Has this ever happened to you? You turn on your Xbox and the two red light error immediately starts blinking? This may have caused you to scratch your head in frustration because it seems impossible that anything can heat up so rapidly. You would think that a few hours or maybe even a few minutes should elapse before things heat up. But the truth is that in the world of micro electronics, this is a fairly common thing. Small electronic components can overheat in seconds, especially if a lot of power is involved.
Many people may be inclined to disregard the 2 red light error and think that something else is at fault. But they would be wrong because rapid overheating (within seconds of startup) can be caused by bad or dried up thermal compound. Thermal compound is a paste like substance that is applied between the GPU (or CPU) and it's heat sink. What it does is allow heat to rapidly flow out of the GPU and into the heat sink which dissipates the heat with its fins.
The purpose of thermal compound is to fill the tiny microscopic air gaps in the mating surface between the GPU and its heat sink. These air gaps would otherwise act as insulators that prevent heat from escaping the GPU and thus prevent its cooling. While the mating surfaces of the two components appear to be smooth to the naked eye, they are actually quite rough when viewed under magnification.
An enormous amount of power gets consumed by the GPU which in turn creates a lot of heat. Because the GPU is small in size, it gets hot very fast when exposed to this heat. Small things get hot rapidly compared to larger objects. This can be observed when holding the tip of a needle to a flame. It will become red hot in seconds. If you expose an anvil to the same flame, it will never get red hot no matter how long it's exposed.
So it should come as no surprise that the GPU heats up rapidly when it's heat sink is unable to do it's job because of bad thermal paste. This causes the console to turn off and show a two red light error. This shutdown happens before this heat is able to spread out to the rest of the console. This is why people get confused about what is going on because to them, the Xbox still seems to be cool. They have no way of sensing the intense heat that is localized at the GPU.
Hopefully this article will leave you better prepared if or when this should happen to you. Replacing the thermal paste means opening the console. So you have three options: do the job yourself, get it repaired by a professional, or use your warranty.
Many people may be inclined to disregard the 2 red light error and think that something else is at fault. But they would be wrong because rapid overheating (within seconds of startup) can be caused by bad or dried up thermal compound. Thermal compound is a paste like substance that is applied between the GPU (or CPU) and it's heat sink. What it does is allow heat to rapidly flow out of the GPU and into the heat sink which dissipates the heat with its fins.
The purpose of thermal compound is to fill the tiny microscopic air gaps in the mating surface between the GPU and its heat sink. These air gaps would otherwise act as insulators that prevent heat from escaping the GPU and thus prevent its cooling. While the mating surfaces of the two components appear to be smooth to the naked eye, they are actually quite rough when viewed under magnification.
An enormous amount of power gets consumed by the GPU which in turn creates a lot of heat. Because the GPU is small in size, it gets hot very fast when exposed to this heat. Small things get hot rapidly compared to larger objects. This can be observed when holding the tip of a needle to a flame. It will become red hot in seconds. If you expose an anvil to the same flame, it will never get red hot no matter how long it's exposed.
So it should come as no surprise that the GPU heats up rapidly when it's heat sink is unable to do it's job because of bad thermal paste. This causes the console to turn off and show a two red light error. This shutdown happens before this heat is able to spread out to the rest of the console. This is why people get confused about what is going on because to them, the Xbox still seems to be cool. They have no way of sensing the intense heat that is localized at the GPU.
Hopefully this article will leave you better prepared if or when this should happen to you. Replacing the thermal paste means opening the console. So you have three options: do the job yourself, get it repaired by a professional, or use your warranty.
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Having difficulties with an overheating Xbox 360? Get more Xbox trouble shooting information about repairing the 3 Red Lights Error.
