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Saturday, June 18, 2011

A simple fan shroud mod for Xbox 360

One reason why the Xbox 360 has so many problems is poor air circulation. When you open up an Xbox 360, you see 2 heat sinks and a white plastic "shroud" coordinating air flow.


What the Microsoft engineers seem to have forgotten is that air will travel in the path of least resistance. As a result, the heat sink on the left (for the GPU) receives a very small portion of the air flow to cool it off... this is why the GPU is where most problems occur on the Xbox 360.

To fix this, we're going to create a divider so that both heat sinks will receive equal air flow - greatly reducing the operating temperature of the GPU. I would highly recommend doing this to any 360 that is not under warranty, as it can prevent the RRoD.



First, download the PDF template for the divider.

Download Template

Print it out on either plain computer paper or card stock (doesn't matter)


Use some duct tape and tape the back of the paper behind the design - this will give it some rigidity if using paper.


Now flip it back over and cut out the design!


This should be the result once you're done cutting.


Now make a small 2-piece wide sheet of duct tape - sticky side up and place your divider on top. We're doing this so that both sides are taped and we can still see the outline of the design.


Cut off the excess duct tape while following the design. Your divider should now be fairly rigid and fully covered in duct tape.

Now that the divider is complete, take the plastic shroud out of your Xbox and do a test fit.


Notice how the divider touches the motherboard, but does not obstruct anything around the heat sinks. There is a small black capacitor near your fan - just put the divider on the other side of it as pictured.

Place the shroud back onto the Xbox 360 to make sure everything fits and nothing is obstructed.


Pull the shroud and the divider off together, so that the position of the divider will be correct when you place it back on. Tape the divider to the shroud.





Now place the shroud back on your Xbox 360. Guide the divider to make sure it's in the proper position.

Reassemble your Xbox 360 and enjoy a cooler GPU!

Please note that using this template on cardboard is okay. Some people think cardboard will catch fire, but I've tested the flammability of the cardboard with my heat gun using temperatures far hotter than anything your Xbox will ever produce (800F). The worst it did was blacken it. Also, please be sure to keep your Xbox 360 in an open area with plenty of ventilation so this mod can do it's job!

Until next time...

83 comments:

  1. great, now i just need a new x-box. hehe.

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  2. Nice, I'll have to do this with my Xbox!

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  3. So this should be done once your warranty is up right. but this with a fresh x clamp should keep the RRoD away pretty good

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  4. Wonder if this will damper sound at all? My Xbox sounds like someone started up a chainsaw in my room.

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  5. Fascinating mod! I wonder why Microsoft hasn't implemented something to prevent overheating?

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  6. I'm going to go get the materials then try this on my xbox next week, thanks!

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  7. Very nice, I'm always afraid of getting the RRoD

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  8. damn, that's a really nice tip. It's cool that you can something against it yourself and it seems pretty easy to do.

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  9. This will be a great way to cool down the Xbox. I have a really enclosed cabinet for it, and I have to worry about it overheating all the time.

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  10. Wow nice!
    I'm going to try that!
    Thanks

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  11. If only my xbox wasnt already dead :(

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  12. great info, thanks for the help

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  13. Very interesting. Cool (:

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  14. I haven't had any overheating all these years, should I still do it?

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  15. And someone was (really well) paid to project that...
    You're awesome, man. Keep saving us from Microsoft stupidities.

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  16. For a much quieter 360 you could try water cooling, I've seen some people do it

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  17. Amazing skills, pal. If my friend agree, we will try to do this to his xbox.

    Good job!

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  18. Nice. I'm a bit nervous to try it out myself, but I think I'll go through with it this weekend.

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  19. Thanks for the tip, my Xbox has an overheat problem a few days ago but I fixed it. If it ever happens again, I'll be sure to try this.

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  20. hey you just gave me a very good idea, i hate to put an external fan next to my 360

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  21. Thanks this is really helpful. Keep the helpful blogs coming

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  22. Right, definitely a way to cool it. Most folks never reapply that heatsink cream, even years after.

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  23. Now if only I had seen this a week ago before my system Red Ringed.

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  24. wanna try this,nice and thanks a lot!

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  25. That looks like a pretty cool DIY mod! Almost anything is good if you need to cool you console (; Thank You for the post!

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  26. It's a shame that I'm considering getting rid of my 360 at this stage to be honest.

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  27. Great article, I may have to try this out. I guess i've really lucked out when it comes to my xbox. I've had the same once since 2008. Which is pretty good as far as I can tell.

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  28. You would think such a large and successful corporation wouldn't have overlooked such an important aspect of the console design. It's a good thing guides like this exist on the internet so your average person can keep playing their games on their old consoles.

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  29. If i hadn't done a x-clamp repair to fix my RRoD i might have given this a shot ;)

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  30. Wow thanks, I am definitely going to do this!

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  31. this seems super simple - gonna give it a go

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  32. i need to fix my xbox, i will try this. thanks!

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  33. Nice, i'm definately going to try this

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  34. thanks for that, i think i will try it

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  35. I don't get it. ANY engineer knows that heat is the killer of practically all systems. Idiots.

    Thanks for the fix!

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  36. I'll break da fuck outta dat
    Very interesting blog!
    Check mine out!
    +Followed!

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  37. Fantastic post. You would think that they would be able to design it properly in the first place wouldn't you?!

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  38. They don't care, infact they probably do it on purpose. This method of poor air circulation probably won't affect the console after a year (after the warranty has expired), so it means you either get it repaired, or buy a new one, win win for Microsoft.

    I broke my Xbox before the year warranty was over (purposely) so I could get it fixed for free, it's not like it costs them much anyway.

    Following

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  39. Also, I forgot to mention this is the most interesting blog I've seen, good job :>

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  40. That is pretty neat. Not an xbox fan but its cool to read.

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  41. Just referred a friend with issues with his 360 shutting off after a while playing! Looking forward to new guides!

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  42. Simple but effective. Why didn't Microsoft do that?

    Interesting blog!

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  43. great visual guide mate :)

    Ill bookmark this incase my 360 starts to overheat

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  44. Nice. I'd do this to mine but the girlfriend would kill me if she saw me trying to take the xbox apart. After last time...

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  45. This might make getting a 360 worth it for me now.

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  46. So that's why my xbox overheats. Thanks for info +follow

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  47. I might do this to my 360 sometime

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  48. Wish I woulda known about this. Might help my friend though.

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  49. I still don't understand why Microsoft designed it like this, hopefully everything is fine with the new Slims.

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  50. It's pretty strange that Microsoft didn't figure something like this out.

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  51. XBox might have this problem but it doesnt matter Xbox is still an awesome system to own "). Though microsoft should have thought better about this problem. +follow

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  52. My notebook computer has a serious overheating problem. The intel i series seems to have a problem with cooling.

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  53. good job mate, stupid engi's tbh

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  54. Great tip man gonna do this on my xbox it doesnt get rrod or anything but takin any precaution because its liek 5 years old

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  55. Followed~ I don't have an xbox but you're interesting enough <3

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  56. Looks simple, hope it works.

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  57. too risk for me, i dont have these skills

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  58. Love the help here, I did something similar when my xbox red-ringed, I also replaced the xclamps and stuff, gave me an extra year with my old system.

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  59. new blogger here, looks quite interesting; the moment I saw the words "bad air circulation," my hp laptop came to mind. "Hurr We're going to put the fan on the bottom left corner and the air holes on the bottom of it so it will overheat and you can buy a new one!" Microsoft is probably well aware of this problem and intended to construct the 360 that way in hopes that people's 360's will overheat so they'll have to pay for repairs if they don't have the warranty or have to buy a new 360. As far-fetched as this seems, they're in business, man.

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  60. I will totally tear my 360 apart now, that's just awesome!

    Thanks for the info

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  61. This seems to be the right tool to cool down my XBOX. Sometimes it gets so hot, I could cook eggs on it ;).

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  62. Looks easy enough, might try it.
    Following.

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  63. Are you an engineer?

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  64. nice article! you should work for these manufacturers, and show them your improvments

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  65. great tip, thanks! I'll be following you for more ;)

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  66. Nice, my Xbox recently got Red Rings :(

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  67. Nice, but what happened to the pdf download? I can't access it.

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  68. We can't access the PDF download. Please fix!!!

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  69. Could this be done with plastic?

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