XBox 360 snowy graphics - return time?

Laughing Mechanicus · Post by **Laughing Mechanicus** » 2007-05-22 07:09pm

I've just noticed a problem with my 360 (which is only 2 weeks old) and wanted to know if anybody else had experienced or heard of the same problem with theirs.

Essentially what happened is the graphics of the console started to become "snowy" like random noise was being inserted into them in the form of lots of small white and blue pixels. It appeared to get worse the longer I played (Gears of War in this case). I tried putting in Crackdown and the same effect occurred in all the 3D scenes. I had seen a similar effect on overheating graphics cards on the PC so I just turned the console off for a while and when I turned it back on the effect was gone and everything was back to normal.

It's still concerning though - the effect manifested itself after playing Gears for only about 5 minutes and was literally getting worse as I watched. Before I played Gears the console had been on for an hour or so, but only in the Xbox 'dashboard'. The room was also a little warm, but not overly so. Strangely this is the first time I've noticed it, and a firend and I have played multiple hours long co-op Gears of War sessions before which I imagine are even more stressful than singleplayer.

I've checked my cables (as I had a spare) and that's not the cause. For the time being I'm going to leave it on for a while and see if the effect happens again. If it does I will have to take it back for an exchange.

However if it's just overheating then exchanging it is going to be no help and cause me to lose all my save games (is there anyway to back these up to my PC if I do have to do a return?). Has anyone tried any of the third party cooling addons for the 360? I'm a little iffy about them because the console already sounds like a jet turbine when playing a game - but if it's the only way to avoid the graphics card frying itself I will have to look into it.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2007-05-22 07:15pm

When I had my old 360 and it was really noisy/hot, I'd get dots or little horizontal lines of 'noise'. It started happening after a few weeks of use, and it was the reason that finally got me to take it back. I haven't tried a cooler, but swapping my console for another one has removed all the problems.

If you exchange, simply remove the HDD from the console. I had similar save concerns, but as Vendetta assured me it's that easy to keep your stuff.

EDIT - if your 360 is really, really noisy, it sounds like the same hot/noisy/eventual graphic problems thing I had with mine. I'd recommend you get it exchanged.

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2007-05-23 03:49am

Sounds like a heat issue, try and put it in a more ventilated area(maybe stick a fannext to it). Try and touch it when it's at the most snowy, see if it feels any hotter. Remember, this generation of consoles runs quite hot.

If it's not that, I guess it's return time.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2007-05-23 03:52am

Fuck off. He shouldn't have to put faulty equipment next to a fucking fan to make it work properly. If it's a bad box, return it, don't fuck around trying to make up for Microsoft's mistakes.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2007-05-23 05:10am

Damn straight. This is a piece of consumer hardware. it should run in your typical television + equipment enclosure without dying.

Laughing Mechanicus · Post by **Laughing Mechanicus** » 2007-05-23 08:42am

Yeah, after reading up on the addon fans they are right out of the question - apparently some of them have a tendency to melt the case of the 360, obviously fucking you over on the warranty front because MS knows what they do and so void the warranty if they see signs you used one.

Took it back for an exchange - the clerk said they tended to have 360s being returned in "batches" as if there was the occasional bad shipment. Got one in exchange that had literally been delivered to the store yesterday and they let me swap my old hard drive into it and refreshed the warranty.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2007-05-23 08:45am

That's exactly what happened to me. Given the known issues with 360s and the ease of simply swapping for a new one, there's no reason to stick with a unit you have doubts about. After swapping mine I quickly noticed it was much quieter and had none of the graphics issues I'd seen - hopefully it clears up your issues too.

Chris OFarrell · Post by **Chris OFarrell** » 2007-05-23 09:18am

Aaron Ash wrote:Yeah, after reading up on the addon fans they are right out of the question - apparently some of them have a tendency to melt the case of the 360, obviously fucking you over on the warranty front because MS knows what they do and so void the warranty if they see signs you used one.

Took it back for an exchange - the clerk said they tended to have 360s being returned in "batches" as if there was the occasional bad shipment. Got one in exchange that had literally been delivered to the store yesterday and they let me swap my old hard drive into it and refreshed the warranty.

Wonder if there is one bad production line somewhere in the world that consistently sends out fucked 360' and keeps getting mixed in with the rest of the shipments...

Count Dooku · Post by **Count Dooku** » 2007-05-23 03:20pm

MKSheppard wrote:Damn straight. This is a piece of consumer hardware. it should run in your typical television + equipment enclosure without dying.

Would you stick your computer in an enclosure? I know I wouldn't...

Laughing Mechanicus · Post by **Laughing Mechanicus** » 2007-05-23 03:53pm

Count Dooku wrote:
MKSheppard wrote:Damn straight. This is a piece of consumer hardware. it should run in your typical television + equipment enclosure without dying.
Would you stick your computer in an enclosure? I know I wouldn't...

I'm glad I didn't fall for the "Now controllers are wireless I can store my console in a hermetically sealed glass box!" idea.

Been playing with my new box for a good few hours now - so far it's way quieter and running much cooler, so looks like I did have a crapped out system before.

Qwerty 42 · Post by **Qwerty 42** » 2007-05-23 04:38pm

XBox 360 snowy graphics - return time?

I might advise playing something other than Lost Planet.

In all seriousness, I'm glad it worked out alright.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2007-05-23 05:11pm

YES

The heat sinks and thermal paste used on the 360 are utter crap, t he cheapest on the market more or less.I know this from a computer engineer friend whose taken one apart. So its not surprising that some are going to have overheating problems; just return the thing and get another one.

You aren’t putting it on anything but a hard level surface are you though? Put it on carpet and your lucky if smoke doesn’t pour out the vents.

Laughing Mechanicus · Post by **Laughing Mechanicus** » 2007-05-24 07:26am

Sea Skimmer wrote:You aren’t putting it on anything but a hard level surface are you though? Put it on carpet and your lucky if smoke doesn’t pour out the vents.

It's on it's own wooden shelf with plenty of airspace around it and an open front and back, I also put the power brick (which certainly lives up to it's name) away from the console itself and raised it up by putting in on my old abandoned Gamecube.

Marko Dash · Post by **Marko Dash** » 2007-05-24 08:38am

I've never had this problem with mine, I've got it sitting on top of the TV and the TV raised up on top of an old PC tower (to keep the TV out of range of the magnetic field my base unit apparently throws out.

MKSheppard · Post by **MKSheppard** » 2007-05-24 12:06pm

Count Dooku wrote:Would you stick your computer in an enclosure? I know I wouldn't...

You miss the point and fail.

The 360 is a consumer hardware system. Therefore it should run properly in the following enclosures:

Like you know, every other piece of consumer hardware....rather than needing it to be set out like a special piece of equipment and having a fan blowing on it.

Pu-239 · Post by **Pu-239** » 2007-05-24 04:41pm

Count Dooku wrote:
MKSheppard wrote:Damn straight. This is a piece of consumer hardware. it should run in your typical television + equipment enclosure without dying.
Would you stick your computer in an enclosure? I know I wouldn't...

I do

... of course, the back of the enclosure is open for ventilation...