Hi all (again ..)

This is my 2nd tutorial - this time for some cooling modifications that most definately work !

Have a look at the link - but in summary the GPU gets hardly any cooling with stock fan shroud - with this mod - it gets equal cooling/air flow to the CPU meaning zero freezes or heat problems ..

http://www.rbjtech.net/xbox/cooling/cooling.htm

Cheers,

Richard - UK

Yea, that removal of the metal mesh i have thought of. I would put some grills there. Not designer grills but usual grills, so it doesnt restrict airflow.
Like this


NOT LIKE THIS:



You should use Artic Silver 5 on the CPU and GPU.

I am going to remove the metal mesh and leave the plastic mesh there.
I already did it with my orginal xbox.
I removed the whole metal shielding. So i would get more air from the sides.

This is very good you could use a better setup though and keep the text so you dont need to scroll horizontally.
but good job.

PIN*?

added to FAQ

Why bother with the grills? you put the case back on and it's all enclosed/covered anwyays.

perhaps you didnt notice the massive holes.

using RDC tutorials for cutting the vent holes might be a better idea

...And so you dont get your fingers hurt when you switch/put in cables. I switch video output cable and put in and out network cable all the time.

Also look at his other mod idea.... http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=578738 With these two mods, I'll bet your 360 will definally last a long time. Good stuff RBJTech, AWESOME!!!

Good tut.......tho the only thing i dont like about what you did is that you cut out the plastic at the back as well as the mesh..........

But i spose as long as noone looks at the back of yor 360, it all good

I did this months ago after xboxexpert provided a video with the hot glue. My system is definately putting out more hot air.


I only covered half of the GPU sink though, and cut the sheilding then put hot glue in all the gaps. Then I took off the spongy foam that comes in the top plate of a dvd drive all under the shroud instead of gluing it to the mobo.


I'll take pics if anyone cares. It works!


And ya i didnt cut up the back of the case, just the metal sheilding. Be careful though guys, that stuff is sharp!!!



*I guess I read to quickly and didnt see that you seperated the airflow. Good idea! Thats next for me lol.

I would like to see some pics, what spongy stuff? sounds awsome!

Ya it really is better than hot glue all over the place on the mobo, plus the components wont get too hot. Ok i'll take pics when I get home from work. Im here until 7am so it will be a while, its 830pm here right now.


I'll take pics of all the stuff but its basically the same as his pics. Works great though and my little thermohawk says temps of cpu sink are right around 100 degrees.

just did worked great

and i uped the gpu fan to 12v

like all of it except the metal piece flying into my left eye

OUCH!! Are you ok?? I've had my retna scratched a couple times, it sucks I know.

it hurts but not that bad

i hate it tho when u see something happing in slow motion like a piece of metal flying at ur eye

Well my idea was to cut out the plexi in a square right over the plexi, then basically seal off the front of the heatsink so that its only source of air would be fresh from the top.

So basically where these holes are but square directly over the sink.

http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=574972


Then the GPU would get all of the vented air coming in instead of sharing it with the cpu.


What do you think RBJTech? Ive already got my shroud sealed using the dvd cover foam and hot glue with a card on the gpu sink. It sucks.


I'll definately be adding a partitian soon. Great idea.

To be honest, the first thing I would do unless you have done it already, is partition off and seperate the two air flows in the shroud - it makes a HUGE difference to the GPU temperature as my tut shows. Other people have also done this with the same results (been doing a bit of R&D on the scene) so I would do that first. Then play GOW for 2 hours and feel behind your 360 - the GPU fan will be HOT, whilst the CPU fan will be cooler ...

I guess once you've done this - then an extra vents will allow cooler air to enter so that in itself cannot be a bad thing...

Show some Pic's when you're done

All the best, Richard.

instead of putting it directly over the heatsink, it should be closer to the front of the box, perhaps channeled to the side opposite of the shroud. the heatskink is made for air to go through it, not from the top

Nice job on doing the split fan divider in the shroud. I am doing this right now with a metal divider. I surrounded the edges with electrical tape.

I was wondering if the electrical tape started to peel up yet? I want to add it to the shroud where it touches the mobo.

The tape is fine - as long as you don't 'stretch' it on, then it doesn't peel at all. If you look at the shroud, it doesn't actually touch the mobo by design - there is little lug that stops it. I've sealed this path too to increase air pressure onto the GPU side only (I've also done it to the GPU heatsink itself - this creates effectvely a tunnel under the GPU heatsink, cooling the die itself + the RAM that is sitting under there). I've left the CPU side - as there are lots Power Components in that area that need cooling and the CPU heat I'm not concerned about ...

i've done this mod but still getting freezing. just let DOA4 run in demo mode for about an hour... checked back on it to find the screen had locked up. i dont get red lights or anything.. just the frozen screen.

i did NOT cut out the plastic mesh on the back of the case.. just the metal mesh. everything else for the most part was exactly as the tut said.

piece of thin cardboard to divide... cardboard covering the gpu heatsink... used tape to seal any holes.

when holding my hand behind the 360(after it was running for 30min or so) the gpu side was about the same if not hotter than the cpu side.. which is good correct?

is there something im missing? would cutting the plastic mesh make a TON of difference? where exactly should i add tape to the gpu heatsink for the added suction?

i was super excited when i found this mod.. as i cant stand my 360 freezing. i cant play for more than 30min without worrying when the next freeze may occur. i have to wait a good 30min after it freezes for it to be cool enough to even play again. ugh. what exactly causes the freezing... the cpu being too hot.. or the gpu being too hot?


helpppppppp

Yep - sounds like it's splitting the airflow ok - the fact that it's freezing MAY be the RAM rather than the GPU - have you put any passive heatsinks on the RAM chips at all ?

Have a look at this thread. Depending on the date of your 360, you may have thermal pads on the rear RAM modules, if not then I'd suggest doing this for starters. The top facing RAM modules should have heatsinks on them - the two under the GPU h/s also need pads to thermally attach them to the GPU h/s. See the thread above for pics .. Heatsinks make a MASSIVE difference to the RAM temps - and it's likely these are causing the lockups - not the GPU.

Re the Grills : IMO the grills block 15-20% of the airflow - doing one (the metal) and not the other is not going to get you the added airflow. I appreciate it looks untidy, but you can't see behind the box anyway ... so cut them both fully out.

I'm about to update the above thread with a graph actually that shows the temperature differences ... and MkII air cooling mods on the way ...

I was getting the 3 red light of death, and used some of the tips here to stop it. I had tried the heat gun twice with no success.

I scraped off the old gunk from the heatsinks and put on new silver.

I also put aluminum foil over the GPU heatsink (where you put the cereal box cardboard) to restrict airflow accross the whole heatsink. Then I cut a hole in the bottom of the DVD drive and the top-back of it to allow excess heat to flow through the DVD drive and out the back.

The GPU heatsink gets hotter than hell, way too small for the application IMO. I would LOVE to find a fully copper replacement for it.

I removed the metal mesh from the case, as mentioned it would only serve to heat the case. I didn't cut the plastic mesh though for aesthetic reasons.

Been playing Gears for over an hour now.

Thanks!

.. Hi - doing the mods AFTER the 3rol is not going to solve the problems.

All my cooling mods are PREVENTATIVE and should help or hopefully irradicate the 3rol problem caused by overheating.

I agree the GPU heatsink is insufficient, however with all my cooling mods and at stock fan speeds, the temperature of it is now 'acceptable' in my findings - if yours is still uncomfortably hot, then maybe you need to check that your seperator in the shroud is doing what it's supposed to - shine a light in the back of the 360 to check it fit's good - small gaps are fine, but gaping holes are going to decrease it's effectiveness..

PS - A copper replacement for the Ali stock GPU cooler is not going to make any difference, it will just get hotter quicker ! The problem is heat dissapation (area) not the material ..

WOW!!! This is something that I may do. Good job RBJTech.

Very nie tut by all means. I would just like to comment on the quote below..

"This can be proved if you feel the temperature behind the xbox after playing a game for 15-20 minutes or so. The Right hand fan (should be GPU) is noticeably cooler than the Left hand fan (CPU) – you may think this is because the CPU heatsink runs hotter than the GPU heatsink ? This is not the case …"

The CPU side felt hotter because the CPU heatsink has alot more surface area to dissipate the heat to the rushing air. Technically the CPU heatsink does run hotter, but it just transfers heat better. GPU air feel's cooler, since most of the heat dosen't transfer to the air and stays in the box. So the tunnel over the heatsink is a great idea..It's an improvement over MS' design for that matter.

The problem I see, is spliting the air shroud to have it's individual fans. The GPU fan might actually be helping cool the CPU, and the seperate channel's might take away from that. I doubt it will kill your xbox, but I think just the tunnel over the GPU heatsink would be better.

PS- Also, the unsplit shroud might be a safety feaure. If one of the fans die, the other should be able to do the work for both.

Well my 360 always locks up, I put AS5 on it, Intercooler and Fanshroud thru the middle

Should I get some extra heatsinks? If I do which and where do I put them?

Hi - some interesting points - thanks for taking the time to reply..

If you take a look at the temperature readings on the 'cooling with proof they work' thread, you'll see that i have since backed up the designs with some temperature monitoring. The CPU's heatsink remains relatively static throughout the analysis - but always a lower temperature with the mods (and to negate your point about two fans providing extra cooling the CPU may need). However, the GPU is another story - with massive temperature drops by doing the mods - the most noticeable is with the air flow seperator. The other point to bear in mind is only the CPU has temperature monitoring/control of both fans (yes hard to believe isn't it..) so if anything, we need to provide cooling priority to the GPU, not the CPU as it can regulate itself (by speeding up the fans if needs be).

However, your point about a fan failing and the impact this would have is totally true, I do not dispute this. If the CPU Fan died, then I hope the Xbox would shut itself down very quickly, If the GPU fan died on the other hand... Fans are pretty reliable bits of kit however and I haven't heard of any fans failures on this board - unlike the 3ROL...

Cheers..

Richard.







Hi - have a look at this thread - it will show you where to put the RAM heatsinks ...

Cooling Mods Proof ...

PS - It's my personal belief that 'lock ups' ARE caused by RAM overheating with one exception - if the game locks up in the same place each time, then it's sloppy coding that's at fault, not the hardware.

PPS - Maybe tempting fate, but my Xbox has NEVER locked up or frozen in any game since getting it over a year ago, I started modding it 2 weeks after getting it lol ... ;-)

Cheers, Richard.

This is an interesting read and I would like to do some of the modifications listed, but the pictures that are on the site seem to have disappeared

Can anyone fix this?

THANKS

Hi - yea some people are having trouble viewing the pics - maybe an ISP thing. Anyway - link to the pics below - I hope this works ...

Pics

Sweet RBJTech!! Thanks for the pics! This will certainly help!

My biggest concern with this mod is using cardboard around pieces that can get extremely hot. Isn't using cardboard a fire waiting to happen?

Another note - I tried to download the template and the server spat out an SQL exception. I'll try again later.

Hi - The cardboard will get no where near combustable temperature - Mine has been on for months now and shows no signs of heat damage whatsoever. Don't forget the plastic shield - if heat was that much of a problem then that would have melted ...

I've come to the conclusion that my ISP hosting facilities suck, so I'm in the process of moving the pics to imageshack. Try the link below for a zip file of the Visio direct from my web site ..

Zip

RBJtech mate your site dont show half the pictures for me whats up?

.. in short ran out of web space and decided to move the pics to an 'image' repository facility - big mistake ...

Now in the process of moving the images to imageshack ... I'll sort out some links tonight whilst I'm moving things over ...

..wish I'd never touched it now ...

lol oh thats good, i thought my firefox packed up or something lol

good luck RBJtech you've helped me out a hell of a lot with the simple mods

Yea please fix the pictures I really want to try this out.

- Frankie

Fixed ..

RBJTech,

I must say THANK YOU about a million times for my x360 working now!!!
Replacing the thermal paste with Arctic Silver 5 wasn't enough for mine, so I did the x-clamp replacement like described in your tut & since I was already in there, did the cooling mods to the GPU & fan separator.
!!! WORKED LIKE A CHARM !!!
Up & running on COD3 where it used to freeze after 5-10 minutes of play!

I did notice that the GPU side of the fan is moving warmer air than before which is good because the GPU heatsink is a helluvalot cooler than before! Before it could scorch a finger, now I can actually touch it.
The CPU side isn't as cool as before, but I can handle a few degrees warmer on that side for about 10-20 on the GPU!!! (Running Talismoon fans by the way)

THANKS AGAIN!

I have a real dumb question...

What print settings are you supposed to use??? The image opens at 200%. If I go to print preview and set it to 50% the image is TINY when I print it. There is also the 200% listed on the picture and at the top of the print preview another drop down that can adjust the size...
Never used Visio before so I have no idea what I should be looking for when you say print at 50% actual size

No one?

Hiya - sorry been busy on the X-Clamp threads ...

I've got the full version of Viso not the reader, but I assume you can print at half size (50%) using the print option.

Basically I cocked up the scale on the drawing ...

If you're still having grief, then let me know and I'll change the drawing and re-post it ...

Thanks for the reply. No idea what I changed but I finally got it to print the right size. Worked pretty good (along with cutting out the metal near the fans)

Thanks for some great info in your tutorial. Next I'll hit up the x-clamp tut to try and revive a 3 red ring 360 I got cheap

Wow, in your tut you say the Heatsinks are cool to the touch

mine are still very hot.. did i do something wrong?
or am i reading it wrong

Where are you touching them - outside edges should be comfortable to the touch (ie cool for a heatsink) - the inner parts will still be hot ...

Also highly depends on ambient temperature on what you consider 'cool' ...

I done this mod yesterday. About a month ago. I added some AS5. But didnt run across this post till after. Havent had time to do it. Until yesterday. What can I say? It works great! You can really feel the heat coming out big time on the right side. Thanks again for the great tutorial!

Sorry to restart an old thread bt I am trying to this Mod andI am a bit confused. I have downloaded the template but it does not look like the divider piece that is in the picture.
Could someone please giveme a little more detail on how I use the template to create the divider.

Thanks

Its not hard to do... I didnt use RBJ's template and mine came out great. You just have to eye it up.
Mines made out of plastic but I used cardboard to mock it up. Start with a rectangle that is just as tall as the CPU heatsink / rear fans. Bend it slightly in the middle. Youll then notice that it wont sit flush with the motherboard because of a transistor and CPU heatsink leg. All you have to do is mark those areas and notch them out so it sits flush with the motherboard. Being the front was wedged in, all I had to do was hot glue the rear to the fans. Sorry I didnt take more pics of my setup but I hope these help alil. PM me if youre really stuck and ill see if I can help.

i didnt use the template either, i just got an old cereal box and cut a square out to size, left an extra
cm on top then scored it so that it had a flap on top.
then simply taped it with double sided tape to the shroud in the center and put some doubled over duct tape behind it so it would stick to the shroud and hold it a bit better.
If your feeling brave aswell i would cut the mesh at the back of the fans away aswell to allow better airflow

Id like to do this mod but I need to clear something first.

I have a question regarding the materials used.

Wouldnt the electrical tape/cardboard/plastic start to scortch when the 360 has been turned off as the fans would no longer be pulling the heat out?

I notice the way the shroad is originally it doesnt touch the heatsinks?


Thanks.