Customer Reviews

Xbox 360 Intercooler 360 - Black

5 star:		(36)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(35)

 

 

I had purchased the original Intercooler for my 360 last year. Initially, it worked like a charm, keeping the system cool to the touch. After awhile, my console started having issues. Thinking it may have been a defective unit, I swapped it out and got another one. In almost the same time frame, the second console started having problems. The only constant was the Intercooler. Save yourself some grief. Buy a USB powered laptop cooling pad. I use an Antec one that is frequently on sale for $10. It works like a charm and doesn't harm the 360.

--Some analysis for those who care--

First, an observation. On several units, plugging in the intercooler caused the CD tray to open poorly. It was sluggish and sometimes didn't open up completely. Unplugging the intercooler immediately fixed the issue.

Thinking about the design, it makes sense why my console was failing.

1. The extra device was under-volting the 360. Anyone who has taken high school physics knows that a fan can be simplified as a resistor. By putting an extra resistor between the 360 and the power supply, you are creating an unexpected voltage drop before the power even gets into the 360. Less voltage = less power.

2. The 360 is a computer, not an appliance. It has a motherboard, drives, and all that fancy stuff. Inside a computer, power goes into 2 places: motherboard and drives. Drives are fairly tollerant to power fluctuations. Hence, you can put fans and other devices in the same power line as a hard drive or optical drive without too much issue (up to a point). The motherboard and all components on it, are far more sensitive to fluctuations. Therefore, power coming in first runs through a regulator on the motherboard. These regulators expect a certain amount of voltage and current. Power that comes out of these regulators is clean and at the right amount. By reducing the amount of power going into the regulators, not enough power can be supplied to the components, causing damage. Ultimately, this can lead to failure

3. While the power supply is rated for 203 watts, anyone who has built a computer knows that the rating usually means the peak power the supply can put out. The constant output is typically lower than that. Under no circumstances should the power supply be constantly run at the peak power (unless explicitly stated, like an Antec TruPower). Given this, the supply can easily supply the ~180 watts necessary for 360 peak performance. It can probably safely supply somewhere up to 185-190 watts. Any more than that and the supply will become unstable if constantly asked for that load.

Misconception that I've seen all over: "The 360 can power all these extra devices like battery chargers and wired controllers, why shouldn't it be able to handle a couple fans?"

Reason: The issue isn't if the 360 can handle it, but rather where the fans are placed. All of the peripherals for the 360 are powered by USB, which runs through the motherboard. This means the power is drawn from the board and through the voltage regulator on the board. The board controls where the power is sent. USB power is a standard, and each port is rated for a certain amount. If the draw on a port exceeds the rated amount or there is a short, it shuts off to protect the other components. An external device bypasses all regulation and safety measure.

The plug pass through on the Intercooler 360 EX IS NOT compatible with the new XBOX 360 Elites (my XBOX 360 Elite was manufactured in Oct 2007.) There is a prong within the Intercooler EX plug slot which prevents the original XBOX 360 Elite plug from being plugged into the back of the Intercooler 360 device.

Microsoft may have changed their plug design to make it incompatible - since I cannot believe Nyko would be this messed up.

My 360 Elite has yet to have any issues. Mine was manufactured in 3/07, so it was before they modified the internals that were causing the overheating issues.

My cousins Elite, however does give him random red lights (not the RRoD). I purchased one for him as well to see if this helps his Elite in any way. I have yet to hear any updates, but they will come.

As an extra precaution, I purchased Nyko's NEW Intercooler EX to use as what I called "preventative maintenance".

I have read a good amount of the comments regarding the first generation Nyko Intercooler's causing meltdowns. The EX clearly addressed these issues by a much higher build quality with not only the fans but also the metal connectors that your 360 power supply connects to.

Using an infrared thermometer, I measured some of the hottest points on the case with and without the EX. The temperate was a good 5-15° Fahrenheit cooler when using the EX.

This is by no means a scientific form of measurement, but it worked for this simple test.

I will give you some more specific number. When I measured the temperature of the 360's case (on top when laid on its side) where both the CPU and GPU are located side by side I got a reading of 109° Fahrenheit to 114° Fahrenheit. This was after playing Halo 3 for roughly 3 hours non-stop. After installing the Nyko Intercooler EX, I played Halo 3 yet again for roughly 3 hours. The CPU area measured 90° Fahrenheit to 101° Fahrenheit. These lower numbers are not staggering by any means, but the EX is doing its job by reducing heat. If you want drastic heat reductions look elsewhere.

The point is the EX provided a substantial amount of cooling, rather venting, to the 360.

Just to clarify for the people out there: The EX does not blow air into the 360: The Intercooler EX uses three fans lined in exhaust mode. This means the EX pulls the hot air from the already existing two fans inside the 360. In simpler terms, the EX fans pulling the heat being blown onto my hands is a lot warmer than just the 360's fans alone. Remember that this is a good thing: more heat being exhausted from the 360 means a cooler 360.

One more note. The 360 game discs and DVD's that pop out of the tray are now room temperature instead of either warm or hot thanks to the EX.

Will this prevent my Elite from bricking on me in the future? Who knows?

I purchased the two year extended warranty from Microsoft, so I am not concerned.

Only time will tell how long my 360 will last, but for $20 and active cooling you cannot go wrong.

I will update my review in the future if anything "unexpected" happens to my 360 with the use of the EX.

"Alright I'm tired of Microsoft and Xbox users blaming the death of their console on the Nyko Intercooler.

Melting:
There has been some cases where the Intercooler will melt to the femal power jack on the Xbox 360 and render both the Intercooler and the Xbox 360 useless. The Nyko Intercooler EX has addressed these problems. The reason the 1st and 2nd gen Intercooler were capable of melting were because the power inputs were encased with plastic. With all that electricity circulating through the power inputs heat becomes a factor, you ever feel how hot the Intercooler male power jack gets? It can leave a burn mark on you. With all this heat and extended periods of gaming the heat starts to take a toll on the plastic and begins to melt it to the female power jack on the Xbox 360. The Nyko Intercooler EX has a male power jack encased with metal similar to the original power cord male power jack. Since metal melts at a much higher temperature then plastic the problems are extinguished.

Noise:
Yes the Nyko Intercooler makes noise, it's 3 powerful fans! 90% of the noise is hot air being moved away from the Xbox 360. Try increasing the volume on the TV or speakers and the noise will be washed away.

Power Stealing:
This is what makes me laugh, the majority of you guys think the Nyko Intercooler drains power away from the Xbox 360 causing component failure. When you plug in a wired controller, Ipod, or wireless adapter what do you think those do? Supply power?!?! The Nyko Intercooler in full operation takes up about 4-5 watts of power.
If you look beneath the ugly power supply unit for your Xbox 360 you'll see the output is 203 watts. The Xbox 360 takes up about 140-180 watts when in full operation. Need I explain more? The power supply is supplying additonal overhead power if the need a rises. Did you really think 3 yet powerful fans can cause stress to that big ugly power supply unit? If you did than you need to re-take high school.

Temporary 3 Red Lights:
Another reason to purchase the Intercooler EX is because with the first and second generation Intercooler the power inputs were poorly designed. The Intercooler's male power jack fitted perfectly but the female power input was poorly designed. When you inserted the original power cord into the Intercooler's femal power input immediately you could feel the looseness. The power cord was'nt able to be pulled out unless you squeezed the buttons but the power cord was able to move around in there. With the power cord moving around in the Intercooler's female power input it caused the power cable to lose contact with one of the metal power receivers which immediately turned the Xbox 360 off and the Xbox 360 began to display a false 3 red lights indicating it was'nt receiving enough power. Again with the Intercooler EX the power inputs both male and female are dramatically improved. In the Intercooler EX there is a release button which must be pressed along with pressing the original power cords buttons to release the power cord from the Intercooler.

Permanent 3 Red Lights:
This is where I get kind of frustrated. The majority of you Xbox users blame the 3 red lights on the Intercooler. They are more Xbox 360's dying without the Intercooler than with it. If your Xbox 360 died with the Intercooler attached most likely If you had never bought the Intercooler in the first place your Xbox 360 would have died much sooner.

This is what should have been released the first time. The 360 overheats, everyone knows that by now, and if you want your investment to last a little while you're going to need to do something about it. The Nyko Intercooler is an amazing device and really does a great job at dissipating heat issues. It should have been a no-brainer from the beginning that using plastic in the AC port was not a good idea. Nyko has fixed the problem of melting with the EX model, which actually has metal in the AC bypass. The unit also attaches very soundly to the console; gone are the problems of not having the power cord in all the way, it being loose, moved, or any other ordeal that would cause an indirect flow of current. The power cord plugs into the Intercooler just as well as it does to the 360-- it's actually a little difficult to unplug, it's in there that well.

The Intercooler is an absolutely essential item, I've noticed a remarkable improvement. I also have the Glowstand but my console was still pretty hot to the touch and would either lag or just straight crash after being on for too long. Now, after 4 hours (I know every 360 owner is cringing right now, any longer than 2 hours of use is X-Box suicide) of Oblivion, the frame-rate and loading is still perfect, exactly as if I had just started the game, and the console itself is only lukewarm to the touch. Your worries of overheating issues will be gone. (As well as melting concerns. Again, metal in the EX, plastic in the previous one.)

Every 360 owner should have this item, it works that well. Unfortunately the first model was such a screwup that the words "Nyko" and "Intercooler" now mean "do not buy, it will damage your X-Box." The older model was a piece of junk and it did a lot more damage than it attempted to fix. Those issues have been addressed and resolved with the EX. This unit WILL save your 360 and every user should have one.

**Edit: It's been over a year now since I wrote this review and started using the EX Intercooler. I'm happy to say I have not had any problems whatsoever with my 360 and the Intercooler has been on it the entire time. The other day I unplugged the Intercooler and checked the power input port and there is still no sign that an Intercooler has been used for as long as it has been-- no metal corrosion, rust, burn-marks, NOTHING. My X-box is still going strong, no issues at all, and the Intercooler is still on it. Like I said over a year ago, THIS ONE WORKS!!!

This product did not fit the new 360 Elite. Microsoft has changed the design for the power cable and the power plug on the back of the 360. The plug cable no longer has two push buttons to release the cable. This design change does not allow you to plug the power cable into the intercooler. If you have a new 360 without the two push buttons to release the power cable from the 360, do not buy this product. If you have the old one, this product works great and could extend the life of your 360!!!

Why are people so stupid...

This thing doesnt draw power from the 360 the intercooler draws power from the same place the 360 does the POWER SUPPLY(that big brick like thing that you plug in to the wall). If people would read before opening there mouth you would know that the three fans on the intercooler are rated at .12 Amps the console is rated at 16.5 Amps, so even with all the fans running your not even using .40 Amps. So this shows that if the intercooler was causing systems to fail it wasnt because the intercooler was drawing to much powerfrom the console. It was because of a faulty system or a faulty intercooler. Feel free to correct me on this...

These things kill 360's. Period. Just look at the forums over at the Xbox website. Nyko may have fixed the melting issue, but it still reduced the power going to the 360 from the external power supply causing components to fail. I lost 2 360s to this device. Microsoft highly recommends not using it and will void your warranty if you do use it.

As an alternative, use the Pelican and other models that plug into the rear USB port. This will not reduce the power going to your 360.

With the newer 360s fixed cooling and cooler running chips, you really don't need anything like this anyways on the newer 360s.

well unless you have your volume up loud enough that you cant hear the three fans spinning then its ok but at night when your watching a movie or playin a game with the volume down it sucks because you can hear the fans spinning but other than the loudness of the fans its great and pritty cheap and definatly worth it

This thing does what it says! I have the white version and got this one for my brother's Elite. It really works in dissapating heat. My 360 has always worked from day one for over 2 years now. :)