Nyko 360 Intercoolers

RapscallionJones

I'm just looking to get a little feedback on this product. My 360 is scheduled to show up on my doorstep on return from Texas where the Red Ring issues were "taken care of", however it is that they doing that these days. I suspect that in the three weeks that it's been gone, the deck that is en route is going to be an entirely new one, but I can't say for certain.

A friend of mine received his back from repairs last week and upon first turning it on, experienced the ring again. His solution was to buy an Intercooler and suggested that I do the same thing. I've been looking around for a definitive answer but I can't seem to find much aside from bickering.

Here are my questions:

Does anyone know if the return units from the support center are coming in with improved heat sinks or at least some kind of cooling solution that was better than what shipped with the first generation consoles (which mine came from)?

Is it worth my while to buy the Nyko Intercooler? I've heard a lot of conflicting reports and reviews. Some sing its praises while others claim that it doesn't do jack to cool the deck off. Noise isn't an issue for me so it can be as loud as it wants to be. I've also heard that attaching one voids your warranty, which I may need in the future given the 360's track record.

Is there a singular opinion on this or at least a concensus opinion? Am I wasting my money? Are the units coming back from service improved at all? The process of returning your 360 may be pretty easy but the wait to get it back is a dog given the number of games I've wanted to play in the last month or so.

Gihgehls

I would avoid them. I doubt Nyko knows more about the 360's internals than the engineers who designed it/technicians who work on them.

Acolyte57

I researched the 360 intercooler too when I first had problems with my 360 (which turned out to be a faulty power supply, which was instantly replaced by MS - arrived at my door 4 days later. Sometimes they do some great service). I couldn't find too much objective and empirical knowledge, but the main opinion seems to be that the thing helps toast your 360 more than it helps cool it. This alone has refrained me from buying one.

MikeMan

I have one of these and had it plugged in for a while, but I unplugged it because I am paranoid.

I am interested to hear you guys' thoughts on the matter as well.

I have a first gen 360, no hdmi output.

Jimmy King

I've had the Nyko cooler on my 360 for ~6 months now with no issues and a huge improvement in the number of lockups of my 360 (down to 0 after putting it on from once every few hours with it off).

I did quite a bit of research when I first got it as I initially read a lot of horror stories of it burning up 360s, too. Somewhere I came across info that stated that the fucked up Nyko cooler was a first version of it and the ones out now are a later revision that have fixed the issue. Of course, I can't give you a source on that now, so take that for what it is.

LogicalHarm

A couple of my friends have gotten an intercooler and one of them melted onto the 360. And in my friends/aquaintances the only ones who have had their 360s red ring were the ones who placed it vertically or in poorly ventilated areas, such as a cubby in their entertainment stand. Of course this could be coincidence.

So I would just recommend placing your 360 horizonatally on an open, hard, and flat surface.

RapscallionJones

You know? This last one seems logical to me.

I repositioned the 360 back when I was having a lot of problems with the wireless network. It used to be placed horizontally but because of all of the wireless shit in my office, I suspected that there was a ton of interference. I moved it to a vertical position on the floor, slightly closer to the router and that was when the problems started. Connecting to the network was no longer a problem but I started having lock up issues.

I'm going to have to see what happens in a new, flat position.

Gihgehls

On the floor? I hope you didn't mean on the carpet. Carpet is like a blanket that keeps your electronics warm.

MarvellousM

LogicalHarm wrote: »

A couple of my friends have gotten an intercooler and one of them melted onto the 360. And in my friends/aquaintances the only ones who have had their 360s red ring were the ones who placed it vertically or in poorly ventilated areas, such as a cubby in their entertainment stand. Of course this could be coincidence.

So I would just recommend placing your 360 horizonatally on an open, hard, and flat surface.

Sadly I did exactly what you suggested and my 360 still died. I'm not a hardcore gamer (not more than a couple of hours play every couple of days) and I even had a computer fan rigged up to a mains adapter sat at the back of the 360 sucking out extra air. I did everything I could to keep that damn thing happy and it still red ringed on me.

On topic, I had an Intercooler hooked up but after seeing some pictures on somewhere showing burned out sockets on one of them, I got paranoid and stopped using it opting for the homemade solution mentioned above. Also, my first Intercooler stopped working and I had to get it replaced after a couple of weeks. I can't really recommend them overall.

Hewn

If cooling is a primary concern, I'd favor a laptop cooler instead of the Nyko attachment.

A laptop cooler will simply go under the console, cooling that area. No fuss with attaching it to the console, worrying about the dynamics of the fans. If you worry about the power consumption of attaching it via USB, find one that plugs into a wall outlet or a USB to wall solution.

deadonthestreet

They do void your warranty.

Reason enough not to get one.