Article Advise

submitted: Sep 1st 2008 | by: MarcSandford | Total views: 3 | Word Count: 515 | |

Got a troubled relationship going on with an Xbox360 gaming console? You love it due to the fact that you're insanely hooked to the intense enjoyment that it gives. You really detest it because...um, need I mention the infamous ring of death?

The red ring of death gives many customers a good amount of frustration and hardship. It's likewise given Microsoft a few problems too...to the tune of about a billion dollars or so in repairing consoles under warrantee. Now the first inquiry that needs asking is why?

What exactly are the causes for the three red lights or the ring of death? The main reason is heat. The Xbox becomes overheated when it's used continually over a period of time.

Why does the Xbox get overheated? There's two parts to the explanation for this. First, the graphics chip had been engineered on a low budget by Microsoft.

Instead of going to an experienced vendor to design the chip (ASIC vendor), Microsoft decided to do the graphics chip design in house, that is, on it's own. They did this in an effort to save a few tens of millions of dollars in design costs. We all know that to get the job done right, you have to hire an expert.

It's well known that our "home made" efforts just will not work as well as work done by the pro's. Microsoft's in house job is inefficient in that it dissipates too much waste heat. The other part of the overheating problem is that the cooling system is only marginally capable of dispersing the tremendous heat put out by the home designed graphics chip.

It doesn't seem to take a lot to cause it to get too hot. Run the unit for too long, particularly in a warm un-air conditioned room and it'll get too hot. The unit does not deal well with partial blocking of its cooling vent-holes either.

For example, it's easy enough to allow cables and cords to become all bunched up at the rear of the console. This by itself can cause the console to get too hot. Thinking of running it in a junky cluttered corner where the midday sunlight will hit it in that un-air conditioned room?

Not a great idea in any case. Of course, you may not normally treat your "electronic toys" this way, but what I'm saying here is that a well designed product is supposed to be able to take some customer abuse and continue functioning. One question that I don't have an answer to is what happened to Microsoft's quality control process?

They must have a product testing program of some kind in place to protect the consumer from buying faulty products. Perhaps it was inadequate because it failed to simulate normal customer usage of the console. Or maybe it was, but the management people pushed it out anyway?

All conjectures aside, the great news is that Microsoft has gone to an ASIC vendor in the US and had the graphics chip redesigned. Maybe some day your ordinary Xbox gamer won't know what you are talking of when you mention the red ring of death.

About the Author

Marc Sandford is a gaming enthusiast and author. Get Xbox 360 trouble shooting advice about repairing the Xbox 360 3 Red Lights Error.

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