XBOX fan speed setting help.

[jhitman]

Hello community!
I would like to know some things...
1) why are some XBOX equipped with 2 fans and some are only equipped with one fan? Do the "one fan" XBOX heat up more and could break faster or not?
2) what speed do you set your Fan Speed to in the settings (1x to 5x) and is it better to put it at 5x so that it doesnt heat up or is it, on the opposite, actually worse cuz it will weaken the fan/system?
3) what do you guys think of placing a cooling pad under the xbox when using it ( see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK5aSTxJ6T4 ) so that it doesnt heat up?
The reason why Im stressed about the heating is because this is the third XBOX that I buy...and the first one that doesnt actually shut down for no apparent reason after the softmod (I used unleashX + Ndure softmod by hotswappin hard disks)
The main difference between this last one that I bought and the 2 others is that the others, as soon as I plug them in, they turn on without me pressing any button. The new one that I bought doesnt; I have to press the power button to power it. Also, the broken ones never shut down when I want them to, they reboot right away....they only shut down when the machine just turns off by itself (probably because of heating I assume, Im not sure at all). The last one does shut down correctly when I want it to and thank God till now it hasnt turned off by itself once
So after having softmodded 3 XBOX, Im kinda fedup with all the work/money I invested in those projects and Im super stressing about this new working one (finally) shutting off for no reason like the others or heating up to the point where it breaks!
Im also very insecure because this new XBOX thats works (till now) doesnt have two fans but only one main fan placed in the back...
Is there any kind of prevention I can do for it not to become like the others (starting to shut down randomly)? Im thinking about that cooling pad for laptops....could be a good idea no? For how long do you guys keep watching movies/playing games on your XBOX without it heating up too much or even breaking? Fan speed in settings? Max temperature for CPU and GPU before it becomes dangerous?
Any opinions on everything I wrote are more than welcome and thank you in advance for reading all of this and for your time
~ORIGINAL XBOX FOR THE WIN~ best console ever haha
jhitman

[xman]

Well let's start with,
#1..Because early Xboxes, ( only version 1.0 ), have 2 fans. I personally try to steer clear of them because they are noisy as a result of running 2 fans. As for cooling better, I think not. The later machines simply had bigger heat sinks that don't require fans.
#2.. I run mine at 20% in XBMC and also 20% in the modchip bios. Modchip bios doesn't really matter unless the machine fails to boot XBMC but your running softmods anyway. Just keep your eye on the heat in the XBMC info page at the temps till you know all is good. I summer I run machines that are in an inclosure at 40c, (XBMC setting), but I'm in Australia and next week it is predicted to hit 30-40c.
#3..My only abvice is don't put the machine on carpet because it will suck up a lot more dust and will also restrict the required airflow.

Now,

The reason why Im stressed about the heating is because this is the third XBOX that I buy...and the first one that doesnt actually shut down for no apparent reason after the softmod (I used unleashX + Ndure softmod by hotswappin hard disks)
The main difference between this last one that I bought and the 2 others is that the others, as soon as I plug them in, they turn on without me pressing any button. The new one that I bought doesnt; I have to press the power button to power it. Also, the broken ones never shut down when I want them to, they reboot right away....they only shut down when the machine just turns off by itself (probably because of heating I assume, Im not sure at all). The last one does shut down correctly when I want it to and thank God till now it hasnt turned off by itself once jhitman

Interesting, I would say your actual problem is corroded traces on the motherboard that is causing the machine to boot up and off by itself rather than heat related issues meaning if you repair the traces that are corroded, you may well have 3 working machines. May need some more info to confirm that suspicion.

For how long do you guys keep watching movies/playing games on your XBOX without it heating up too much or even breaking? Fan speed in settings? Max temperature for CPU and GPU before it becomes dangerous?
Any opinions on everything I wrote are more than welcome and thank you in advance for reading all of this and for your time
~ORIGINAL XBOX FOR THE WIN~ best console ever haha
jhitman

Absolutely no time limit. I have machines on for days at a time. When uploading and building a new 2TB machine, it is not unusual for the machine to be on for over a week so that is nothing to worry about. If a heat issue does occur, the machine will shut down at around 72C and the front LEDs in the on / off button will flash red / green indicating an overheat interruption.

[jhitman]

thank you so much for replying Xman!
so youre telling me that the XBOX shuts down because of heat when temp reaches 72C ? woaw thats pretty high...
So basically, after reading your post, I dont have anything to worry about...I could use my XBOX as much as I want and since the front buttons work well (unlike my other xboxes that are broken) it shouldnt break by itself or shut down for nothing...
By the way, one last question....is it true that running backed up XBOX games from the HDD is extremely CPU demanding and it's not recommended to play them for more than 2-3 hours or else you WILL really have a heating problem?
Because when I play backed up games and open my xbox after, I find that the metal plates on the electricity supply are boiling hot...theyre really REALLY hot...so Im scared to play backed up games...I really dont wanna break my last xbox lol I dont have $$ to buy a new one anymore --'
...Do you guys think its normal that the metal plates on the electricity supply get really really hot? what about yours? thank you

[xman]

Yer, it gets hot in there but just bare in mind, playing games, you are not in XBMC and therefore XBMC's temp control isn't controlling your temp. In my case on a hardmod or chipped machine, it is the bios temp. I'm not real sure how a softmod controls heat. For me I would simply raise that fan speed using a bios editor and put the raised fan speed back in the modchip and it would control the fan speed. Someone with a softmod would be best to answer that for you. As for your other 2 machines that start and stop themselves, that really sounds like a corroded trace problem to me....Have a read of this and see if it matches what your machines are doing. I have done this repair a number of times myself and have found in most of my cases, it was only one of the traces that was causing the problems and once repaired, the problem never came back.
http://forums.llamma.com/viewtopic.php?t=12329

[Nextelhalo]

Also while your digging around in your xbox...............http://www.xbmc4xbox.org.uk/forum/viewt ... f=14&t=158

You dont really have to do the thermal paste mod but look at the last picture of my first post, notice where the metal shielding has been cut on the side of the case(both sides of the case), and behind the fan? This will help with air flow more than you realize. If you re-do the thermal paste it will help even more with temps prolonging the life of your new(ish) xbox.

[AZImmortal]

I just wanted to add that it does sound like the other two Xboxes have corroded traces. If you're handy with a soldering iron (or if you know someone who is), then it's a fairly easy fix, and while you're at it, you should remove the clock capacitor because it's prone to leaking: http://img370.imageshack.us/img370/1595 ... cap7pb.jpg

[jhitman]

Thank you all for your help but Im not sure I really understand xman's last post; when you softmod your xbox (in my case unleashx+ndure), the heat isnt controlled anymore? Which means that the machine could burn and melt the motherboard if I play backedup games for too long (since I run a softmod)...?
+youre tellin me that xbmc "controls the heat" ...? What do you mean by that? You mean that the fan speed varies in fonction of the heat or the machine turns off when its too hot (when running xbmc) ? Thank you in advance for your help gentlemen.
~jhitman~

[Nextelhalo]

What he's saying is that you can adjust the fan speed in XBMC to be higher or lower than the stock speed, which is 20%. So if your in XBMC and you set the fan speed to 40% it will stay at that speed until you exit XBMC (start playing an xbox game) then it goes back to 20%. I'm a chump when it comes to softmods but i know there is a way to tweak the softmod and change the stock speed from 20% to whatever you want, this will help when playing xbox games because that's when the xbox really gets warm, emulators especially. Also XBMC has a mode where you set a target temperature, lets say 125F, the fan will slow down to a very low speed until it starts to get warm and then it will turn up the speed to keep the xbox at the 125F mark.

[MrMajst3r]

If you use Ndure softmod (especially Krayzie, I haven't tested it with Kingroach) theres is very simple and usefull app:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zoxtuvhisk8fr ... tras.zip?m

You can simply (without manual editing any files) change fan settings, led colors, multiboot options, etc.

Pass is AYBX.