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[MadMaxGR]

Your better option is to buy thermal pads from the market and put them on those hidden RAM chips.

[Gazc0igne]

the RAM chips hidden under the GPU do not make contact with the GPU and do not transfer any heat to it.

I put a blob of thermal paste on them to make a contact between the two to allow heat to be conducted into the heatsink.

do not put any pads or washers etc on the chips, i have found that the system will RROD if these RAM chips are put under any pressure at all.

[MadMaxGR]

Try these kind of pads, especially under the GPU heatsink's RAM chips. I prefer the 1mm thickness.

http://www.ebay.com/...=item2eb802e88e

[Gazc0igne]

doesnt matter how many heatsinks, pads, thermal paste etc you mess about with

unless you reball that baby with LEADED BGA balls you will definately meet mr RROD again in the near future.

all your "fixes" are only postponing the inevitable....

[joh123]

I mite be getting a bit newer Zephyr box in a few days. It hasn't had RROD yet but I'm definitely going to modify it. First thing will be cooling mods, but I'm wondering if I should do a preventative X-Clamp fix. And which is the best and most up to date method. Is it the Hybrid method? Maybe, while doing this, I should install a different heatsink to the GPU (with a fan maybe?).. although the Zephyr GPU heatsink seems a bit more advanced than the Xenon one.

Please give me decent advice!

[MadMaxGR]

I suggest you to not do any x-clamp fix and do only cooling mods. Don't touch anything that works already. So do the following:

a. Replace thermal paste with Arctic Silver 5 or similar
b. Put small heatsinks on exposed RAM chips on the top of the board.
c. Use thermal pads on the RAM chips located underside of the board
d. Put Zephyr GPU heatsink as you already said, the one with the extension
e. Do the fan shroud (tunnel) mod
f. Put any extra fans inside possible
e. do 7v or 12v mod on the fans

Good luck

[xboxhaxorz]

http://www.google.co...khzJ_dQ78vVRIqg

[digipimp75]

He's right, man.   No matter what you do, there's always a chance that rrod will return.   These things are just doomed to fail.  My advice?  Look for a cheap Jasper and trash this board.  Well... maybe not trash it, but definitely don't waste time or money or cooling mods.

[xboxhaxorz]

electronics are doomed to fail that is correct

with a proper repair they can last a very long time

there is a lot of wrong info out on the net

for those that say x clamp fixes last a wk a mth or a decade doesnt mean anything i could say my 360 lasted 3 yrs after fixing with x clamps but i didnt tell you i only used it 6 times

you have had to been around many boards, i have been around hundreds

when a customer asks my success rate i tell them this

unopened 99%
opened 50%

there is no doubt x clamps flex the board anybody who tells you otherwise is a liar and you should go away

x clamps also destroy chips, i keep replacement GPUs in my shop at all times

sometimes the gpu is curved because of the clamp pressure

the only thing myself and other vets can do is give advice, its upto the individual to take it or leave it

i have recently invested in a nitrogen rework machine as bga reworking is the future

i now have 3 employees working in my shop, and we had to let go of a contract we had with a game store because all their systems had x clamps and it was a 20% success rate with them and a waste of time

[xiaotuanzi]

I have found that the system will RROD if these RAM chips are put under any pressure at all.

[MadMaxGR]

QUOTE(xiaotuanzi @ Feb 17 2012, 06:26 AM)

I have found that the system will RROD if these RAM chips are put under any pressure at all.

Not exactly... if you fill the gap between the RAM chips and the heatsink, in a right way, the result is a better cooling for these chips that are "burning" when the GPU is working overtime! The right size thermal pads work fine for my fixes. Never had RAM chip issues from my fixes. If the application is correct (no pennies please - LOL) then it will work fine.

[MadMaxGR]

QUOTE(joh123 @ Feb 17 2012, 12:13 PM)

Yes. I was not talking about applying pressure - just loosely filling the gap with thermal paste. Or should I use thermal pads (I just ordered some 1mm thermal pad from ebay) similar to those that are underneath the motherboards sticked to the RAM chips?

I use thermal pads...

[xboxhaxorz]

regarding the 50% and 99%

basically if a customer brings an unopened system to me totally stock theres a 99% i will fix it

if the console is opened bolt modded or heat gunned theres a 50% chance i will fix it

http://cgi.ebay.com/...me=STRK:MESE:IT

these board supports are great for reflows and reballs, they are a MUST for boards that have had bolt mods done to them as the board is not flat and sometimes the GPU is curved

the next x clamp board i get i will make a video showing the flex

take a look at this video


if x clamps really worked then why would my shop go through all this work

[MadMaxGR]

Jaspers are the most reliable (thermal wise) mainboards of the phat xbox. Therefore the only cooling adjustments you could do are:

a. 7V or 12V fax mod (if you can bare the fan noise)
b. RAM heatsinks, only on the exposed RAM chips on the top of the board
c. Southbridge heatsink, is not needed, but don't hurt to use it
d. a RAM heatsink on HANA chip is not bad idea either
e. Thermal pads on the RAM chips that are under the board are welcome too, as long they don't put pressure on the board when is sitting down in the metal cage

For the RAM chips located (hidden) under the GPU heatsink, there is no need to do anything, neither change the GPU heatsink. The GPU is not producing much heat on Jaspers, compared to older GPU revisions.

[MadMaxGR]

NAND mod needs specific firmwares to do the exploits, I don't think there are any other limitations. I am not an NAND expert, so my knowledge are limited on this.