XBox 360 - Causes and Solutions For the XBox Ring of Death
The Cause of the Ring of Death: You may know by now that the Ring of Death occurs because of the Xbox overheating.
Microsoft's designers added not enough necessary cooling devices in the Xbox so that they could create a modern, flat console.
Add to that the processing power the XBox has, and it quite simply doesn't have enough fans and heatsinks to keep the components as cool as they need to be.
What Are Your Chances Of Getting the Ring of Death? The failure rate is apparently about 33%.
With newer models coming out though, this failure rate has supposedly dropped to about 16%.
Some people believe that all consoles are alike, and that you simply get lucky if you don't get it, (or unlucky if you do!).
Others believe that the way it gets used will impact on it happening.
IeProcessor intensive games may heat the console faster.
What to Do to Try to Prevent it: * Make sure that there is enough air flow around your Xbox.
Never keep it in a bookshelf for example, surrounded by books.
* Keep it horizontal as this helps to dissipate the heat.
* Keep your XBox away from heat sources such as radiators and even the sun coming through a window.
* Don't put the power brick on the console or on the floor.
* If you sense that it is overheating during use, you can try using third party fans or cooling devices.
What Can You Do If You Get it? * Microsoft's warranty has been extended to 3 years, so if you have your proof of payment you can send it there.
You could be without your X-Box for between 2 - 8 weeks (depending on where you live), and you may not get back the exact console you sent in to them.
* If your warranty is up, or for some other reason you cannot or don't want to do this, you can try fixing it yourself.
There are quite a few instructions and video clips online which can show you how, but beware, as if you some of the techniques used can damage your Xbox if you are not very careful.
Some sites recommend wrapping the Xbox up in a towel and switching it on.
This can be a short term solution as sometimes this melts the loosened soldered joints.
Eventually though, these soldered areas become brittle and disconnect again.
You should be aware that this method is not advised.
Overheating the console in this way could bring about other component problems, and only helps temporarily in any case!
Microsoft's designers added not enough necessary cooling devices in the Xbox so that they could create a modern, flat console.
Add to that the processing power the XBox has, and it quite simply doesn't have enough fans and heatsinks to keep the components as cool as they need to be.
What Are Your Chances Of Getting the Ring of Death? The failure rate is apparently about 33%.
With newer models coming out though, this failure rate has supposedly dropped to about 16%.
Some people believe that all consoles are alike, and that you simply get lucky if you don't get it, (or unlucky if you do!).
Others believe that the way it gets used will impact on it happening.
IeProcessor intensive games may heat the console faster.
What to Do to Try to Prevent it: * Make sure that there is enough air flow around your Xbox.
Never keep it in a bookshelf for example, surrounded by books.
* Keep it horizontal as this helps to dissipate the heat.
* Keep your XBox away from heat sources such as radiators and even the sun coming through a window.
* Don't put the power brick on the console or on the floor.
* If you sense that it is overheating during use, you can try using third party fans or cooling devices.
What Can You Do If You Get it? * Microsoft's warranty has been extended to 3 years, so if you have your proof of payment you can send it there.
You could be without your X-Box for between 2 - 8 weeks (depending on where you live), and you may not get back the exact console you sent in to them.
* If your warranty is up, or for some other reason you cannot or don't want to do this, you can try fixing it yourself.
There are quite a few instructions and video clips online which can show you how, but beware, as if you some of the techniques used can damage your Xbox if you are not very careful.
Some sites recommend wrapping the Xbox up in a towel and switching it on.
This can be a short term solution as sometimes this melts the loosened soldered joints.
Eventually though, these soldered areas become brittle and disconnect again.
You should be aware that this method is not advised.
Overheating the console in this way could bring about other component problems, and only helps temporarily in any case!
Source...