Rrod Impending?

[dave111223]

My xbox 360 has started to crash during games and showing kind of a checker board red overlay before it crashes. After reading up on some message boards it seems that after getting this error it's only a short time until the RROD appears.

I've also read on here that the RROD can be repaired (for a price), but my question is should i keep playing it until it's completed crapped out, or should i bring it to somewhere for repair now?

My reason for maybe waiting until it's got RROD is because right now the crashes are kind of random so i don't want get it "repaired" then get it home to find out nothing has been done.

[phazey]

You can do the DIY X-Clamp mod which is not only dead easy (once you get over the opening your xbox part) it's also dirt cheap (pennies).

I've done 2 so far, still going strong...

[samsara]

earlier the better

[Khun Jack]

The airflow for cooling the graphic processor is much lower than the CPU, there are mods to improve this design flaw ( as one of the many flaws in the xbox360) and of course better do this before the problems arrive.

The checkerboard is a sign that the soldering is loosing contact with the GPU and "fixes" can extend the life with some days or weeks at best.

[dave111223]

So i took my Xbox to MBK (to the place where i bought it and buy most of my games)... at first it was freezing and the guy said it's possible the DVD drive was screwed and needed to be replaced, but while showing the freezing it finally got the RROD.

He said it would probably cost between 3000-5000 to fix (depending if the DVD drive was broken too), but the technician is going to call us back with the final price (i did ask to keep any of the old parts if parts need to be replace to make sure they weren't charging me for parts that they don't actually replace)...but i've been going to this shop for some years so do trust the guy.

But another idea my wife bought up was the possibility for just buying a PC to hook up to the HDTV instead of an Xbox/PS3 (assuming that the xbox is beyond repair).

A new xbox 360 elite costs almost 20,000.

Could i build a PC of similar or greater specs specifically for games to hook up to the TV, for a similar cost to 20,000? I've been reading online and see that you can even buy a USB receiver and use my Xbox controllers with my PC.

At first i thought it was a crazy idea, but then i started thinking and it makes a lot of sense, especially from a reliability stand point, i run my PC all day with no air con, no fans pointed at it and no problems.

What do you guys think, is is worth entertaining the idea of using a PC instead of an Xbox (pros and cons?)?

Edited June 20, 2008 by dave111223

[samsara]

imo, the pc doesnt come close to a 360. many developers are even phasing out computer titles. that said, a pc is obviously leaps and bounds better in terms of reliability. but then, the new falcon chips for the 360 have a much lower fail rate than the original motherboards so...also theres an even better motherboard/gpu coming out in sept (not here but maybe in singapore or hk) so my plan is to fly out and pick that up asap cause my box died months ago.

[dave111223]

imo, the pc doesnt come close to a 360. many developers are even phasing out computer titles. that said, a pc is obviously leaps and bounds better in terms of reliability. but then, the new falcon chips for the 360 have a much lower fail rate than the original motherboards so...also theres an even better motherboard/gpu coming out in sept (not here but maybe in singapore or hk) so my plan is to fly out and pick that up asap cause my box died months ago.

In what ways would you say that it doesn't come close?

Does anyone know specs. a PC would need in order to provide the same game playing performance (ie what processor, RAM and graphics card)?

[samsara]

i havent tried to build a gaming pc for years but i would guess that if you want performance to be anything close to what youre accustomed to with the 360, youre looking at around 35k baht minimum. and then, of course, thatll be obsolete in 2 years time and youll have to upgrade the major components to just install the games!!

if i were you, (assuming you already have a pc at home) id wait until the new 360s are available and pick up one of those for 15k+. the next generations of xbox or playstation wont be out for another 2-3 years. hel_l, the ps3 still hasnt settled in.

[cowman1]

Just buy a PS3! They are much more reliable, so you won't be fearing another rrod!

[dave111223]

Just buy a PS3! They are much more reliable, so you won't be fearing another rrod!

I don't fancy paying 2,000 baht per game.

I've been asking the PC question the xbox scene forum also and got some mix responses, but i think (based on some of their spec recommendations) i could build a suitable PC for about 25,000-30,000...

So if my Xbox is totaled I just may do it. (or maybe even if i can get the xbox repaired i'll get a PC also who knows )

I also would enjoy the fact of being able to play online.

With my xbox i am banned, so even if i bought a genuine game i would not be able to play it online, whereas with PC games i could pick and choose which genuine games i wanted to play online.

[dave111223]

After a few days the xbox repair shop contacted me and said the Xbox was beyond repair.

Seeing as i had nothing to lose i got the parts required to do the x-clamp replacement myself, and attempted to fix it myself.

However i didn't have any luck and the xbox still had the RROD.

I was then faced with the prospect for purchasing a new xbox for 15,000 (or 20,000 for the elite), and potentially have the same thing happen again, or put the money into a PC instead.

Well i decided to get the PC instead; i had been to Pantip and priced out a system that based on reviews would deliver about the same performance for gaming as an xbox360, this was going to cost about 22,000.

But when I actually went to buy the system my excitement got the better of me and i started upgrading a few parts. The final system including all the wireless network, wireless mouse/keyword cables etc... cost around 29,000 with the following specs:

- AMD X2 6000+

- Nvidia Geforce 9800GTX (card alone cost almost 11,000)

- 500GB HD

- 4GB Ram

- DVD writer.

(and case/mobo, but no point poster the model #s here)

When i first got it home i loaded up Crysis (i'd heard this is a good benchmark game because of the good graphics). And to my dismay the system kept crashing 5 minutes or so into the game!

So 2 days or head scratching, driver downloading etc... i bought it back to the shop for them to figure out.

Turns out the graphics card had some kind of defect and they switched it out with a new one.

Finally my system it up and running, and it does kick ass. I'd have to say the graphics and frame rate far exceed anything i had been on my 360. Yes it cost me more, (and more hassle getting it setup), but in the end i feel it is going to worth it (especially as most all the parts have a 3 year warranty, opposed to the "if it breaks on the way home we might fix it" xbox360 warranty)

[Palace]

nice story there, dave.

btw, does that price include a monitor?

i'm thinking along the same line last year when my box got RROD'ed but because of the new titles coming PS3's way, I chose the latter.

nevertheless, there are just some games on pc that are just simply better than it's equivalent on console. my current laptop is just not up to task anymore. so i'm seriously planning to get myself a gamer-spec pc. i originally budgeted for THB25k with a decent sized LCD monitor, but reading your post, i'm having second thoughts if my target is achievable.

[dave111223]

That did not include any monitor. I have it hooked up to my 46" HDTV (via HDMI cable)....looks freaking sweet.

The screen alone cost almost 50,000 (but totally worth it!)

If you were going to use the system with a regular size monitor i'm assuming you could probably get lower specs as you'd be able to run it in a lower resolution (like 1024x768), i'm running games in 1920x1080!

[dotcom]

Question. All the games you bought for x box. They don't play on PC do they?

[dave111223]

Question. All the games you bought for x box. They don't play on PC do they?

Nope

But the total value of my game collection is about 3,000baht. So i can live with writing that off. I'll have to build up my collection again from scratch.