1 out 3 xbox's fail from over heating! Dear Bill!

[dragonsprayer]

Ok why is this in cpu's? Since the xbox is a computer! Can someone forward this info to Bill Gates!

One, the GPU heat sink is too small and the cooling air shroud is wrong - cpu hogs all the cooling!
Two, the fans are not strong enough, cooling is improperly designed
Three, cheap thermal compound was not properly applied - goopped on which acts as an insulator
Four, the psu is too small - small psu's run hot Bill!
Five, the x-straps and thermal expansion allowance for the mobo is wrong - hence the gpu pull away

Fact: The xbox is the single best media extender for the digital home - too bad Bill blew it!

Maybe Bill can get some tips here on THG - first, use arctic silver - we all know that! Two, use really good psu and over engineer the air flow with lots of fans. Finally use a good heat piper cooler - as used in laptops for 10 years to move the heat to an area away from the processor to be moved out of the case! Finally use a big enough case to allow good air flow.

Someone please email these hints to Bill! Alas he's (Bill Gates) probably too busy giving away his money to wipe out dung beetle fly's or playing bridge with Warren Buffet to listen though!

You can learn from the xbox failure! When you build you system:

Use a really good and over sized PSU, use a good heat pipe cooler (water is better), lots of fans suffcient to move the heat you need too. And finally - check your system make sure it works before you ship it! Obviously Bill forgot to test the Xbox' prior to tooling up for production and finally selling us poor folks faulty product!

RIP xbox

 

[turboflame]

Yep, M$ really cheaped out on the cooling system. As for this belonging in the CPU section, M$ also cheaped out on the CPU by using a heavily stripped down triple core power pc processor and cranked it up to 3.2ghz.

The consequences? A CPU that makes more heat yet produces roughly only twice the performance of the original Xbox's 733Mhz PIII/celeron processor when all three cores are fully utilized. Higher game costs due to developers having to multithread games to get decent performance, and an army of brainless fanboys screaming "10Googahurtz!!111, it's like a sooper computer!!11!"

The GPU is the Xbox's only saving grace but due to the poor cooling design it's also what causes most of the problems. I've heard that they recently revised the cooling system for european systems by adding a heatpipe to the GPU heatsink. In America it's your best bet to wait until the 65nm refresh comes out.

 

[jwlangs]

I've really never paid much attention to this kind of stuff over the years, but it just seems like gaming consoles never had these kinds of problems before? I had an atari 2600, a Nintendo Entertainment System, and PS1 and 2, and they all just played games for hours on end with no problems. Yeah, I know, it's ridiculous to compare an Xbox to an atari, but I'm just trying to say all of these consoles seemed to run with no problems. Is it that as gaming consoles get more sophisticated and complex that problems like these inevitably arise, or is it that, God forbid, Microsoft would rather make a buck than a solid product? Since this is a processor forum, I won't bother to get started on cellular phones, except to say that the first one I ever had was the most solidly built. I feel like Dana Carvy doing Grumpy Old Man on SNL.

 

[jt001]

The consequences? A CPU that makes more heat yet produces roughly only twice the performance of the original Xbox's 733Mhz PIII/celeron processor when all three cores are fully utilized. Higher game costs due to developers having to multithread games to get decent performance, and an army of brainless fanboys screaming "10Googahurtz!!111, it's like a sooper computer!!11!"

That's right, meaning each individual core is actually slower than the original xbox's celeron cpu, so multi-threading is pretty much mandatory.

I still laugh every time I see some idiot boasting about how powerful the cpu is, considering I have an old 2.6 p4 laying around here somewhere that would destroy the 360's cpu.

I have played gears of war on the 360 and even though the game sucked terribly, the graphics were pretty damn good, and I do like the controllers. Now I'm not a fan of consoles and I despise Microsoft, but I will say that if they fixed the heat issues and made it more stable I would definitely like it, but it's half-assed and unstable like any Microsoft product.

 

[maverick7]

also the endless clicking noises coming from the xbox, and it is so loud i can hear it one floor up when everything else is silent

 

[dragonsprayer]

One Very important issue: for streaming media - that is sending movies and more from your pc to your tv/entertainment system is single best device there is!

It is the only reliable device - stand alone units that don't work sell for the same price and more.

This is very important, the gaming part and dvd player is a free extra - the fact MS/Big Bill went cheap on it is a real loss.

I am really a ms fan, the price's (os) are too high ($25-$75 is fair) and yes bill copied the same stuff from Steve (jobs) who contract big bill to design apples first graphical interaction - maybe second? Anyways - as a ms fan i just am trying to point out the ms could have done it better

 

[dragonsprayer]

"also the endless clicking noises coming from the xbox, and it is so loud i can hear it one floor up when everything else is silent "

wow when i quote i get some strange stuff - bugs in the new format


yes - the xbox is loud but your movie, music or games should cover that low fan noise.

my xbox is modded with upgraded fans - you should here loud!

 

[maverick7]

did you re apply the thermal paste lol?? what are ur temps like now

 

[f61]

Since this is an OT thread, imagine that, M$ doesn't know how to build a system either. Funny, they screwed up DX10 and Operating Systems too. And people rush right out to buy them. M$ gets what they deserve, and so do we. ==>edited: thanx Zoron, I had a senior moment

I am reminded of a decade-old saying, "The day that Microsoft builds something that DOESN'T suck, is they day they build vacuum cleaners". JMHO

f61

 

[Zoron]

I hate to keep stating the obvious, but Mr. Gates no longer runs Microsoft. Have you guys been in a coma the past 5 years or what?

 

[dragonsprayer]

yes using artic silver will drop the temps on the xbox cpu and gpu
as far as bill, being not in charge - ya right! he's still the invisible hand and largest stock holder

 

[goober7]

Um... I think you guys missed the business model.

Microsoft loses money on the X-Box in order to sell you games at a profit. I've heard that they have to sell 6 games just to break even on the system. That being the case, as long as the system lasts long enough for you to buy the six or more games, they're OK with that. They MUST make these systems at the absolute minimum cost possible to support the business model, which means no arctic silver, small PSU, and minimal cooling.

Sucks, yes, but that's the economics of it. It's just a game selling system and that's all it'll ever be.

 

[cafuddled]

So that’s why Microsoft has just said all 11.6 Million 360’s are faulty and they are putting aside 1.6 Billion Dollars for estimated repair costs because of the increase in the warranty from one year to three years? This stunt with them sourcing the cheapest hardware possible has backfired in there face and has cost them the amount it would have cost them in the first place to actually make good quality and faster hardware.

The costs involved were minimal with them only loosing if I remember right, about $11 per core system and about $30 - $40 per premium pack. I wonder if they will make this mistake again?

 

[BigMac]

The installed base that they already have might actually be worth it, but I think they went for a bit too cheap. If they are going to do it again, then I'm sure it was worth it (in the long run).