Modding Silent XBox 360 Cooling Mod

Discussion in 'Modding' started by DirtyH, 15 Feb 2010.

  1. DirtyH

    DirtyH What's a Dremel?

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    I present you my silent XBox 360 Cooling Mod :)

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    The primary goal was to get maximum silence and still keep it cool.

    I used an old Xenon XBox 360 and I performed the following modding steps:

    - JTAG
    - remove DVD drive
    - replace 20GB HDD with a new 250GB HDD
    - replace X-Clamps with screws and renew thermalpaste (Arctic Cooling MX3)
    - rebuild fanducts for back fans
    - add fanducts for top fans
    - add fan control, variable from 5V to 12V, accessible by removing the faceplate
    - add four 80mm fans (Arctic Cooling F8 and F8 Pro) running at 7V now
    - provide the PSU with passive cooling


    The result is a now really silent XBox360.
    The four fans running at 7V provide enough cooling for everything, idle temps are 52°C CPU and 46°C GPU.
    Idle temps before the mod were 70-80°C for both CPU and GPU.


    Watch a HD-Video of the XBox360 in action, with before and after comparison:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SryUclRrB8



    Pictures of the modding process:

    planning in sketchup:
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    bad boy R6T3 had to go:
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    old thermal paste, before and after cleanup:
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    cutting the backhole:
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    fits perfect:
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    adding top fans and fanducts
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    rebuilding the rear fanducts
    I used 1mm polystyrol sheets, easy to cut and glue:
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    getting 12V power for the fancontrol:
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    the fan control:
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    power connector for the back fans:
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    provide the psu with passive cooling, I used an old CPU heatsink (I didn't have anything smaller ;) ):
    the passive cooling seems to work fine, after a two hour test session, the heatsink was getting hot,
    but you could always touch it without problems, I would guess something around 40-50°C
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    Hope you enjoyed it. :)
     
    Last edited: 29 May 2011
  2. Jipa

    Jipa Avoiding the "I guess.." since 2004

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    Did you make sure the PSU heatsink is grounded? Other than that it looks good, if a bit over the top :)
     
  3. DirtyH

    DirtyH What's a Dremel?

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    No. Didn't think about that to be honest.

    But it is electrically separated by these yellow plastic sheets you see in the pictures and I only used non-conductive silicone heat paste.
    So I didn't see any need for that.
    And I didn't get zapped so far. :D


    thx and "over the top" was needed to achieve these temperatures and silence ;)
    I got that old xbox from a friend and so far I only had a selfbuilt silent PC/HTPC for gaming and movie watching.
    It was a real shock when I powered up that xbox for the first time.
    I'm used to silence in my living room and that thing made more noise than a starting jetplane.
    And that was only runnning idle, gaming was impossible to enjoy.
    So I had to take drastic actions. :dremel:
     
  4. BentAnat

    BentAnat Software Dev

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    I presently have 2 Xboxes that RROD'd on me.
    Gonna try to fix one (the other is beyond fried). If i get it right, expect me to do something along the modding lines as well - for the second casing. Got some ideas lined up...

    Nicely done, albeit i must say it looks a bit "Gonzo". Hiding some cabling and stealthing the fans a bit more would go a long way, methinks...
     
  5. ModaRobby

    ModaRobby What's a Dremel?

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    Quite nice. Next step:

    1. New Xbox 360
    2. Buy a spare case
    3. LIQUID COOLING!
     
  6. ernestBurney

    ernestBurney Who What Where?

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    Awesome mod dude - does it suck up a ton of dust though? Is this still running till today? like the idea of this since my xbox is the loudest thing in the house!
     
  7. DirtyH

    DirtyH What's a Dremel?

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    Thx, but I can't tell you that. I finished the mod just one week ago. ;)
    So I can't give you any long term experience, but that week it was running fine.

    Dust could maybe become a problem if I would use it very often.
    But I mainly game on my PC (real 1080 with AA/AF :D ) and I use the XBox just for some XBox only games. So its not used that much, so dust shouldn't be problem anytime soon.

    But if I would use it for my daily gaming, I would definitly install some dust filters on the top fans.
     
  8. ernestBurney

    ernestBurney Who What Where?

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    Fair play then its a sweet mod - your not one of these xbox cod mw2 heads then? lol
     
  9. PureSilver

    PureSilver E-tailer Tailor

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    Like it a lot! I always hated how loud the 360 is, especially compared to much older tech like my ancient PSX and PS2. It's so loud I would never use it as a DVD player, which the PS2 was for ages, and that's a pretty big qualification.

    For everyone who doesn't want to mod there's also that Lian-Li XB01, which is a case replacement with room for much bigger and quieter cooling solutions (including replacing the dentist-drill-at-full-RPM disc drive), and it's still colder even with the standard cooling solutions. Yours is a much more reasonable size, though.
     
  10. DirtyH

    DirtyH What's a Dremel?

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    small status update of my xbox:

    After 15 month of more or less regular use (about 1-10 hours a week) it is still working, silent and cool. ;)

    (Pictures reuploaded, old host was dead.)
     
  11. stonedsurd

    stonedsurd Is a cackling Yuletide Belgian

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    I remember seeing this thread last year and thinking "Oh cool!"

    Should've commented then, doing so now.
     
  12. Dot_Kappa

    Dot_Kappa 100% Puppet

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    Why did you remove ic R6T3 !?!

    Good work but the overall look its' not so clean... (4 fans outside...)
     
  13. TaRkA DaHl

    TaRkA DaHl Modder

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