IMAGES: My XBOX 360 on July 10, 2009 & today: still broken apart.
Any one who has an XBOX 360 has most likely had (or at least heard of) the Red Ring of Death (RRoD) which turns your console into junk. If you're still under Microsoft's 3 year warranty, you can send it in for a whole month before you get it replaced with a refurbished one. If you're not under the warranty or don't want to wait and are willing to being a little risky, fix it yourself.
Fixing the RRoD requires something called the X-Clamp Fix, where it's necessary to open your XBOX 360 (therefore voiding the warranty), remove the x-clamps attached to your processor and heatsink, and change it out with some screws, washers, and bolts, drilling a few holes and then melting it into place. Yeah, it sounds risky and at the end of the day, you may end up permanently damaging your XBOX 360. But it provides a permanent fix to the RRoD so it'll never bother you again; it's happened twice to me within two years.
Does it work? I've heard lots of success stories, and I'm in the middle of my own fix, but have not finished it. It's actually been sitting in the corner of my room for an entire month collecting dust. When I do have the passion, time, or care to finish it, I'll post an update. I'm actually just waiting for a really good game to come out so I can force myself to finish it. Final Fantasy XXIII? Left 4 Dead 2?? BioShock 2?! Any day now..
So if you're up for the challenge, and want to take a shot at it, take a couple pictures, or record a video, and let me know how it turns out. It's really not that bad if you fail to fix a failed console. You'll probably end up buying the PS3 slim anyways.
