Got a 360, need help deciding what to do

[vskid]

My brother and I got a 360 from the thrift store for $40, untested, no cords, no hdd. I took it to a friend's to test it, and got the e74 error. For a temporary fix, I covered it with towels to make it overheat (yes, I know thats bad). Now it works (at least for the half hour I played it). It doesn't have a warranty sticker, but it appears to not be modified in any way (that I can see). Why take off the sticker if you aren't going to fix it, its even less than 3 years old.
So, I'm trying to decide what I should do. Should I leave the heatsink clamps alone and modify the cooling system (monster fan in the side, or submerge it in mineral oil) and hope for the best? Or should I fix the problem first (I was thinking of oven reflow method) and then better cooling?

[vskid]

My current plan of attack is a divider in the fan shroud (so one fan has to suck air through the GPU, the other through the CPU), a shroud over the GPU heatsink, remove the shielding/fan grill from behind the fans (maybe even the plastic), a fan on the secondary GPU heatsink, and the 12v fan mod. I'll also put some Arctic Silver 5 on the GPU and CPU if I can find a place to buy it locally. I don't care if it sounds like a jet, I just want it stay cool.
Any other suggestions?

[snowpenguin]

You can get AS5 at radioshack.

[collinE]

All of that combined sounds like overkill to me, but it won't hurt it. If you do a couple of those things and you should be fine.

What board revision is it? If it doesn't have the solid aluminum heat sink on the CPU, you could replace that to make it cooler. Actually, if it has the old copper and stainless steel heatsink, I'd be willing to trade you for a new aluminum one while I'm up in that area

Also, you can get the whisper or talismoon fans so that it stays quieter after the 12v mod.

[vskid]

You can get AS5 at radioshack.

Oh, I didn't even think of there. The stores by me have it in stock.

All of that combined sounds like overkill to me, but it won't hurt it. If you do a couple of those things and you should be fine.

What board revision is it? If it doesn't have the solid aluminum heat sink on the CPU, you could replace that to make it cooler. Actually, if it has the old copper and stainless steel heatsink, I'd be willing to trade you for a new aluminum one while I'm up in that area

Also, you can get the whisper or talismoon fans so that it stays quieter after the 12v mod.

Overkill? I know no such word.
I believe it is a falcon. Solid aluminum on the CPU. For some reason, the power sticker says its 203w, but it has a 175w power connector. You wouldn't happen to have a spare 203w or 175w PSU, would you? I'm bidding on one on ebay, but I've been outbid on the last few I've tried to get.
I'll see how loud it is when I get everything done. If its annoyingly loud, I'll look into other fans/cooling solutions.

[collinE]

Yeah, I have an extra 175w power supply. A/V cables, too, if you need those. I'll be up there Friday afternoon-late evening. PM me your deets if you're available then.

[vskid]

Thanks to collinE, I now have cables for it. 20GB HDD is coming from DX, sometime in the next month.
I blew out all the dust that was in the case and around the fans. I chopped out the metal shielding fan grill and put a divider in the shroud. I currently have it running with an 80mm fan on the GPU heatsink (DVD drive is off to the side) and another 80mm fan over the secondary GPU heatsink and part of the CPU heatsink. While playing a DVD, both heatsinks are cool to the touch and the fan exhaust is barely warm. I'll borrow a game to test with and see how it handles the increased load. And Collin thought my original plan was overkill.

[vskid]

I'm borrowing The Orange Box from my friend, it stays pretty cool playing HL2 and Portal. I think the dual 80mm fans in addition to the stock ones will keep it plenty cool. Now I just need to figure out how to implement them in the case without it being huge. I can't wait for my HDD so I can actually save games.

[lifeisbetterwithketchup]

The 360 heatsinks being cool to the touch is quite an accomplishment. In my experience, even perfectly working Xbox 360s will run with the heatsinks feeling very hot after sitting at the dashboard for 5 minutes doing nothing.

[collinE]

more fans.

[vskid]

more fans.

(the cutting I did on the side and back)

I'm not sure how much the fans at the front helped, but that was the easiest place to put more fans. After sitting at the Orange Box main menu for 15-20 minutes followed by a few minutes at the dash, the heatsinks felt just barely warmer than they do at room temperature. I think I might keep the 120mm fan, it easily cools both the secondary GPU and CPU heatsink.
Should I chop the side off the GPU heatsink, the part above some RAM? The RAM at the front is kept nice and chilly by the overhanging part of the fan, but I'm afraid the RAM under the heatsink is cooking in comparison.

EDIT: If anyone is wondering, yes, it does sound like a leafblower with all those fans.

[vskid]

Well, it e74'd on me again a few days ago. The specific error (from holding "sync" and pressing eject) is 1022. I know I have the cooling handled, I just need to get it working again at "stock" specs and it should never error again. Should I heatgun the GPU and HANA chip, do the homemade HYBRID x-clamp fix, or both (specifically from those who have personally fixed RROD and e74)? Either way, I'm going to chop the side off the GPU heatsink, put heatsinks on all the RAM chips, the HANA chip, and the southbridge, 12v fan mod+an 80mm fan on the GPU heatsink, and put the DVD drive on the top on the case.

[Steamdnt]

1022 is ANA/HANA
You most likely need a reflow, I borked mine with an Xclamp fix, it was giving an E74, before I cracked the GPU it was giving a 1022 error, the Xclamps did nothing to solve it, Trust me, I tightened them quarter turns then test, The best I got was a permanent RROD from tightening to hard.

[lifeisbetterwithketchup]

E74 can be a pesky error. I've had it simply go away after an X-clamp mod before, but I'm pretty sure that was a fluke. Another thing I've done is in addition to the X-clamp mod, was "heatgunning" (using a hair dryer ) the ANA/HANA chip, and that would work as a temporary fix, unless I stuck a heatsink on it. If I did that, the fix would hold up.

[minnieman]

E74 can be a pesky error. I've had it simply go away after an X-clamp mod before, but I'm pretty sure that was a fluke. Another thing I've done is in addition to the X-clamp mod, was "heatgunning" (using a hair dryer ) the ANA/HANA chip, and that would work as a temporary fix, unless I stuck a heatsink on it. If I did that, the fix would hold up.

:/ actually getting a heat gun and going over the hana/ana chip is the best. also, the gpu. go in circular motions for about 3 minutes on both and youll be fine