Working Xenon Console Help, Prevent RROD? Options

[djexentrix]

So I have a Xenon console that seems to work well but I'm looking for some advice on what I can do to avoid RROD. I have increased the fan speed but I'm wondering if there is more that I can do to help keep it cool. I'm mainly looking for advice because I had a Xenon RROD within a week after I stripped it down, cleaned off old thermal paste and applied fresh paste. It has the first gen GPU heatsink so I'm thinking of replacing that with a second generation heatsink. I also have a hybrid xtreme x-clamp replacement kit lying around but again I don't know if that will be worth installing.

Any advice from experience is greatly appreciated.

[iateshaggy]

dual cpu heat sink mod, then toss the mobo in a fish tank of oil.

[duhasst0]

Don't replace the x clamps!! The original clamps are fine, if the mother board
metal chassis is warped then you need to find a way to flatten it out, or give
the board enough room for the x clamps that the board isn't flexing at all.

Fan speed is def what you want. Keep that high. Or you could water cool your console.
There are a few blocks out there that should work just fine.

Two CPU heat sinks are a great idea, two second gen CPU heart sinks are better. Just mount
your dvd on the outside and give the power cable an extension, and espace the sata cable
with one from a pc and you can set it up as you feel.

Any questions?

[djexentrix]

Don't replace the x clamps!! The original clamps are fine, if the mother board
metal chassis is warped then you need to find a way to flatten it out, or give
the board enough room for the x clamps that the board isn't flexing at all.

Fan speed is def what you want. Keep that high. Or you could water cool your console.
There are a few blocks out there that should work just fine.

Two CPU heat sinks are a great idea, two second gen CPU heart sinks are better. Just mount
your dvd on the outside and give the power cable an extension, and espace the sata cable
with one from a pc and you can set it up as you feel.

Any questions?

Interesting idea, thanks! I've seen something like this on ebay before. If I used a cpu heatsink on the gpu I would have to modify the fan shroud somehow though right?

[iateshaggy]

not if u drop it in a tank of oil. dual cpu mod alone isn't enough even with modded fan shroud and 12v fan.

[djexentrix]

not if u drop it in a tank of oil. dual cpu mod alone isn't enough even with modded fan shroud and 12v fan.

Lol wow. When I first saw you post about dropping it in a tank of oil I thought you were being funny, but after searching around I see that this is actually something you can do!? Seems crazy!

[relaxxx]

not if u drop it in a tank of oil. dual cpu mod alone isn't enough even with modded fan shroud and 12v fan.

It's enough. Putting a CPU HS on the GPU alone will have the GPU/EDRAM running in the 40-50C range. Increase the fans and it could be running in the 30's. As long as the BGA's not ready to die it should outlast 5 stock PS3's!

[djexentrix]

It's enough. Putting a CPU HS on the GPU alone will have the GPU/EDRAM running in the 40-50C range. Increase the fans and it could be running in the 30's. As long as the BGA's not ready to die it should outlast 5 stock PS3's!

Yeah I took my chances and installed a 2nd gen cpu heatsink on the gpu and increased the fans to 75%. It sucks that it's not a homebrew unit so I could actually monitor the temps but I found an infrared thermometer here at work, so I'm going to test different areas of the board. At least I'll be able to get a direct reading from the top of the memory and the bottom of the heatsinks.

[djexentrix]

Ok so I did some testing with an IR thermometer. I'm getting 35-40C on the ram chips, around 40C on the base of the GPU, and around 30C on the base of the CPU. I know this is not the exact readings from the dyes but I think it should "hopefully" be cool enough.

[relaxxx]

Hmm, I don't know how you have your shroud but with a Xenon the CPU should be running hotter than the GPU with this setup regardless of what type HS are used. Make sure GPU has at least as much or even more airflow than the CPU (CPU's don't die).




This post has been edited by relaxxx: Feb 28 2012, 01:53 PM

[djexentrix]

Hmm, I don't know how you have your shroud but with a Xenon the CPU should be running hotter than the GPU with this setup regardless of what type HS are used. Make sure GPU has at least as much or even more airflow than the CPU (CPU's don't die).

Again those readings are only from the base area of the heatsinks and aren't directly from the chips themselves. Too bad it's not a homebrew unit so I could get actual readings. I modified my shroud so that it covers the gpu just as good as the cpu so I think I should be good.

[Gazc0igne]

FYI 1st gen CPU heatsinks and 2nd gen CPU heatsinks perform exactly the same no difference in temps on my JTAG tested it for shits and giggles

[djexentrix]

Well I got to do this to a "new in box" Xenon pre-nxe, and I'm very happy with the results! I jtagged it to run homebrew just to get the temp readings.