Question: Which Revision is Right For Me?

[Maztr_0n]

Hello to everyone in this forum, i am a new user here but a nearly lifelong fan of the OG Xbox, it was my first experience with a games console and it will always hold a place in my heart for that, but after having a few systems throughout my childhood, i thought i should seriously look into getting a system, one that will be the best fit for my needs, i know theres several different revisions but i'm thinking what i want my console for is probably very niche compared to most other users. So i'd feel like asking for my needs which revision is personally the best fit for me?

So to start, what i want to do with my console is obviously play the games but i also want to watch DVDs on it (Yeah i still like to watch DVDs, they're just the most convenient method for me) and i liked using the ripping CDs feature for putting my favorite songs in certain games, so i'd like to do that, basically... i'm just gonna want something that will reliably play discs. As for modding, i am not interested much in mods, i havent really ever done any mods before, i did purchase a soldering set so in the future i could do things like that for many systems but really i dont think i'd be comfortable with opening one up, although knowing the whole clock capacitor problem i might have to. So if i had to do any modifications to the console it would only really be simple stuff to enhance the vanilla XBOX experience, obviously the caps but perhaps if its possible maybe a slightly larger hard drive for lots of music and game saves, just really nothing special or crazy, but i'm open to suggestions on recommended mods and tricks for my relatively mundane wants for an XBOX

from the research i've done (and are still working on) i think the V1.4 revision from what i hear is good, but i think its in my best interest to ask people who truly know the system, i am aware of things like the early thompson drives as well as the previously mentioned caps issue but i want to be able to know what the best option is for me. Thank you

[FrostyMaGee]

The 1.4s are good. I like them. A functioning dvd will probably be your largest problem depending on how much you use them. All the lasers you’ll come across in original units are either pushing 20 years old or have already exceeded it. Replacement lasers are hard to come by these days. Definitely remove the clock cap (or replace with a newer super cap) on all below the 1.6 (though at some point you may have to replace this). I’d definitely replace the cpu caps on any version you get since much like the lasers they’re also very old and past their life expectancy. If they aren’t bulging yet they probably will be soon. I’d replace the thermal paste as well but if your temps are still good you don’t necessarily have to do this. Not trying to discourage you of course. Just telling you what I’d do to it first thing. I was going to type some more but I remembered an old discussion about this and pulled some quotes. 
 

@Magicaldave sums it up pretty well here. 

“It’s kind of a personal thing. But here’s how I rank them;

1.0 being the best. That GPU fan is pretty noisy, but can actually be replaced and the additional onboard fan header allows you to get pretty creative since, as you’ve seen, it’s not really necessary. Liquid cooling, extra fans, LEDs, Et cetera can all get jammed in there pretty easy. The 1.0 consoles also have the largest TSOP chips (1Mbit) so have much higher BIOS compatibility, and, if you’re so inclined you can actually install a switch onboard to toggle between BIOSES without a modchip at all. Be careful if you do choose to attempt this as some additional steps need to be taken not to damage the board. The LPC port in this model is fully intact, so if you do need to install a modchip for some reason you can use pretty much any one you can find.

1.1 comes with literally all the above benefits, minus the extra fan header. Power still runs across that portion of the board though, so if you want it can still be used, just slightly harder to do. 

One disadvantage of these early models is that they tend to have the hazardous Foxlink PSUs. Replace ASAP if you have one in a running console.

Any console after these is a bit is a bit of a downgrade as they all have 256k TSOP chips at this point I believe. Some of them have Winbond or Sharp TSOP chips and are a bit harder to work with in that regard.

1.2 - 1.4 is pretty much the same and you’re not likely to see many.

1.5 is where things change a wee bit, as there are a couple pins removed from the LPC port and you’re likely to notice the problematic TSOP chips on these.

1.6 is easily the worst in terms of modding as you can only softmod. Modchips can be installed but you also have to rebuild almost of the LPC port in order to even attempt a modchip install. I will however admit that on their own I’ve found 1.6 to be the coolest (temperature wise) and quietest revision console. 

Edit: almost forgot the most important point! EVERY revision console besides 1.6 has leaky clock caps and will kill the board. They NEED TO BE REMOVED from your consoles.

Given that and performance in terms of thermals these could be seen as the ideal revision, as long as you’re not doing much tinkering. Most people who just want to play games will fetch away with a softmod just fine.

DVD drives are kind of all over the place but early consoles used the Thompson’s... they aren’t great. My ideal console would be a TSOP 1.0 with Phillips DVD drive and IND bios.”

 

@SS_Dave adds additional notes here

”Don't start thinking that the clock cap in a version 1.6 doesn't leak it's just a matter of time and there has been cases of the 1.6 cap starting to bulge like all the others.

All capacitors are going to fail.

As for the better board the 1.0 - 1.4 because of the Ram upgrade ability and TSOP flashing ability, but the 1.6 would be good for a super slim as it can run off a fairly simple power supply (5 volt standby,5 volt switched,  12 volt switched, ground, power on signal)”

 

Full thread here:

 

[FrostyMaGee]

Oh and for the upgraded hdd you’ll probably want to at least soft mod the console plus (if you’re putting in anything other than ide) a sata adapter (startech is the way to go here) and an 80 wire 40 pin ide cable to replace the old stock cable. 
 

I’m sure others will add more notes and suggestions as they see your post. 

Edited December 5, 2023 by FrostyMaGee

[fox]

Quote

simple stuff to enhance the vanilla XBOX experience

better front panel lights,  the old yellow-green & dull red are just blah

[Maztr_0n]

thank you, i might try to look for my broken one and some other ones. 

[Maztr_0n]

alright, i found my broken XBOX, i dont think i have the tools to open it up but it was manufactured in May, 2004, i can send pictures if needed...

[FrostyMaGee]

56 minutes ago, Maztr_0n said:

alright, i found my broken XBOX, i dont think i have the tools to open it up but it was manufactured in May, 2004, i can send pictures if needed...

You need a T20 torx bit for the six screws on the bottom and a T10 bit for the drive carriers. In a pinch it can be done with small flatheads you can torque a little with something but it would be better to use the appropriate torx bits and less chance of stripping out part of the screw head. Whenever you get it open if you want to post some pictures of the mobo everyone will be glad to take a look at it though. Do you recall what’s currently broken on it or rather what it’s not doing?

[Raidernick]

On 12/4/2023 at 10:57 PM, FrostyMaGee said:

1.5 is where things change a wee bit, as there are a couple pins removed from the LPC port and you’re likely to notice the problematic TSOP chips on these.

There are no 1.5's. I've opened and tested over 100 xbox's over the years and have never seen one. I've also never known anyone who has ever seen one. Anyone online who has ever claimed to have one has never provided proof, and when asked too would either disappear or do more thorough testing and find they really had a 1.4. I wish there was some way to remove all information about this "revision" from the internet as it seems to confuse a lot of new people trying to get into the hobby.

 

As for which revision is the best, I would say the 1.1. You get all the positives of the 1.0 with none of the negatives, such as the bad gpu fans and flimsily attached daughter board of the 1.0s. Also, as for the power supplies, I have come across many foxlinks in the 1.0s as well as the 1.1s. They both had the power socket solder problems. I actually come across delta power supplies most often in these revisions, rather than foxlinks. The rarest power supply is definitely the Minebea though. I've actually only seen two of them and actually kept one as my 1.0/1.1 test PSU. They are by far the best PSU ever built for any revision of the xbox. They have the best build quality and the largest amount of capacitors for voltage ripple reduction on any PSU. You'll notice that microsoft started cheaping out on later revisions and leaving a lot of capacitors unpopulated on the boards, particularly around the CPU. This is likely why later revisions always have those 3300uf caps leaking(they are being overtaxed) and I rarely see the earlier ones leaking or out of spec in that area.

 

Finally, for the DVD drives. I always hear that Thomsons are the worst but in my experience the Samsung revision B drives are the worst.  Almost every thomson I've ever run into has either still worked or required minimal tweaking to get fully working again. The opposite is true for the Samsungs, they either work or are unfixable. No amount of capacitor replacement, resistor array replacement, pot tweaking or even laser replacement seems to fix them. I have only a few thomsons laying around that are unfixable, yet I have an entire box of maybe 30 or so samsungs which are completely broken beyond repair.

If I were to rate the DVD drives from best to worst I'd say Hitachi>Philips>Thomson>Samsung F>Samsung B. I've only ever seen a hitachi drive once in person so they may as well not exist if you are looking for one, so I'd probably advise getting a Philips drive.

Edited December 6, 2023 by Raidernick

[FrostyMaGee]

38 minutes ago, Raidernick said:

There are no 1.5's. I've opened and tested over 100 xbox's over the years and have never seen one. I've also never known anyone who has ever seen one. Anyone online who has ever claimed to have one has never provided proof, and when asked too would either disappear or do more thorough testing and find they really had a 1.4. I wish there was some way to remove all information about this "revision" from the internet as it seems to confuse a lot of new people trying to get into the hobby.

 

As for which revision is the best, I would say the 1.1. You get all the positives of the 1.0 with none of the negatives, such as the bad gpu fans and flimsily attached daughter board of the 1.0s. Also, as for the power supplies, I have come across many foxlinks in the 1.0s as well as the 1.1s. They both had the power socket solder problems. I actually come across delta power supplies most often in these revisions, rather than foxlinks. The rarest power supply is definitely the Minebea though. I've actually only seen two of them and actually kept one as my 1.0/1.1 test PSU. They are by far the best PSU ever built for any revision of the xbox. They have the best build quality and the largest amount of capacitors for voltage ripple reduction on any PSU. You'll notice that microsoft started cheaping out on later revisions and leaving a lot of capacitors unpopulated on the boards, particularly around the CPU. This is likely why later revisions always have those 3300uf caps leaking(they are being overtaxed) and I rarely see the earlier ones leaking or out of spec in that area.

 

Finally, for the DVD drives. I always hear that Thomsons are the worst but in my experience the Samsung revision B drives are the worst.  Almost every thomson I've ever run into has either still worked or required minimal tweaking to get fully working again. The opposite is true for the Samsungs, they either work or are unfixable. No amount of capacitor replacement, resistor array replacement, pot tweaking or even laser replacement seems to fix them. I have only a few thomsons laying around that are unfixable, yet I have an entire box of maybe 30 or so samsungs which are completely broken beyond repair.

If I were to rate the DVD drives from best to worst I'd say Hitachi>Philips>Thomson>Samsung F>Samsung B. I've only ever seen a hitachi drive once is person so they may as well not exist if you are looking for one, so I'd probably advise getting a Philips drive.

Yeah I’ve never seen a 1.5 either. I’ve heard people say they had one but they always turned out to be a 1.4. I thought about taking that out but I didn’t want to edit MD’s quote so I just decided to leave it. I agree on the 1.1 over the 1.0. I hate those damn daughter boards. Lol. They’re always in the way and it always feels like an accident waiting to happen. Also it’s nice to have less chance of the foxlinks with the loose plug fire hazard to repair every time. Agreed on the dvd ranking. Though I’d probably put the Thompson below the Samsung b just because of that funky size drive belt that’s different from all the others and seems to stretch out faster sometimes. Similar experience with the Samsung functionality. They’re either workhorses that have prevailed for two decades or they’re completely screwed and unfixable. At least with the Thompson the pot tweak usually brings it back to life. 
 

Also great point about the caps. I always replace them all anyway but I have run across more leaking caps in those where they cut it down to 3-4 compared to all five populated. 

Edited December 6, 2023 by FrostyMaGee

[lopenator]

my favorite is 1.6

[Maztr_0n]

7 hours ago, FrostyMaGee said:

You need a T20 torx bit for the six screws on the bottom and a T10 bit for the drive carriers. In a pinch it can be done with small flatheads you can torque a little with something but it would be better to use the appropriate torx bits and less chance of stripping out part of the screw head. Whenever you get it open if you want to post some pictures of the mobo everyone will be glad to take a look at it though. Do you recall what’s currently broken on it or rather what it’s not doing?

well, i havent got anything to take it apart yet but i remember when i was 14 and dug it up that i plugged it into the wall and pressed the power button, but then nothing happened... i also remember that last time it did work it asked me to set the time when i turned it on when before it kept the time just fine, so i'm reasonably guessing the caps were starting to leak.

I think i'd like to get a good screw set for games consoles (not just xbox) maybe one of those fancy electric screwdrivers too because i'm not the most steady handed person when it comes to taking apart things, i still have a sega genesis controller i took apart to clean that when reassembled, lets say the D Pad was never the same again and the anxiety of screw stripping might creep in, if anyone has any recommendations for electric screwdrivers and sets with the right stuff for Xbox and other consoles let me know but right now i have 0 space at my current house so i think i'd have to take it over to my stepdads house in the near future for us to work on it together and perhaps fully diagnose the issues, i have SEVERAL games on disc that i really wanna be able to play again!

[Bowlsnapper]

16 hours ago, lopenator said:

my favorite is 1.6

I suspected that. Why is that? It does not have an accessible TSOP, its memory needs to be stacked and the video encoder is janky for some reason. Also the LPC is disconnected... What do you like about them?

[Raidernick]

2 minutes ago, Bowlsnapper said:

I suspected that. Why is that? It does not have an accessible TSOP, its memory needs to be stacked and the video encoder is janky for some reason. Also the LPC is disconnected... What do you like about them?

Even worse is that the 1.6b verions come with the hynix ram. The only positives I can think of is that you have a higher chance of getting a hitachi dvd drive and since the clock caps rarely leak, less of a chance of getting a damaged mobo?

[lopenator]

27 minutes ago, Bowlsnapper said:

I suspected that. Why is that? It does not have an accessible TSOP, its memory needs to be stacked and the video encoder is janky for some reason. Also the LPC is disconnected... What do you like about them?

I don't need TSOP I have a modchip. I know how to solder so I reattached the LPC and installed extra ram just all every other revision. 1.6 ram upgrade is easy. I have HDMI out so the video encoder doesn't affect me because it skips over it. It's a 1.6 so it has the newest capacitors and no damage at all to the board from leaky ones. It uses the least amount of energy and runs the coolest. better DVD drive Its the most quiet. imo after a few mods (which we all do here) it can easily rise above all the others rev. Being the newest of the consoles means they have less wear and tear.

I'll take 1.6 any day. If I didn't know how to solder then that's a different story.

pretty sure 1.6 has a better GPU also but not sure on that one.

if you know how to mod your console and solder all of its cons are easily overcame.

Edited December 6, 2023 by lopenator

[Bowlsnapper]

25 minutes ago, lopenator said:

I don't need TSOP I have a modchip. I know how to solder so I reattached the LPC and installed extra ram just all every other revision. 1.6 ram upgrade is easy. I have HDMI out so the video encoder doesn't affect me because it skips over it. It's a 1.6 so it has the newest capacitors and no damage at all to the board from leaky ones. It uses the least amount of energy and runs the coolest. better DVD drive Its the most quiet. imo after a few mods (which we all do here) it can easily rise above all the others rev.

I'll take 1.6 any day. If I didn't know how to solder then that's a different story.

pretty sure 1.6 has a better GPU also but not sure on that one.

if you know how to mod your console and solder all of its cons are easily overcame.

I know that a modchips overcomes the TSOP issue, but it is one thing. All these issues are able to be solved like you said, except for when the encoder has issues with Cromwell bioses and stuff like that, but it does take work to get there. I guess I was asking what it is you like about them or prefer about them to make it your console of preference? ... It could just be the work necessary to get it there that would be fun for people who can work on electronics.  I could understand that

 

[Bowlsnapper]

28 minutes ago, Raidernick said:

Even worse is that the 1.6b verions come with the hynix ram. The only positives I can think of is that you have a higher chance of getting a hitachi dvd drive and since the clock caps rarely leak, less of a chance of getting a damaged mobo?

You DO pretty much have a guarantee of getting an immaculate board with no corrosion, maybe just a bit of dust.