Xbox 360 Modding

[CompanionCube]

I'm going to be purchasing an Xbox 360 soon and I have several questions.

1.A lot of Xbox 360 on craigslist (Where I'm most likely going to purchase) say the console is modded/flashed. Is it unwise to buy these? They seem to have a lot of pros (Getting free games on the internet) but have the chance of already being banned from Xbox Live.

2. Should I get Pro/Elite? Is Elite really worth extra money?

3. Should I be concerned about RROD(Red Ring of Death) if the console has been manufactured (insert date here)?

4. Recommend me some good games that are "Must-haves" for the 360

5. Recommend me the "best" Racing game for the 360

Thank you for answering these (noob) questions.

6. Is the Falcon Chip considered a mod?

 

[Finbark]

1. I don't think you have to worry about being banned already. I think Microsoft only bans the Gamer Tags, not the System.

2. Extra hard drive space is nice (Twice as much as Pro). Also, it comes in black. Other than that It's basically the same as Pro.

3. I haven't ran into the RROD yet, and I've had my Xbox for about a year and a half. But if the Xbox is modded chances are it was manufactured when the RROD was still a problem.

4. Well, Halo 3 for online and local multiplayer... Fable T--You know what? I'm not exactly the best person to give suggestions for games.

5. Not really a fan of Racing games, sorry.

 

[Jonxxx]

1. they can *ban* your system if they find modded/flashed hardware. be wary and ask questions before buying.

2. Pro. unless you like storing mass amounts of demos/movies/music on your consoles

3. i have had my 360 since the first week of release, and i have never gotten RROD. so cant help you there

4. depends what genre you like.

5. only racing games i know of are Forza Motor sport and Burnoutaradise. Both on completely different ends of the realistic spectrum.

 

[HardRockSamurai]

1. I wouldn't buy a modded console, because if it truly is modded, it removes the warranty from the console, which you need in case there's a accident or if you get the red ring.

2. If you plan on buying A LOT of games, Elite is the way to go. Otherwise, you can't go wrong with pro.

3. You probably won't run into it if you buy a brand new console. A used or modded console has a higher chance of RROD-ing. If you do run into the RROD, you can send your console to Microsoft to get it fixed for free. I've heard that there are some pretty efficient methods for fixing the RROD online, so if you're confident enough, you COULD fix it yourself; just keep in mind that if you take apart the console, the warranty is removed.

4. Must haves: Call of Duty 4, Halo 3, Saints Row 2, GTA IV, Castle Crashers, etc

5. I don't know any of the racing games on the 360. Sorry.

 

[wwjdftw]

i have actually considered this to, but im uneducated aswell, teach away!

 

[Neurowaste]

Good racing games are FUEL and DiRT. Also, i have a flashed console and as long you're not playing those games on-line, it's no problem.

 

[JohnSmith]

1. Don't buy a modded console. If you have to mod do it yourself at least that way if you flush a couple of hundred dollars you know that it was your fault.
2. Buy the elite or one of the special editions there are still some of the original edition white 360s floating around and it is hard to tell them from the newer white ones. The original 360s RROD a lot.
3. Don't be to concerned about the RROD if you buy a console with a warranty then you are one highly irritating phonecall or irritating tech support website trawl away from having it fixed. If you don't have a warranty then I hope you have a set of torx screwdrivers.
4. Orange Box, COD4, Halo 3 (though probably wait for the new one), Mass Effect.
5. Burnout Paradise

 

[akmarksman]

I would recommend the Elite if you want a different looking system and maybe it'll have HDMI connection.
Do you have a TV or computer monitor with HDMI?

I upgraded my 20GB HD to the 120GB and installed a bunch of games,so my 360's disc drive doesn't spool up and burn energy.

I have never had a modded console in so far as compromising the operating system..however my original Xbox had a higher speed data cable(166 vs the original) and I had put in a cable to bump the fan speed up to it's 12V it was designed to run at,not the 5V that MS wanted.

The only "mod" I have done to my 360 is I added a Nyko Intercooler. Despite what 50% else say,I noticed that my 360 lasted longer with it than the 2 weeks I played without it before it died and MS sent me another one.

Since I build computers and am knowledgeable,I want to processor(in whatever rig..be it a console or a computer) to run efficiently and not at a higher temp..so I'll drop out the stock thermal adhesive/pad and replace it with Arctic Silver Ceramique. I'll buy a copper based CPU cooler because they move heat better than aluminum based ones,despite the increase in price.

Midnight Club LA and Forza Motorsport 2 are 2 racing games I play a lot.

 

[Kpt._Rob]

People have already addressed the first five, let me address the sixth.

6: Falcon chip is not a mod. There are three generations of xbox motherboards. The first was the Xenon, the second was the Falcon, and the third was the Jasper. And, if you're worried about the RROD, by the way, I would suggest making sure that you acquire a Jasper. My old Xenon had a lot of RROD problems, ultimately killing it, when I replaced it I went with a Jasper model, and that has run excelently.

 

[UnearthedArcana]

I've had my Pro for about a year and I've not run into any problems. The only games that have even crashed were Oblivion and Fallout 3, which are both notoriously buggy.

As regards games, Gears of War, Bioshock, Mass Effect and Left 4 Dead would be solid choices.

 

[BeighT]

1. Personally I wouldn't buy a modded console. There's more risks then good things, and if you get RRoD or any other problems your pretty much screwed. I would just buy it straight from a store.

2. Pro would be the best. I have a 20 GB HD right now and although I want a bigger HD mine works fine with well over 20 saves and such, but I can't download much of the bigger DLC, xbox origanal games, or movies. So a 60 GB would be perfect. (Remember you can always just delete an old video or movie because you can redownload it if you keep your same GamerTag, but if you have a modded console and use mods in game you could get banned from that GamerTag as well as your downloaded stuff.)

3. The newer Xboxs are a lot better with the RRoD and other errors, so you should only be conserned if you buy one from craigs list. (Make sure that you always keep your xbox in an open space. It really helps with the overheating problems.)

4. L4D, CoD4, Prototype (Fun too mess around in), Fallout 3, Red Faction: Guerrilla (Buying it soon, but have heard good things and is another fun game to mess around in) Then a couple cheaper games: Crackdown, The Orange Box, Mass Effect, Oblivion, Saint's Row, and yeah...that's all I can think of for now xD

5. Not into the racing, but Forza 2 is pretty fun. I havn't played it but maybe Burnout Paridice? Both are under $20.

6. I'm not quite sure, but I think the Falcon Chip is the new chip they put in the newer Xbox consoles that make it not overheat. So no it wouldn't be a mod.

Hope I helped a little!

 

[Shepard's Shadow]

1. If I were you I would not buy one from Craig's List.

2. Elite. The hard drive to me was worth the one I bought.

3. Yes you should be concerned. I never got it; but it happens quite often. The date doesn't really matter; but a newer one would be better to avoid it.

4. Halo 3, Mass Effect, Gears of War(1&2), Fable II, Left 4 Dead, Dead Rising

5. Grid, PGR 4

6. I don't even know what the hell a "falcon chip" is. However, it sounds like a mod to me.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

6. The falcon chip is some kind of new chip that somehow reduces heat in the 360.

As overheating is the cause of the RROD then the falcon chip supposedly lowers the chances of RROD happening.

Always let your 360 cool down every few hours and keep it away from the wall and off the carpet.

I've had mine a year and a half and no problems yet, though it heats up like a ************ at the back vent (especially during constantly loading games like Fallout 3).

 

[SquirrelPants]

I'm going to be purchasing an Xbox 360 soon and I have several questions.

1.A lot of Xbox 360 on craigslist (Where I'm most likely going to purchase) say the console is modded/flashed. Is it unwise to buy these? They seem to have a lot of pros (Getting free games on the internet) but have the chance of already being banned from Xbox Live.

2. Should I get Pro/Elite? Is Elite really worth extra money?

3. Should I be concerned about RROD(Red Ring of Death) if the console has been manufactured (insert date here)?

4. Recommend me some good games that are "Must-haves" for the 360

5. Recommend me the "best" Racing game for the 360

Thank you for answering these (noob) questions.

6. Is the Falcon Chip considered a mod?

I wouldn't buy a modded one. You never really know WHAT they've done to its guts, it could fail after a week.

If you want a big hard drive, sure.

I dunno, I've never had a problem with the infamous red ring.

BioShock is considered to be pretty good, dunno about a must-have.

DiRT was AWESOME. Probably one of my favorite racing games. If you like street racing over rally racing, though, go with one of the Need for Speed games.

I dunno what a Falcon Chip is, so I can't answer that one.

 

[koichan]

I think the questions have already been answered, but still:

1. I'd highly advise you buy a new one for several reasons:
-it'll be covered by warranty
-no chance of getting banned
-you'll be getting the newest essentially RRoD-immune version with the HDMI port

2. Not a great deal of difference really, but the elite just looks so much nicer in black IMHO
i would highly recommend you get one with a 60GB or 120GB HDD, the 360 DVD drive is very loud so you'll be wanting to install the game you're playing to the HDD (which makes the 360 near-silent)

3. buy new and you can forget worrying about RRoD

4. nearly impossible to answer question without specifying what genres of games you like.
i'd say Fable 2 and lost Odyssey if you like RPGs
fallout 3 and mass effect are very good also (but get the PC versions instead if you have a suitably-powerful PC)

5. i don't really play racing games that much, but i find burnout paradise to be loads of fun, my friends seem to like the forza series for the more realistic type of driving game

6. as was mentioned, it's just the codename for one of the hardware revisions of the 360 motherboard

 

[Sir Ollie]

1. Well I'm not going to tell you what to do but the choice is up to you on that one personally I say never buy a modded console from anyone on the net especially a older one.

Edit - Your console may be banned from Xbox live but MS like to have the odd purge on Live every year.

2. I say go Pro if you want the extra harddrive space its up to you.

3. I would go for a Jasper its the newest verison I think the earliest these were manfucatered were november 08 I edit this when I find out.

4. Fallout 3 thats all I can think off

5. Not really into racing games so DIRT?

6. The Falcon chip is a 65 nm CPU chip instead of a 90nm that older Xboxs have its meant to reduce heat. yadder yadder I could go on.

 

[logiman]

In my country, an Xbox 360 is about 220$.
A mod is 140$, something like that (done by proffesionals, with 2 year waranty).
A new game (Prototype, Ghosbusters, Fuel, Rezident Evil 5, etc) is 80-90$.
A 8.5 GB DVD is 2$
A download of the internet is 2hours + the DVD burning 20 mins.

This is why we mod our consoles.

I say go for it, if the guy who does it knows what he`s doing.