QUOTE(Martinchris23 @ Jun 18 2010, 09:19 AM)

The problem was never the XClamps - it was a combination of poor BGA solder, poor reflow, and insufficient ventilation. All the Xclamp does is hold the heatsink in place while you remove the motherboard. The REAL work is done by the four screws that ensures there's enough pressure being applied to ensure good heat dissipation.
Except your wrong. All those 8 screws do is keep the board down to the aluminum frame. The problem with the X-clamps is that they only apply pressure to the back of the main-board in two small areas (centered behind the chips). With the amount of heat being generated, this system requires more pressure around the perimeter of the chips, such as found in the PS3 (even then the PS3's is only decent). Granted, while the X-clamp is the straw that broke the Camel's back, it's still the cause. Since the 360's launch I have fixed about a hundred Xbox 360s, including the Xenon that I purchased on launch-day. Once my Xenon gave me the 3RRoD in 2006 (a year after it's launch) I popped it open and replaced the X-clamps without so much as a reflow. It has since then seen over 6 times the amount of hours of use (including operating under extremely high temperatures in a pool house during the last few summers) and has NEVER even once given me the 3RRoD since.
With the newer 45nm 360s, the board does not deflect away from the chip as quickly or easily, since these chips emits much less heat, thus leaving the main-board in a more rigid state. Even with that said, I have had to repair a couple of Jaspers, but overall it shouldn't be nearly as big of an issue now.
This post has been edited by xboxjason: Jun 22 2010, 02:06 AM