Games Review Blog

The Xbox 360 is a great machine as long as it’s working. With amazing games and superior performance, it draws you into it’s own little world and then…nothing. Right in the middle of a game you’re suddenly staring at the three red lights or ring of death.

This is a very serious problem that over 500,000 people are dealing with. Once those three red lights turn on, the problem will never go away on its own. If your Xbox hasn’t had the ring of death failure, there are steps that you can take to reduce the chances of it happening to your machine.

The Xbox 360 was hastily designed and assembled. This caused it to be predisposed to overheating. Therefore, the ring of death is induced by an excessive buildup of heat.

To improve your chances of trouble free gaming with your Xbox, you must keep it cool. Now, I’m not talking about putting your Xbox in the freezer or outside in the snow. People have tried this and it’s not recommended because the Xbox’s chips are meant to operate near room temperature.

To prevent overheating, you must always ensure that it is well ventilated. That means not using it in confined spaces such as a crowded entertainment center or storage cabinet. Wherever you use it, make sure there’s a lot of free, open, and well ventilated space around it.

Shaggy carpeting is bad because it can block the fans in the back. Either prop it up off the carpet, place it on a table, or use it on a firm, uncarpeted surface. The fans in the back can also get blocked if you allow any cords or cables to get all bunched up there.

Take every precaution to keep the fans clean and free of dirt and debris. Depending on your particular set of circumstances, cat or dog hair, grit, dust, lint, and dirt can rapidly clog up the fan area. This happens because there’s so much air passing through the fans which act like vacuum cleaners. Cleaning the fans out with compressed air will help tremendously.

Don’t use your Xbox for long periods of time. Those internal components will get warmer with use and will continue to do so. If you aren’t using your Xbox, turn it off and let it cool down.

The consumer with the 3 red light error normally used their machines for more than four hours. If you live in a warm part of the world without air conditioning, your Xbox will heat up at a very fast rate. Therefore, it will be necessary to decrease your playing time even more.

Microsoft has unleashed upon the world, a very undependable and ‘high maintenance’ product. Diligence at keeping your Xbox cool is still not a guarantee of freedom from the red ring of death. However, it will happen if you habitually allow your machine to get too hot.