Xbox 360 mod project log

engstrom0304 · 5 Dec 2010 at 00:32

Hey.
Got an xbox 360 mod in store for you....

Special thanks to shinester184 for swapping pump tops with me as mine didnt fit!

Plan is for a fully internal watercooling system using a 2 x 40mm radiator and the xspc cpu/gpu waterblock.

I have seen many watercooled 360s but hardly any are fully internally watercooled... but instead have ugly tubing coming out of them which is a mess.

Here is my progress so far...

Still needs another coat of paint

DVD drive window fitted

engstrom0304 · 5 Dec 2010 at 00:46

lol greg the laser cutter would struggle with that

benq model of the dvd drive is shaped so that it gives the dremel a nice guide

engstrom0304 · 5 Dec 2010 at 11:39

mrteabag said:
Is there anything stopping you using a normal rad and just leaving it sitting outside the case ?

No.
But I would much prefer to have a fuly internally watercooled system.

engstrom0304 · 5 Dec 2010 at 12:52

mrteabag said:
But imagine overclocking it (Jokes)
Will this be quieter than normal ? I don't see the benefits of doing all this.
Most of the noise(for me) comes from the DVD drive.

Yes it will be quieter... I have also swapped the dvd drive for a much quieter one.

engstrom0304 · 6 Dec 2010 at 19:20

Update!!

So I had the privilege of using an £18,000 laser cutter to cut out the window!!

And here is the finished result :eek:

Just to give a taster of the colour!!

Also... Here is my hard drive enclosure with window..

Oh but wait!! There's more!

As you can see there are some leds in there!! Red infact.. so the hard drive will glow red!!

Next job... to paint the hard drive red!!

And another coat for the whole thing

engstrom0304 · 6 Dec 2010 at 21:01

Gundog48 said:
You HAVE to put a plexi cover on the HDD rather than a solid one! If you are careful, this can be done easily!

surely that will kill the hdd within weeks from dust etc?? It would be cool though

engstrom0304 · 7 Dec 2010 at 17:33

sja360 said:
be careful about painting the harddrive red, i do believe most harddrives do have openings?
so painting/spraying it may damage it. maybe check before doing it.

i've always thought about modding my old 360 into a quieter case but i think it'd be a waste as i wouldn't use it that much seeing as i have the new one

Im not painting the hard drive .. just the enclosure.. sorry shouldve made that more clear!

Greboth said:
Ooooo very interested in this, was looking at the xspc block the other day too. You need to get it built quick so I can find out how well it works

Sorry won't be that quick im afraid.. watercooling is my christmas present!! So no watercooling till 26th december i think...

engstrom0304 · 7 Dec 2010 at 21:47

Gundog48 said:
I've seen it done before, you just need to be extremely careful!

Ahh, found it: http://www.overclockers.com/hard-drive-window/

im thinking brown trousers time :eek:

engstrom0304 · 11 Dec 2010 at 19:38

Hard drive. first coat done and final coat on the other stuff.. Will get second caot on hdd case and install hard drive tomorrow... pics coming tomrorrow.

engstrom0304 · 12 Dec 2010 at 14:04

Paint is drying now as i... type!

EDIT:
UPDATE!

All looks a bit pink... it doesnt look like that in real life!!

Painted and hard drive installed...

engstrom0304 · 12 Dec 2010 at 15:36

How should i attach the acrylic panel... super glue or glue gun??

EDIT:
Tried hot glueing it in place... but the glue gun was broken!!

Anyway i took the acrylic cover off one side only...

here is what it looks like..

Wierd though how the paint looks pink on this when it looks red in real life!?!

engstrom0304 · 12 Dec 2010 at 21:29

Greboth said:
Looking good If you don't mind me asking how did you decide 2 40mm rads will be enough cooling?

I came across a thread on another forum where this discussion went on... and it was decided that this radiator would be enough!!

engstrom0304 · 13 Dec 2010 at 23:20

haz_pro said:
Looks awesome, i remember seeing xbox "laptops" a while ago, obviously the idea is opposite to this but still cool.

Does look a bit pink but im sure in real life it looks awesome, red is a good colour!

Yer.. ill do some colour correction for the final pictures!

engstrom0304 · 17 Dec 2010 at 18:14

Window attached... plastic cover off!!

Here are some pictures of the window on the case panel (now attached with super glue)

The plastic cover has been taken off!!

engstrom0304 · 17 Dec 2010 at 22:33

Greboth said:
Looking really good man, want christmas to come around just to see this finished.

Another question if you don't mind. Could you not attached a rad to the two fans at the back? The ones usually ducted to the heatsinks.

It would be tricky for a few reasons...

The fans that go in that space only clip into place so there are no screws... therefore the radiator would not have a good seal between the fans without a somewhat unprofessional seal

I like to have reliable screws!!

Also, That is the place where I am putting the pump and i can't suspend the pump from the acrylic or vibrations could be a serious problem!

engstrom0304 · 18 Dec 2010 at 18:59

Update time!

The stock cooler...

The 'x-clamps' that have caused so many red rings of death were a ***** to get off!!

Marvel at microsoft's increadible ability to apply TIM

I put Kooalance VGA ram sinks on all the major chips on the pcb that wouldnt be watercooled...

Finally, I soldered on a molex cable to the underside of the pcb...

Christmas is getting near now.... not long till the watercooling goes in :eek:

engstrom0304 · 18 Dec 2010 at 20:12

shinester184 said:
Sweet as...can't wait to see what the rad will look like! Get some white cathodes in there too

Did you spray paint indoors? Spray painting outside at this time of the year can make the paint crack...and I'm meant to be doing it this week :O

i sprayed it in the warmer part of last week so it was ok!!

It all depends on the paint you pick really.
... special thanks to MotherMayI for the help with that.

engstrom0304 · 18 Dec 2010 at 20:20

PROBLEM number 1 :O

Ok... so i bought a fillport .. and on the website it said.. "cut a 1" / 2.54cm hole in the case"

I did exactly that...

Turns out that the full outer diameter of the fillport is 1" not the inner diameter of the nut that fixes it.... Ie. the website was wrong :/

So the fillport went straight through the hole i had laser cut!! :O

So... with help from my technical minded brothers! Here is my plan...

I will cut (with a laser cutter in early january) a piece of acrylic to make a kind of washer.. This will then be glued onto the back of the window where the hole is... the fillport can then be attached to that so that it lies pretty well flush with the window...

This should look really nice anyway as it will be a laser cut circle :rolleyes:

Here is what i have done temporarily out of cardboard and tape...

I made that word temporarliy stand out for all those who don't read threads!!

engstrom0304 · 19 Dec 2010 at 16:08

Monkey Puzzle said:
Is a 2x40mm radiator going to be enough? I would have thought the stock cooler hasd much more cooling surface area...

Well, I have seen a few people use this radiator... and a well known watercooling shop sell a kit for the xbox 360 with this radiator, so i figured that they had done the tests!

engstrom0304 · 19 Dec 2010 at 17:36

Mini update...

Glued the power button into place...

Also... I decided to buy one of these to replace the fill port that didn't fit...

NO HOTLINKING.