Worst Timing Ever

Benihana

Benihana

Benihana

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Joined
16 May 2006
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1,414
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Copenhagen
My lovely girlfriend bought me GTA V for my Xbox, I got a few hours in (12% ish, saved to a USB stick) and now its decided to RROD (3 rings flashing, freezes on startup). I really dont want to buy another 360 just to finish GTA as I would likely get a PS4 next. What would be the best solution to get a few more months out of it?

Anyone else had GTA V kill their Xbox? Mine is a 120GB HDMI Elite (175w power brick) which I thought were more immune to RROD...
 
I heard a lot of people say to avoid doing that trick? Perhaps using a hairdryer instead on just the GPU/CPU would work, apply some arctic silver and re-attach the old heatsinks? I've no idea!
 
Interesting! I just heard people say that you can damage a lot of other sensitive components by doing this. How long did you leave it on for? How many hours did you play Fallout 3 before sending it off?
 
I'm thinking it makes sense to target the culprits with a hairdryer instead rather than heat the whole xbox. Perhaps that then some new paste and a desk fan blowing on it constantly will allow me 2 more months of life out of it!
 
Well I tried cleaning it out, used some artic silver 5, re-tensioned the x clamps and used a hairdryer to try and reflow the solder, no dice, same RROD and freezing. I then thought I have nothing to lose and tried the towel trick for 20 minutes, lo and behold it booted up, and loaded into GTA 5 first time! Sadly it froze after 5 minutes and returned to RROD :( Is it worth trying the towel trick again for longer?
 
Hah, worth a try I guess! Was this an original or revised xbox, mine has the RAM chips on the underside and there are some thermal pads, did you remove them?

The X clamps on mine say it was made in Dec 2007, I guess it has lasted longer than most, I just dont want to buy another for only this game. Sucks that the new consoles are not backwards compatible :(
 
Not many stores in Denmark that are willing to repair these, at least not at a cost that makes sense. My last resort will to get one off ebay/DBA (the local ebay) at a cheap price that I can then sell on for the same amount later (hopefully). That or wait till after christmas when the market will be flooded with people selling them!

I just my fingers to shreds on the cheap/sharp metal and am not too keen on tearing it down again already. I may try the towel trick again, and stopping the fans. The oven is a last ditch effort! Are the x-clamps really that bad? I bent them backwards so that they are now really strongly pulling the heatsinks down.

One other option I thought of was to set the output to 720p, or just lower than 1080p, surely this takes the strain off the GPU/CPU a bit and may help them run cooler? Or is it purely down to the solder/stress and not so much the heat anymore?

Thanks for all the hints guys, hopefully I'll get it sorted soon!
 
Jeez you guys really want me to cook my xbox dont you! Sadly I'm off on holiday this evening, but when I return (and my sliced fingers have healed) I will rip it apart again and bake that sucker!
 
I've only tried it horizontally and it red rings in a few minutes, but will try vertical. If its no good, ill give it the blanket treatment one more time, then its the oven. Kill or cure!
 
Well I put the towel over the box once more, and turned it on.. then forgot about it for nearly an hour. Came back, turned it off and left it until the next day. I played with the console standing vertically and it crashed after 5-10 minutes, I then laid it down horizontally and have been able to play for 2 hours at a time, about 3 times!

I'm trying to play as much in one session as I can, as I feel that the more I turn it on and off, putting it through heat cycles, the more likely it is to RROD again. I'm sure the towel and oven trick only work so many times?
 
I would think at some point that wont work anymore? The plus side of this is that I can tell my GF that its imperative for me to play GTA V as much as possible while it still works! :D
 
I spoke too soon. It was playing fine, and now I get the E74 error (something to do with the ANA/HANA chip?) might be time for the oven treatment, I just cant get hold of the right hardware to replace the xclamp...
 
Everything! I have tried the towel trick several more times, and blocking the fans too. I think its time to try the oven before giving up for good. I'm just not sure it will help if I keep using the old xclamp...
 
Yeah its dead :P I've decided to get a used slim for a few months to finish off my old games, then chuck it on ebay. Shouldn't lose too much value.
 
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