XBOX360 - RROD Fix + Fan Upgrade

[JD]

Prior to Christmas, I was rather bored since I had nothing new to play with, so I decided it was best to tear apart my XBOX360 and do some work on it. Even though it was operating fine, I still went forward with doing the so-called RROD fix which basically involves bolt-mounting the heatsink. I also swapped out the fans to some quieter ones that offer more airflow and have LEDs. So let's begin...

Items purchased:

RROD Fix - Pro Kit, Whisper Max fans, and the opening tool.

With everything in hand, I followed through this guide to open up the XBOX and remove the motherboard. Rather straight forward and the opening tool definitely came in handy. Got it opened pretty easily and it didn't take too long. Of course, breaking all the warranty stickers in the process :p

Upon opening the case, I found some surprises. The metal cover that sits over the heatsink appears to be burnt and the cover on the bottom of the 360 appears to have water stains or something on it. Now this is a returned console from previous RROD warranty, so maybe it's from the prior owner. Also judging from the brownish dust that was stuck to the white fan shroud, I'd say it was a smoker too.

Then I was able to proceed to the RROD fixing part (even though I didn't have a RROD). Again, following another guide, I proceeded to remove the X-Clamps. Now I don't know how that guy does it in 45s as I was doing my best to follow what he did, but it took me a couple minutes until eventually it just popped off. I guess with practice I would be able to figure out the optimum way of doing it. With the X-Clamps off, the heatsinks basically fell off, exposing the IBM CPU and ATI graphics, covered in TIM that was like gum.

Proceeded with toothpicks and q-tips to remove the TIM and cleaned it up with the usual isopropyl alcohol. The heatsink bases required a little extra cleaning power in the form of Goo Gone (citrus based cleaner). Let it sit on the heatsink bases for about 2 minutes and it just wiped off effortlessly.

Finished off by replacing the thermal pads on the bottom side RAM with the ones included in the RROD fix kit.

As for the fans, they basically just clip in and I didn't take any pictures of that. The fans came with an adapter as mines the older XBOX with a 4-pin ATX style connection for the fan and the new fan was a standard 3-pin fan connector. It also came with a "turbo" button that you could alternatively use that pulls power off the 12V lead to the DVD drive. I didn't bother using this because the button mounts on the back, behind the fan, which just isn't easily accessible when I have my 360 upstairs. And I didn't want the noise of the fans running at 12V (5V is stock).

Then back together it went for a quick test before closing up the case.

Snapped all the plastic case back onto it, and it was back to your typical XBOX360, with some blue LEDs shining out the back :D

So in the end, it seems to be running a bit quieter, however with that noisy ass DVD drive, it doesn't really matter too much unless you're not playing games. And quite frankly, that's all I use it for. Don't watch any media off it since I don't really like the quality it produces, and it's a pain to play stuff off network shares.

Later on I'm thinking about getting a dark-smoke coloured case so the LEDs shine through somewhat. I'd also replace the white fan shroud with a clear one. Also want to swap out the LEDs in the power button area to blue ones too, since that green is disgusting IMO. Maybe stick some temperature probes in there too. Originally I was going to go all out and watercool it, but the cost is just stupid for something I don't use non-stop.

[TopDogZero]

Nice mod . I think I would do this once mine is out of warranty but I have had good luck so far by placing an extra fan (since the first day I got it) at the back of the Xbox pulling more air through it.

By the way I'm sure you know if you install the game to the hard drive the DVD drive won't make as much noise.

[BrainEater]

Nice work !

[bojangles]

Awesome work. My budy did the exact same thing with you, and yes the opening tool is a great thing to have!

If you wanted to save you stickers, you can run a hair dryer on hot/warm for a minute or so directly on the sticker, and the adhesive should loosen up so that the sticker can be applied now.

NOTE: I think that Microsoft has changed the warranty stickers again and now have heat indicator strips on them. They go from black to pink if heat is introduced!

[JD]

Originally Posted by TopDogZero

By the way I'm sure you know if you install the game to the hard drive the DVD drive won't make as much noise.

Yeah but I only have a 20GB drive, so it's not the best of ideas. Most of my space is taken up by GH4/5 DLCs (aka songs). That Death Magnetic album takes up the most.

[Phobia]

I didn't know they had actual fans you could place in your 360.. That's really cool. I might have to try this, as my fans are so loud.

[JD]

Originally Posted by Phobia

I didn't know they had actual fans you could place in your 360.. That's really cool. I might have to try this, as my fans are so loud.

Well if you do decide to do it, Divineo was great. Shipped out next day via CanadaPost XpressPost (I think?). Came like 2 days after it shipped. Didn't owe anything. It came from Manitoba I believe.