Microsoft crew pwns German heatsink video
by Christopher Grant 
{ Mar 12th 2006 at 10:00PM }
After a video (and accompanying investigative post) showed up by German gaming site GameStore24.de purporting to show a severe oversight in the Xbox 360 production lines, the internet was ablaze with rumblings that the cause of the overheating 360s had been discovered: a small piece of foil placed over the thermal paste on the GPU's heatsink had failed to be removed. Apparently some 360s had the foil and some didn't. The assumption: that its presence was a result of a failure to be removed at the factory. The foil must have been some sort of protection to keep the paste from getting funky.
Microsoft's John Porcaro got the straight poop right from the 360 manufacturing team. His response (and his double negative): "The video and photos posted by German blog GameStore24.de show thermal interface pads that are not installed incorrectly. They are installed per specification. This foil eliminates the need of a protective liner, which simplifies the final assembly process and minimizes shipping concerns and contamination issues." Yup, he has the charts and graphs and product names and everything to prove it. They used the wonderfully named THERMFLOW T558 which features the "conformal metal foil carrier."
Porcaro doesn't explain why one of the 360s opened by GameStore24.de didn't contain the foil. Did it use the foil-less--but otherwise similar--THERMFLOW T557? Or is there a rogue factory worker on a misguided one-man mission to foil the 360's global gaming goals?
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in... both parts of it.]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Kevin B @ Mar 12th 2006 10:24PM
Maybe the reference to the photo, and the following statement are two seperate instances of installed or incorrectly installed foil carriers. Consider the pronoun "They" in the second statemnt as if it were to refer to the standard installation (or failure heretofore) and the first statement simply refers to the photo. Sad, sad quality assurance or bad, bad grammar.
There once was a box named X.
Not the first one, but the next;
It suffered from a fever,
Brought on by believers
That anything Microsoft wrecks.
bv @ Mar 12th 2006 10:39PM
After seeing the time and energy put into the xbox 360 manufacturing and assembly line, I highly doubt Microsoft would allow such an error. I think this is just a scapegoat for people to complain about their busted consoles. If Microsoft claims to replace the consoles within reason, why is there a need to cause all of this uproar? However, I can't even buy an xbox 360 online or in the stores yet. I think it's ridiculous that over 3 months have passed since the debut of the 360 and the inventory is non existent. Microsoft really dropped the ball on this and as a result I am only going to purchase one next gen console, the PS3.
video of the xbox 360 assembly line in action:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5910312130452993589&q=xbox+360
John Porcaro @ Mar 12th 2006 11:11PM
I don't never use no double negatives... :)
In this case, the videos online were claiming the heat sinks were installed incorrectly. So rather than saying they were installed correctly, I said they were not installed incorrectly. In effect, I was saying the installation "was not wrong" (also a double negative, I suppose). I then clarified what I meant with the second sentence: they were installed per specification.
Thanks for keeping me on my toes. You're not incorrect...
Blink @ Mar 13th 2006 12:33AM
So, if the foil is lined up like it was at the begining of the video, then it's not installed incorrectly? But the way it was at the end was incorrect? Or, is the foil not supposed to be there at all?
shygy @ Mar 13th 2006 2:18AM
Uh, John, if the foil seems to be kinda sorta maybe not the problem, did the team of hand picked experts impart to you maybe an in-house opinion[s] as to what THEY thought the overheating problem could be?? As sweet as the 360 is-it might turn into an 800 lb. gorilla-so please consider your loyal customers [the ice packs are melting!]
C. Grant @ Mar 13th 2006 8:24AM
Sorry John, I was really just busting your hump! A good old double negative often helps nail a point... even if it forces me to reread the sentence. =)
Blink: Foil is supposed to be there, per specification. Like John said, "I was saying the installation 'was not wrong.'"
So I guess the overheating isn't systemic, just on a per unit basis.
Bignuts @ Mar 13th 2006 11:50AM
Though the foil may not be the ultimate cause of the overheating, it is well documented that anytime that you trasition from one material to another thermally, you create a thermal interference joint. This type of behavior happens wheather a interface is soldered, uses a direct friction contact, or even with some TIM applied. In short, you will want less material interfaces betweet the surfaces you are tying to transfer heat through, and that foil is just another way top reduce the efficency of the heat transfer. Ultimately its a tredeoff, get the product to the prodution point protected and insuring better consistency by using the foil, or suffer a small loss in thermal efficency and create another mfg. step by having to remove a protective layer before installation
Guy Fawkes @ Mar 13th 2006 12:36PM
I hear so many Sony fanboys drooling and peeing their panties over the PS3, falling for the Sony hype again. it seems the tagline Sony wants to drill into their sheep's heads for every generation is "I’m gunna Wait for PS(insert number here)" I heard the same crap in 1999 when Dreamcast, a wonderful system backed by the greatest first party development house in history (sorry Mario and link lovers) was squashed because Sony had people believing the PS2 was the second coming of Christ in console form. "Cell Processor" is this generation's "Emotion Engine." Sure it will be a nice system, with crappy, linear, qausi-role playing games from Japan, but beyond that, it’s really only about equal to the CCCLX.
the only reason I bought a PS2 was for Metal Gear Solid 2 (which sucked, but 3 was great), and the only reasons I am buying a PS3 is for Metal Gear Solid 4 and the fact I work for GameStop.