Ok, Now we all have researched the X-Clamps fix.
And for most of us, it has worked just fine.
Usually, it lasts about a minimum 5 months if it's done right -- And longer if you really do it right.
Now, you're getting the 3RLoD again and it's coming back again.
Most people opt for the purging of the Xbox at this point since it's usually beyond repair.
However, after some trial and error I've found a new fix for this.
I bought an Xbox 360 on eBay about 3 weeks ago. The Xbox had already had the X-Clamps and Artic Silver tricks applied. The secondary error code is a 0020. After removing the motherboard from the case and but keeping the heatsinks attached I did a couple of tests. I slowly loosened the screws for the heatsinks and removed them. The Artic silver was easily over 6 months or more old and was dried slightly. With some rubbing alcohol and a new toothbrush I cleaned both the GPU and CPU and made sure the transistors on top of them had no thermal grease stuck in them.
I also scrubbed the motherboard removing the flux that had seeped off of the components and was starting to pool on the bottom of the motherboard. Afterwards, I replaced the heatsinks to their locations but without the screws. Hit the power, and Bam. All greens.
After attaching the screws to the GPU and CPU at full tightness, I got 3RLoD again. Cool. I slowly loosened the screws attached to the CPU first. A half a turn on each screw. Power. All greens.
Now after comparison with a level and a micro-measurement tool it turns out that the CPU die is slightly higher than the GPU die (aside from the difference between the main die on the GPU and the secondary die.) This means that the CPU HS needs to be slightly less tight than the GPU.
Ok, now we've pretty much isolated the problem to the CPU. After heatgunning the CPU areas there was no improvement in it's performance with a tighter mounted heatsink. So it's really related to the heat warpage around the CPU -- it's proven that the X-clamps actually reverse this downward pressure with upward pressure. Which regardless, leads to the same problem in inverse. So we have to do something about the overall temperature.
WARNINGS:
1. Do NOT for any circumstances, run your X360 without the heatsinks attached. Less than 10 seconds of running them without the heatsinks will damage and/or destroy your components.
2. Be careful when soldering things onto the motherboard. If you don't have experience, get someone who does. No reason to risk countless amounts of money.
3. I'm not held responsible for anything that you do to your Xbox. This tutorial is just for educational purposes and what you do is at your own risk. (Though most likely, this will result in you getting your Xbox back and better than ever.)
After testing this theory on 3 Xbox 360s with similar problems and the 0020 error I got similar results.
Now into the procedure for the fix:
1: If you aren't familar with "lapping" you're heatsinks. Heres the basic concept. You take some sandpaper and sand off the top layer of the HSF surface. You want to use 300grit or above so not to gouge the thermal surface. It should look nice and shiny.
2: Clean both of the surfaces with rubbing alcohol until there is no more debris or anything on the surface.
3: Reapply the thermal paste to the die and the HSF surface in low and even amounts to create a good thermal connecton.
4: Tighten the GPU heatsink fairly tight and make sure you have the plastic washers in between the bolts on both sides of the motherboard so that there is no damage to the traces or motherboard surface.
5: Test tighten your CPU (Single die) until you get it as tight as possible without getting the RLoD. This will take some amounts of paitence and try and back it down slightly from the "over" tightness. Just make sure it's still tight enough to keep a good thermal connection.
6: Remove the plastic fan shroud.
7: Cut a hole that is roughly the size of an 80mm fan's output side over your GPU heatsink top. If you need to, the fins of the heatsink leave a slight imprint on the top inner metal of the case. So use that as your alignment guide. I'd reccommend using a dremel for these.
8: Next, you need to cut the same size hole over the back of your DVD drive. Try to be as neat as possible but theres a good 10% percent error tolerance for these. Just make sure you aim the hole correctly over the back of the DVD drive.
9: Go to your nearest computer part supply store -- Radio Shack has a sale on Thermaltake 3000RPM Red and Black 80MM fans. 4 for 20$. Not a bad deal.
10: For my project, I used those Thermaltake fans with 80mm steel fan grilles. Very important to add those. Don't want anything to fall in there.
11: I mounted them with really short (3cm) decking screws. Obviously, those fans are mounted over the 80mm holes you just cut. (I used decking because of the threads and the material I was mounting it onto. [Plastic and thin aluminum] )
12: I cut the 12V CPU fan hookups that come stock on the fans. You can cut off or disregard the yellow wire as that is for RPM detection and we don't need that for now.
13: Strip the ends of the red and black wires coming off the fans. You should see the exposed copper of the wires. Twist the reds together and the blacks together.
14: These fans run an average of 12volts. You can grab this off of the power supply input plug on the Xbox 360 motherboard.
Heres a link on where to find the hookups:
http://forums.llamma.com/viewtopic.php?t=7074But I don't reccommend that personally.
15: Buy a wall-adapter that supplies minimally 14V and Maximum of 16V. Personally, I used a 16V IBM Thinkpad adapter it supplies plenty of current and looks very clean.
16: You need to buy a socket for the adapter you bought. These can be again found at Radio Shack. It depends on which one you need to buy according to what adapter you bought. So I can't give specific part numbers.
17: Drill a hole in the pack of the case (Without the motherboard present.) right above the power input socket. And mount the socket above it. (Epoxy is your friend here. But hot glue will also do the trick well. where you want to put the socket is really up to you.)
18: Take the ground and positive off of the socket and run wires (22-24 gauge) from the socket to the twisted leads of the fans. Make sure you tape or shrink wrap the wires together to keep them from shorting out components on your motherboard. Also try and keep them tucked to the case itself so that it doesn't interfere with the airflow inside the case.
19: This where you can add an optional case side switch to turn the fans on and off. Honestly, it's highly reccommended. Since overvolted PC fans can push major air, it'll also sound like twin jet engines.
20: Check to make sure the fans work by plugging in your DC adapter into the socket. And throw the switch. Those fans should crank some major air.
21: Attach the fan grilles. (If you hadn't already.) Make sure you leave the old fan shroud off. You shouldn't need it anymore because of the new fans and their airflow.
22: Find some BFG RAM sinks. They are meant for PC video cards, but since PC video cards and X360s have pretty much the same type of RAM (At least most of the new ones.) There are 8 RAM chips on the motherboard. (4 topside and 4 bottomside.) Sink all 8 of these -- The RAM chips become problematic later on.
23: Track down a lowrise copper heatsink from Radioshack or any computer supply store. You don't need to "lap" this one if it's new. If it's an oldie that you're reconditioning then feel free to sand it down. Apply Artic silver to the XSB southbridge chip. Make sure it's even and flat when you're finished.
24: Duct tape the motherboard 1cm away from the XSB. Try and insulate any exposed components that the heatsink could short out if it touches them.
25: Use insulated paperclips (Paperclips that have rubber coating over them.) to create hooks to hook the heatsink in place. (There are holes for a mounted heatsink over the XSB that aren't used. Perfect for this.)
26: Place the heatsink over the XSB and secure it with the paper clip hooks you just made.
27: Completely re-assemble the entire system and really put it to the test.
After all of these fixes, I ran Bioshock for 8 hours for 3 days in a row.
My GPU averaged an HSF Temperature of 36C during peak play.
And my CPU averaged an HSF Temperature of 32C during peak play.
And my ambient temperature inside the Xbox during peak play was 34C on average.
I averaged the temperatures of each Xbox together to get the numbers for that study. But basically this proves that the Xbox itself was running ultra-cool. I wish I could tap into the thermal readings to get the on-die temperatures. But since I'm confident that there is a strong thermal connection to the heatsinks so these readings are usable.
(IMG:
style_emoticons/default/jester.gif) Good luck!
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Topic: Tutorial: How To Fix Lapsing X-clamps (e0020) (Read 65 times)