My Attempt At An Xbox Mini, inspired by ghostavel's mini Options

[mwaterbu]

hey, awesome looking project! so true to the original! its great that someone will be finishing one of these mini boxes once and for all.
just a couple questions about the ICEBERQ's for anyone who may know. i was looking into putting a couple into my xbox to cool things down a bit as lately my xbox has been heating up more than it should. is there a substantial cooling advantage to these over the normal heatsinks that come stock in the xbox (it seems like the answer should definitely be yes, but just checking)? if so, what kind of temps do you (anyone who has these) have after playing games for an hour or so?
also, i was wondering how easy they are to install, and how to power them. should i use the 3-4 pin connector that comes in the box to plug in to the power source that goes from the psu to the hdd to get 12V?
last question, how loud are these heatsinks? are they noticeably louder than a stock case fan? its always nice to have a quiet xbox, but keeping it cool is more important to me.

[mwaterbu]

sorry for the second post already, but i have one more question for anyone more knowledgeable about xbox psu's than myself. i know practically nothing about switching the xbox psu and what requirements there are, but i saw a tip that said to use this. wondering if this is any good. would this work, and if it would, would a power brick of some sort be required?
thanks!
edit: this power supply seems to be very similar to the first one i posted. the only differences seem like the shape and size (it is also much cheaper).
http://www.mini-box.com/s.nl/it.A/id.301/.f

This post has been edited by mwaterbu: Mar 11 2010, 09:33 AM

[MasterGouken]

Glad you guys like it so far

@mwaterbu:

The iceberq's dont really offer much more cooling that the standard heatsinks and fans but do reduce the height of the xbox by approx. 1 inch which is needed for a mini such as mine.
I would recommend changing your fan to a high cfm 80mm if you're keeping your xbox in the stock case and change the thermal paste on the cpu/gpu to arctic silver 5. If you're going for a mini use iceberq 4 pro's and AS5 thermal paste. (my mini also fas a small 40mm fan at the back to aid in the removal of hot air).

Regarding the mini psu, the PW200-M is a good choice as it has been used with success before. I am currently trying to get a Pico psu 60-WI to work.
http://www.mini-box.com/picoPSU-60-WI;jses...34Pa38Ta38Sbhn0
I had to remove 3 caps on the xbox board first (see my thread for more info)
The PW200-V can also be used, someone used one successfully in an xbox to micro pc case on these forums.
You will also need a power brick with sufficient amperage/wattage.

[mwaterbu]

Glad you guys like it so far

@mwaterbu:

The iceberq's dont really offer much more cooling that the standard heatsinks and fans but do reduce the height of the xbox by approx. 1 inch which is needed for a mini such as mine.
I would recommend changing your fan to a high cfm 80mm if you're keeping your xbox in the stock case and change the thermal paste on the cpu/gpu to arctic silver 5. If you're going for a mini use iceberq 4 pro's and AS5 thermal paste. (my mini also fas a small 40mm fan at the back to aid in the removal of hot air).

Regarding the mini psu, the PW200-M is a good choice as it has been used with success before. I am currently trying to get a Pico psu 60-WI to work.
http://www.mini-box.com/picoPSU-60-WI;jses...34Pa38Ta38Sbhn0
I had to remove 3 caps on the xbox board first (see my thread for more info)
The PW200-V can also be used, someone used one successfully in an xbox to micro pc case on these forums.
You will also need a power brick with sufficient amperage/wattage.

thanks for the response. still wondering though, how loud are the iceberq's? are they noticeable above the stock fan?
also, i want to get an upgraded motherboard from trusty, which i believe you mentioned that you did as well? do the iceberq's work with that? is it enough cooling for the additional heat put out by the 1.4ghz processor? because he mentioned something about a new heatsink being required which was larger, and that may not work with a smaller case...i may just do the slimbox mod, in which case that shouldnt be a problem because i should have plenty of room heightwise right? would still like to give the iceberq's a try if they work though.
btw thanks for the thermal paste tip. if i dont end up getting the new mb, i will try it out.

[MasterGouken]

thanks for the response. still wondering though, how loud are the iceberq's? are they noticeable above the stock fan?
also, i want to get an upgraded motherboard from trusty, which i believe you mentioned that you did as well? do the iceberq's work with that? is it enough cooling for the additional heat put out by the 1.4ghz processor? because he mentioned something about a new heatsink being required which was larger, and that may not work with a smaller case...i may just do the slimbox mod, in which case that shouldnt be a problem because i should have plenty of room heightwise right? would still like to give the iceberq's a try if they work though.
btw thanks for the thermal paste tip. if i dont end up getting the new mb, i will try it out.

Well the iceberqs do add a bit more noise to the xbox as now there's 3 fans instead of one but its acceptable and not too loud. I bought a 1ghz 128mb upgraded board from trusty and thats fine with these iceberqs. I dont know how a 1.4ghz cpu would react with an iceberq on it, i doubt it would be sufficient.

[mwaterbu]

Well the iceberqs do add a bit more noise to the xbox as now there's 3 fans instead of one but its acceptable and not too loud. I bought a 1ghz 128mb upgraded board from trusty and thats fine with these iceberqs. I dont know how a 1.4ghz cpu would react with an iceberq on it, i doubt it would be sufficient.

Oh, I didn't know that he did 1ghz, just thought it was 1.4. Well that's ok i guess. If things aren't cool enough in my smaller case, I could always squeeze another fan in somewhere...thanks for the help!

[mwaterbu]

hey MasterGouken, any more progress yet? just wondered if you have had any free time to get this done? such an awesome project!

[MasterGouken]

hey MasterGouken, any more progress yet? just wondered if you have had any free time to get this done? such an awesome project!

Unfortunately not, i've just got a new car and have been tinkering with that in my free time. Theres always something distracting me but i will finish it (i hate having a half complete project sat there looking at me lol).

[_C4_]

MasterGouken,

Just pmed you about the plexi files you had.

[GoTeamScotch]

Oh, I didn't know that he did 1ghz, just thought it was 1.4. Well that's ok i guess. If things aren't cool enough in my smaller case, I could always squeeze another fan in somewhere...thanks for the help!

I was actually curious about this myself. Hope to someday order a 1ghz board from trusty when i get excess play cash. I heard he had to fabricate a custom heatsink for the 1.4 ghz boards...but then again iceberqs with arctic silver work pretty damn well at keeping the chips cool enough. Me think they would suffice to keep it under cooking temperature, but I can only speculate.

[Marcheslav]

I was wondering if i could get those files as well I'm starting a fabrication class in the fall and i will have access to laser milling equipment to build something like this.

[MasterGouken]

I was wondering if i could get those files as well I'm starting a fabrication class in the fall and i will have access to laser milling equipment to build something like this.

pm me youre email address and i'll send them to you

[KuKrApOk]

Regarding the mini psu, the PW200-M is a good choice as it has been used with success before. I am currently trying to get a Pico psu 60-WI to work.
http://www.mini-box.com/picoPSU-60-WI;jses...34Pa38Ta38Sbhn0
I had to remove 3 caps on the xbox board first (see my thread for more info)
The PW200-V can also be used, someone used one successfully in an xbox to micro pc case on these forums.
You will also need a power brick with sufficient amperage/wattage.

Hi !
Nice work done here

I already have a PicoPSU 120W I used some times ago in another project.
I'll try to use it into

I saw on this picture :
That you use an adapter between the PicoPSU and the Xbox motherboard.

I search it @shop.sickmods.net and there is no more available.
Do you know where I can find one elsewhere ?

Sorry for my rusty english

[MasterGouken]

Hi !
Nice work done here

I already have a PicoPSU 120W I used some times ago in another project.
I'll try to use it into

I saw on this picture
That you use an adapter between the PicoPSU and the Xbox motherboard.

I search it @shop.sickmods.net and there is no more available.
Do you know where I can find one elsewhere ?

Sorry for my rusty english

Hi KuKrApOk,

theres a thread here where you can make your own:
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=536915

Back on the subject of this xbox mini, its right in front of me now...time to get back to work on it i think

Or you can go onto sickmods forums and request one, maybe they will fabricate more if there is enough demand.

[KuKrApOk]

Thank you for the awnser !

I'll try to get some news from sickmods, but I don't get any hope.
Forums looks really dead.
I don't find any other website which provides some equivalent for the atx to xbox converter

I'll try to reproduce the tut you linked to me :
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=536915

But, I promise, I'll try to get a cleaner Job
I WON'T solder directly into the PicoPSU, I don't think it is a good idea
Mine is a 120W, I hope it will have no effects on this mod
I'll take some pictures to contribute on the topic

Back on the subject of this xbox mini, its right in front of me now...time to get back to work on it i think

I hope you can posts some new pictures about it !