Quiet Xbox 360 fans? Enclosure?

[ridergroov1]

Hi folks. I've about had it with the incredibly loud xbox fans. i'm wondering if anyone knows of an enclosure or another way to quiet this thing down. I've read some things about wine coolers but also read there are potential condensation issues. Thanks,

[Steve]

I've never had any complaints with mine. I used an old Pro console for a while and now I'm using an Elite. Both are about equally loud IMO, but the console is in an enclosed ET stand. My PS3 on the other hand sounds like it's about to take off when the fan really cranks up.

[Ashamed Pegasus]

Originally Posted by ridergroov1

Hi folks. I've about had it with the incredibly loud xbox fans. i'm wondering if anyone knows of an enclosure or another way to quiet this thing down. I've read some things about wine coolers but also read there are potential condensation issues. Thanks,

Are you sure you're not confusing fan noise with the disc drive?... When I play games from the hard drive or use anything on the dashboard I never hear the Xbox running... As soon as I play a game from the disc is when the noise starts... Do you install games to the hard drive and play them?... Makes a lot of difference in sound...

[thaima1shu]

Originally Posted by Ashamed Pegasus

Are you sure you're not confusing fan noise with the disc drive?... When I play games from the hard drive or use anything on the dashboard I never hear the Xbox running... As soon as I play a game from the disc is when the noise starts... Do you install games to the hard drive and play them?... Makes a lot of difference in sound...

That's what I was thinking. After installing a game to the hard drive and then playing, it is very, very quiet.

[ridergroov1]

I definitely know the difference between what the fans and the optical drive sound like. Yes I install the games to the hard drive. Lastly, I've never heard anyone say their xbox is quiet, very quiet, or very very quiet or an iteration of that. If yours is very very quiet, it's probably off.

The fans are the main probably because they are always on. The optical drive is a whole other issue. Terrible as well.

[BLindsay]

well ill chime in as another person who doesnt even notice the fans on his xbox360.

do different revisions of the 360 have different fans perhaps?

[Steve]

OK I'm going to ask a really stupid question here. I always just pop the disc in and play it. What do you mean about installing it to the hard drive?

[Sussudio]

Originally Posted by Steve

OK I'm going to ask a really stupid question here. I always just pop the disc in and play it. What do you mean about installing it to the hard drive?

You have the option of going to the game's options (go to the disc and hit Y I think? I haven't done it in a long time so that's probably the wrong button) and clicking on "Install to Console" or something like that...basically it's a way for the game to run faster (namely loading times), but I've always heard that a) it really does little-nothing and b) some games actually discourage this (I know Halo 3 is one of them). I myself have never done it so if other people have and it's worked great, there you go

[GamerPS3-X360]

Originally Posted by Sussudio

You have the option of going to the game's options (go to the disc and hit Y I think? I haven't done it in a long time so that's probably the wrong button) and clicking on "Install to Console" or something like that...basically it's a way for the game to run faster (namely loading times), but I've always heard that a) it really does little-nothing and b) some games actually discourage this (I know Halo 3 is one of them). I myself have never done it so if other people have and it's worked great, there you go

Sus is correct about install being Y when you have a game loaded in your system and some game studios do discourage game installs...I install some of the more heavily played games on my hard drive...imo I see a difference in load time/speed, fan noise level and wear/tear on the game disc...I have my Elite upright on a 360 stand, which has built in fans that I never use because it looks like it consumes more power from the system creating more heat then it is reducing...There have been modded 360's with cooling systems like added fans built into the casing of the 360 and water cooled, but I don't know how efficient they are or if any other problems have occurred...I'm on my second Elite already and my first RROD within 9 months and this one I have is out of warranty, so it's being babied...My system is about 3ft away from me and I hear the fan all the time but never ridiculously loud unlike loading a game or playing a game from the optical drive will produce...

[thaima1shu]

Originally Posted by ridergroov1

I definitely know the difference between what the fans and the optical drive sound like. Yes I install the games to the hard drive. Lastly, I've never heard anyone say their xbox is quiet, very quiet, or very very quiet or an iteration of that. If yours is very very quiet, it's probably off.

The fans are the main probably because they are always on. The optical drive is a whole other issue. Terrible as well.

Well, now you have. Mine runs very, very quietly. I'm not saying it's silent, but it is not noticeable during gaming. It emits a very slight sound, but like I said, I don't notice any noise while playing.

[beefytwinkie]

Mine is also very quiet. I can't even tell it's on when I'm playing games unless I have it on mute. Is it possible your fans are about to go? Maybe you can install new fans or something.

[Steve]

Originally Posted by Sussudio

You have the option of going to the game's options (go to the disc and hit Y I think? I haven't done it in a long time so that's probably the wrong button) and clicking on "Install to Console" or something like that...basically it's a way for the game to run faster (namely loading times), but I've always heard that a) it really does little-nothing and b) some games actually discourage this (I know Halo 3 is one of them). I myself have never done it so if other people have and it's worked great, there you go

Originally Posted by GamerPS3-X360

Sus is correct about install being Y when you have a game loaded in your system and some game studios do discourage game installs...I install some of the more heavily played games on my hard drive...imo I see a difference in load time/speed, fan noise level and wear/tear on the game disc...I have my Elite upright on a 360 stand, which has built in fans that I never use because it looks like it consumes more power from the system creating more heat then it is reducing...There have been modded 360's with cooling systems like added fans built into the casing of the 360 and water cooled, but I don't know how efficient they are or if any other problems have occurred...I'm on my second Elite already and my first RROD within 9 months and this one I have is out of warranty, so it's being babied...My system is about 3ft away from me and I hear the fan all the time but never ridiculously loud unlike loading a game or playing a game from the optical drive will produce...

Thanks for the explanations. I might look into this for some of my games. I never would have done this with my old console because of the small 20 GB hard drive. It was over half full without every installing any games. Now that I have an elite I may do it with some of the games I play most often though.

One more question though: Once you install a game is there any need to keep the disc?

[Ashamed Pegasus]

I personally do not notice a speed in loading times when playing games off the hard drive as opposed to the disc, but it definitely runs a lot quieter...

Originally Posted by Steve

Once you install a game is there any need to keep the disc?

You still need the disc in the drive to start the game... This is done to prevent people from renting or borrowing their friends game and basically copying it... The disc never actually runs during play, just verifies when you start playing that you have the game in hand...

[Q?]

For a couple of seconds I thought you meant people

[Steve]

Originally Posted by Ashamed Pegasus

You still need the disc in the drive to start the game... This is done to prevent people from renting or borrowing their friends game and basically copying it... The disc never actually runs during play, just verifies when you start playing that you have the game in hand...

Ok thanks. I suspected this would be the case.

[bigmac558]

I'm on my third Xbox (by choice not RROD) and each one was an upgrade of the previous. I currently have the MW2 edition and with games installed to the harddrive it runs as quietly as if it is turned off. I only ever noticed the fans though on the Original 20gb Pro edition.

[Lord_Stewie]

Originally Posted by ridergroov1

Hi folks. I've about had it with the incredibly loud xbox fans. i'm wondering if anyone knows of an enclosure or another way to quiet this thing down. I've read some things about wine coolers but also read there are potential condensation issues. Thanks,

It depends of which generation you own. The newer ones don't have that issue with loud fans.

I owned a pro from release date and exchanged it for an elite recently and noticed that it is much quieter.

[Nightshade]

yeah my brother got a jasper model in the middle of last year its so quiet you cant even tell its on.i have a 20g pro and its a lot louder however it not my fans its my drive i have a warranty on it still and will be sending it in to be fixed along with my brothers extra hard drive which he dropped and broke!

[aheineken]

Originally Posted by itswez

yeah my brother got a jasper model in the middle of last year its so quiet you cant even tell its on.i have a 20g pro and its a lot louder however it not my fans its my drive i have a warranty on it still and will be sending it in to be fixed along with my brothers extra hard drive which he dropped and broke!

I've got a Jasper, and if I'm playing the game from the hard drive, it's no louder than my blu ray player.

It's too bad Microsoft couldn't get the console right the first time. Now a lot of people are stuck with loud systems and the constant worrying about an RROD.

[bigmac558]

Is anyone else having problems with their audio while playing games from the harddrive? When I install my games, the sound will randomly cut in and out while playing. I fixed this by uninstalling and then reinstalling the game, but it sure is a hastle.