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Exploring The 360's Crashing and Heat

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the pirates-of-the-carribean-don't-eat-the-tourists dept.

GameDailyBiz has a piece up looking into the crashing and overheating problems that have plagued the Xbox 360 since the system launched. A new crashing problem seems to be associated with the most recent update to the Xbox Live software, while german forum-goers think they may have identified the overheating issue. From the article: "The way it's installed now by MS the GPU chip makes contact with the protection foil instead of the heat transfer pad. This can of course cause cooling issues for the graphics chip as for optimal cooling performance there should just be a thin layer of thermal pad between the GPU chip and heatsink."

13 of 114 comments (clear)

  1. That's not a glitch! by cbiltcliffe · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's a feature. It stops you from playing for so long at a stretch that you risk developing carpel tunnel, thereby preventing you from suing Microsoft over health problems.

    --
    "City hall" in German is "Rathaus" Kinda explains a few things......
    1. Re:That's not a glitch! by earnest+murderer · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It's a feature.

      Actually it is. At least according to some... http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=4 96524 or http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=4 96524&st=30

      --
      Platform advocacy is like choosing a favorite severely developmentally disabled child.
  2. Sad day indeed by suspected · · Score: 4, Insightful
    One of the main advantages of a console games over PC games is simplicity and compatibility. About 10 years ago, installing a computer game wasn't as simple as it is today, and you were never sure if it would run on your computer. Today such concerns are minor, but consoles still hold a considerable market share even though they are nothing more but computers that are geared for video game.

    Having said that, it's really disheartening to hear that Microsoft has over-looked the key advantage of consoles and screwed it up. I certainly hope that the xbox360 sales stay low, if for no other reason than to send a message to prospective console entrepreneurs: don't screw your consumer base by releasing expensive, under-tested products!

    1. Re:Sad day indeed by Donjo · · Score: 5, Informative

      I just purchased my 360 not long ago and I had to search long and hard for it. I wanted to get a premium package but they were nowhere to be found in retail stores and I was finally able to find an EB that had a single core system left. I know a lot of people that never had problems, yet I know quite a few people that had problems with their PS2 release consoles and the DVD drive that came with it. Every launch console has problems and people who are against the console tend to hype it.

    2. Re:Sad day indeed by wolrahnaes · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Sold out does mean as recently as 2 weeks ago, one local Best Buy got a shipment of 6, and 15 minutes later I was walking out with the last one in hand. Every other store in town was out of stock.

      This isn't a small town either, Toledo is either the 4th or 5th largest city in Ohio (not sure if we're ahead of Akron).

      There were only 2 core packages anywhere too, so even those pieces of crap are selling.

      --
      I used to get high on life, but I developed a tolerance. Now I need something stronger.
  3. Re:Tragedy Becomes Farce by SnprBoB86 · · Score: 5, Informative

    No need to "brag", but I will simply state that I have been playing my 360 pretty reguarlly since I got it in the first week of January (see my gamer card: http://live.xbox.com/member/SnprBoB86) and have had not a single bad experience.

    The system is located in a relatively hot room and is positioned vertically, but I have not experienced a single crash or scratched a single CD. I know three other people with Xbox 360s and only one of them reported that he experienced some crashes, but only when playing this one particular hockey game.

    --
    http://brandonbloom.name
  4. Holy crap these people are morons by pythas · · Score: 5, Informative

    The foil IS PART OF the heat transfer material. Intel uses it on the pentium 4s, I've seen it on Dell servers as well.

    Just another case of idiots on the internet pulling out the "jump to conclusions" mat.

    1. Re:Holy crap these people are morons by MicktheMech · · Score: 5, Informative
      I like the part where there's this worry that the foil will somehow block the heat transfer. Right. If you believe that, wrap your hand in tinfoil and stick it in a fire.

      1. Your example is primarily covective/radiation, where the heat transfer in question is primarily through conduction. It isn't a very good analogy.
      2. The issue isn't the conductivity of the foil, it's the contact surface. When you have imperfect contact it works like an additional resistance. If you measure the temperatures of the two surfaces you'll see something like a disconinuity between the two. Thermal paste conforms to each of the surfaces, reducing the effect of the contact resistance. Remember, convection is generally negligible for small characteristic lengths. Radiation is also a small factor when you're looking at the temperatures inside of a computer.
  5. Re:Tragedy Becomes Farce by Jonboy+X · · Score: 5, Funny

    My XBox 360 drank all my beer, ran off with my girlfriend and kicked my dog on the way out.

    --

    "In a 32-bit world, you're a 2-bit user. You've got your own newsgroup, alt.total.loser." -Weird Al
  6. new user notes by morcheeba · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I just got my xbox360 sunday, and I've had no heat problems, but there are tons of problems with the UI. Oh, where do I start?

    • Downloads are fux0red. You can only download one at a time, and while that's happening you can't do anything else. There is no time display, only a percentage display. Not only is the percentage display grossly wrong, if you don't touch the box (because you can't do anything else), the screensaver kicks in and shows you the menu underneath -- totally useless. Downloads instantly start at 5% done. Abort and restart it, and it'll automatically be 50% done. Abort and restart it again and it'll be 100% done and quit downloading.
    • Once you get a download, the default action is to re-download it. Which, if you accept this, it'll delete (without warning) and start again. The default action should be "go to my download". No, actually, the default action should be "play my download", but they don't have that -- you have to go through 2 more menus to actually play it.
    • The box constantly logs me in and out - some things need me in, some out.
    • Menu items are inconsistent. Even on the same menu, some items are highlighted by brightening the center, others are highlighted by brightening the edges.
    • When you quit a game, the OS doesn't know if you've saved the game or not. So, it'll always warn you that you are about to lose data, even if you haven't started a game. A little communication between the OS and games, please!
    • The unit is really loud. Much louder than my PC or my microwave.
    • The only auto-power off option is "never" or "6 hours". I'd like it to power off after downloading my games -- I hope 6 hours is enough -- and preferably ASAP because the fans are really loud.
    • There is no headphones jack. I use it with my monitor, which supports HDTV but not audio.
    • There are some things you do that apparently require it to reboot (it doesn't tell you), which autostarts the game. Frustrating if you say "do xxx" and it starts the game instead of going to the menu you were previously at.


    The controller is genius. It feels solid and comfortable, the radio works well.
    Graphics have been a letdown compared to my PC.
    The software is amazingly half-baked considering they've had 4 months after the release date to fix it.
    --
    HIV Crosses Species Barrier... into Muppets
  7. Re:Wow...its kind of hard to believe. by ivan256 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    any moron thats ever built a computer at all knows that modern CPU's and GPU's need big fat heatsinks...with thermal compound in between.

    It's a good thing you used 'moron' in there. Plenty of modern GPUs work just fine with rather small heatsinks. Practically no video card manufacturers use compound on their chips.

    You seem to have bought into the 'performance cooling' crap that has sprung out of the overclocking craze in the late '90s. There are plenty of transfer materials that work as well or better than thermal compounds. Even though the conventional wisdom amongst hobbiests is that compound is the best, especially the expensive ones... In reality there are a variety of thermal pads that work better, but in a more permanent way. Usually they melt on first use to flow into surfaces, or they glue themselves to the chip and the heatsink.

    The foil probably works fine until after the first time you remove it.

  8. 360 -- which 360? by shrinkwrap · · Score: 5, Funny

    I guess I'm getting old. When I saw the title, I immediately thought, "Who is still using IBM 360s?"

  9. Re:User Headspace Error by rafemonkey · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is the same mistake Microsoft made. They, like you, assume that the 360 is a computer, and people will treat it as such. But the reality is that a game console is not supposed to be a computer. It's a piece of AV hardware, and it ought to work like it, since that's how people are going to treat it. Think of it like a VCR, it needs to be able to go in the cabinet under the TV and still work.