Tutorial written by : halo9054
Last edited: August 22, 2003

Starting Temperatures:
Stock Fan 7V with no case mod.
After 1 Hour playing Brute Force
MB 48.0 C or 118.45 F
CPU 61.250 C or 142.25 F

Replaced Stock Fan with 12v Vantec Stealth 80mm Case Fan (tutorial)
Vantec Stealth 80 mm runs on 12 V, Fan Speed 2050 RPM, Air Flow is 27 CFM's, Noise 21 dBA, Double Ball Bearing. Comes with mounting screws and 3-4 pin molex power through adaptor. Vantec USA Link.
Replaced Heat Sink Thermal Compound.
After 1 Hour playing Brute Force
MB 39.125 C or 102.425 F
CPU 46.500 C or 115.7 F YEAH!
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Thermal Compound Upgrade:

For this you'll need:
- Isopropyl Alcohol the higher the % the better
- GOO GONE
- Q-Tips
- Coffee Filter
-

And of course..... a tube of Arctic Silver 3 Thermal Compound

Remove CPU Heatsink

You'll need to lift the Black pressure tab and then remove the heat sink clip completely. Then carefully persuade the sink to lift off the chip. When you get it all apart this is what you should have.

Remove GPU Heatsink
Now NFCTinken, posted a question about how to get the GPU heat sink off. Well if you look at this shot - I first release the chrome clip (similar to CPU) then slide a screwdriver from the right between the heat sink and black lower seat. Using a motion like you were removing a paint can lid - (hey just thought of that) - I slowly persuaded the heat sink to release. Now the NVIDIA chip has a much larger surface area than the INTEL chip on the right. That's why it's such a bugger to get off. But just take your time.

Remove M$ Bubble Gum
First use the GOO GONE. It dissolves the bubble gum. You'll need to work it with the Q-Tip(s). Use alot of them cause they end up soaking up the goo. Then once you get the stuff off - use the Alcohol to do a real good clean.

You need to clean both surfaces. This is the CPU heatsink after a few cleans with GOO GONE. Next I'll use the Alcohol.

When you're done rest the heat sink gently back on the chip. This to keep the airborne dust from landing on the chip.

Here's the GPU NVIDIA chip - just freshly peeled.

Here’s what the bottom of that heatsink looks like with the bubble gum crap on it.

Then clean and clean. Although I didn't take another picture you need to completely clean the bubble gum on the chip - so yes I did clean that stuff on the edges.

Applying the Arctic Silver 3
I used an old cd as a palate and a clean edged credit card. Just follow the Arctic Silver instructions. Remeber to use the coffee filters to apply a thin rub of the compound to the bottom of the heat sinks as well.

The chips should then look like this...

Then re-assemble the GPU and CPU heatsinks and clips.

The whole project took me a few hours and if I didn't take any pictures that time would probably come all the way down. But like my last mod - I took my time and enjoyed it.

Overall, I'm really pleased with my temperature results. With these temps I do not plan on doing any further cooling mods. I bought the mini HDD fan and was going to do the HDD fan install - but I want to keep my xbox as quiet as possible.
Thanks to Trob again for the inspiration and the rest of the gang. For now everythings.... COOL