Xbox 360 slim unit shuts down if ventilation is insufficient?

James Delahunty
21 Jun 2010 20:38

Microsoft's new slim Xbox 360 console will not display a red ring of death (RROD) as we reported already, but the system does take some measures to protect itself against heat-related damage that the older units don't. It was reported recently that the three blinking red lights had been replaced with a single "red dot of death", but the red dot may not indicate that the console is broken.
Pictures posted on the NeoGaf forums by "Giant Robot" show an Xbox 360 250GB model displaying the red dot of death, and also an on-screen message alerting the user: "The Xbox 360 is shutting down to protect the console from insufficient ventilation. You can turn the console back on after the power light stops flashing."

I can't confirm a forum source, obviously, but it is being reported more or less everywhere else so why not. It just so happens that I have modified the chassis of an older Xbox 360 console to improve air-flow and ventilation before.
Combining Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste on CPU and GPU, a modified fan shroud to force more air "through" the heatsinks to escape the chassis, cutting away some of the mesh of the inner shell and laying the console horizontally instead of vertically makes two noticeable differences; the fans always stay on low speed and noticeably more heat is exhausted from the rear of the console.
Still, you shouldn't have to open an Xbox 360 console to make sure it's properly ventilated anyway, so let's hope that warnings such as the one displayed above are not common.