Date:
Tuesday , February 19, 2002
Author:
Steve Lynch
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Water-Cooled XBOX

Someone had to do it...and besides, odds are you would have griped at us if we didn't do it.

continued...

Now that we have everything in place, it's time to install the waterblock cooler and route the hoses.

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The hoses ended up being routed around the current system fan. I had originally planned to remove the system fan and route the hoses out through the grill in the back, but with minor bending of the thin metal around the back of the unit, I was able to simply run the hosing around the fan and out the back of the unit without any trouble. This allowed me to keep the case cooling fan intact.

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Modifications done by people that do not care about cutting and drilling holes in the system can easily find far more efficient ways to route the hosing. Keep in mind, this mod is being done so that the system can be returned to its "original state".

The completed unit uses the water-cooling base as a pedestal for the Xbox. The Xbox can even be attached to the lid of the base unit, if so desired, by drilling four holes in the lid of the base unit and running the four corner screws of the Xbox unit through the lid.

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The final product is amazing, the CPU cooling is fantastic, and the overall case temperature inside the Xbox dropped by 26°F. The temperature drop comes as a result of the case fans no longer having to blow the cool incoming air across a hot heatsink as soon as it enters the case. Cooler internal temperatures will no doubt prolong the life of the system hard drive as well as the DVD unit. The overall look of the case is nice and very professional in appearance.

Disclaimer:

Normally, a standard disclaimer comes at the beginning of every article of this kind. I saved mine for the end so that the last thing you remember are these words. We do not recommend ANYONE attempt something like this unless they are full prepared to void their warranty and possibly screw up their $300.00+ video game console. Although we do cover small areas like heating the labels to remove the screws, etc., our warranty is still voided the minute you crack the case on your Xbox. Just because I show you little "label tricks" doesn't mean you haven't kissed your warranty goodbye.

Having said that, you are dealing with a bunch of guys who LIVE to hear someone say stuff like, "Dude...I can't believe you just ripped that apart....are those even on the market yet???" or better yet, "Holy crap, man. You are just ASKING for trouble there." Warranties do not mean a lot around here, which was obvious when we just punched a hole in the warranty stickers on our first Xbox two hours after we owned it so that we could get it open and show you what was inside it.

So take our advice and stay away from these types of mods if you value your warranty.

Conclusion:

Right now, the primary goals of this modification were to: 1. See if it could be done. 2. Better overall cooling. 3. See if it could be done. 4. Make and extreme modification without permanently altering the Xbox console 5. See if it could be done. 6. Having a finished product that had a professional look and feel to it. 7. And, of course, to see if it could be done!!!

We consider this a success since all objectives were completed and the finished product is an ASS KICKIN' WORLD'S FIRST water-cooled Xbox. I'd say that was a success.

But, what fun would all this cooling be if we didn't attempt to overclock the stock Xbox and take advantage of our new cooling system?? What about adding another 64MB of video memory to our Xbox?? Keep in mind, this time around we are covering things that do not permanently alter your system. All the other "warranty voiding" things that can be done to our water-cooled Xbox, including adding a waterblock to the graphics processor, will be done in a future article. This is just the beginning. . .

Have any comments / questions / ideas?? Let me know: steve@hardocp.com