Next Gen Heating Issues

A

aldo

Newcomer
The subject has been covered before, but I've included new info.

A new article from Famitsu states that the Xbox 360 Adapter has 2 fans and is 85% the size of PStwo.

Xbox Scene - According to Famitsu, the Xbox 360's AC adaptor is the largest of any game console, with a length of 210 mm, width of 75 mm and height of 54 mm. The Japanese game magazine obtained an advance shipment of a limited edition Xbox 360 launch pack.
The adapter itself is roughly 85 percent in volume of the slim PS2 (850.5 cubic centimeters versus 978.9 cubic centimeters).

According to Microsoft, the larger adapter is due to the higher electrical power consumption of the Xbox 360. The max power consumption of Microsoft's next-gen console is 254 watts--notably higher than the 200 watts for the Xbox and dwarfing the 45 watts for the PlayStation 2.
Interestingly, the adaptor purportedly has two fans inside, too. While Microsoft has yet to give official word on the final retail adapter for the North American version, the chances are high that the stateside Xbox 360 will also have a hefty AC adapter as well.
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and...
Xbox Circle - According to a forum post at http://www.xbox-scene.com, an employee at a Wal-Mart store was confronted with an error message at the 360 kiosk. This message was very similar to the typical “You may need to contact customer supportâ€￾ screen that is displayed in multiple different languages on the original Xbox, but according to the employee’s post, the glass enclosing the 360 was hot to the touch.
This incident supports the widespread rumor that the Xbox 360 is suffering from heat-related problems.
Click to expand...
Couple this information with Allard's concern(?) regarding the PS3
Eurogamer - ...they don't have vent holes on the side of their console yet so that air can flow through those very very powerful chips, so it still feels like they have a lot of work to do.
Click to expand...
and Allard is speaking as if he is a guy that has been pulling his hair out over similar issues with the X360 design, which is perforated to the max, and is challenging Sony to keep its cool with a more closed design.

I know many people are writing off these problems as Walmart employee induced, but when you have a power supply which is hard to keep cool and a console chipset with similar concerns and some customers even less capable than Walmart employees :LOL:, then you're probably looking at the possibility of a lot of failed systems in the home.

I'm thinking that both X360 and PS3 systems will need to be in a pretty open area. We might have to forget about putting these in our entertainment centers and closing the doors during operation.

-aldo
 
aldo said:
I know many people are writing off these problems as Walmart employee induced, but when you have a power supply which is hard to keep cool and a console chipset with similar concerns and some customers even less capable than Walmart employees :LOL:, then you're probably looking at the possibility of a lot of failed systems in the home.

I'm thinking that both X360 and PS3 systems will need to be in a pretty open area. We might have to forget about putting these in our entertainment centers and closing the doors during operation.

-aldo
Click to expand...

I doubt too many people will have problems at home.

First off, most people keep their houses cooler than the average Walmart. Ambient temperature goes a long ways towards resolving cooling problems.

Also, Walmart has a tendency to bury the powersupply inside their racks, which leaves very little extra space and absolutely no airflow. I don't imagine too many home users will be putting that power brick inside a closed box.

And most entertainment centers are made to provide decent airflow as stereo and television equipment tends to generate a lot of heat.
 
I really doubt there are significant issues. It's certainly possible there are isolated problems but we run the devkits all day, and I haven't heard any stories of final kits overheating or dieing because of it.
 
ERP said:
I really doubt there are significant issues. It's certainly possible there are isolated problems but we run the devkits all day, and I haven't heard any stories of final kits overheating or dieing because of it.
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I hope they're not noisy as...;)
 
PS3 will have internal PSU like PS2 (by the looks of it) AND be smaller?!
I'm not going to say anything about American design and efficiency. :p
 
MrWibble said:
My flat gets quite cold in the winter, if the 360 generated a lot of heat it might convince me to buy one :)
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LOL, that's why they're launching it in December :)
 
lessons learned (and things Sony can take notice of):
(1) All bad rumours start in walmart.
(2) to complicated to setup HD.
(3) Wireless controller interferes with other radio-waves.
(4) they need to design special kiosk for walmart.
 
I'm thinking that placement of the PSU not in close proximity to the X360 should go toward a lot wrt proper operation of the system. The definitely shouldn't share the same "airspace" in an enclosed area.

I saw a "real" X360 kiosk at Gamestop yesterday (not just an LCD panel behind a pretty faceplate, like WM seems to be sporting). It didn't occur to me to touch the "clear bubble" that encloses the actual console, but I will be sure to give it a feel next time I pass through. I did notice a pretty serious fan at the top of the kiosk to evacuate exhaust air, however. It was moving air at a pretty stiff breeze and that breeze was definitely warm to the hand. I do make note that this was probably the cumulative exhaust of the entire kiosk (a console, most likely the external PSU, and the LCD panel).
 
ERP said:
I really doubt there are significant issues. It's certainly possible there are isolated problems but we run the devkits all day, and I haven't heard any stories of final kits overheating or dieing because of it.
Click to expand...
I'd be very carefull if I were you. I heard MS took a page from Sony's book and built some revisions of devkit cases out of Magnesium, so they can catch fire real easily.

nAo said:
I hope they're not noisy as...;)
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Bah, neither of those have anything on DTL - you need a real JetEngine to make more noise then that.
 
nAo said:
I hope they're not noisy as...;)
Click to expand...

The Beta kits could pretty much compete with rock concerts , Jet airplanes and DTL's when it comes to noise levels ;). The Final kits are actually very quiet, no where near as loud as ... ;)

Well either that or I've gone deaf.
 
True - the beta kits were so bad (volume-wise) that we had to store them on another FLOOR of our offices, and run the video cables and controller cables down from the balcony to our devlopers' desks. The final kits were much quieter, but are still loud, and the retail kits seem very quiet at first, until you have nothing else on. Once you have relative silence around it, you realize just how loud it is (which hopefully won't be the case if I'm just playing a DVD on it, and not playing Geometry Wars Evolved - so fun!)
 
dubyateeeff said:
lessons learned (and things Sony can take notice of):
(1) All bad rumours start in walmart.
Click to expand...
Might simply be because ineptness has a way of luring out problems in pretty much any device. ;) I would not think too much of it.

(2) to complicated to setup HD.
Click to expand...
Interestingly enough, if x360 had supported digital video out such as DVI or HDMI, the box could simply have read the display's config info via the DDC2 channel and configured itself accordingly automatically without requiring the user to have to do it. Hopefully this is how PS3 will do it.

(3) Wireless controller interferes with other radio-waves.
Click to expand...
Wireless devices always have a chance of interfering with one another, particulary if they share the same frequency space... Modern tech is designed to channelhop automatically and avoid troublesome areas of the spectrum, Bluetooth 2.0 has further evolved capabilities in that regard for example. The thingamajigs walmart uses is reportedly very old tech, which means it's primitive and likely not very forgiving of other radio sources...
 
Powderkeg said:
First off, most people keep their houses cooler than the average Walmart. Ambient temperature goes a long ways towards resolving cooling problems.
Click to expand...

Uh no...Walmarts are temperature controlled and A/Ced when it's hot outside. Most homes don't have A/C unless you live in AZ. ;)
 
Wow, that's unexpected! Is a 60% early dev kit attrition rate the norm? Obviously I would imagine not, but who knows.
 
Want to mimic conditions in a wallmark kiosk ?


Get a draw. Take your ps2 or xbox and put it in the draw while running. Leave it there from 10am to 10pm and go back and see if it still works after a week or so of doing that every day .


The glass cases have no ventilation or very very poor ventilation plus there are tons of games inside there and a tv unit .

The kiosks given to other stores have the xbox 3 in plastic with very little ventilation and so far on the second week of use it works just fine . The trick is the powr brick is in the back at hte bottom of the kisok far away from the system. This is more likely how the average user will use it . They will have the unit in the entertainment unit with the brick on the floor . Or on a counter top with the brick out in the open .
 
valioso said:
most wm are open 24 hrs...
Click to expand...

i dunno by me we have blue laws , can't be open past a certian time and can't open before a certian time .

You also can't be open on a sunday unless your a food store .
 
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