Most people expect things to take a while to overheat. Depending on the severity of the problem, the Xbox won't overheat until it's been used for a couple of hours or more. In more extreme cases, it may only take a few minutes. But how can it overheat within seconds of turning it on? Now I don't mean starting it back up when it is still warm from a previous gaming session. I mean starting it after it has cooled down. This is actually not that uncommon because when a lot of power is flowing through tiny electrical components, they can and do heat up very, very fast.
For many people though, this just seems to be too bizarre to be believed and they start to wonder if their Xbox really is overheating or if the problem is something else altogether. However, if you do get the 2 red light error within a few seconds of a cold start up, there's a good chance that bad thermal compound is at fault. Thermal compound is used between the heat sink and the GPU (or the CPU). Its function is to facilitate the flow of excess heat out of the GPU and into the heat sink where the excess heat gets dissipated.
The purpose of thermal compound is to fill the tiny microscopic air gaps in the mating surface between the GPU and its heat sink. These air gaps would otherwise act as insulators that prevent heat from escaping the GPU and thus prevent its cooling. While the mating surfaces of the two components appear to be smooth to the naked eye, they are actually quite rough when viewed under magnification.
An enormous amount of power gets consumed by the GPU which in turn creates a lot of heat. Because the GPU is small in size, it gets hot very fast when exposed to this heat. Small things get hot rapidly compared to larger objects. This can be observed when holding the tip of a needle to a flame. It will become red hot in seconds. If you expose an anvil to the same flame, it will never get red hot no matter how long it's exposed.
So it should come as no surprise that the GPU heats up rapidly when it's heat sink is unable to do it's job because of bad thermal paste. This causes the console to turn off and show a two red light error. This shutdown happens before this heat is able to spread out to the rest of the console. This is why people get confused about what is going on because to them, the Xbox still seems to be cool. They have no way of sensing the intense heat that is localized at the GPU.
Hopefully this article will leave you better prepared if or when this should happen to you. Replacing the thermal paste means opening the console. So you have three options: do the job yourself, get it repaired by a professional, or use your warranty.
For many people though, this just seems to be too bizarre to be believed and they start to wonder if their Xbox really is overheating or if the problem is something else altogether. However, if you do get the 2 red light error within a few seconds of a cold start up, there's a good chance that bad thermal compound is at fault. Thermal compound is used between the heat sink and the GPU (or the CPU). Its function is to facilitate the flow of excess heat out of the GPU and into the heat sink where the excess heat gets dissipated.
The purpose of thermal compound is to fill the tiny microscopic air gaps in the mating surface between the GPU and its heat sink. These air gaps would otherwise act as insulators that prevent heat from escaping the GPU and thus prevent its cooling. While the mating surfaces of the two components appear to be smooth to the naked eye, they are actually quite rough when viewed under magnification.
An enormous amount of power gets consumed by the GPU which in turn creates a lot of heat. Because the GPU is small in size, it gets hot very fast when exposed to this heat. Small things get hot rapidly compared to larger objects. This can be observed when holding the tip of a needle to a flame. It will become red hot in seconds. If you expose an anvil to the same flame, it will never get red hot no matter how long it's exposed.
So it should come as no surprise that the GPU heats up rapidly when it's heat sink is unable to do it's job because of bad thermal paste. This causes the console to turn off and show a two red light error. This shutdown happens before this heat is able to spread out to the rest of the console. This is why people get confused about what is going on because to them, the Xbox still seems to be cool. They have no way of sensing the intense heat that is localized at the GPU.
Hopefully this article will leave you better prepared if or when this should happen to you. Replacing the thermal paste means opening the console. So you have three options: do the job yourself, get it repaired by a professional, or use your warranty.
About the Author:
Do you have an Xbox 360 which operates too hot? Get troubleshooting information about fixing the 3 Red Lights Error.
No comments:
Post a Comment