Disassembling the Internals of the Xbox 360

To continue further, you will need to first remove the DVD drive. Simply hold the drive and lift up. You will notice that the Xbox 360's DVD drive uses a Serial ATA interface which keeps things very tidy compared to the original Xbox. At this point, remove both the power supply cable and Serial ATA cable from the DVD drive and then from the motherboard.


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The fan shroud can now be removed by simply twisting the cover until it pops off. The shroud is held in place by one clamp that attaches to the actual fans. Just be careful at this point not to break the clamp.


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Next, remove the RF unit at the front of the Xbox 360 by removing the small black torx screws using a T6 screwdriver. Then you must remove the plastic cover on the front of the RF unit by unlatching the top and bottom of the plastic cover. Once you have done this, you will reveal the third screw holding the RF unit to the chassis. Remove the last screw and pull out the RF unit. Lastly, remove the power connections for the fans. You can now lift the motherboard out of the metal chassis.


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As a reminder, the Xbox 360 is a delicate equipment and must be treated with care at all times. Ensure that you frequently ground yourself to discharge any build up static which can severely harm your Xbox 360.

Removing the Outer Shell Disassembling the Xbox 360 HDD
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  • preciousstone - Wednesday, May 13, 2009 - link

    this is nice, i found this tutorial via a wholesaler whom is selling this item at very attracting price.

    thanks!
  • preciousstone - Wednesday, May 13, 2009 - link

    in case u will need the site address?

    http://www.volumerate.com/details.vr/sku.6116">http://www.volumerate.com/details.vr/sku.6116
  • covert0001 - Tuesday, October 14, 2008 - link

    I have just replaced the "x" clamps on a friends board after previously repairing 2 others with 3"rlod".
    I used this method-
    Removed x clamps and heat sinks
    Cleaned dice and sinks thoroughly with methanol and cotton buds
    Put a spot of artic silver on the dice
    Mounted heat sinks with m5 machine screws, nylon washers and washers
    Let the board warm up till the 2 red lights came on and then let it cool
    This method worked a treat on both others
    The problem with this one is it plays a game for about 5-10 minutes then just freezes up. If i switch it off then back on it comes up with the 3 reds again. I can manage to get it to work again but the screen eventually freezes again and 3 reds. Any ideas what could be causing this or to solve this would be greatly appreciated
  • steveyoung123456789 - Friday, December 9, 2011 - link

    NO ONE KNOWS WHAT THE FUCK YOUR TALKING ABOUT!
  • xBublizZ - Sunday, April 1, 2012 - link

    I know!
  • JoeMontana1616161616 - Friday, July 5, 2019 - link

    Shut the fuck up and go sit your ass back on the bench, Steve.
  • itsmyfallt - Wednesday, December 14, 2005 - link

    i was going to paint my 360, but dont want to screw over my warranty, is there any way that you can take the outer shell apart and not leave any visible evidence(besides the color change) that you have taken the shell off and tooled around with it?
  • xboxrox - Wednesday, November 23, 2005 - link

    here are a few more details of the insides -

    http://www.teardown.com/press/Port_Xbox_360_PR_112...">http://www.teardown.com/press/Port_Xbox_360_PR_112...

  • jugaaru - Friday, November 18, 2005 - link

    I guess the anandtech server is getting hammered, I guess its the first full blown review. Nice work anyway.
  • kmmatney - Thursday, November 17, 2005 - link

    Just google "cpu dice" - I found this quote right away:

    "AMD is not in a position to move its product line to dual-core until it brings on an additional fab--either it's own Fab 36 or a foundry," Kevin Krewell, an analyst for In-Stat and editor of the Microprocessor Report, said Thursday. "Dual core equals two regular CPU dice, so it's not cost effective for AMD to ship dual-core [chips] for the same price as single-core. AMD needs to keep dollars per wafer growing, and aggressive pricing of dual-core would reduce it."

    Looks like many people use to term dice. So for you guys bitching and moaning for Anand to chaneg it - guess what - No Dice!

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