Xbox 360 heat concerns are no concern

by Vladimir Cole { Nov 19th 2005 at 9:58PM }

Xbox 360 power adapter Several readers have asked us if there have been any heat issues with the Xbox 360. We've had the unit on constantly for the last 30 hours, and so far have noticed no overheating issues. The jimongous power supply that ships with the unit is huge in part because it actually contains a fan inside of it. It's hard to quantify the temperature without a thermometer, but we can say that it's certainly no warmer than a typical electronic device.

The Xbox 360 unit itself is a little PC, and puts out a fair amount of warmth, though isn't alarmingly hot to the touch at any spot. The unit vents its heat to the rear, so if you're planning your setup now, make sure you've allocated adequate space for ventilation.

Really, nothing out of the ordinary here, and we certainly hope it stays that way. Previous-generation hardware screw-ups were in some cases downright dangerous, resulting in product recalls (Sony, Microsoft).

The biggest heater in the room is actually our Panasonic PT-AE700U projector. It pumps out a ton of warm air via its side-venting fan. None of us wants to sit on the area of the sofa directly in the path of that fan's blast.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Bob Dole @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM

Thats cool, it still looks like the Hoth Power Generator! Watch for Imperial AT-ATs storming your entertainment center!!!

Matt @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM

How loud is the unit? The Xbox was pretty loud with disks loading (and just sitting idle), but is it any different with the 360?

Luke @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM

Are you not using wireless controllers?

vc @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM

We're using wireless controllers. That's not a photo of our setup.

We don't notice any sound issues, as we've got a pretty bangin' sound setup. We'll mute it here in a sec and listen.

Avenger55 @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM

Thats good I don't want somthing behind my tv extreamly hot

Badison @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM

hmm the power suppply has a fan? that sounds a bit worrisome to have a fan in the powersupply. I mean, i thought the whole point of the power supply of devices was to not have to keep it in a well ventilated area (or to put it out of sight pretty much).

Mark Korsak @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM

wow thats huge... im just surprised that the unit uses like over 250 watts of power. thats like as much as my desktop PC. i may not be able to play the 360 in the car on long trips with the power inverter. its just crazy that the adapter is pretty much as big as a slim PS2 in volume. if and when i get a PS2 though, itl be properly ventilated from the back. I'll be taking a differ route and placing it next to my computer monitor along with my router and cable modem. I'm not paying the money for a wireless adapter, and I'd rather route a component cable across my floor rather than an ehternet cable. Also, my component switchbox is closer to my comp than the TV, and my entertainment center is full. As it is, I already exceeded the DVD space limit from my immense DVD collection, PS2 , GC, and NDS games. Haha im probably the only person with a mobile gaming section in there entertainment center mainly for show. It houses my DS box, my black GBA, and GBC, along with DS game cases

FierceDeityLink1 @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM

#6, I'm thinking that the 360's power supply is more complicated than most power bricks (i.e.: those of laptops and the PStwo). It certainly has a lot more power running through it (200-something watts and 20-something amps).

jc @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM

Did you notice any major differenes between the wireless and wired controller for the X360?

I just picked up the X360 wired controller for the PC, and am loving it (SWbattlefront2 is awesome on the PC with the X360 controller). I like it alot better than the Xbox1 controller... by far.

thomas_h @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM

only thing stopping me from playing fps's on a console is that i hate playing them with a controller.. too used to kb and mouse i guess..

Chris @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM

I'm wondering what amount of electricity the Xbox 360 eats with such a large power supply...everyone pay attention to your power bill next month

Basheron @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM

http://xbox360powersupply.ytmnd.com/

I know it is making light of a national tragedy, but it's so true! Anyways yes, playing an FPS without a mouse is going to be a huge transition to me. Maybee microsoft will make a controller that has an optical sensor on the bottom and call it the 'revolution controller', lol. I wish! But there are so many good games that are made on Xbox 360 that I'm still buying one.

Any update on how the noise is?

devobail @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM

I've got a question. Since the plug and play kit is usb can you recharge the wireless sticks on a laptop?

I usually have my laptop sitting next to me while I'm gaming (browsing Joystiq of course) and it would be much easier to plug the charge and play kit into my laptop instead of running it across the room to the X360.

Can you guys test that out for me. Thanks

vc @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM

Devobail: yes, you can.

devobail @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM

Thanks for the quick response. Thats good to know. Now if I can just score one on launch day I'll be alright.

Gary Larson's publicist @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM

"Devobail: yes, you can." - vc

I have my laptop up and running next to me at all times in my living room.

This is great news.

Well, at least it is very good news. I suppose it really doesn't qualify as great now does it.

360hack @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM

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Steve @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM

I've charged my wireless controller for the 1st time off my laptop as I have no xbox 360 yet. I hope to try my airport express next though its hard to drain a charge when there is nothing to play.

Jayare @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM

I don't know how much you guys messed with PGR3 but I have managed to get to a point in the Career Mode portion of the game (about 16 race series in) and after that any race that I attempt to load causes the 360 to stop the game and inform me "the game may be encoded for the wrong region" Called 18004MYXBOX and they didn't know what to do so they said erase my saved game and start over and see what happens. I'm hoping this is just a random problem on my system and not an overall error on behalf of Bizzare.

rory @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM

there's bound to be plenty of heat for something as powerful as the xbox 360.

its a good job they have two fans and a water cooling system because on the xbox 360 official website it says how the xbox 360 was only going to have one fan...

Adam @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM

If you use the play and charge kit, can you play the wireless controller on a PC... or does the USB only provide power to the controller?

John @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM

USB only provides power. I will say that after I plugged my play and charge kit in the controller had power, but after I tried to find drivers for it it quit getting power. Anyone know a way to reverse this? I tried uninstalling the device, but it still doesnt work when i plug it in.

Lisa @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM

Do you think there will be more xbox 360 premiums after november 22nd? I want to get one. Sounds like a great system.

TheBelle @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM

I have been hearing so much about this new XBOX 360 and have yet to find out how much it costs!! I was thinking of getting one for my boyfriend, but can't find out how much they are. Can anyone help me?

Victor @ Dec 18th 2005 9:06PM

I have the same problem with PGR 3 man, it gives me that region error or something along those lines and suggest I restart, clean it, or insert a disk with a correct region after about 30 minutes of play. It gets kind of annoying when you're in the middle of an important race. I hope I can find a fix.

- Victor