Xbox 'slim' vs older models (heat and vents)

[cimerians]

Want to ask if the newer model 360's generate more heat? It seems with quick gaming and with long kinect sports marathons my Star Wars unit generates a lot of heat and I noticed the vents are on top. I also tried playing a bit on my older Call of Duty model unit and it didn't generate nearly the same amount of heat unless there are fewer vents on older models and its trapping most inside? Not sure.

 

Either way I moved my Star Wars unit on top of a book shelf (open air) and even though it looks kind of crappy up there I want to make sure it survives. Kids have been having kinect sports marathons the last few weekends which is good....I'm glad the kinect is getting some use.

[RickR]

The slim model seems to generate less heat. I believe they used a more miniaturized fab technology on the CPU and graphics chip. Also, they aren't as noisy. That being said, it still makes me nervous about it breaking someday...

 

You are correct that the older COD model traps more heat inside. My advice for all xboxes is to give them as much space as possible to let the heat escape. I have my slim mounted sideways on the floor next to our TV console. It is mounted on two triangular shims so it is about 4 inches off the floor.

[+remowilliams]

I'd guess the newer units produce less heat in total due to the board/chip redesigns but they seem to be far more effective at venting heat, which may make it seem like they 'generate' more.

 

And yeah if you want it to survive, you can't have it baking up its own surroundings.

[Taskmaster99]

I have an old model(which got the RRoD). Got it fixed. My wife bought me the slim model when they came out. I play the slim more cuz it does seem to run cooler.

[cimerians]

Ok that was my hunch...the ventilation is better on the newer ones so I noticed "more" heat being released which is a good thing. Just wasn't really sure.

[onlysublime]

man, I love Kinect Sports! your kids are awesome! love a good game of table tennis. volleyball is also great.

[Vic George 2K3]

I've only had the Slim for a few years, and so far it's still working perfectly, but only because I don't play with it so often.

[Taskmaster99]

I will go a little more in depth on my previous post. Playing games for hours on end with my original ....you could feel the heat not only on the system but also on the disc. Playing my slim for more hours at a time.....less heat from both system and ejected disc. And I am talking some serious hours!!!

[Video]

The disc will get some heat just because of the laser used to read it will generate heat. (I've actually been concerned with DVD since they came out due to how hot they seemed to get)

 

As for the system itself, my old Fat Xbox never got super hot, or even had a lot of hot air come out of the vents. But good lord, you could probably cook on the heat that comes out of the vent of the s model.

 

During winter months, I literally use the 360 as a space heater when it's on, cause it puts out that much heat.

 

I can only guess that it's just getting rid of it more efficiently than the original model was, so it stays cooler inside, but to be honest, I don't know how it keeps working.

[cimerians]

The disc will get some heat just because of the laser used to read it will generate heat. (I've actually been concerned with DVD since they came out due to how hot they seemed to get)

 

As for the system itself, my old Fat Xbox never got super hot, or even had a lot of hot air come out of the vents. But good lord, you could probably cook on the heat that comes out of the vent of the s model.

 

During winter months, I literally use the 360 as a space heater when it's on, cause it puts out that much heat.

 

I can only guess that it's just getting rid of it more efficiently than the original model was, so it stays cooler inside, but to be honest, I don't know how it keeps working.

 

Thats exactly how my Star Wars model is..a mini space heater.

 

It seriously gives off major heat off the top vents. As long as everything is cool inside I'm ok with that and it can live on a cover free shelf.

[HammR25]

From a collector's standpoint the two things to worry about would be the hard drive and the dvd drive. The S model will shut itself down before it overheats.

[Video]

Well, the disc drive is still widely available (and will probably be so for a decade or so after the system becomes fully defunct) as for the DVD, I save a lot of wear and tear by installing the games, they just read on boot and are unused otherwise.

 

Of course, by then, I"m sure the intuitive folks of the homebrew community will come up with replacement solutions for dying HDD and DVD drives.

 

Hell, look at some of what is being done for old computers like the C=64...I'm sure the folks that originally made the system never imagined running gigs of disc space off cheap SD cards (among other things)

[madmax2069]

I have a Jasper 360, its doesn't get as hot as older 360 models, it about like the slim, actually I do believe it stays a few degrees cooler.

[svenski]

I too have a Jasper 360. It only once got extremely hot, but that was when I'd been playing Oblivion for hours on end, and it was about 35c outside and about 30c inside. The controller took on a life of its own and was a good hint that maybe it was time to turn the thing off and give it a rest for a while.

 

I've found it to be a great and reliable machine so far, but I've heard bad things about using the Kinect with the older fat models so have never bothered getting one. Kinect doesn't interest me really, not enough to risk the death of my Xbox.

[FastRobPlus]

To find the heat generated, look at the power supplies. Higher watt PSUs generate more energy and are a good indicator that the unit will run hotter.

 

I wrote this article describing the Xbox 360's PSUs a few years back, but it's still relevant:

 

http://support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-360/console-power/power-supply