Tired of RRoD taunts? Turn your Xbox 360 into a PC
The solution to a hot and noisy Xbox 360 is to put the console inside a big, black PC case - according to one manufacturer, that is.
xb01q01_01 Lian-Li's PC-esque Xbox 360 case improves airflow and reduces noise
Lian-Li Industrial, a self-styled “executive upper-class aluminium PC chassis manufacturer”, has designed a PC-like …
Whilst I'm not necessarily saying the 360 is a great piece of design, that is one UGLY looking mutha! You'd have to be seriously keen to want to have that in your living room :-O
That's actually a rather handsome case. I wonder if they make something similar in a regular PC case, or if that one includes mounting for a regular ATX mobo.
Sheer brilliance! Will it fit alongside my SkyPlus box and DVD Recorder in my space limited home entertainment cabinet unit? Perhaps I should put it on a desk along with the LCD HD telly and deprive my missus of Eastenders?
Lsstly, I somehow don't believe this modification will appear on Microsoft's "Hardware Compatibility List"..
As per the title, why? Why would anyone in their right mind spend about £300 (Xbox £130-150+this case £150), on this??
You can buy a nice low-end PC for that and the Xbox 360 isn't exactly a high-end spec PC anyway, I just don't see a financial benefit add to that the whole reason consoles are not shaped like PC's is so that people (especially the ladies of our respective households), don't mind having them in the living room.
This product would appear to be something that will assist in prying away money from fanboi's and idjits..
Someone with a bit of geek knowledge and who has had their X360 fail a couple of times [I know at least two people of this ilk] may well put the moderate expense [no more than a big weekend on the lash mind] and an evenings effort above the inconvenience of having the machine sent away to be repaired/replaced yet again.
And comparing it to a low end PC is a bit retarded - can you play GOW or Forza on a low end PC?
Oh, and it's $150, not £150 - I know that we get a bum rap in the UK for these things, but doubling the value of it it pretty fecking unlikely.
You seem to have completely missed the entire point, and then argued your case with a complete misinterpretation of the facts.
I award you 8 FAILs out of 10
[your spelling, grammar and lack of caps lock save you from a perfect ten]
is that worth £75 exactly, given the price of generic PC cases these days? Given, it's not exactly the same as a PC case but still, I can't see where that price tag is coming from for a metal box.
Of course, if they'd bought a PS3 in the first place, they wouldn't have the issues with overheating, noisy fans and optical drives anyway. Flame on...
Because... this will play X360 games and a £300 PC won't?
Speaking personally, it would be more appealing if it supported internal mounting of the HDDVD drive as well. Not appealing enough to *buy* or anything, obviously.
The airflow (or lack of) was only part of the problem in the current Xbox360 problems. Microsoft have already tried putting bigger heatsinks on, and that did not help. The latest story is the one about the forthcoming firmware update, than cranks the fans up another notch to try and slow down the returns rates...
Personally, I think this looks ugly, as does the original Xbox360 case, and I wouldn't want either in my AV rack. My PS3 is near silent, and looks sexy, and has better games, better media streaming and Blu-ray.
im sure they do - lian-li have been making alu cases for years. they do all sorts... some really cool media cases for your media pcs#
i think it looks pretty sweet to be honest.
@ "is that worth £75 exactly, given the price of generic PC cases these days? Given, it's not exactly the same as a PC case but still, I can't see where that price tag is coming from for a metal box." - erm... i know they are expensive but they were designed for overclockers. basically alu is great for heat dissipation,meaning less fans and less pc noise.
@ "Of course, if they'd bought a PS3 in the first place, they wouldn't have the issues with overheating, noisy fans and optical drives anyway. Flame on..." - wtf? my ps3 gets well-noisy. although i airsrayed it yesterday so hopefully its much quieter now!
@ "Oh, and it's $150, not £150 - I know that we get a bum rap in the UK for these things, but doubling the value of it it pretty fecking unlikely." - wtf? havent you seen you can buy most US good for the same price in $ as we pay in £s? i mean most adobe s/w is more £ than $! work that one out!
It probably doesn't have an internal PSU because it would require reverse engineering the X360 PSU [probably not that tricky] and then engineering an internal PSU to fit an ATX chassis [perhaps not tricky, but probably costly].
You could argue the toss about mounting the existing external PSU in a mounting bracket inside the chassis, but that would be a heat issue, and given that is what this case is effectively designed to work around, then it would be a bit pointless.
I imagine - if anyone has made an internal X360 PSU then please feel free to correct me....
Put it in a case that looks like a big DVD player, I can see, then it'll look at home next to all that black electronics stuff next to the TV, but to put it in a computer case? That's dumb.
The web site is also very amusing - I particularly like this
"Lian Li have always put a lot of effort on it's product with latest manufacture techniques. In some process, Lian Li still asserted in using hand craft to in certain steps in production. Because of some unique techniques can't be replace by machines, and it is how much effort Lian Li has put into it's product."
>> is that worth £75 exactly, given the price of generic PC cases these
>> days? Given, it's not exactly the same as a PC case but still, I can't
>> see where that price tag is coming from for a metal box.
Why are you comparing it to generic PC cases? Surely it would be better to compare it to other Lian-Li cases - £75 is fairly cheap by their standards. Lian-Li cases start at about £60 and go up to about £350.
I think it would be great to avoid the RROD, however by the time your 360 reaches that stage that it is demonstrating the RROD the damage will have been done. Therefore you would have to invest the cash before the problem arose.
Another issues is that transferring you 360 to this case will almost certainly void your warranty, and your 360 may still fail. Lian-Li need to offer some sort of guarantee, but then they would be subject to MS's build quality (or lack thereof). Getting a RROD is unfortunate, but atleast you can get it repaired if the warranty still stands.
I like it. Now if I could get an LCD that would fit the big flat bit of it, I could have a super portable game station. (HD of course)
Posted Friday 15th August 2008 08:30 GMT
Anonymous Coward
Why are we still getting PS3 vs XBox360 vs PC comments?
#
Why don't fanbois you do the obvious thing and get one of each? Horses for courses. I don't light my house with gas and I don't fry my sausages with electricity.
It's a win if you can use a generic internally mounted HDD connected to the xbox 360's board, it's a fail if you can't.
The price of the case and a HDD would still come to less than the offical price of the 120gig HDD, which we're all going to want when the fall update lets us install games to the HDD.
Add a hinge and put something really cool in it, hmm...
Your portable drinks cabinet
Your collection of Wii games (you know you've got one)
Your encrypted hard disks with all those videos of excitable men with guns that you downloaded from madlunatic.com
Your T3 Magazines (so no-one sees them if you ever have visitors....)
or
Stuff it with the innards of that old 486 you've been using as a door stop, and return it to Argos for a refund, claiming it doesn't work. (No, I didn't mean it officer. Humour, remember? "If you can't take a joke you shouldn't have joined [the police]")
I am sure other Reg readers can come up with something better....
What does a case have to do with solving internal component problems? The Lian Li case is a design to house the internals of the 360. That's all.
The case is without any question part of Lian Li's 7 family, and a welcome addition. I have seen the designs for this release around for a while now, and have no doubt the build quality will be second to none.
@Why are we still getting PS3 vs XBox360 vs PC comments?
#
Because it's fun that's why. My iPhone's better than you [insert phone of choice: Nokia, Samsung, Alcatel, Tyco] phone battles.
Lian-li's next case in this vein should be a PS3, Xbox, Wii, PC combined case. That would be fun. Particularly the part where you have to wave your keyboard in the air as the Wiimote is inside it.
Looked over the review a bit and a half, It's mentioned the model used was the "Arcade" spec which doesnt actually have a HDD. Now i may be a complete sap, but i've got the Elite model and its never referenced inanyway in this review that there's a way of connecting the HDD's designed for the 360...
Register
Tired of RRoD taunts? Turn your Xbox 360 into a PC
The solution to a hot and noisy Xbox 360 is to put the console inside a big, black PC case - according to one manufacturer, that is. xb01q01_01 Lian-Li's PC-esque Xbox 360 case improves airflow and reduces noise Lian-Li Industrial, a self-styled “executive upper-class aluminium PC chassis manufacturer”, has designed a PC-like …
This topic is closed for new posts.
Posted Thursday 14th August 2008 13:03 GMT
Joe K
Nice. #
And still smaller than the original Xbox!
Posted Thursday 14th August 2008 13:03 GMT
David Cornes
Ugly! #
Whilst I'm not necessarily saying the 360 is a great piece of design, that is one UGLY looking mutha! You'd have to be seriously keen to want to have that in your living room :-O
Posted Thursday 14th August 2008 13:03 GMT
Neil Alexander
Looks nicer #
... than the Xbox 360's current shell, that's for sure.
Posted Thursday 14th August 2008 13:03 GMT
thomas k.
nice-looking #
That's actually a rather handsome case. I wonder if they make something similar in a regular PC case, or if that one includes mounting for a regular ATX mobo.
Posted Thursday 14th August 2008 13:03 GMT
Raymond Wilson
Genius #
Sheer brilliance! Will it fit alongside my SkyPlus box and DVD Recorder in my space limited home entertainment cabinet unit? Perhaps I should put it on a desk along with the LCD HD telly and deprive my missus of Eastenders?
Lsstly, I somehow don't believe this modification will appear on Microsoft's "Hardware Compatibility List"..
Posted Thursday 14th August 2008 13:03 GMT
Francis Boyle
executive upper-class #
'Lian-Li Industrial, a self-styled “executive upper-class aluminium PC chassis manufacturer” '
They have a good reputation for their cases - it must be because they make good cases - it certainly isn't down to their marketing department.
Yes, I know it's chinglish, but 'executive upper-class' doesn't exactly inspire confidence.
Posted Thursday 14th August 2008 13:03 GMT
Anon Koward
Why, why, why? #
As per the title, why? Why would anyone in their right mind spend about £300 (Xbox £130-150+this case £150), on this??
You can buy a nice low-end PC for that and the Xbox 360 isn't exactly a high-end spec PC anyway, I just don't see a financial benefit add to that the whole reason consoles are not shaped like PC's is so that people (especially the ladies of our respective households), don't mind having them in the living room.
This product would appear to be something that will assist in prying away money from fanboi's and idjits..
Posted Thursday 14th August 2008 13:40 GMT
Steven Raith
Re: Why, why, why? #
Someone with a bit of geek knowledge and who has had their X360 fail a couple of times [I know at least two people of this ilk] may well put the moderate expense [no more than a big weekend on the lash mind] and an evenings effort above the inconvenience of having the machine sent away to be repaired/replaced yet again.
And comparing it to a low end PC is a bit retarded - can you play GOW or Forza on a low end PC?
Oh, and it's $150, not £150 - I know that we get a bum rap in the UK for these things, but doubling the value of it it pretty fecking unlikely.
You seem to have completely missed the entire point, and then argued your case with a complete misinterpretation of the facts.
I award you 8 FAILs out of 10
[your spelling, grammar and lack of caps lock save you from a perfect ten]
Steven R
Posted Thursday 14th August 2008 13:41 GMT
Ed Blackshaw
How #
is that worth £75 exactly, given the price of generic PC cases these days? Given, it's not exactly the same as a PC case but still, I can't see where that price tag is coming from for a metal box.
Of course, if they'd bought a PS3 in the first place, they wouldn't have the issues with overheating, noisy fans and optical drives anyway. Flame on...
Posted Thursday 14th August 2008 13:41 GMT
Mr. F.
Thinking back in the box #
Finally, someone has realised that Microsoft is unable to "think out of the box" and put the Xbox 360 back in its rightful place.
Posted Thursday 14th August 2008 13:41 GMT
Adrian Jackson
Re: Why, why, why? #
Because... this will play X360 games and a £300 PC won't?
Speaking personally, it would be more appealing if it supported internal mounting of the HDDVD drive as well. Not appealing enough to *buy* or anything, obviously.
Posted Thursday 14th August 2008 13:41 GMT
Anonymous Coward
Not hardcore enough.. #
Internal PSU ftw.
It's big enough as it is, so why no internal PSU.
Nevermind, just remembered it would then weigh 50kg instead of 2x 25kg.
This post has been deleted by its author
Posted Thursday 14th August 2008 13:42 GMT
Matt
@Thomas K #
They do make rather nice PC cases. I have hadmy current PC in it's Lian Li case for around 4 years and it still looks like a recent design
Posted Thursday 14th August 2008 17:48 GMT
Anonymous Coward
Does it really fix the problem? #
The airflow (or lack of) was only part of the problem in the current Xbox360 problems. Microsoft have already tried putting bigger heatsinks on, and that did not help. The latest story is the one about the forthcoming firmware update, than cranks the fans up another notch to try and slow down the returns rates...
Personally, I think this looks ugly, as does the original Xbox360 case, and I wouldn't want either in my AV rack. My PS3 is near silent, and looks sexy, and has better games, better media streaming and Blu-ray.
Posted Thursday 14th August 2008 17:48 GMT
Liam
hmmm #
@ thomas k.
im sure they do - lian-li have been making alu cases for years. they do all sorts... some really cool media cases for your media pcs#
i think it looks pretty sweet to be honest.
@ "is that worth £75 exactly, given the price of generic PC cases these days? Given, it's not exactly the same as a PC case but still, I can't see where that price tag is coming from for a metal box." - erm... i know they are expensive but they were designed for overclockers. basically alu is great for heat dissipation,meaning less fans and less pc noise.
@ "Of course, if they'd bought a PS3 in the first place, they wouldn't have the issues with overheating, noisy fans and optical drives anyway. Flame on..." - wtf? my ps3 gets well-noisy. although i airsrayed it yesterday so hopefully its much quieter now!
@ "Oh, and it's $150, not £150 - I know that we get a bum rap in the UK for these things, but doubling the value of it it pretty fecking unlikely." - wtf? havent you seen you can buy most US good for the same price in $ as we pay in £s? i mean most adobe s/w is more £ than $! work that one out!
Posted Thursday 14th August 2008 17:48 GMT
Steven Raith
Internal PSU #
It probably doesn't have an internal PSU because it would require reverse engineering the X360 PSU [probably not that tricky] and then engineering an internal PSU to fit an ATX chassis [perhaps not tricky, but probably costly].
You could argue the toss about mounting the existing external PSU in a mounting bracket inside the chassis, but that would be a heat issue, and given that is what this case is effectively designed to work around, then it would be a bit pointless.
I imagine - if anyone has made an internal X360 PSU then please feel free to correct me....
Steven R
Posted Thursday 14th August 2008 17:48 GMT
paul
Nice #
Looks good - if it does something about the noise I would be tempted.
Just one problem - Its made by M$ - the worst most evil company to have ever existed.
(No other company has made that much $ without being a big industrial player where physical things actually cost lots).
Posted Thursday 14th August 2008 17:48 GMT
Anthony
Dumb idea #
Put it in a case that looks like a big DVD player, I can see, then it'll look at home next to all that black electronics stuff next to the TV, but to put it in a computer case? That's dumb.
Posted Thursday 14th August 2008 17:48 GMT
b
omg #
buy an effing pc!
stuff and nonsense:
http://www.eupeople.net/forum
Posted Thursday 14th August 2008 17:48 GMT
Colin Millar
Lian-li worth every penny #
The quality of the cases is phenomenal
The web site is also very amusing - I particularly like this
"Lian Li have always put a lot of effort on it's product with latest manufacture techniques. In some process, Lian Li still asserted in using hand craft to in certain steps in production. Because of some unique techniques can't be replace by machines, and it is how much effort Lian Li has put into it's product."
Posted Thursday 14th August 2008 17:48 GMT
steogede
@Ed Blackshaw #
>> is that worth £75 exactly, given the price of generic PC cases these
>> days? Given, it's not exactly the same as a PC case but still, I can't
>> see where that price tag is coming from for a metal box.
Why are you comparing it to generic PC cases? Surely it would be better to compare it to other Lian-Li cases - £75 is fairly cheap by their standards. Lian-Li cases start at about £60 and go up to about £350.
I think it would be great to avoid the RROD, however by the time your 360 reaches that stage that it is demonstrating the RROD the damage will have been done. Therefore you would have to invest the cash before the problem arose.
Another issues is that transferring you 360 to this case will almost certainly void your warranty, and your 360 may still fail. Lian-Li need to offer some sort of guarantee, but then they would be subject to MS's build quality (or lack thereof). Getting a RROD is unfortunate, but atleast you can get it repaired if the warranty still stands.
Posted Thursday 14th August 2008 22:39 GMT
Reg Sim
Mmhhh nice. #
nice.
I like it. Now if I could get an LCD that would fit the big flat bit of it, I could have a super portable game station. (HD of course)
Posted Friday 15th August 2008 08:30 GMT
Anonymous Coward
Why are we still getting PS3 vs XBox360 vs PC comments? #
Why don't fanbois you do the obvious thing and get one of each? Horses for courses. I don't light my house with gas and I don't fry my sausages with electricity.
Posted Friday 15th August 2008 09:32 GMT
Alex Walsh
Does it solve the HDD problem? #
It's a win if you can use a generic internally mounted HDD connected to the xbox 360's board, it's a fail if you can't.
The price of the case and a HDD would still come to less than the offical price of the 120gig HDD, which we're all going to want when the fall update lets us install games to the HDD.
Posted Friday 15th August 2008 09:32 GMT
M7S
Uses for the surplus XBox case #
Add a hinge and put something really cool in it, hmm...
Your portable drinks cabinet
Your collection of Wii games (you know you've got one)
Your encrypted hard disks with all those videos of excitable men with guns that you downloaded from madlunatic.com
Your T3 Magazines (so no-one sees them if you ever have visitors....)
or
Stuff it with the innards of that old 486 you've been using as a door stop, and return it to Argos for a refund, claiming it doesn't work. (No, I didn't mean it officer. Humour, remember? "If you can't take a joke you shouldn't have joined [the police]")
I am sure other Reg readers can come up with something better....
Posted Saturday 16th August 2008 14:32 GMT
Will
RE: Does it solve the HDD problem? #
What does a case have to do with solving internal component problems? The Lian Li case is a design to house the internals of the 360. That's all.
The case is without any question part of Lian Li's 7 family, and a welcome addition. I have seen the designs for this release around for a while now, and have no doubt the build quality will be second to none.
Posted Monday 18th August 2008 11:50 GMT
drunk.smile
@Why are we still getting PS3 vs XBox360 vs PC comments? #
Because it's fun that's why. My iPhone's better than you [insert phone of choice: Nokia, Samsung, Alcatel, Tyco] phone battles.
Lian-li's next case in this vein should be a PS3, Xbox, Wii, PC combined case. That would be fun. Particularly the part where you have to wave your keyboard in the air as the Wiimote is inside it.
Posted Monday 18th August 2008 16:35 GMT
RobMc
Er, my 360's HDD will connect too right? #
Looked over the review a bit and a half, It's mentioned the model used was the "Arcade" spec which doesnt actually have a HDD. Now i may be a complete sap, but i've got the Elite model and its never referenced inanyway in this review that there's a way of connecting the HDD's designed for the 360...
This topic is closed for new posts.