Up or Down?

[lbd_nytetrayn]

Question for Xbox 360 owners, particularly those familiar with the console's defects and getting the most life out of the system.

Is it better to stand it up, or have it laying down? I had read before that laying it down was the best way to go, as supposedly the fan is set to blow out the bottom when standing, preventing better circulation.

But now, I'm reading this article (which was linked from this one), in which the person being interviewed says the following:

"But the cooler you can keep it, the longer it will probably last. So stand it up, keep it in free air, etc."

...so, does anyone know which way is actually better for keeping it cooler?

--LBD "Nytetrayn"

Comments

[lakupo.livejournal.com]

I had the same idea as the guy in the article, standing it up because it has a lot of vent holes along the sides. A google search brought up a bunch of YouTube videos by teens doing their own little tests and various forum posts from a couple of years ago, and it was all over the map. What model you have might affect it, I think they've made airflow improvements with each revision. But vertical might cause problems with the disc drive and make it noisier, so I dunno.

I have limited space around my TV (and I don't want to put it underneath in the little entertainment center, obviously), so I'll probably have to put the 360 I'll get next month vertical no matter what and hope for the best.

[lbd-nytetrayn.livejournal.com]

Lately, most of the games I play are digital; I lay it down when discs are involved, though, so as to avoid scratching.

Over on PA, I decided to ask about this as well, and it seems the main air vents are on the top and bottom (with more going "out" of the bottom, due to the hard drive on top). So laying seems to be the way to go.

--LBD "Nytetrayn"

[lakupo.livejournal.com]

One of the YouTube videos I found was saying the Xbox was less noisy when playing a disc in horizontal mode, but then there was an update saying it died a couple of months later, so he places his 360 vertically now. But then you've got stuff about the main air vents on the top and bottom... I saw someone mention vents on the back, but someone else mentioned that was intake, which... seems really stupid. It seems that should be output, since that's the side that's guaranteed to be clear... of course, that's the story of the Xbox 360's manufacturing. "Why'd they do that?"

[lbd-nytetrayn.livejournal.com]

Indeed... I swear, I keep hearing stuff that leaves me wondering if there IS any "right" way to do it.

--LBD "Nytetrayn"

[kiapurity.livejournal.com]

Silver has his lying down as well. @_@

[frankie23.livejournal.com]

Standing up = more surface area = more (theoretical) airflow. Mind you, for this to work, it needs to be standing and clear on all sides. Really though, it's more dependent upon your model, and the heatsink inside than the actual airflow.

[hardcorehecxz.livejournal.com]

I have to stand my up, my tray for some reason is all jacked up, and I dunno why, it was made in April 2006 and works fine, just that if I lay my XBOX down and load a disc in, it will pop it back out, I have to keep jiggling the disc around on the tray to get it to work. However standing my system up and loading the disc in, it works like a charm....I dont get it.

That and another thing that bugs me is playing Rainbow Six Vegas 2, the game randomly will say the Disc is unreadable and stop the game. It not at a certain spot, it will just do it, and granted the Disc is in perfect condition. The message doesn't happen on any other game just this one. Also my friend has suffered the same, so I dunno if RB6: Vegas is just too much for the XBOX or not

But yes, I own all 3 systems, and by far, the XBOX has been the worst system to work with in terms with all it's flaws, but will admit it has a solid gaming lineup, just Microsoft needs a better testing committee or something. I just see myself having to fork $100 over soon to fix my box I just know it.

[bpmomega.livejournal.com]

Haven't had mine for long, but I keep it down. [shrugs]

[thenekomancer.livejournal.com]

I'm betting it's gonna break no matter how you orient it.