Comments on: Finally, a quiet Xbox 360?

By: Joop

Joop — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 21:40:58 +0000

You can just copy the DVD to the HDD from the Xbox Dashboard. When you play the game it only checks if you have the original disc in the drive and plays the game grom HDD.

By: Glenn Lirhus

Glenn Lirhus — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 18:24:22 +0000

Hey guys thought I’d chime in with some answers.

Ed is correct; it was the Jasper version of the system board we are using.

I don’t think the power brick on the new units even has a fan inside. I have not heard any sounds from mine even on a hot day.

We only added the fan on our case as a back up. Since we cannot control the environment the case is used in, the thermal switch on the CPU is a way of monitoring it for you. In normal 78F room temps the fan will never come on. The ambient temp has to rise above 31C or 88F before the fan kicks in. It is a medium speed 3300RPM and can barely be heard, I had to wire a LED to it to know when it came on.

Would like to hear more about how to run games off the HDD. Being an off-road racer I mainly play Baja Edge of Control. If this is something easy, we can add a FAQ to our site for tips like this.

The standard HDD in the new Xbox 360 is 60GB, the Elite comes with 120GB.

By: Dana

Dana — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 16:27:18 +0000

So perhaps this is the other piece of the puzzle? Coupled with Ben’s idea of a Windows Home Server acting as a headless server off in the closet with one coax plugged into it, these quiet 360s along with full computers will act as extenders around the house. Perhaps Ben’s Dream of the ZuneHD acting as a wireless extender will come true.

Two dreams of mine: Zune store on the extenders providing streaming audio for the family and video rentals, and a ZuneHD dock on these XBox360s to provide both HD playback from the ZuneHD and the ability to transfer recorded TV to the ZuneHD.

Does Microsoft realize they are on the cusp of completely dominating the video market? They just need to connect the pieces. I remember Charlie Owen promising some completely incredible stuff coming later this year when he was on Ian Dixon’s roundtable. So far ZuneHD and Zune Marketplace on the 360 don’t quite meet up to what he was implying, but they are definitely building blocks leading to something great.

Ben, Ed, anyone?? have any idea why Apple announced a massive data center to be housed in “rural North Carolina” this week? Other than MobileMe, what data is Apple concerned with? I’m wondering if they are doing something with video, too.

By: TJ

TJ — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 16:23:59 +0000

The only offer i could make is probably pay for the shipping

By: Ed Bott

Ed Bott — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 14:43:45 +0000

Ben, you mean the power brick? I asked about the PSU and he said it will continue to use the external brick.

By: Ben Drawbaugh

Ben Drawbaugh — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 14:42:05 +0000

What you’ll notice the second you get this is how loud the the 360’s PSU is. Luckily you can use a ATX PSU with a $15 power adapter, but still can’t believe A-Tech didn’t think of this.

By: Ed Bott

Ed Bott — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 13:20:52 +0000

Make me an offer, TJ…

By: TJ

TJ — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 01:22:43 +0000

It looks like the fan will be loud when it’s activated just like a laptop fan noise. I’ll be happy to have your old xbox 360 if you no longer need it.

By: Mike Kozlowski

Mike Kozlowski — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 01:07:29 +0000

You can install games to the hard drive now. You need to put the DVD in the drive, but it doesn’t spin past a disc check.

My main objection to this sort of silencing project is that Xboxes break a lot (I’m on my… eighth?), so giving up the warranty is kind of a big deal.

By: Paul Smith

Paul Smith — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 01:06:33 +0000

Looks like Bit-Tech don’t realise you can play games off the hard disk already, you still need the disc in the tray to be able to do it, but the drive is only spun up once to verify you have the disc, after that no drive noise.

By: Random Rage

Random Rage — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 00:31:07 +0000

The case also has the problem of taking away the 360’s HDD portability…I’ve taken my HDD to a friend’s house quite a few times for Rock Band parties, so there’s another buyer beware issue for ya.

By: Random Rage

Random Rage — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 00:28:33 +0000

The DVD drive is the biggest noisemaker on the 360, and it’s primarily on older generation models. My DVD drive finally went kaput (bringing about the ‘free fix’ of the RRoD) and once they replaced it, the system is considerably quieter, even when the disc is spinning at full blast for loading a game.
Also, games can be played off the HDD now with the NXE update. The disc still needs to be in the system to confirm ownership, but the disc drive spins down once the game starts. You of course, need plenty of HDD space , so 20GB HDDs probably won’t do.