The infamous Xbox 360
"Red Ring of Death".
The Red Ring Epidemic
By Drew Hampel
September 25, 2007
The number of complaints about failing Xbox 360 consoles is rising, and has been for several months. The problem was written off as being typical of new products in the consumer electronics industry. Now, almost 2 years after the system launched, the issue of breaking Xbox 360s is more widespread than was originally thought.
The number of failed Xbox 360s remains unknown, Microsoft refuses to release that information, but retailers currently estimate it to be as high as 30%. The standard failure rate for a new product in the consumer electronics industry is three to five percent. Moreover, there have been reports of people going through as many as 11 broken consoles.
Microsoft has been tight lipped about what is being to repair the broken consoles, and just as silent regarding what the cause is. However, many customers have reported that a new heat sink had been installed in their Xbox 360, suggesting the problem is overheating. In addition, a number of these customers have posted pictures of their refurbished systems, which show a revamped cooling system. The new cooling system is composed of a larger heat sink over the graphics processing unit (GPU), which, as the name suggests, cools the GPU by absorbing the heat produced by it.
Microsoft has recently taken a step in solving this problem. In a July 2007 press release, Microsoft extended the warranty of the Xbox 360 to three years from the date of purchase. The previous warranty covered the system for only 90 days after purchase.
In addition, Microsoft has been developing a new GPU for its Xbox 360. The new GPU is a 65 nm chip that consumes less power and runs cooler than the 90nm chip currently being used. There is little chance of Microsoft announcing when the new chips will begin being manufactured, expect the new chips to appear in retail units sometime in early 2008.