Xbox 360 Elite - Avoid!!!!
Discussion
Just picked one up today, to replace my 2nd broken down 360 and it lasted 5 minutes before freezing and dying.
Microsoft have obviously not fixed the reliability problems, which leaves me in the invidious position of not really wanting to spend any more money on their piece of shit, but having to because there is no better alternative.
I mean how hard can it be to make a reliable machine that is based on PC technology from a few years ago?
Microsoft have obviously not fixed the reliability problems, which leaves me in the invidious position of not really wanting to spend any more money on their piece of shit, but having to because there is no better alternative.
I mean how hard can it be to make a reliable machine that is based on PC technology from a few years ago?
glad i read this, my original launch day 360 decided tonight to give me the red ring of death, was going to get an elite tomorrow to repace it, now i am gonna send mine back and wait for another time bomb to arrive, i reckon its down to heat and soldering of poor quality, what a bummer, was getting COD4 beta on monday too,
thats life, Bill Gates is the richest man in the world, develop a reliable product then Bill, you can not take your cash with you.
thats life, Bill Gates is the richest man in the world, develop a reliable product then Bill, you can not take your cash with you.
Actually quite difficult. Power tends to run hot (the 360 uses a derivative of IBM's Power arch rather than Intels' x86) and the 360 has multiple cores... 3? Plus I'd guess a dedicated GPU hammering away. All in a small case. Even with hurricane grade fans I'd still say it's gonna overheat sooner or later. Compared to the engineering that goes in to a laptop's cooling system, the 360/360 Elite tear downs I've seen are quite twee and primitive by comparison.
But, considering you just got it, probably haven't stuffed it in an enclosed space and it's died; it's probably one that slipped past QA rather than the Elite's are all duff.
But, considering you just got it, probably haven't stuffed it in an enclosed space and it's died; it's probably one that slipped past QA rather than the Elite's are all duff.
kiwisr said:
From my scant and initial research it appears that the Elites are no different from earlier 360's in terms of construction. Still the store should swap it tomorrow.
They have the up rated cooler and the epoxy around the CPU/GPU, should also have the X frame underneath the cooler for added rigidity? It's what replacement and new 360's are shipping with, but different from a launch era console. IIRC, the Elites have the same internals as the existing 360's, but with an HDMI port and a bigger HD bolted on the side.
There was no reason to expect any better reliability from them than the exising one as they are 99.9% the same.
There is a new, 'new one' on the way that should address the reliability issues, but not too many concrete details on it, smaller, more efficient processor that runs cooler iirc.
There was no reason to expect any better reliability from them than the exising one as they are 99.9% the same.
There is a new, 'new one' on the way that should address the reliability issues, but not too many concrete details on it, smaller, more efficient processor that runs cooler iirc.
Just as an aside, what sort of temps do you keep your houses at?
I'm in Dubai so my place is airconned and kept around 21C but the xbox sits at the back of the lounge conveniently where the cold air comes down.
I have a mate who's xbox failed but he kept it right next to a radiator which was never going to help the thing.
I'm in Dubai so my place is airconned and kept around 21C but the xbox sits at the back of the lounge conveniently where the cold air comes down.
I have a mate who's xbox failed but he kept it right next to a radiator which was never going to help the thing.
:J: said:
There is a new, 'new one' on the way that should address the reliability issues, but not too many concrete details on it, smaller, more efficient processor that runs cooler iirc.
Not totally sure it'll run much cooler but AFIC that they're swapping from 65nm to 45nm? Hopefully the cooler assembly will be able to cope with the newer chip.I do wonder why the machine is cooking itself though (heat pops the chip of the board), every PC since the year dot has had thermal protection built in, I'd guess the old PPC designs had it built in... it's odd that this derivative of Power doesn't appear to.
This is what my week-old box is throwing up, before crashing or dying with disc read errors...
Warranty job on the DVD drive, then.
Surely it's costing far more in warranty repairs, emergency design revisions, and whatnot than it would have cost to just put in a decent heatsink and optical drive from the outset?
Warranty job on the DVD drive, then.
Surely it's costing far more in warranty repairs, emergency design revisions, and whatnot than it would have cost to just put in a decent heatsink and optical drive from the outset?
Timberwolf said:
Surely it's costing far more in warranty repairs, emergency design revisions, and whatnot than it would have cost to just put in a decent heatsink and optical drive from the outset?
Possibly. But remember Microsoft has a substantial war chest, the 360 could be hoovering cash and Windows, Office sales will prop it up (just like they do the rest of the MS empire). Besides which, not every 360 that leaves the factory fails or is noticed to fail (due to low usage).
this is the best article i have found on the ring of death,
https://www.manncorp.com/expert_04.6x_xbox_repair_...
https://www.manncorp.com/expert_04.6x_xbox_repair_...
There is a new way of fitting the heat sinks apparently, but it requires a special motherboard type, the 'falcon' iirc, which will come in whent hey shrink the die size...although they're only going to be shrinking the CPU, not the GPU. Not sure when that new board will be filtering out of the fab plants.
This is all sounding a little bit confusing but if they're crashing now then it's a definite no-no!
There was one question I still had about the standard/elite thing though. The Elite say's it comes with the HD component cable and a HDMI port thang.
Has the elite got a different output then? The only reason I ask is because I want to use the best cable possible from my 360 to my HD TV and I can't find an HDMI one anywhere?
Does it not exist and is that component HD Cable the best available?
Sorry, got a little side tracked.
There was one question I still had about the standard/elite thing though. The Elite say's it comes with the HD component cable and a HDMI port thang.
Has the elite got a different output then? The only reason I ask is because I want to use the best cable possible from my 360 to my HD TV and I can't find an HDMI one anywhere?
Does it not exist and is that component HD Cable the best available?
Sorry, got a little side tracked.
Bromwich said:
Has the elite got a different output then? The only reason I ask is because I want to use the best cable possible from my 360 to my HD TV and I can't find an HDMI one anywhere?
Does it not exist and is that component HD Cable the best available?
Sorry, got a little side tracked.
The Elite's the only one you can use a HDMI cable with. If it's a 1st Gen machine, then the Component or VGA (if your screen has a PS input) cable will do the job. But with these, you need to have a digital audio signal from the 360 to your amp/screen also.Does it not exist and is that component HD Cable the best available?
Sorry, got a little side tracked.
Tuan
SpeedyGonzales said:
RobDickinson said:
Standard Premium Xbox 360's will have HDMI soon, the Halo 3 edition does and I'd expect them all too sometime before xmas.
Good,good. Is the Premium Xbox 360 worth buying?The core plays games OK but is very limited without a HDD, the Elite (if the premiium has HDMI) offers extra HDD space and 'black'.
If you use your 360 for games, the odd demo (and stream music etc with WME) and live arcade 20gig is plenty.
If your planning to download TV/movies and rip CD's onto it etc then get the larger hdd.
Its by far the best 'hardcore' games machine for now.
Gassing Station | Video Games | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff