Got a troubled relationship going on with an Xbox360 gaming console? You love it due to the fact that you’re insanely hooked to the intense enjoyment that it gives. You really detest it because…um, need I mention the infamous ring of death?

The red ring of death gives countless consumers a good amount of grief and frustration. It’s likewise given Microsoft some headaches as well…to the tune of about a billion dollars or so in warranty repairs. Now the first question that needs asking is why?

What exactly are the causes for the three red lights or the ring of death? The main reason is heat. The Xbox becomes overheated when it’s used continually over a period of time.

Now, why does the console overheat? There are two parts to the answer here. Firstly, the graphics chip had been designed very cheaply by Microsoft.

Instead of going to an experienced vendor to design the chip (ASIC vendor), Microsoft decided to do the graphics chip design in house, that is, on it’s own. They did this in an effort to save a few tens of millions of dollars in design costs. We all know that to get the job done right, you have to hire an expert.

It’s well known that our “home made” efforts just will not work as well as work done by the pro’s. Microsoft’s in house job is inefficient in that it dissipates too much waste heat. The other part of the overheating problem is that the cooling system is only marginally capable of dispersing the tremendous heat put out by the home designed graphics chip.

It doesn’t seem to take a lot to cause it to get too hot. Run the unit for too long, particularly in a warm un-air conditioned room and it’ll get too hot. The unit does not deal well with partial blocking of its cooling vent-holes either.

For example, it is very easy to allow cables and cords to become really clumped up at the back end of the console. This by itself can induce the console to get over heated. Thinking of running it in that cluttered up recess where the midday sunlight will hit it inside that room without air conditioning?

Not a great idea in any case. Of course, you may not normally treat your “electronic toys” this way, but what I’m saying here is that a well designed product is supposed to be able to take some customer abuse and continue functioning. One question that I don’t have an answer to is what happened to Microsoft’s quality control process?

There must be some sort of product testing program in place to protect the customer from defective products. Maybe it was deficient in that it didn’t simulate typical customer use of the Xbox. Or possibly it was ok, but management shipped it out the door anyway?

Speculations aside, the good news here is that Microsoft has gone to an ASIC vendor in the US and had the graphics chip redesigned. Hopefully some day your average Xbox gamer will have no idea what you are talking of when you mention the red ring of death.

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