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 has caused many customers a great deal of frustration and hardship. It has also given Microsoft a few problems too... to the tune of over one billion dollars in repairing consoles under warrantee. Perhaps the first inquiry to ask 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.
So how can the Xbox get so overheated? There's two parts to the explanation here. Firstly, the graphics chip was engineered on a cheap 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.
We all know that home made simply won't work as well as work performed by professionals. Microsoft's home designed job is very inefficient because it puts out far too much heat. The second part of the overheating issue is that the console's cooling system is barely adequate at dissipating the enormous heat put out by the 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?
Well, it isn't a good notion either. Of course, you probably don't treat your toys like this, but the point that I'm making here is that consumer products are supposed to be able to tolerate some customer abuse and keep on ticking. An issue that I have no answer to is what went wrong with the quality control process at Microsoft?
There must be some sort of product testing program in place to protect the customer from defective products. Maybe it was deficient in that it didn't simulate typical customer use of the Xbox. Or possibly it was ok, but management shipped it out the door anyway?
Speculations aside, the good news here is that Microsoft has gone to an ASIC vendor in the US and had the graphics chip redesigned. Hopefully some day your average Xbox gamer will have no idea what you are talking of when you mention the red ring of death.
About the Author:
Marc Sandford is a gaming enthusiast and writer. Get Xbox trouble shooting information about fixing the Xbox 360 3 Red Lights Error.
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