Ways to prevent overheating on XBOX 360?

My XBOX 360 sometimes freezes because it gets overheated. Mainly because I don't have a lot of ventilation in my room.

So I was thinking about buying a fan to cool it down. After searching a little on Amazon I found a couple of them, but in the reviews people said that these fans didn't help at all, their problem only got worse.

Any sugestion on how I can cool down the XBOX without having to put a fan in front of the console?


Assuming it is overheating, and before spending money on an external device, see if the tips Microsoft provides about placement of your Xbox help:

  • Put the console in an open area with lots of ventilation. Do not put the console in an enclosed space.
  • Do not stack other electronic devices on top of, underneath, or against the sides of your console.
  • Make sure the console and its power supply are on a hard, steady surface. Do not put the console on anything soft (such as a bed, sofa, or rug).
  • Position the console away from heat sources, such as ventilation openings on televisions and electronic devices. Also, keep the console away from heating vents and direct sunlight.
  • Position the console away from high-vibrating sources, such as low frequency speakers, subwoofers, etc.

And whatever you do, absolutely do not place your Xbox next to a picture of Clippy:

Clippy the Xbox Killer


I really recommend to get some ventilation room for the xbox. Setting up internal fan is hard and external fan may not help that much. And as you said, it can make the problem worse.


I have the same problem with my Xbox. After playing a game after about 15 minutes it will overheat. I have tried putting a box fan next to the Xbox but doing that makes me nervous that that might make it worse. I have tried all of the techniques but I think that the main problem might be that the fan in the Xbox might be too dusty. I would suggest that maybe you should buy a dust gun or a can of pressurized air to try to shoot all of the dust and crap out of your Xbox. The dust could be the reason that your Xbox doesn't get any ventilation.