it seriously too, i dont know, stupid idea? probably too early to bother thinking about it anyhow but..

 

[megamanx00]

All the big guys had to start of small. Heck Acer came out of nowhere a few years ago and took over the low end market. Of course who knows what the PC market will look like in a few years. There will always be demands for gaming computers which is why we have the likes of Falcon Northwest, Alienware, iBuyPower and even Cyberpower. Find a need, sell to it, get repeat business, and repeat . Sounds simple but hard to do even with determination and a little luck.

 

[mildgamer001]

I have seen some pretty crazy micro atx builds inside xbox 360 housings lol.

TBH you could build yourself a nice gaming pc for around $700 that would blow anything you could squeeze into the 360 away.

Best luck would be to figure out what the max budget you can aquire and slowly put your pc together part by part searching for the best deals you can while they are there. Will take time and dedication but in the end you will have a bomb pc. Every $10 less makes a difference in the total cost so always look around for the best deals.

Microcenter www.microcenter.com has great prices on cpu/mobos just have to drive to one of their stores to pick them up. ($180 for a i5 2500k!)

Shell shockers / combos / free shipping / promos all help cut off some of the price so a $800 machine will really cost $650~ after you budget hunt. Possibly even more savings if you find rebate deals as well.

nononononono, i dont want to build a pc in a xbox, i wanted to use parts from an xbox and put then nto a pc, adding an os, and making a computer out of performance parts from the xbox, not put pc in xbox case, no point, but i realize that isnt possible so i sorta changed the subject. and i know i could build a nice pc for 700$, i already configured one, but i dotn have ANBY money atm nor will i for a long time so oh well.

 

[mildgamer001]

i know, we established that earlier lol, and i never use my xbox, i have like 5 games (sold the rest) and i never play them, but when i lose my internet for a while in october i may use it more, which is the only reason i havent sold the thing. im more in to pcs now BUT ANYWAY i know all that now we are talking about something else, my eventual corporate advance to computer manufacturing giant-ness lol.

 

[mildgamer001]

Well, i am going to try tp open up this thread again, i am considering making a pc build inside my xbox case, which i will probably mod with green LEDs and plexi glass pannel windows. anyhow, i plan on (when i have enough money, between 350$ and 450$) making a low end gaming pc using a pentium g840 and a laptop hard drive on. problem is, i dont think my xbox is wide enough to put a regular video card in, i have to get a special sort of pci slot extender, it plugs into a regular pci-e slot and puts the usable slots at 90 degrees. this makes it possible to put it in a narrower case. i just dont know what exactly it is that they are called or where to get one.