Building a 360

[TheHuntsman]

Hey! Bearing in mind I have very little knowledge of how games consoles work internally, I was wondering if it is technically possible to create a cheaper, homemade version of the xbox 360 using computer parts, and then putting the xbox bios and dashboard, or whatever it runs on, into it.

I'm aware that your all probably going to say "why??!!" and I'm also aware that it would probably be more worthwhile to build a nice gaming PC. Please humour me.

Let me know your thoughts.

[Shaz]

Quite simply put, no.

It's VERY unlikely due to the processor and the fact that the games are programmed specifically for it's architecture. I would assume it's possible for the Xbox 1 but the 360 is far less likely as the first simply used a PIII/Celeron. You'd need to match all the parts which I doubt can be bought.

[TheHuntsman]

hmmm i assumed as much just wanted to check. Next question then...is it possible to make an upgraded version of the xbox 1? ie better graphics? or are the games encoded to work specifically to one graphics setting and wouldnt improve even if you could upgrade?

[Arkangyl]

In general, all you can do to a console is add in modchips to block its regional sensors and let you play import games (and do some illegal stuff, but that's BAD )
All the chips are hardwired onto the mainboard and cannot be changed, the OS is also only programmed to work with the given hardware and especially with the newer consoles, the hardware is very specialized and proprietary.
Unless you want to re-write the code and re-solder the mainboard you can't really do too much to change the console. If you can do those things, I'd suggest getting a job with MS/Sony/Ninty

[Shaz]

hmmm i assumed as much just wanted to check. Next question then...is it possible to make an upgraded version of the xbox 1? ie better graphics? or are the games encoded to work specifically to one graphics setting and wouldnt improve even if you could upgrade?

You can drop in a 1.4GHz CPU if you de-solder the 733MHz and do a couple of other mods. http://www.xbox-scene.com if it can be done, they've done it.

[kamongear]

hmmm i assumed as much just wanted to check. Next question then...is it possible to make an upgraded version of the xbox 1? ie better graphics? or are the games encoded to work specifically to one graphics setting and wouldnt improve even if you could upgrade?

Yes. You can pop in a new proc(This is not easy and I would have to assume that you dont have the tools nescessary to do it) or ram(not that hard). The only reason one would do this is to run linux quicker/better.

No it won't run faster, have better graphics ect. Users have reported some games being jittery with the better proc

[bball4ever39]

Ya modding the hardware will not affect how the software runs at all. Just look at running an xbox game on a 360, you are still stuck to like 480p. The games were written for only up to EDTV so that is all they are capable of putting out.

[TheHuntsman]

Ok cheers for clearing that up for me guys, I'm in the process of trying to decide whether it's worth the bother of doing anything with my xbox, at the moment it just sits there collecting dust, don't use it for a great deal.

[Kingcarcas]

People use it as a media center, or you could just sell it. The games are coded for that specific hardware so even if you successfully "upgrade" the console you won't see any benefits. You might just turn it into a brick

[lowfat]

considering you need an optical drive that is MATCHED for a 360 logic board, not happening. Thats how people create bricks when modding them. You need the exact serial numbers to match or else its a paper weight.

[TheHuntsman]

Ah ok thanks for clearing that up guys. I could make a media centre but then again, i could make a pretty decent media centre out of my old pc...so think i may just keep it and play halo 2 online when i have a bit of spare time!

[amscott]

my freind is a proud owneer of an xbox 360. from wat he has told me, microsoft has secret built in devices that only are in the xbox and cannot be recreated. for instance he told me taht there is this little divise that is in the xbox 360 taht u cannot take out which if u play online and microsoft catches you hacking with this special chip thing that changes somthing in the games, microsoft will basicly sent a EMP pulse to your game system and fry it. :O because of these little part in the system, it is very difficult if not impossoble to modify the xbox with other parts because of the compatibility of the processor and (dashboard).

[Kaze06]

my freind is a proud owneer of an xbox 360. from wat he has told me, microsoft has secret built in devices that only are in the xbox and cannot be recreated. for instance he told me taht there is this little divise that is in the xbox 360 taht u cannot take out which if u play online and microsoft catches you hacking with this special chip thing that changes somthing in the games, microsoft will basicly sent a EMP pulse to your game system and fry it. :O because of these little part in the system, it is very difficult if not impossoble to modify the xbox with other parts because of the compatibility of the processor and (dashboard).

!!!!!!!!!

Must...breathe...can't...stop..laughing

[Mad1723]

OMG, ing funny Quote!!!!!!

Man, the only thing that M$ can do to your 360 is keeping your serial number banned of Xbox Live, they cant destroy your 360... the only person that can destroy your 360 is you! We're not in X-Files, stay on earth! And BTW, Processor and RAM upgrading is possible on Xbox 1 but it doesnt change anything except for Linux as said by bartsimsonii. You can mod your Xbox to install Xbox Media Center, that is a really great Dashboard, with good internet fonctions(VoD like Youtube, Meteo, Demos, patches, contents etc...)

[KoHaN69]

amscott- kill your friend and find a new one

some consoles may be overclocked for better performance
such as dreamcast, n64, genesis, ps1, and even gpu of ps2

im sure 360 can be overclocked somehow and that would lead to better fps in oblivion, etc

u may try to find some kind of crystal and replace it with a faster one.

[mukmaster]

my freind is a proud owneer of an xbox 360. from wat he has told me, microsoft has secret built in devices that only are in the xbox and cannot be recreated. for instance he told me taht there is this little divise that is in the xbox 360 taht u cannot take out which if u play online and microsoft catches you hacking with this special chip thing that changes somthing in the games, microsoft will basicly sent a EMP pulse to your game system and fry it. :O because of these little part in the system, it is very difficult if not impossoble to modify the xbox with other parts because of the compatibility of the processor and (dashboard).

hey slap your freind upside the head.

[JargonGR]

my freind is a proud owneer of an xbox 360. from wat he has told me, microsoft has secret built in devices that only are in the xbox and cannot be recreated. for instance he told me taht there is this little divise that is in the xbox 360 taht u cannot take out which if u play online and microsoft catches you hacking with this special chip thing that changes somthing in the games, microsoft will basicly sent a EMP pulse to your game system and fry it. :O because of these little part in the system, it is very difficult if not impossoble to modify the xbox with other parts because of the compatibility of the processor and (dashboard).

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

[YukonTrooper]

If you find out a way to do it then you'll be hailed as a modding god. Plus Microsoft will come in the middle of the night, eat your dog and take you away to a very dark and cold place.

[Quest_7F]

If my friend was to say something like that, I wouldn't admit that he even said it. I dont know about this project, I would rather get a used 360, and watercool it. Much better project IMO.

[MaxxxRacer]

Ok cheers for clearing that up for me guys, I'm in the process of trying to decide whether it's worth the bother of doing anything with my xbox, at the moment it just sits there collecting dust, don't use it for a great deal.

Get a mod chip and put a big HDD in there. Turn it into a media console as well as emulator console. My friend does it and it works great. He has a N64 emulator with virtually every N64 game ever created. They all work flawlessly and look great.

[trance565]

yeah, my friend got a mod chip, 160 gig hdd, took his original xbox apart, we now play arcade games, snes, nes, genisis, saturn, n64, and if we want psx games, along with xbox games he's got on his hdd. i was thinking about giving him my 250 just to add some more games and what not, but he just doubled his space from 80 gigs a couple weeks back so we're busy filling that up first ^^


if you wanted to create an emulator for the 360 ... you would need roughly 10x the processing power in order to run it well, that's the basic rule to emulation, if you dont have 10x the processing capabilities of the system your emulating, it will run jittery.



amscott, the thing your friend is talking about, is a device that sends a signal to microsoft with the serial number, and ip address to their servers, so in case somone steals it and logs onto live, they can find it. but i dont think they had it in the first shipment of 360's, which is why i believe my friends to be lost forever.(unless some retard logs onto his live account)