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Water Cooling an Xbox 360

An anonymous reader writes "HardOCP has done it once again. They have an article running down the process of water cooling an Xbox 360, and with surprising effectiveness and remarkable styling." From the article: "We had plans to water cool an Xbox 360 for over a year now. Little did we know that not only will this water cooling project be more fun than the original, but it may even be practical. Imagine that. With reports of heat related issues and a heat sink that can get almost too hot to touch after marathon gaming sessions, the Xbox 360 water cooling project now had a sense of purpose. We bought a retail Xbox 360 specifically for this project. The minute we got it back to the [H] labs we tore into it and, with a little help from the fine folks at Koolance, we have put together a water cooling solution that will handle anything the Xbox 360 can throw at it and literally knock your socks off." Actual implimentation with hand-holding. Hexus.net was discussing a kit to do this a few days ago.

11 of 213 comments (clear)

  1. Some other crazy ideas by jaygatsby27 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How about a small fan or maybe, just maybe, not shoving the whole thing into a tiny space with no ventilation.

  2. sigh.... by Quick+Sick+Nick · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Why do modders always go compete ape shit over stupid stuff like this? I have an Xbox 360 and it works. It just works. No it doesn't have water cooling. I also did case mod it, and it still works! Yes, some people have had problems. Just don't put the power supply in a bad place and you'll be fine. Water cooling for PC's may make sense because there are different types of PC's. Right now an Xbox 360 is just a 360, and if you follow instructions and have a bit of common sense, you'll be fine. It either plays the game or it doesn't. A water cooling system isn't just unecessary, it's stupid.

    1. Re:sigh.... by pavera · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "it just works"
      then you go on to qualify your it just works statement by saying you have to put the power supply in a "good" place...
      This is a piece of consumer electronics. Do you consider a DVD player to be broken if you have to lay the cables in just the right way?
      What about a TV? Heck even a computer, switch, or router? I can't believe you're defending the xbox 360. Having to pay attention to where cables/exhaust fans are located on a piece of consumer electronics is unacceptable.

    2. Re:sigh.... by balthan · · Score: 4, Funny

      isn't just unecessary, it's stupid.

      Welcome to slashdot, you must be new here.

  3. 40 lashes with a dictionary by Dun+Malg · · Score: 5, Funny
    we have put together a water cooling solution that will handle anything the Xbox 360 can throw at it and literally knock your socks off.

    I fail to see how a water cooling system would do any sock-knocking. I guess they don't actually know what the word literally means (hint: it isn't a superlative nor does it simply add emphasis).

    --
    If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
  4. Re:Cooling by Admiral+Frosty · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can only imagine what might go wrong with Microsoft putting water-cooling in a major console. They failed a simple power brick...

  5. Aww... by Psykus · · Score: 4, Funny

    "With reports of heat related issues and a heat sink that can get almost too hot to touch after marathon gaming sessions.."

    I just love touching the heatsink after a good session of gaming, and now I can't with the Xbox 360; I gotta get this product now!

  6. Cooling the wrong components? by Hunter-Killer · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's the PSU that overheats, causing the majority of recent problems.

    But hey, if you'd rather spend ~180 on a water cooling system instead of not stuffing the power block deep inside a cabinet, more power to you. ;)

  7. You've obviously never had an Xbox360 fall on you. by TubeSteak · · Score: 5, Funny

    I had one fall on my leg.

    It ripped my flesh to the bone, knocked my sock off, broke my big toe and killed my cat.

    damn you Microsoft
    DAMN YOU

    --
    [Fuck Beta]
    o0t!
  8. sad by mj2k · · Score: 4, Informative

    it's sad that after all the hype, MS seemingly ignored such a basic component as verifying that internal components remain within thermal limits. I should be able to leave my xbox 360 on overnight without having to worry about it overheating, and I shouldn't have to resort to water-cooling the 360 to ensure it operates properly. Props to those who got this to work, but a user who spends 300+ bucks on a console shouldn't have to make the choice of voiding their warranty (and spending extra to put a cooling sys together) in order to keeep their 360 operating within thermal specs, or risk overheating and failure in the future. MS never seems to quite get it, they made a _huge_ deal pre-release about the chassis being smaller and more attractive (especially those stupid swappable front covers), yet all the hardcore gamers I know would prefer a stable system with great performance to an attractive POS that overheats when you leave it running overnight.

  9. Re:Cooling by rseuhs · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Typical Slashdot piss-on-Microsoft attitude. Microsoft likely had no part in designing the power brick;

    Typical Microsoft-fanboyism.

    The moment Microsoft puts any component into a box that has the label "Microsoft" on it, they are responsible.

    Yeah, I know, for the typical "it's not Microsoft's fault" - apologist, reponsibility is a strange and alien concept.

    But essentially it comes down to this:

    It doesn't matter wether Microsoft had a part in designing the power brick.

    They are responsible to make sure the thing works. Yes, that means if some supplier screwed up it's still Microsoft's repsonsibility to do some minimal quality control so that the broken units don't get shipped.