Fixing an Xbox 360 graphical issue?
by 3D G33K
I asked this question here and got little help, but instead, condescending remarks and ‘what you should have done is sent it to Microsoft’. So, I’m going to try again using the original question with a little more detail. For starters, the Xbox I have is an elite and was not mine until recently. I was given the xbox to fix by my brother who knew little about xbox 360′s and opened it to try to clean out the system and fix the E-74 error he was receiving. He did not know why he was having the problem and it was too late for me to inform him of the warranty expiration that would occur if he opened the case. Again, I clarify, he opened the case to clean it when it began having the E-74 graphical hardware error code and *THEN* gave me the system. I know how to manage the insides of computing hardware just enough to be able to fix it if I knew what methods I needed to use to do so; I cannot send the system to Microsoft. I’ve already done the dance over the phone with them and they denied me service completely because the warranty is void, so let’s just avoid using that popular response for my question. I want to know how to fix it myself (and yes, I know I will probably need some, if not all of the following – soldering tools, arctic silver 5 and various other things such as rubbing alcohol). Here is my original question:The problem is that the picture has extremely bad distortion, discoloration and pixelation all over the screen on all 3d images. It appears as if there is television ‘snow’ on my display. The 2d images are fine which indicates completely that there is a video card problem. I’ve heard that it could either be that the thermal compound between the graphics card and motherboard has dissolved and needs to be reapplied (arctic silver 5) or that there are some joints somewhere inside the system that need to be soldered back together. Can someone please verify what I need to do to clear up my graphics use my xbox 360 again? I was having the E-74 hardware red ring error until I used the towel trick. Now, after the towel trick, the system runs, but has the previously mentioned distortion. That’s my question. What do I need to do myself (considering there is no ‘send it to M$’ option in this scenario) to fix this problem? What tools do I need to use and what method must I execute to repair my Xbox 360 elite and save myself another 200 dollars?
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Trevor C.
To be honest, there is no easy to way to fix this problem without getting alot of new parts, and spending alot of time fixing this problem. Yes your problem is a video card problem, so you may want to buy a broken Xbox 360 and completely replace it. But in my opinion, you may be better off buying a refurbished Xbox 360 from Gamestop or EB games. These companies sell Xbox Arcade editions for 150 dollars and they come with the warranty. Buy the arcade edition considering you already have the Hard drive and everything else. Even if you decide to try and repair your xbox yourself, there is no guarantee that you will be able to fix it, and that you won’t be saving yourself much money.