catfu Xbox-HQ User Xbox Version: 1.1 Modded: SID 5.10
Joined: Jul 09, 2010 Posts: 16 Location: UK
Posted: Mon Jul 12, 2010 9:30 pm Post subject: Quiet and cool replacement HDD
I'm looking to quieten down my xbox. The first step I'm taking is to quieten down the HDD to cut down on the clunk sounds. I firstly got a quieter replacement 3.5in HDD, but it's a 7200rpm disk, and is generating so much more heat than the stock xbox HDD did that I think I may have to use an alternative.
I have a 160Gb laptop drive that I'm considering using instead - it'll run quietly and the heat sholdn't be so much of an issue.
I've bought a few bits and pieces with a view to trying this:
1 x 2.5in to 3.5in Hard Disk IDE Adapter
1 x 2.5in HDD to 3.5in HDD Anti-Vibration Mounting Kit
The first item to make sure the IDE cable fits, and the second to be sure that the disk can be mounted where the older 3.5in disk was. Of course I'm assuming the original disk can be cloned using this new disk, and then locked (I've not found the disk in the compatibility list but that may just mean that no-one has tried using it)
Has anyone else taken the laptop disk route in the pursuit of a cool and quiet xbox? If so, what were your results - is there anything to watch out for, or hints and tips?
The 7200 rpm does run a little hotter but I have run a 250gb 7200rpm WD with no problem at all. Its been run hard and long and never had an over heating problem. I have also changed the thermal compound on the heat sinks to that artic silver stuff which I know is a little over kill for a regular xbox but it keeps it running good.
What dash are you using? If you cant lock your drive you might want to think about flashing tsop instead you can just stick any drive in there and it will format it and no locking required. However it does need to be a certain version xbox and there are a couple of points you need to connect on the motherboard to enable writing to the tsop. But its cheap and fairly easy to do.
catfu Xbox-HQ User Xbox Version: 1.1 Modded: SID 5.10
Joined: Jul 09, 2010 Posts: 16 Location: UK
Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 2:17 pm Post subject:
jake505 wrote:
The 7200 rpm does run a little hotter but I have run a 250gb 7200rpm WD with no problem at all. Its been run hard and long and never had an over heating problem. I have also changed the thermal compound on the heat sinks to that artic silver stuff which I know is a little over kill for a regular xbox but it keeps it running good.
What dash are you using? If you cant lock your drive you might want to think about flashing tsop instead you can just stick any drive in there and it will format it and no locking required. However it does need to be a certain version xbox and there are a couple of points you need to connect on the motherboard to enable writing to the tsop. But its cheap and fairly easy to do.
Many thanks for the reply!
I've currently got the xbox set up to boot straight into XBMC. It's a v1.1 xbox - could I flash the TSOP after a little soldering with a v1.1? I should mention that I'm quite bad at soldering. I have two modchips knocking around that I haven't used, mostly because I'm so bad at soldering and have already messed up one pin header install by being careless. Luckily the xbox wasn't damaged after my soldering iron abuse so I abandoned the messed up pin header and the modchip that I had intended to attach to it and softmodded the xbox instead.
It's good to know that 7200rpm disks work ok. By way of an update, I've used XboxHDM to format the 5400rpm 160Gb laptop HDD now and have now got it running cool and quiet inside the xbox. It was quite a shock how loud the stock HDD was, the difference is very noticeable. Now the loudest noises are a ticking sound from the power supply or thereabouts and a steady hum from the fan. Annoyingly the fan looks like it's surrounded by non-standard moulded plastic clips to attach to the xbox so it's not a simple quiet 70mm fan replacement.
I may yet use the 7200rpm disk inside a second xbox, but only after I'm done tweaking this first one.
I've been impressed at how easy the XboxHDM software makes the process. It built the new 2.5" disk without complaint and then happily locked the drive using the eeprom key. I have had some initial successes with Chimp, but XboxHDM has definitely improved the process for me.
Glad to hear you got that drive to work. xboxhdm wast the program I used on my first softmod upgrade. It was really nice and easy to use never used chimp myself but heard good things.
There are some small precision points you would need to solder but thereis another option too. I have heard of people using conductive paint to get it to work also I think you can get it at an auto parts store. Here check this site out it might answer a few Q's http://www.xbox-linux.org/wiki/TSOP_flashing_HOWTO
Nice choices in dashes I like to use that one myself personally I think its the easiest to use though it is a little buggy at times. if you want to quiet the fan with out changing it you can adjust to fan speed in system settings in xbmc just watch your temps I believe you can run it as high as 149*f but i wouldn't suggest that mine usually runs anywhere from 105 to 110 thats an ideal range and thats with the larger faster hdd's you take it to high and your going to shorten the life of your equipment. I think you can check your temps if you click the right stick and go to info or something like that. that little laptop drive though should run a lot cooler than a standard 3.5" drive so you should be able to get the fan speed down with no problem just watch that your temps don't get to high. try changing the speed then run a movie or something to really stress it for a couple of minutes and see what you temps are if it doesn't raise but a couple of degrees from normal then no problem but if jumps like 10-20* I would increase the speed a little and try again
tjpryor Xbox-HQ Member
Joined: Aug 07, 2009 Posts: 68
Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 2:34 am Post subject:
if you have a laptop hard drive in
a xbox you will have it very quiet
but i dont know why you want it
quiet in the first place you need a
thick hard drive so you wont have
to deel with the laptop one not being
able to stay in one place
if you look at his original post he said he got a 2.5" to 3.5" mounting kit so he doesn't have to worry about it moving around. The 2.5 hdd will be much quieter and cooler but most aren't as fast as a standard 3.5" hdd
catfu Xbox-HQ User Xbox Version: 1.1 Modded: SID 5.10
Joined: Jul 09, 2010 Posts: 16 Location: UK
Posted: Tue Jul 20, 2010 12:18 pm Post subject:
tjpryor wrote:
if you have a laptop hard drive in
a xbox you will have it very quiet
but i dont know why you want it
quiet in the first place...
This Xbox is intended for use as a media centre, in my living room.
The room is normally quiet with the Xbox switched off, because then I really notice the Xbox noise more. The strange thing about background noise is that you only notice how intrusive it is when it stops.
I'd rather play music, games, and movies (and spend the in-between times) without an accompanying whining and whirring interference. Is it just me? I don't think so, there must be plenty of people that agree with me for Microsoft to put their efforts into developing the new 'whisper quiet' Xbox 360.
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