Hi,

i had a 360 which froze al the time, so i replaced thermal paste with as5 en did the x-clamp fix. also overheated the gpu. Then i tested it. the game froze. restarted the console no image, no green lights no red lights eather.

so i took it apart and used my heathun at the bottom of the mobo. but now it keeps giving me 2 red lights. the console is ice cold. the heatsinks are tightend down enough, i already tried 1 washer instead of 2. but it makes no difference. What is causing the overheating?

i tried it several times. after 15 mins. after an hour np difference. This is the first time i have this.

anyone any ideas?

0012 is GPU overheating...
Make sure you used the correct amount of thermal compound...
The size of a rice grain is just perfect the finer the layer the better it conducts the heat...
Also use 2 washers and try to loosen the screws a bit because you might actually be flexing the heatsink too much so that it doesnt have good contact...

i alreay tried that, this 360 is driving me crazy, i experimented with thermal paste, first used the size of a rice grain, then later tried adding some, the tried to build up pressure by using 1 washer instead of two, no results at all, the thing that suprises me is that it gives the overheating error so fast, but i gues is have to keep trying with the screws,

Take off the GPU heatsink and look where it meets the die of the chip. If you can't see a somewhat perfect square and Microsoft written backwards, then you're not making good enough contact.

RE-do the compound. Clean, clean, clean the die until you get the mirror finish like brandogg was explaining. Use a VERY small amount of AS5. Spread evenly covering the whole surface of the die. KEEP IT THIN. Too thick and the compound acts more like an insulator than transfer. Tighten the bolts evenly. Go slowly at first, keeping the same pressure on each. Try it again before burning it. Keep us updated!

thank for the replies, yesterday i experimented with thighten the screw. started real loose, and then tightend them up bit by bit. but everytime i tested it, the console kept giving 2 red lights. The error code is 0012, does this means that i can exclude the CPU,

the strange thing is that he is giving the 2 red lights after the heatgun trick, before i didnt happenend. I used the heatgun while the heatsinks where still on the board, i already tried different heatsink but also that didn' t helped. i whill try to clean the thing once more, but i'm pretty sure i cleaned the die' s proper before aplying AS5. whell i just keep testing and experimenting,

and i will chechk CPU+ GPU

very anoing situation, never had this before. could the part that is detecting the overheating be damaged?

Heatgunning a mainboard with the heatsinks still applied is the most stupid thing that you can do wrong...
Pray that you did not reflow the solder because if you actually reached the melting point the solder balls under the GPU will be completely flat... only reballing it will solve that problem
Make sure that you reapplied the thermal compound after that as well because if the thermal compounds gets warmer than 120°C it looses its conductivity...
Have a look under the the GPU and check if you can see solderballs....

ok i will check my thermal compound, but is it easy to lift the die tom check the solder balls? and is its easy to place it back after removing it? But if i did melted the solderballs could that react in 0012 error? i already heatgunned multiple 360's with heatsink attached and never had any problems... but you think that the heatsink is getting even hotter than the heatgun itselfs which could create enough heat to melt the solder balls? not a bad thing to think about, hope it didn' t happened.

so i try the new thermal compound. i already tested the mobo with the original x-clamps but that didnt work either. also try to remove the die unit, i have a completly dead 360 hangin aroud here, so i try on that one first,

so far thanks for the reactions

DONT remove the GPU to have a look at the solder balls.
You can see them just by looking under it from the side...
The overheating temps are like 90°C to reflow the solder you need a 218°C, do I have to say anymore?

ok, i do that, thnx for al the info so far

wel the solder balls look perfect, compared them with some other 360's but there is no difference in them! this stupid console is driving me crazy!

Any news on this, or does anyone have any advice. I was trying to fix a 360 that has this problem now. Initially, the 360 was spitting out a 0001 code with the 3rlod. I x-clamped and overheated the gpu for a little bit(25 mins) When I came back into the room, it was giving the 2 lights error code. I figured it just overheated and shutdown and maybe I didn't set the cpu fan on top properly. I waited for a half hour, sure enough the 2 lights are still there and spitting out a 0012 error code. The board, cpu/gpu and heatsinks are very cool. Whats up with this thing?

ANy help would be appreciated.

That's the problem, the system is actually overheating (or at least it "knows" that it's going to overheat when the temp rises so quickly upon booting the system) because the chip isn't making any contact with the heatsink. Cold heatsink = hot chip.

I think that is your guess, and it makes very little sense. I know that the heatsink is making contact with the heatsink because that is exactly what the x-clamp helps do.

the chip does not have enough time to heat up before it shuts down and gives the 2 red lights

if it shows 0012 the chip heats up too a certain temperature while booting and locks down...
Only if you get 0002 or 0001 the chips dont get hot at all and dont overheat...

if you get the 2 red lights it is indeed overheating in 99% of the case in the other rare cases it is the temp sensor...
Recheck your setup and make sure there is an imprint of thermal compound on the heatsink...

First of all, let me thank you for your past tutorials. I've read the ones regarding the modified x-clamp and others. When my x-clamp begins to fail on my primary xbox, i will incorporate your clamp method.

The thing is that the chip does not have enough time to heat up before it gets to the 2 red lights. I will turn it on, the system and fans will literally turn on for 2-3 seconds and then shutdown totally with the 2 red lights. The heat sinks are cold to the touch and x-clamped all the way down. So It would seem its the temp sensor.

Can this be repaired or is it internal on the chip?

I had this happen when the heatsink was not making contact, or not making firm contact with the gpu.

Ye if it overheats immediately then this is always the reason...
Check for an imprint of thermal compound on the heatsink and remove a washer/ sand credit card pieces down if necessary...