Xbox 360 mod project log

Just a thought, are you certain the problem you are having is heat related? I am fairly sure the E74 error is more likely to be the Hama chip (is that the right spelling?) to the rear left of the GPU.

How have you attached the waterblock, are you using the original X-Clamps?

I don't think it is the E74 error i just get 2 rings... And I am certain it is heat related... it gets ridiculously hot!!
The Hama chip has a ramsink on it so I don't think that is a problem...
I am using good old fasioned screws not the dodgy x-clamps :p


Well I don't think that linked one will be small enough but it may be worth a try!! Would several ram sinks make any difference??

Had another thought, could you move the pump to near the bottom of the 360 and position the little rad at the rear where the standard fans go? That way, rather than buying a different rad altogether, what you could do is get another of those little rads and attach it on the outside rear, a little like a rad-fan-rad sandwich :)

Problem with that is that the little rad hasnt got threaded fittings so I couldnt use any fancy 90 degree fittings or anything...It means cutting into the plastic case but you may be on to something there!! Ill take some close consideration to that...


One thing i am slightly concerned about at the moment is that my pump may be unhealthy!! :O Thing is it is not a conistant sound... Anybody else with the DDC hear any variation (only small) in the sound, as in it is whirring a bit..
Also it just doesnt seem that quiet... (the pump i mean).. Could have been damaged by temperature...
Or... COULD IT BE THAT THE LOOP IS TOO SMALL FOR IT???
 
Do you have room to add a second one of the current rads in there somewhere? That would double the cooling surface wouldn't it?

Well, There isnt any more space... It took hours to fit this in as it was!!

Also, as I think was suggested before, how about a proper reservoir, surely the more water you have the cooler it will be?
(Admittedly a lot, if not all, of the above is guesswork)

Well that will only keep the temperature down for so long, when the water reaches equalibrium it will make no difference, it is more important to have an effective / sufficient cooling system?

Obviously a bigger rad would be better but you've done such a nice job to the case it would be disappointing if you had to have a rad on the outside.

Unfortunately, so is having a very loud xbox?


I have ordered some ramsinks which look pretty good to put on the rad to try to disapate more heat... that coupled with the 2 fans i am getting tomorrow should do a good job.

There are 8 of each below...

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Also... Does it make any difference that the rad gets much hotter at the end than in the middle??

Edit: I am planning on getting some final pictures done before the weekend coming (15-16th Jan)
 
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I just realised i have only put in about 1/8th of a litre!! And more worrying i put 2 drops of pt nuke :O

Considering its meant to be 1 - 2 drops per litre ... i have put in at least 8 times too much :O

filling was a pain so would it be worth using a pipet and replace loads of liquid to dilute it? or should i not worry??
 
You can bleed a loop using a T junction, with the middle bit coming off horizontally. You connect it up to a tap, so that water runs straight through and down the drain. This exerts suction on the middle tube. I don't think it's bleeding which is the problem personally, the radiator is very hot so it follows that it must have hot water inside it. If the radiator felt cool but it was overheating then sure, blame air stuck in the waterblock. Bubo is rarely wrong though.

I haven't taken a good look inside a 360, but it seems you may be missing an obvious solution. If you cut a large hole in the side, and mount a 120mm fan on it, it'll blow air into/draw it out of the case. If you also block off all the vents, the air must travel through the 2x40mm radiator. SS has a silent build on here operating on this principle.

Taken to extremes, if you mount fans everywhere you can blowing air into the case, and keep the only way out as through the radiator, you'll achieve airflow through the rad which eclipses the two fans currently on it. I'm suggesting blowing air inwards rather than out, as the motherboard probably wont like having hot air blown across it.

This would also do good things for noise, 140mm fans are a much better way to go than 40mm in that respect.


Well I decided to use the radiator intaking from outside the case because otherwise it would be being cooled from hot air inside the radiator...

Also space is Very limited and I wont be able to fit much larger holes... I may consider getting another panel laser cut and putting bigger exhaust fans in but the costs are now over £400.

Also considering there is little ventilation as it is.. would it not be risky blocking the ventilation?

I'm sorry to jump in at the end here but reading that you're having overheating troubles, I noticed on the photo you've taken of thermal compound applied to the CPU and GPU that the smaller core to the side of the main GPU core doesn't have anything on it? I'm guessing you probably did cover it too, but thought it was worth a mention :).

:O That is the noobiest mistake i have made for a while... :o Time to drain :(
 
Update

Ok, so i have mixed news in this update... Actaully mainly bad...

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Decided to cut a hole for the LCD water temperature probe

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But then realised that the hard drive needs to go there!! :eek:
Mental note: Don't make decisions at 1.30am

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Anyway, started working on another panel that I wil need to repaint :(
Also going to recut yet another window with a hole for the temperature LCD display... as i scratched this one by accident with a file :)

Another mental note: Don't work on projects at 1.30am

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LCD display masked ready for painting....

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Loop being installed with 1/2 tubing on t-line now and a temperature sensor inline...

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And finally, here is one of the fans im putting on the radiator :)

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Ok.. when gaming, the water temperature slowly rises to 45.9 degrees c, and stays there...

Seems too high??

EDIT: Its about as loud as the original xbox 360 on load (probably louder :D )
 
So it's louder and hotter than the original xbox?
That's disappointing, sorry to hear that.

Since you seem to be quite good at the whole perspex modding stuff, could you not make a whole new case for the xbox (or 'fatten up' the existing one) that would give you more space to work in so you could fit bigger rads and fans?

Well... I could sort the problem by buying a 1x80 thick rad and mounting on the top of the acrylic (on outside) with another acrylic grill on top ... fans inside...
Then i could use a much much lower speed fan, and it would be much much quieter and much cooler than this bad 2x40mm rad!!

Thing is... I don't want to spend any more money on it....

Maybe in the future, i will do another xbox 360 mod which moves on from my 'prototype! :p ' to a more practical system that doesnt just have the looks on its side! :D

However, im not sure what the xbox 360 temps usually are... and also I don't know what my xbox 360 temps are going to be when the water temp is 44.9 ?? anybody know how to estimate that??


EDIT: For the whole new case idea... I may do that for another xbox mod in the future, or just a normal pc case mod.. we will see... :)
For this project im going to wrap it all up now i think... will be getting the final pictures up within a week with any luck!
 
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I've got to say that this has been a very interesting project to watch and I am sorry it didn't work out as planned.

Is it useable despite the noise?

Yer the temps are fine... But ofc only because of 2 9500rpm fans...

I am probably going to put a 80mm thick rad on the outside of the acrylic panel allowing for much quieter fans.
 
I have a question for you... Did you have to do any calibration on the inline temperature sensor?

The reason I ask is because I have just purchased one and it is running for the first time right now. I have it on the inlet to the CPU block, so the water should be at its coolest (straight from the reservoir). I have it plugged into my Balancer-T BigNG and without any calibration it claimed at startup that the water temp was 28.5 deg C, which I find rather hard to believe as room temp is 20.5 and the reservoir is decidedly cool. After a short while of running the computer the reading is 31 deg C....

Well i didnt calibrate it no, but i am pretty sure it is right, as it said 21 degrees when it wasnt in the loop and im fairly sure that is about right!
 
I concur with this, judging by the pic of the fan in post #153, fan appears to be blowing into the case.

Hadn't thought of that actually... I was running by the principal that the cool air was cooling the rad as it was from outside the case...
Will give that a try...

Also..

when the xbox is upright, the outlet port on the pump is facing downwards which is bad according to the manual...

Anybody think this is really a problem??
 
Update:

Ok.. so I've gone and done it!!!

Ordered the black ice gt xtreme 80mm rad.

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New panel design with cutout for a new red lit lcd temperature display with white border that i replaced the other lcd with.

EDIT: Holes for barbs still not drawn... waiting for rad to come to get measurements!

EDIT 2: Red is etching!

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Also...
I found this so i bought it to go on top of the rad :)
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Finally... Do you reckon the grill at the top of the panel is too restrictive???
 
Update!

My radiator came!! Now time to complete the design for the new panel and get it cut early next week!!

Question: What are your thoughts on using quick release fittings on the rad so that I can fill without the panel on, then quick release the rad and fix it on again while sandwiched with the panel??

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Also, panel number 2 cut!! Looking a billion percent better than the last... Using the rotary sander on it did a great job!!

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EDIT:
Also bought a noctua 80mm fan...
Specs: 1800 RPM - 17 dB - 31.2 CFM
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New panel cut and grill on rad...

Awaiting on OCUK for the compression fittings that I ordered last saturday :rolleyes:

Ah well theyve never let me down yet!
Also ordered some quick release fittings for the rad.

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