hi i own a fatxbox 360...i was playing fifa 12 and i got a graphics problem so i restarted it and i got the e74 error (this console was bought in dec 2007 and the dvd player has been modified) i was very worried bcuz i didnt know what to do, eventually i learnt how to fix it but in my town i cant find the bits to do the xclamp fix i just changed the thermal paste and overheated the xbox( i let it cool down) and that worked ( so no heat gun, no xclamps fix) BUT after 20 mins of playin fifa i got a bad graphics again so i turn it off...anyway 4 days later (after that the bad graphics appeared) i restarted it (maybe this was a mistake) and now i got the e74 error again (i have to say that even with the bad graphics i was able to play), which in my case has always been 1 red light. what do u guys suggest me to do? do i try to overheat it again and carry this situation on? i dont know if it is a good thing playin with bad graphics....any advices are welcome...
ps:when i saw my motherboard i noticed something weird then i checked on google and i found this topic http://forums.afterdawn.com/t.cfm/f-152...nection-838088/ i am missing that leg aswell but my xbox has always worked fine...any ideas??
This may not be what you want to hear, but... In all honesty, if this XBox is 5 years old and having these particular problems, I'd cut my losses and go buy another XBox. Used ones sell for so cheap these days, I don't see any sense in wasting time or money trying to fix yours.
i agree with joe the box is dying and any repairs you make will likely be temporary. the graphics glich you saw was the gpu crapping the bed and the e74 is also a indication of the same. the standard fix for this would be a reflow to fix the solder but in my experience older 360's always break again whether it's the same problem or something else, they just didn't make them well back in the day.
alot of the time the chip itself warps from the heat albeit just slightly but it's enough to make the problem happen again especially under the extreme heat in old boxes. even if you fix the heat problem and get it reflowed or even reballed it wont fix damage like that.
dont get me wrong you can probably get it working aging but i wouldn't wast too much time and effort.
one trick that we use at my store all the time is to open it up, heat gun it, user clamps to keep it secure, and most importantly, use high quality thermal grease to keep it in place. The reality is that you can get a better result with a reballing station. Try looking somone up on craigslist in your town. Theres a greater likelihood to find someone who will do it for cheap and professionally than at a computer repair store.
A reballing would be your only secure option, a reflow as ghkamien stated is only a temporal fix, mine lasted about a month with reflow and x-clamp fix and Arctic Silver termal compound. But with prices so low for a used phat Xbox 360 a reballing isn't really that much of an option, as people charge more for the reballing than a used would cost. Just make sure you get one produced in 2009 or 2010, Lite-Ons can be a pain to hack but they are much more reliable.
Xbox 360: Slim untouched with a faked 320 GB harddrive for XBL, phat with LT 3.0, played Halo early, so going on live would be an instand ban, also with a faked 320 GB harddrive
PS3: Untouched 160 GB Slim, 60 GB Fat with latest Rogero and 160 GB internal harddrive.
PSVita: hardly ever play it
GameCube: Black with a Viper chip installed. With gameboy player. Trying to get a Wavebird controller.
