Maker Pro
Maker Pro

Xbox 360 woes

N

N Cook

Jan 1, 1970
0
Strange seeing this technical stuff in a national newspaper today
http://technology.guardian.co.uk/games/story/0,,2123720,00.html
Where the Xbox 360 went wrong


Whoops, there is a problem with the console failing in significant numbers
after all, said a reluctant Microsoft this week. So what is the cause?
Charles Arthur investigates

Thursday July 12, 2007

snip

So what are the causes? Owners and analysts have made their own
investigations. The most obvious suggestion is that parts overheat; the Xbox
360 draws 160 watts, which has to be dissipated via two large heatsinks and
two fans. One suggestion is that when the machine gets hot, the motherboard
warps and pushes the graphics processing unit (GPU) off its board. Another
is that some of the soldering is imperfect and so cracks at high
temperature. A Microsoft support document also suggests, improbably, that
surge protectors and extension strips contribute to the problem by
preventing the current surge needed for the fans to turn on; this seems
unlikely, since that surge would be too small to trip them.

In desperation, some owners have turned to home-grown cures - including
wrapping a towel around the machine, blocking the fan vents. This may -
depending who you believe - either cause the solder to reflow or the GPU to
reseat. (Microsoft has not commented.) The fixes sometimes work, at least
temporarily.

We can deduce some of the reasons from the fact that Microsoft is declaring
that the problems are sorted out - just as it is moving from 90-nanometre to
65nm chips, which should reduce its power consumption significantly, and
using a two-part heat sink in the new designs.

snip
 
E

Eeyore

Jan 1, 1970
0
N said:
Strange seeing this technical stuff in a national newspaper today
http://technology.guardian.co.uk/games/story/0,,2123720,00.html
Where the Xbox 360 went wrong

Whoops, there is a problem with the console failing in significant numbers
after all, said a reluctant Microsoft this week. So what is the cause?
Charles Arthur investigates

Bad thermal design.

I hate to think what'll happen when the fans get worn out and the heatsinks get
full of fluff too. They could be fixing these for a long long time.

Graham
 
R

Ron(UK)

Jan 1, 1970
0
Eeyore said:
Bad thermal design.

I hate to think what'll happen when the fans get worn out and the heatsinks get
full of fluff too. They could be fixing these for a long long time.

Graham
What beats me is how these problems don`t show up in early pre
production units! They get hundreds of thousands of units on the market
before anyone notices that they overheat!


Ron(UK)
 
E

Eeyore

Jan 1, 1970
0
Ron(UK) said:
What beats me is how these problems don`t show up in early pre
production units! They get hundreds of thousands of units on the market
before anyone notices that they overheat!

I rather imagine they didn't do any proper testing.

Of course an experienced designer would have been looking out for this. Either
they're not using experienced designers or the suits decided they knew better, which
is entirely possible.

Graham
 
J

James Sweet

Jan 1, 1970
0
Eeyore said:
Bad thermal design.

I hate to think what'll happen when the fans get worn out and the
heatsinks get
full of fluff too. They could be fixing these for a long long time.


My roommate has one, which is still working thankfully. When it heats up, it
sounds like a jet engine, and it will raise the temperature of the room by
several degrees if it's left on long. Amazing how much heat it kicks out.
 
J

JW

Jan 1, 1970
0
In desperation, some owners have turned to home-grown cures - including
wrapping a towel around the machine, blocking the fan vents. This may -
depending who you believe - either cause the solder to reflow
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
*Guffaw!*
 
M

Michael A. Terrell

Jan 1, 1970
0
JW said:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
*Guffaw!*


What do you expect from anyone who would buy an Xbox, in the first
place?


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida
 
Top