Gunky

Thanks! I wouldn't consider myself a "collector" because I sell games as soon as I know I don't like them, or won't play them anymore. But there's something a little more engaging about the whole experience to me when I don't have immediate access to everything at once. I know it's a bit odd, but hey, thats my brain I guess. I will come back if I ever need support, and I'll make some updates on the heating stuff if I can... When you guy's play games, how warm does it get in the back during gameplay? I've been physically reaching back and feeling the console while playing occasionally (Case is on), and mine gets pretty warm. Warmer then any console I've ever owned for sure. Not sure if thats normal, or an easy indicator mine is ready for a change without exact temps or a shutdown. Everything runs fine, I was playing guilty gear for a few hours. Maybe I'm just in denial and should change the paste already, haha.

Yes! I learned to solder just to fix this Xbox, it had some trace rot. Though, I think I got lucky and it was stupid not to use flux...but it worked out. The mod chips I've seen look easy to install in comparison, so I'm not too worried about messing something like that up. Modding definitely seems fun, and I get why people do it. But for now, a lot of the fun of old consoles to me is the original context and thrifting for games. I get really overwhelmed when I have so many choices, so limiting use to what games I can afford is more appealing to me than having everything at once. (And compared to my other consoles, almost everything I want on xbox is dirt cheap). I'm sure modding is in this Xbox's future, just not anytime soon. : )

I was hoping to keep my system stock, but I heard a mod-chip would make putting a new hardrive in easy by bypassing the eeprom stuff . So I figured if my hardrive ever fails, I'll buy a hardmod and a new hardrive. Is this stupid, or bad logic on my part? That was just my plan from reading various things over the web. Either way, not sure how likely it is for my HDD to fail to begin with.

I appreciate all the response's. Though, I'm still on the fence about doing it. Obviously many, many people have changed the thermal paste with no issue at all and have been fine. I'm also skeptical that even if the used substance isn't normal paste that it wouldn't need to be replaced at some point as well, but, there is also something worrying about replacing with a different substance than intended. So I think I'll wait until I know my xbox is for sure having heat troubles... So, is there any other tips on finding xbox temps besides IR Thermometer? I don't really plan on modding my xbox until the harddrive gives out personally. (I know softmodding is how most people measure temps) I'll try the IR for fun, but if that's not accurate am I sort of screwed on knowing for sure?

Great idea! I never would have thought to use an IR thermometer, I should be able to borrow one over the weekend. I assume I can leave the case closed? Sorry for stupid questions, but this has been my first big electronics project, learning as I go : )

Thanks for the advice! How much thermal paste would you say is the correct amount? I've seen people add relatively little, and some quite a lot. I've heard people say "you can't add too much" and some say that too much will break your Xbox. It's definitely one of the more ambiguous parts of this to me, as I've never dealt with thermal paste.

I received a broken 2001 1.0 Xbox for free. I removed the clock capacitor, rerouted some trace rot. After that, it seemed to be working great besides terrible disc reading (even after a pot tweak). I ignored the often suggested thermal paste replacement thinking "don't fix what ain't broke" and bought a new laser, after all, I got the thing for free. It's working great as far as I can tell. BUT the lingering thought of thermal paste wormed it's way into my brain, after all, most people seem to suggest it (sometimes to do it just cuz). The combination of so many people suggesting it, and some of the counter-arguments to it on this forum made me pretty anxious about the whole ordeal. Especially after investing money into this. SO when does one know when, or if they should change the paste? I basically have the oldest OG Xbox possible, and it seems to work fine. I noticed the fan area in the back can get warmish when reading discs - but I've never had an xbox, and this could be normal. I haven't modded it, so I don't know its temps. Should I be worried? or bothered? Should I mod the console just to see the temps, just to be sure? Is the Xbox good enough at knowing when it has overheated to reliably leave it alone until theres a tangible issue? TLDR; I'm overly paranoid about my newly acquired 1.0 xbox, and don't know how necessary it is, or when I should replace the thermal paste. Thanks for any replies! It's much appreciated.

Just here for advice on upkeep for my OG xbox I got recently. Excited to use it more.