What Causes the Red Ring of Death and How to Prevent the RRoD and E74 Errors on the Xbox 360

The Common Cause of RRoD

Many people caught the RRoD problems, and not much of them can counter this little problem. While some hacks and mods proved to be able to counter RRoD problems, it will at the same time destroy your warranty. You wouldn’t want to risk your XBOX 360 breaking and having no warranty, would you? Because of that, people tend to send it back to Microsoft, asking for a replacement. However, still, some people send and again received the RRoD. They sent it once again and received it, only to get RRoD again soon later.

RRoD and E74 errors are a problem on XBOX 360 from overheating and power management. Because of that, there are still some solutions for this - without the need of modding your XBOX 360, neither sending it to Microsoft over and over again.

Give It Some Space to Reduce Heating

If the problem is heating and power management, what would be a better way other than to give it some space? It is actually simple Physics, heat will spread more easily in spacious spaces. What happens when we put it into tight space? The XBOX 360 radiates heat, and if there are no space, the heat will be centered around the XBOX 360 again, thus causing a higher temperature on the XBOX 360, and of course, a higher risk of getting the RRoD.

Placing the Console Vertically

It seems that when placed vertically, XBOX 360 will generate less heat around it. I have tested it myself. First, by playing the 360 horizontally, then by playing it vertically. After each time playing and turning it off, the machine is warmer when playing it horizontally, while when playing it vertically, it is much colder. It seems that XBOX 360 is created to have its heat spread vertically, and it will cool down more when placed in that way.

Buy a Fan/Cooler

Like a PC, XBOX 360 also needs a cool temperature to be able to process games and applications. In some cases, giving it some spaces and placing the console vertically is not enough. If you really must play it horizontally, try to buy a cooler somewhere to minimalize risk. A cooler, specifically, a good one, will always keep your XBOX 360 cold while playing, which lowers the risk of having the RRoD.

There are many ways to prevent any RRoD, but of course, there is no greater way other than to…

Stop Playing Excessively

Turn the console off when you are not playing it. Take a fifteen minutes break and turn off the console during that time every one hours. The ideal way to keep gaming without getting sick is by having a lot of break times. A study indicated that taking a 15-minutes break, just 15 minutes will keep your body; and your XBOX 360, fit. If the problem is heat; of course, by turning it for 1-2 hours every 4-5 hours gameplay will also be sufficient to let it cool. Take it slow while playing games, your console and your games aren’t going anywhere.