| candy2500 said: 2 year old Elite, no RROD no E-74 no problems, always kept vertical raised slightly with home made stand so the bottom vent has plenty of room, no table fan aimed at it cause i think this actually hurts the 360. 2nd Elite bought last December, no RROD no E-74 no problems, always kept Vertical raised slightly with home made stand, no external fans. as for the movies and streaming audio and other stuff i don't think it has anything to do with it. the gig was up not to long right out of the gate, confirmed by Microsoft, private reviewers and so on.the 360 just ran to hot and every correction they have made from adding and dropping DVD drives, chip sets and so on is all geared to reduce heat. vertical or horizontal, if it makes a person feel better having it one way or another then fine but other than the IMO thread, I've seen no real valid studies showing one way is better than the other and i don't think Microsoft would have spent over a billion just because they didn't feel like saying sorry guys but maybe you should place it horizontal. i don't use mine over 3 hours without giving it a break. i think popping a DVD back into its case without letting it cool off a little is what's causing disk cracking around the inner circle, i always let the 360 run for about 10 min after playing so the fans can cool the chips off some. i don't move the 360 when i turn it off while its still hot so not to jar the already over heated parts. i don't use any table fans for cooling do to the fact i believe your only cooling outside plastic anyway, which in turn might (theoretically) insulate the outside case which in turn is like using a invisible barrier of cold air to hold the warm air in place which is just the opposite of what I'm trying to do. |
You raise some interesting points, particularly the first two I've highlighted. You're definitely correct when you state that the issue is the 360 simply ran too hot (my second 360, which I purchased this year runs much cooler), but questions such as watching streaming movies, etc., are designed to determine what heat might be generated by specific usage patterns. If you hook an ammeter up to your 360 then play games, watch DVDs, watch streaming movies, etc., you will discover that your 360 draws different amounts of current depending on the activity, which in turn generates different amounts of heat. The duration of use can also determine heat build-up, as you have implied in your post. Orientation of the console may affect/constrict air-flow as the case has specific air-intake points, and the intake points used can also affect how air will flow across the components.
Regarding a problem with air-flow across the console using fans, this is something I've never heard before. The general approach to cooling electronic equipment is to have fans or convection currents vent the heat from inside to the outside, and then to have plenty of airspace/airflow around the cabinet to pull heat away from the unit. This is all to prevent heat buildup. I suppose it's possible that pointing a fan directly at the output vents in back could "fight" the internal fans trying to force heat out, but a fan pointed at the front of the cabinet should aid in cooling.
As an aside, it's refreshing to see a girl/woman in the forums. They're far too rare around here. 
