Replace thermal paste regularly

[Aquinus]

I didn't realize that. I just thought that the heatsinks were inadequately sized for the system and that's what caused it to run hot and damage the solder.

Actually the cooler for the 360 is pretty good considering it throws heat from the GPU/CPU right out the back of the chassis. A massive cooler is no replacement for a well ventilated cooler. What good will a better cooler do you if you can't get the hot air out fast enough?

 

[pantherx12]

Actually the cooler for the 360 is pretty good considering it throws heat from the GPU/CPU right out the back of the chassis. A massive cooler is no replacement for a well ventilated cooler. What good will a better cooler do you if you can't get the hot air out fast enough?

The system would of benefited from mounting the HDD where the fans are now( and obviously getting rid of the fans) and having the air flow from side to the other, it would of allowed them to use a push pull set up ( much more efficiant) the GPU would of been cooled better and they still could of used only two fans.


Their pull only set up is inefficient for cooling and it causes negative pressure inside the case meaning more dust which means insulation which means hotter components which means more over heating which means the fans spin faster meaning more dust etc etc etc

If anything it looks like they were designed to fail

 

[Aquinus]

The system would of benefited from mounting the HDD where the fans are now( and obviously getting rid of the fans) and having the air flow from side to the other, it would of allowed them to use a push pull set up ( much more efficiant) the GPU would of been cooled better and they still could of used only two fans.

You're statement fails with the simple fact that the DVD drive is in the way to do it that way. Also push-pull makes the device louder, something most people don't want. Push-pull also doesn't make dust buildup any less of a problem from my experiences with it.

Clearly a picture of the innards of a 360 is called for.

 

[pantherx12]

You're statement fails with the simple fact that the DVD drive is in the way to do it that way. Also push-pull makes the device louder, something most people don't want. Push-pull also doesn't make dust buildup any less of a problem from my experiences with it.

Clearly a picture of the innards of a 360 is called for.
http://xbox360.dashhacks.com/sites/xbox360.dashhacks.com/files/images/xbox360_inside1.jpg

Push pull does not make the device louder :] the fans would move air more efficiently through the case and so will spin at far lower RPMS and actually be quieter.

And your forgetting that the fans manage to pull air from underneath that drive already, having the exhaust fan on that side of the case would work fine. ( MS could of spend the few extra dollars on a laptop type dvd drive as well improving airflow even more)

Trust me, I've done this to a friends 360.
There's a reason gaming pc cases have intake and exhausts rather then just having everything as exhaust : ]