Well-loved gaming consoles exposed in shocking x-ray portfolio

Gamers will no doubt be interested to see that their favorite consoles -- the Nintendo Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, and Sony's Playstation 3 (just to name a few) -- are just as beautiful to behold on the inside as they are on the outside. A courageous enthusiast named Reintiji's uploaded a whole set of x-rays to Flickr, and we have to say they turned out pretty artistic. There's one more image (of the Xbox 360) after the break -- but be sure to hit the read link for the entire, captivating set.

[Via Technabob]

[Beddoes @ May 2nd 2009 8:02AM]

Wow, this is pretty cool.

[Oleg Prosalov @ May 2nd 2009 12:32PM]

I love the coconut.

[iLove @ May 2nd 2009 1:47PM]

What a cool idea.

[ark_v2 @ May 2nd 2009 7:27PM]

On the nunchuck: " - Yeah, that's all there's to it."

[Zac @ May 2nd 2009 8:14AM]

XBox has huge X's in it. Amazing.

[bill cant fart is ANGRY! @ May 2nd 2009 8:23AM]

That means it's for adults only.

[Phoenix @ May 2nd 2009 8:40AM]

they're the x-clamps on the motherboard, I think it's to do with cooling over the CPU and GPU, but I might be wrong.

Ben Heck has an entire box of them

[danimaldan @ May 2nd 2009 9:16AM]

Ya there are two x-clamps. One of which is the one causing all the heating problems. When the GPU gets hot and then cooled constantly the c-clamp then begins to warp. When it warps the sauder that holds the GPU in place loses connection with the GPU to the Motherboard, causing the red ring of death. The only way to fix it is to take it apart take x-clamp out and use four screws with nylon and spring washers and nuts. I had to do it to mine and i thought my box was done because it was outside of the warrenty, but after doing this simple procedure it now works good as new.

[mbbleach @ May 2nd 2009 9:18AM]

Yea not so amazing. They are x clamps and the reason my 360 red ringed. I took it apart and put machine screws in place of them. runs way cooler

[brettdar2000 @ May 2nd 2009 10:23AM]

Unfortunately, after the 'shocking' event of turning on my 360 last night and seeing three Red Rings of Death, I immediately searched it up and found out that those x-clamps really are to blame. *sigh* Guess I'm going to have to send it in for repair. I must say though, for a console that I got on Boxing day 2006, it did pretty well, lasting 2 years 4 months when comparing it to the unrevised 360's that die within 1 year. I had it in my basement which is very cold all year round. Never thought it would actually bite the dust though.

[danimaldan @ May 2nd 2009 10:29AM]

you dont have to send it into repair. You can fix it yourself. You can go here to find out how http://www.x-clamp-fix.com/

It cost 20 bucks for some screws and washers and nuts. Pretty insane for that but it works. To get it cheaper you can just find out the sizes of everything and go buy it at a hardware store which will save you a bunch of money.

[Game_playa @ May 2nd 2009 11:55AM]

Why would anyone want to void their warranty and fix it themselves when someone is doing it for free AND extending the warranty ANOTHER 3 years?

P.S I don't own an Xbox(PC Gaming FTW, getting a PS3 soon) but this is common sence

[Laughing Man @ May 2nd 2009 1:40PM]

Cause we are DIYers and we love taking stuff apart. Also, I can fix it mysef with a 10 visit to my local radio shack, or do it your way and wait up to 2 weeks to ship, repair, return. Not mention having to deal with shipping cost or asking for a return label and dealing with all that mess.

By the time you got your RMA request in and information about your shipping label (so you don't have to pay postage), and got your system in the box and sent off, my X-box will be playing Assassin's Creed.

[Niko @ May 2nd 2009 10:48PM]

Radioshack FTW. worked there 2 year. bitches served me right

[danimaldan @ May 2nd 2009 10:57PM]

umm because most of the peoples warranties are expired because they are past the 3 year mark and its going to cost you 100 bucks to send it in now and all there going to do is send you back a refurbished xbox.

[DarkPrince @ May 2nd 2009 8:15AM]

Dont know if the amount of time this guy spent with an Xray is safe!!

Xrays of nes/snes roms woah what next??????????

[loocas @ May 2nd 2009 11:39AM]

"Dont know if the amount of time this guy spent with an Xray is safe!!"

Are you being serious?!

[puhsitch @ May 2nd 2009 12:57PM]

Sadly, I've heard that someone is already working on x-rays of PEOPLE. It's a slippery slope...

[Amun @ May 2nd 2009 3:47PM]

I'm sure that if he's an x-ray tech, he's wearing a lead vest/out of the room when he makes the exposures. Most likely out of the room, since most machines have the switches ~10 feet away. >_>

[Wwhat @ May 2nd 2009 5:19PM]

He works at a university medical center in holland, it has 1000 patients on an average day and 9000 people working and every year 31000 people are admitted there.
It also has 3400 students.
So yeah I'm sure they have some basic precaution.

[strider_mt2k @ May 2nd 2009 8:26AM]

Good stuff!

Always interesting to see that there aren't tiny men inside like they keep telling me.

[superhobo @ May 2nd 2009 8:29AM]

Beautiful.

[Brian @ May 2nd 2009 9:00AM]

@Phoenix: lol they are there to keep the heatsinks in place, they don't cool the CPU and GPU. That is what the heatsinks do.

[Phoenix @ May 2nd 2009 10:21AM]

Nice use of reply there buddy.

And if they keep the thing that cools the CPU and GPU in place, then they are TO DO WITH cooling. i never said they were what did the cooling.

and anyway, i said I wasn't sure.

[ethana2 @ May 2nd 2009 11:10AM]

..because we all know how reliable 'reply' is on engadget, right?

[Eddie @ May 2nd 2009 9:03AM]

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/freeabs_all.jsp?arnumber=817033

I am pretty sure one of my lecturers mentioned that CMOS could be wiped when exposed to X-ray radiation i.e. the software build in that *boots* the device to its first operative address in memory is replaced. Theres a possibility that some of these consoles were bricked by the waves.

[Tero @ May 2nd 2009 9:37AM]

You suppose lots of devices are destroyed at airports worldwide?
Doesn't look like the x-rays used to make these pictures were any more powerful than your normal Rapiscan at your friendly local airport security.

[Dean @ May 2nd 2009 11:35AM]

pretty sure cmos is just a series of transistors.
eprom on the other hand is eraseable, but i believe only UV light does that.

[Jason @ May 2nd 2009 9:22AM]

Did they make sure the nunchuck wasn't pregnant before starting the x-ray?

[Eric @ May 2nd 2009 9:25AM]

Anyone else think that nunchuck looks like the Alien just after it pops out of your chest? Creepy.

[Brycey Foster @ May 2nd 2009 9:33AM]

"That means it's for adults only."

hahaha.. Nice One :)

[John @ May 2nd 2009 9:38AM]

I wonder who is footing the bill for these X-Rays? Aetna barely covers an this when your arm is broken!

[LloydChiro @ May 2nd 2009 11:17AM]

I thought about that too. I'm guessing that this was done by a tech or a doc with a digital machine, with a fixed cost, rather than the old style with film, processor and chemicals.

[fastharry @ May 2nd 2009 9:39AM]

and all this time, I thought a monkey and organ grinder were responsible for the noisy 360....

[Kyle @ May 2nd 2009 10:34AM]

I feel cheated by the numchuck!

[beambot @ May 2nd 2009 11:36AM]

How about CT scans of toys?

http://www.hizook.com/blog/2009/03/25/first-ct-scan-robot

[Mchacur @ May 2nd 2009 10:11AM]

Atari 2600 PLEEEEEASE!

[Rob~ @ May 2nd 2009 10:29AM]

Way to click a link. It's the second pic...

[Mchacur @ May 2nd 2009 10:54AM]

Ouch.

That's why my wife keeps telling me that I'm an idiot...

[Laughing Man @ May 2nd 2009 1:43PM]

The Atari is really kinda empty. Why did they make the case so big back in the day if that is all the circuitry in the thing.

[Brian! @ May 3rd 2009 1:42AM]

@Laughing

Back then there was an abundance of faux-wood finish. It was a lucrative business deal between "I Can't Believe it's Not Wood" and Atari. Later there was those issues with the trade commission, but no one was every prosecuted. Rumor has it that investigators were bought off with free copies of Pitfall.

[nocheatcodes @ May 2nd 2009 10:34AM]

How can Nintendo charge 20$ for such little cabling and some plastic?? Beats me... and I already bought two of them!!!!

[Wwhat @ May 2nd 2009 5:24PM]

The sensors and chips used are minuscule, but that doesn't mean the price of them is, not that there isn't a nice profit made of course.

[abdulravoof20 @ May 2nd 2009 11:29AM]

Recession Antidote : Make Gaming Consoles Translucent. It is ART for us.

[Jc @ May 2nd 2009 1:35PM]

Why? What did you think would be inside a nunchuck ... magic bee's, diamonds, rare stamps, nope ... controller bits and a cable out of the molded plastic shell that makes it comfortable to hold. It came to Nintendo in a dream.

[F @ May 2nd 2009 2:59PM]

Wow, cool.

[JohnTitor @ May 2nd 2009 3:03PM]

I like how they spelled nunchuk wrong

[aaronz8 @ May 2nd 2009 5:08PM]

check your spelling

[JohnTitor @ May 2nd 2009 7:06PM]

What's wrong with my spelling?

[Amun @ May 2nd 2009 3:39PM]

Love it. Though I wonder if they burned any of these out -- you know, amperian loops giving rise to currents in relation to the EM flux.