Game consoles, enclosed entertainment centers, and the potential issues therein

The Wolfman

I've been doing a bunch of redecorating lately, and I could use some advice.

Some backstory: For the longest time, I've usually kept my game consoles sitting on the floor, on a repurposed cabinet shelf to keep them off the carpet, for obvious heat venting issues. It's always suited me just fine, but still it would be nice to tidy everything up and have it looking less cluttered. Fast forward, and after some redecorating, I'm trying out this old... I don't know the furniture-y word for it, credenza? It's basically this giant table with two doors that swing open to a big empty space that was previously holding various knickknacks and old VHS tapes. So I cleaned it out, moved some stuff, and ended up with this setup. Pardon the questionable photo quality, the only real camera I had at the moment was a 3DS.



And just in case you can't tell, that's a PS3, Wii, and 360 all side by side, and the TV sitting atop it all. Now, my obvious worry is whether or not this is adequate space and venting for the heat that typically comes off of consoles. The idea being that the doors will obviously be left open while in use. And the machines are a good 2 inches or so away from that back wall, which is just thin particle board. My ideal setup would have been to take that back piece off, because it's just slotted in there and can move up and down, but I can't get the damn thing off thanks to stupid craftmanship wedging.

So my question is... does that look OK? With the doors left open like that, is that enough space and venting, and I'm not going to be in any real danger of overheating the things? The situation doesn't look any different from any other official enclosed entertainment center, but again the idea is that you don't really want to be doing that to consoles due to the whole heat thing.

Smasher

When I was younger we always had video game consoles inside a cabinet similar to that one and never had a problem. Unless the newer consoles are excessively prone to overheating you should be fine.

Psychotic One

The black X-box tends to blow a lot of heat so having good ventilation so it can breathe is probably a good idea. At the very least have the door open when playing.

Melinoe

It might also help if you keep the xbox vertical instead of horizontal like that, afaik that allows it to vent more air and heat up less.

JHunz

I have a somewhat similar setup, although there's an open strip in the back. I would avoid playing any of the consoles without both doors open. Also, it helps to put the 360 on top of something so that the bottom air vents can actually vent air. Personally, I use a Fallout 3 strategy guide that I got for free and never opened - it's the perfect width.

Iruka

Melinoe wrote: »

It might also help if you keep the xbox vertical instead of horizontal like that, afaik that allows it to vent more air and heat up less.

Flat Xboxs have a significantly reduced chance of ringing a disk as so:

If you are going to stand it up, keep vibration around the system low when you are running it (as in, no stomping around in front of it.)

The Wolfman

Thanks for the advice all.

And yeah, the general idea is that I will leave the doors open when they're in use. In fact, me being the lazy ass that I am, they're always open. The question then being whether that open space is enough air flow. I'm not overly worried about overheating, but then again these suckers can get pretty toasty during normal use. And I'm already on Xbox #3 thanks to that damn red ring, so there's always that worry.

Skullo

Iruka wrote: »

Melinoe wrote: »

It might also help if you keep the xbox vertical instead of horizontal like that, afaik that allows it to vent more air and heat up less.

Flat Xboxs have a significantly reduced chance of ringing a disk as so:

If you are going to stand it up, keep vibration around the system low when you are running it (as in, no stomping around in front of it.)

I do not own a new style xbox, but with the old ones this was a huge issue. I thought the new ones weren't as dangerous, though?

skeldare

Skullo wrote: »

Iruka wrote: »

Melinoe wrote: »

It might also help if you keep the xbox vertical instead of horizontal like that, afaik that allows it to vent more air and heat up less.

Flat Xboxs have a significantly reduced chance of ringing a disk as so:

If you are going to stand it up, keep vibration around the system low when you are running it (as in, no stomping around in front of it.)

I do not own a new style xbox, but with the old ones this was a huge issue. I thought the new ones weren't as dangerous, though?

I have one of the newer model 360s and always keep it standing up. Have not had any problems. It's a hell of a lot better than the launch 360 I had.

see317

Smasher wrote: »

When I was younger we always had video game consoles inside a cabinet similar to that one and never had a problem. Unless the newer consoles are excessively prone to overheating you should be fine.

Not sure how long ago you're talking about, but the current gen consoles can get really hot in an enclosed area. A lot hotter then, say, the old NES or SNES generation systems. They may be better with the newer models, but they're still a lot of power packed in those little boxes.

To the OP: It probably shouldn't be a problem, since it looks like the consoles have a lot of open space above them to vent heat (and it's not likely you'll have more then one running at a time), especially with the doors open. If you're still worried, maybe drill some holes in the back panel? Get a straight edge and drill a couple of rows of 1/4" holes across the top and bottom of the back panel in that cabinet. If you want to go whole hog on it, maybe get a couple of small PC cooling fans to move air through the cabinet. A few well placed larger holes may make cable management a bit easier as well.

The Wolfman

see317 wrote: »

Smasher wrote: »

When I was younger we always had video game consoles inside a cabinet similar to that one and never had a problem. Unless the newer consoles are excessively prone to overheating you should be fine.

Not sure how long ago you're talking about, but the current gen consoles can get really hot in an enclosed area. A lot hotter then, say, the old NES or SNES generation systems. They may be better with the newer models, but they're still a lot of power packed in those little boxes.

To the OP: It probably shouldn't be a problem, since it looks like the consoles have a lot of open space above them to vent heat (and it's not likely you'll have more then one running at a time), especially with the doors open. If you're still worried, maybe drill some holes in the back panel? Get a straight edge and drill a couple of rows of 1/4" holes across the top and bottom of the back panel in that cabinet. If you want to go whole hog on it, maybe get a couple of small PC cooling fans to move air through the cabinet. A few well placed larger holes may make cable management a bit easier as well.

I've been considering drilling a hole for cable management. What I have going on is a MacGyver setup involving some batteries as wedges and taking advantage that there is a lot of play between the thin backboard. No cables are getting pinched at all, but it still seems pretty ghetto.

The current achilles heel is that I don't own any form of drill. :P

see317

You have a Lowe's or a Home Depot nearby? Most hardware stores have tools you can rent for a day. Generally they rent out bigger stuff like concrete mixers or table saws but I'd imagine they'd have some hand tools available.
http://www.homedepotrents.com/results.aspx

jclast

I know it's $120, but a power drill is a good investment. I don't know if you rent or own, but owning a house having a drill has been a necessity. None of these activities are especially fun, but at some point you'll need to install curtain rods, repair a deck railing, or mount a television. And it stings less to buy it ahead of time than to wait until you've already spent $1,000 on a television set and mount.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_185475-70-DC970K-2_0__?productId=3108421&Ntt=dewalt+drill&pl=1&currentURL=&facetInfo=

That's the one I have. I'm sure there are cheaper ones available, but I can't vouch for their quality so I won't recommend them.