RROD 360

krotch

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Aug 12, 2004
Messages
4,509
Well, I'm modding my 360. As for right now, I have gotten some of the parts I will be using. The 360 is going to get transferred to a Lian Li PC-V800b case. It'll get some new heatsinks, tied to a PC PSU, and that's all I've got for now.

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2 pics of what the heatsinks will look like mounted. I don't plan on using those Koolance mounts. I just used those to stabilize the heatsinks for the pics. I'll be making some custom brackets to hold down the heatsinks.

I also will need to pop off the caps and remove some of the fins and trim down the heatpipes. As of right now, the heatsinks sit too high to fit into the PC-V800b.

I was planning on soldering wires to the mobo to attach the PSU, but a 15w soldering iron just isn't enough to make that a reality. Until I decide to go out and get another soldering iron, I just decided to cut the 360's PSU cable instead. I put some connectors on the wires and plugged it into a euro terminal block.

I purchased a PC Power and Cooling 370w PSU. Enough to power the 360 and watercooling, if I decide to go that route again. I'll be using a 24 pin to 20 pin converter to connect up to the other end of the terminal block. This way I won't need to destroy a perfectly good PSU for the mod. Not to mention easy swapping, if the PSU blows on me.

Don't plan on working on the heatsink/360 this weekend. It'll be case preparations. I need to pop the rivets on the mobo/pci backing, then replace it. I was considering some modder's mesh, but it's pretty much impossible to find in Germany. Will just go with some good old aluminium.

Will do a little solder work to connect up the reset button (for dvd-rom eject) and the power button. Some USB extension cables cut up to connect the front panel USB ports. The firewire and audio ports will just be sitting there dead.

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As with any mod, things are subject to change. If you have any suggestions. I'm all ears. If I like it, may do it. Unless it's out of my skillset.

Also yes, I do own more than one 360. 4 to be exact. 2 RRODs, 2 working. The 2 RRODs will be contributed to this mod. I'll be fixing the RROD problem along the way.
 
Rrrrrod mod. :D I don't really see the point in putting an xbox in a pc case, but interesting to see anyway.
 
More interior space for better cooling. Less chance of an RROD. Not to mention swapping to a PC PSU. Allows me to do 110/220v. As of right now, my 360 is plugged into a 500w transformer, to step down the voltage to 110.

Better time than any, considering the NXE update has been causing an increase in RRODs.
 
That's one X360 which won't be overheating and melting its soldering pads :D
 
Should be interesting, though I am curious how you are actually going to shorten the heatpipes . . . I don't see that happening with a 15w soldering iron. Are you just going to remove the fins then bend all the pipes and hope not to screw them up?

Don't mean to be pessimistic, just curious how you are going to go about shortening those heatsinks without destroying them. They are purdy!
 
I'll try soldering them first. If that doesn't work. Hacksaw.
 
What I meant by soldering them was after shortening them and then trying to seal them back up, which I don't see happening and still have a usable product. You've got to make sure you don't lose the fluid/gas/material on the inside of the tube, and make sure there is the correct amount for the length of the tube, and then get all the air out and seal the ends back up. I just don't see that happening with a 15w soldering iron or a hacksaw.

Just don't want to see you lose two very nice heatsinks. You're probably better off finding heatsinks that will fit correctly.
 
meh just cut holes in the side of the case so you can see the fins sticking out. IMO that would look quite cool
 
meh just cut holes in the side of the case so you can see the fins sticking out. IMO that would look quite cool

Hah, I want to see this, but not sure I'd want to see such a beautiful case ruined for it. :D

Definitely want to see how this turns out, more more!
 
Those heatsinks fit that project well and it's unfortunate that they are too high to fit in the case. I wouldn't consider cutting them though. Once you puncture a heatpipe the internal liquid will gas and begin to escape.
 
I'll see how it goes. I find that some of these heatpipes have zero liquid inside them. If I ruin it, no big deal. I'll just select some other heatsinks to try out.

Edit:

Just cut one of the pipes. Absolutely nothing in it. Not really surprised by it. Cut a few other heatpipe heatsinks before, which also had nothing in them. Also cut the heatpipes on mobos before, which also had nothing in them.
 
um, of course you didn't notice anything escaping... it's a gas pressurized to liquid form in heatpipes... And as soon as you release the pressure it returns to gas.
 
um, of course you didn't notice anything escaping... it's a gas pressurized to liquid form in heatpipes... And as soon as you release the pressure it returns to gas.

You mean it's just water, ethanol, or some other actual liquid. If you pressurize a gas to liquid form, what do you think is going to happen with the heatpipe when this gas is heated, then turned back into a gas? You might as well just toss a propane tank into a fire.

A heatpipe will have liquid in it and vacuum sealed. This allows space for the liquid to expand into a gas.

Anyways, there was no liquid in this heatpipe. Plenty of other stuff don't have liquid either. Like OCZ Reaper memory's heatpipes.

Wow this looks cool, I wonder when it will be complete??

Well, not sure when this mod will get finished. I'll be doing little by little each weekend. The actual install won't be long, but the small stuff for aesthetics will keep going for a while.
 
There should be liquid in heatpipes because that's the principle by which they work...
The hot surface evaporates the liquid so that it turns into gas and condenses on the cold surface. rinse and repeat. what are you talking about with propane tanks blowing up...
 
Man somebody who smokes camels, I miss the old recipe. Since the change its marb reds, and now back to the beer.
 
There should be liquid in heatpipes because that's the principle by which they work...
The hot surface evaporates the liquid so that it turns into gas and condenses on the cold surface. rinse and repeat. what are you talking about with propane tanks blowing up...

The principle is that they should have liquid in the heatpipe, but this is not always the case. It's simply cheaper to not put liquid in the heatpipe and vacuum seal it. It happens a lot.

Anyways, I was talking about propane tanks blowing up, because the other guy thinks they pressurize gas inside a heatpipe until it turns into a liquid state. Which would be the dumbest idea ever. Highly pressurized gas and heat do not mix.
 
Just make sure that the heat transfer works as well as it did before. After bending heatpipes I always test them on an oven plate to make sure that the far end of the pipe gets hot real fast.
I highly doubt this will work when you hack them. BTW, they HAVE liquid inside them, just not very much (almost zero), and the is in fact a lower pressure inside those pipes to ease evaporation and condensation.
On all heatpipes I accidentally destroyed I could hear a slight "hiss" when they went the way of the Dodo.

Why not just bend the heatsinks in some kind of wavy form? Did this with some Thermaltake Silent Towers back then, worked like a charm (and looked cool)
 
Just make sure that the heat transfer works as well as it did before. After bending heatpipes I always test them on an oven plate to make sure that the far end of the pipe gets hot real fast.
I highly doubt this will work when you hack them. BTW, they HAVE liquid inside them, just not very much (almost zero), and the is in fact a lower pressure inside those pipes to ease evaporation and condensation.
On all heatpipes I accidentally destroyed I could hear a slight "hiss" when they went the way of the Dodo.

Why not just bend the heatsinks in some kind of wavy form? Did this with some Thermaltake Silent Towers back then, worked like a charm (and looked cool)

There's enough liquid is some to drip out. I had a Coolermaster heatsink that did that. Anyways, not all heatpipes will have any liquid at all. I don't know why everyone thinks it needs to have liquid.

Whether there is liquid or not, the copper is going to move the heat. Might get the same performance, might get worse. I couldn't tell ya. I know I'll get worse performance regardless, as I'm pulling fins off it.

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=892&num=1

Not all heatpipes are built the same or have liquid. Mine, do not have liquid. Hell, they don't even have anything inside them. Just a hollow copper pipe. Would work the same as the old copper core heatsinks.


Also not sure how I'm going to bend the heatsink in a wavy form. The fins are tightly packed together and don't provide any space to bend anything. I can't bend at the bottom of the heatsink, as then it won't fit on the 360. It barely fits now, due to the stupid caps. why Microsoft didn't go to a capless design is beyond me.
 
Anyways, I was talking about propane tanks blowing up, because the other guy thinks they pressurize gas inside a heatpipe until it turns into a liquid state. Which would be the dumbest idea ever. Highly pressurized gas and heat do not mix.

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=892&num=1

Not all heatpipes are built the same or have liquid. Mine, do not have liquid. Hell, they don't even have anything inside them. Just a hollow copper pipe. Would work the same as the old copper core heatsinks.

Umm, kay. Did you read that article you linked to? Says to me...
Heatpipes are generally made of copper or aluminum and filled with a fluid such as water, ethanol, mercury, or a pressurized gas.
 
Seriously, do you know anything about heatpipes? There are heatpipes that use pressurized gases. None of these heatpipes are used as a heatsink for a PC. Why? Cause if you pressurize a gas into liquid state, it cannot vaporize, due to the pressure. It needs space to expand.

Now there are heatpipes for industrial use that use pressurized gases in their heatpipes. It works, because they have the ability to control the pressure for the heatpipe. No PC heatsink is going to use pressurized gases.
 
I really didn't mean to start a debate over heatpipes, I just didn't want you to potentially lose/ruin such beautiful heatsinks. I'd be pissed if they were mine and I did.

I hope everything works for you, as it is quite a cool design, and I would like to see the finished product.
 
Drilled out the rivets yesterday to pop out the PCI backing. Went to the local Hornbach. It's like a Home Depot, but German. Anyways, found something nice to pop into the case to cover the big gaping hole from the removal of the PCI backing.

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Now I need to get a cheap table vice grip to do some metal bending. Guess I'll get a square pipe to, for the bend work.
 
Coming up with more ideas along the way.

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I'm going to be swapping the PSU cable end with this new cable end. A kind PS3 decided to donate part of itself to the mod. Since the PSU is going to be left in a "always on" state, I need a way to turn if off and on. Not much I can do about it.
 
Alright, since it's night time and I can't make noise. Do the little mods.

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Soldered on the power cable to the PS3 part and also extended the dvd-rom's power cable. I wanted to sleeve the dvd-rom's power cable, but they made all the cables black. So if I pop it out of the connector, I won't know how to put it back together.

I have a lot of solder, so I wrapped that around the cable for the picture. It looks like ass if I didn't. I'll probably get some of the spiral wrap for it.
 
Playing with solder and wires. Since Sunday is a quiet day in Germany, can't make a whole lot of noise. Anyways, solder some wire to the dvd-rom eject switch on the mobo. Also doing some solder work to the light/power switch PCB. Did it wrong, but found out how to do it the right way with a paperclip. Now to resolder.
 
Pulled off 7 fins on the heatsink and it still doesn't fit. Looks like I have to pull off another 7-10 fins just to make it fit. I think that might be a bit much. Gonna pull off some more and see how it goes.
 
Coming up with some random ideas for the dvd-rom. With the plastic legs on it, it's too large to fit into a 5.25" bay. I cut those off, but of course, without them it's too small. I think I'll be cutting out a window, then wrapping it with the mesh. Add a few LEDs in it also to get a glow effect out of the mesh. The mesh will also help me to mount the drive to the case.

All I've done for today is solder some wires to the light/power PCB and also onto the mobo. I'd like to solder some wires and LEDs onto the light/power PCB, but the contact points are close. Probably too close for my soldering skills.

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Forgot to pick up some silicone adhesive to seal up the heatsink. I'll be able to test it out today. I'll be mounting it to a C2D E4500 (2.2 ghz). See how it compares to the stock Intel heatsink.
 
It's not looking good for the heatsink. Stock heatsink has the proc sitting at around 40C at 35-40% load. The modified heatsink has it going at around 55C at 35-40% load. I'm just using Asus PC Probe to check temps. I don't need it to be super accurate, just enough to see if the sink works.

I wish I could mount the 360's heatsinks on, but then I'd have to make custom brackets for them, just to test it. Too lazy for that. Back to Newegg.

Edit:

Unmodified has it sitting at 30C at 35-40% load.
 
Well, looks like I'll need to get another momentary switch. Forgot about the switch for the controller sync. So I'll make the reset button into that and put another momentary switch for the dvd-rom near the dvd-rom.

Will start on the heatsink brackets tomorrow, which shouldn't take long. Also have to do some cutting to the case and dvd-rom. Then off to get some C-clamps and square pipe.

Then at night, since I can't make any noise, I'll be doing some image editing for a custom laser engraved window. Going with an Idolm@ster image. The games are available on the 360 and I like the game. So it's a good match.

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I actually own the Master Book. I scanned it in at 600 dpi. I'll be moving the Im@s logo down to around the 1st rows legs. Once that's done, off to Hyperkore.
 
This is nutty...

PC, 360, PS3, Anime, modded heatsinks, custom PSU setup, dude... wow.

I'm mostly interested in the HSF and the PSU setup but the other stuff is cool too :p
 
I got the Asus Triton 70 heatsinks. They fit perfectly, but do need custom brackets. I had to swap because my case isn't that tall, so the Scang-1000 don't fit. I'll need to head out to find some screws and nuts now. I think it might be some random German holiday, so might not happen til tomorrow.
 
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