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[Bomb Bloke]

Modding an X-Box does not mean the HDD will be accessed continuously. You can even set spin-down-on-idle times via XBMC, for example. How often the drive actually gets used depends on what you're doing with the console - streaming videos, for example, doesn't use it at all.

The only reports I've seen of CPUs/GPUs toasting were when the owners had changed the thermal paste. Doing so won't affect the heat generated by the HDD anyway.

Personally I've run a variety of different HDDs in my systems with no modified cooling systems and never had a problem with heat. It seems people mostly change their fans in order to get rid of the noise.

[obcd]

Some harddisks produce more heat than others. The Cooling in the xbox isn't optimal.
If you replace the harddisk by a model that produces a lot more heat, the livetime of that harddisk
will shorten. Xbmc has an option to read the disk temperature trough the smart commands.
I have even seen pc server disk's failing due to insufficient airflow and overheating of the harddisks.
(It had 4 disks mounted in the drive bay with very little space between them.)
It is an existing problem.

regards.

[hangover]

QUOTE(obcd @ Mar 30 2010, 08:17 PM)

Some harddisks produce more heat than others. The Cooling in the xbox isn't optimal.
If you replace the harddisk by a model that produces a lot more heat, the livetime of that harddisk
will shorten. Xbmc has an option to read the disk temperature trough the smart commands.
I have even seen pc server disk's failing due to insufficient airflow and overheating of the harddisks.
(It had 4 disks mounted in the drive bay with very little space between them.)
It is an existing problem.

regards.

 I made a slimbox and fitted a larger hdd than generated a lot more heat than the original, i originally used a smaller CPU in place of the original case fan but it didnt draw enough air, a new 60mm fan fixed it and now runs cooler and near silent.

[obcd]

The xbox fan connector does not output a fixed voltage to the fan.
It switches the fan on and off rapidely to obtain speed control of the fan.
If you connect the fan to the harddisk supply, or if you connect the black wire directly to ground,
you will disable that speed control. It will make the fan running always at full speed.

If the speed cotrol switching is fast enough, you won't notice it on the led's of your new blower. If the switching is to slow, they will start to flicker.

I can't remember if there is a speed sensor feedback on the xbox plug? If the original blower only has 2 wires, you shouldn't connect the third one of your new blower (speed sensor)

regards.

[ad20]

OK I get it, but why would someone even want to disable that speed control?
It's a handy feature in xbmc.

I've got here another replacement-fan. It's nothing special, 80mm, no LED, not reealy what you would consider silent but not yet as loud as the stock-fan.
But since it's a 80mm one i suppose it will do it's job slightly quieter than the default fan.

To make it short, can I cut off the third wire (i think it's yellow), leave the red and black as they are, connect the fan to the default power supply and xbmc will still be able to adjust the fan-speed depending on the the temperature?

Without having to worry it could go bust and toast cpu/gpu?

[ad20]

One last question, is changing the thermal paste of an xbox any more dangerous than of a PC?
Wipe the old paste off, apply some new no-name paste, reattach the heatsink, just as like on a PC.
What's an appropriate MB-, CPU-temp the xbox can work with?

[shark3226]

I would believe if the xbox reaches 72 degrees F. it will shut down automatically

[ad20]

you certainly mean 70 ° C, do you?

[Nextelhalo]

Pretty sure he did mean Celcius. When you put in an 80mm fan it does tend to be quieter at full speed than the xbox fan is. In the past i've just used the molex connecter (3pin) from the HDD and powered the fan that way. When i had the fan blowing out of the xbox the temps droped only slightly. But, when i faced the fan blowing in, the CPU,GPU, and hard drive temps fell dramatically.

The one thing to think about is that the xbox was not designed to have the air pushed in, rather pulled in. So some people say this is not a good thing to do but i've had mine like this for 3 years now and i couldnt be happier with temps and performance. My temps were CPU= 85F at idle, GPU=80f at idle and HDD was at 79F.
after gaming the went up about 25F or so but the HDD stayed at 81F

If you choose to make the fan blow out of the xbox and pull air in, cut out the meta sheilding in front of the fan and on the sides of the xbox where there are gaps for air. Just cut around the sides and you'll instantly get more air flow.

[Nextelhalo]

Right on man. The only way to know is to test it out.

[shark3226]

yeah sorry i did mean 70 degrees C.

[obcd]

The yellow wire is the speed sensor. If the original xbox fan didn't have it, you don't need it and you can safely cut that wire. Connect the fan to the xbox fan connector and xbmc is capable to adjust it's speed.
If you buy a new fan, you can choose between 3 types. Normal, low noise and very low noise. While you might think the difference is in the bearings, this is not true. A low noise and very low noise type simply rotate slower and produce less airflow. The price for a new fan is usually what you pay for a second hand  xbox nowadays. The speed sensor wire produces pulses when the fan is running and can be used in pc mobo's to measure the rotation speed. Some pc biosses generate a warning when a fan isn't running.

regards