XBOX 360 - Does horizontal eff up discs???

gvandale

When I first got my 360 a while back, the DB at Gamestop told me that vertical was the best since that is how Microsoft placed them in the stands etc. I have done it that way up until the last two months.

Well I was playing DMC4 today and got to a certain point when it gives me a "disc dirty" error. Now this is the only game that has goofed on me since it's been horizontal, but it does have a nice little "nick" in it.

Who out there has their 360's horizontally, and has it caused problems?

FyreWulff

Every vertical 360 I've seen has been replaced/been to Microsoft for repairs at least once.

Every horizontal 360 I've seen is still with their owners and has never been sent back.

gvandale

interesting....

APZonerunner

FyreWulff wrote: »

Every vertical 360 I've seen has been replaced/been to Microsoft for repairs at least once.

Every horizontal 360 I've seen is still with their owners and has never been sent back.

I have precisely the opposite experience. I sat every one of mine down and they all broke, but the one I have (upstairs) that is standing up is standing tall and is fine.

Anotehr one of my mates has his lying down also and has had colossally bad luck with it.

gvandale

see i've heard this, that, and every other response possible. Is it possible to do polls anymore? I'd like to see the percentages of people that have then Vert and had problems, and the people that had them Horiz and had problems...

Tomanta

I've had mine horizontal since I got it and haven't had any problems. Even if I had the room to do it vertical, I'd be afraid of it getting bumped and falling over/scratching the disc. I think horizontal is the way to go.

Daedalus

The only thing that is sure to fuck up discs is switching from horizontal to vertical (or vice versa) while a disc is spinning.

jothki

Rapidly switching from vertical to horizontal does mess up disks, though. As far as I'm concerned, that's a good enough reason to leave it in the most stable position.

gvandale

I've never bumped it, moved it, or anything while a disc was IN IT, much less spinning.

EskimoDave

Mine sits on my floor cause my furniture consists of a TV box. It did try horizontal and it got really hot. And in my way. No problems vertical with lots of use.

Smug Duckling

I have it horizontal. Had it about 5 months with no issues so far.

Pancake

I've had my current 360 vertical for about six or seven months and haven't had any issues. My first 360 was kept horizontal and it broke after I had had it for the same length of time. My discs have been completely fine in both.

I don't really think there's any real correlation between problems with the 360 and the position you have it sitting in.

Serule

Cooling is supposed to be better for horizontal - the main air intake (or is it exhaust?) ends up on the bottom when you set it up vertical.

gvandale

Serule wrote: »

Cooling is supposed to be better for horizontal - the main air intake (or is it exhaust?) ends up on the bottom when you set it up vertical.

That's good to know...O_o

Daedalus

Really, folks, it's almost certainly equally reliable both ways or else Microsoft would have started recommending people put it one way or the other to save on their billions of dollars of warranty replacement costs.

Hearthjaw

I've used my 360 horizontally the entire time I've hd it since i got it in 2006. Its red-ringed once about a month ago. Other then that I havn't had any issues with it. I think its luck with the 360 and discs more then anything.

Triple B

I had my first 360 from December 22nd, 2005, until August 21st, 2007. The video output died about fifteen minutes after I started playing my newly-acquired Bioshock: LE. The 360 was kept horizontal the entire time. I'd say that's a pretty good selling point for keeping your 360 horizontal, considering when it finally did shit the bed, it was completely non-RRoD in nature. My second 360, I've had since December 26th, and it also has been kept horizontal the entire time.

The thing is, I'm not so sure keeping it vertical is what messes up discs. I've always felt like there would be a problem if you kept the system one way for a long time, and then switched it to play the other way. It happened with my original PS2, I didn't have DRE's until I switched it from horizontal to vertical.

rvcontre78

Yeah, with all the above being said the only time I've seen a disc get scratched up is when the Xbox was vertical. During a particularly drunken Rock Band session my friend kicked over the Xbox. So, yeah, I've always kept my 360 horizontal just in case. I mean if you can assure that it won't accidently tip over when it's vertical then you should be ok. I jsut don't trust my friends. Hehe.

NailbunnyPD

gvandale wrote: »

Serule wrote: »

Cooling is supposed to be better for horizontal - the main air intake (or is it exhaust?) ends up on the bottom when you set it up vertical.

That's good to know...O_o

The main intakes are at the ends of the console. The HDD on top blocks the majority of that end, while standing it up vertical blocks the bottom.

RedDawn

Ive kept mine vertical since day one. It's been working out just fine <knocks on wood>. Ive had it for a couple years now.

SatanIsMyMotor

Speaking from first hand experience I had my Xbox vertical since launch. Earlier this year I had started getting DREs and eventually I figured out that occasionally the disk was becoming unseated in the disc tray (if you look at how the disc goes in when you have it vertical you'll see there's a very tiny lip the disc can slip out of). This was resulting in my games getting a perfectly circular scratch around the disc. It ruined both a copy of COD4 and Rockband.

I've since switched to putting my console horizontal and the problem has stopped.

boberto

I am just stealing this from an xbox engineer, but...

Vertical is supposed to be fine because it increases exposure to cooler outside air since both sides of the box are in direct contact with air instead of heating up on top of something. It dissipates heat better.

Xenogears of Bore

Shitty disc drives scratch disks. Some 360's have really shitty disc drives.

Sure, even bumping a good 360 while it is accessing could scratch your disk if it was vertical so it's best to keep the sucker flat. Doesn't mean you won't have one of those disk munching fuckers.

Sparrow

Bought my 360 first week of release, I play it regularly and have always kept it in the upright position.
To this day I have yet to get a scratched disk or even the RROD for that matter.

ben0207

Yet.

Santa Claustrophobia

boberto wrote: »

I am just stealing this from an xbox engineer, but...

Vertical is supposed to be fine because it increases exposure to cooler outside air since both sides of the box are in direct contact with air instead of heating up on top of something. It dissipates heat better.

Perhaps, but plastic isn't exactly the ideal material for dissipating heat. Yes, the more sides that are 'open' to the air the better that kind of thing is, but blocking (or potentially so) the airflow is also not viewed as a good thing. Look at it this way, which is better: a) Heatsink alone or b) heatsink and fan combo?

NailbunnyPD

Santa Claustrophobia wrote: »

boberto wrote: »

I am just stealing this from an xbox engineer, but...

Vertical is supposed to be fine because it increases exposure to cooler outside air since both sides of the box are in direct contact with air instead of heating up on top of something. It dissipates heat better.

Perhaps, but plastic isn't exactly the ideal material for dissipating heat. Yes, the more sides that are 'open' to the air the better that kind of thing is, but blocking (or potentially so) the airflow is also not viewed as a good thing. Look at it this way, which is better: a) Heatsink alone or b) heatsink and fan combo?

Yeah, if the intakes are blocked (or even the exhaust for that matter), thats going to have a greater impact on the console.

ben0207

What about holding it up with like, 10 2p coins on each corner?

Karenna

Here's my take on horizontal vs vertical based on the actual innards of the 360.

Look at this pic of the cover off:

The right side of the pic is the side that you place on the floor/table in order to make it vertical.

Here's a pic with the HDD removed:


Now, there's a fan in that plastic tunnel that pulls in air over the two heatsinks, and the hot exhaust out the back. That right side grill is the main intake for airflow.

When you stand the 360 vertically, you block most of the air coming in!

Couple that with the known heat expansion/contraction of the HSF and thermal paste...If the 360 is vertical, the heatsinks will tend to slide slightly down and away from the GPU and CPU. If the unit is horizontal, gravity will hold them in more place.

So basically, just by heat transfer and physics, you can clearly see that Horizontal is far better than vertical.

spookymuffin

Karenna wrote: »

So basically, just by heat transfer and physics, you can clearly see that Horizontal is far better than vertical.

This is what I was thinking.

Karenna

Just re-found the pic of the new 360 (as of Jun 07 iirc..but not in the 360 Elite!) internals:



That extra heat sink and heatpipe make all the difference for the GPU

reddog

I have mine horizontal just because I figure...if my DVD player, my CD player and in the past any portable CD player I had worked perfectly horizontal...why would I want to try something different? And from Karenna's post...it makes me feel I made the right decision.

Wetsun

I just put mine on a cooling rack. :shrug:

Karenna

Hopefully your cooling rack isn't one of those Nyko or Intec ones that plugs into the back of the 360...they've had the nasty problem of setting themselves on fire

RedDawn

If you had it vertical on carpet, I could see an issue. If it is on glass or wood though, air will still be able to get into the system.

In any case the original issue wasn't heat related it was about scratching discs. Though the consensus is still to have it horizontal.

Wetsun

Karenna wrote: »

Hopefully your cooling rack isn't one of those Nyko or Intec ones that plugs into the back of the 360...they've had the nasty problem of setting themselves on fire

No. Like this, but the cookies are more xbox-like.

Karenna

Ah, an actual cooling rack.
Good engineering solution!

Wetsun

That's why they let me be an engineer.

Gihgehls

Nuts to everyone saying that vertical blocks air. When you block an intake enough for it to matter, you will hear the difference in the fan.

Karenna

Putting it vertically doesn't block ALL the air...there are still intakes on the 'top' (HDD side), so the fan isn't going to change noticeably in sound.
But the airflow to the CPU is drastically reduced due to the lack of good ventilation on the bottom half.

There's been several lab tests that proved that by standing the unit vertically, the exhaust temp rises by several degrees vice leaving it horizontally.

You can't argue with physics. It'll still bitch slap you with a RRoD.

spookymuffin

Wetsun wrote: »

Karenna wrote: »

Hopefully your cooling rack isn't one of those Nyko or Intec ones that plugs into the back of the 360...they've had the nasty problem of setting themselves on fire

No. Like this, but the cookies are more xbox-like.

Nice rack!

:winky: