Xbox One Features A Bigger Heat Sink Than Xbox 360’s to Combat RROD

Remember when the Xbox 360 first faced issues with the Red Ring of Death – a hardware defect which resulted in an illuminated red quarter-circle on the console’s power button before the eventual bricking? Microsoft took steps to combat the same with the Xbox 360 Slim, but there were concerns that the Xbox One’s enormous singular chip could bring back the ghost of console death’s past to the next generation.

Microsoft hence installed an enormous heat sink into the Xbox One. How massive is it exactly? Check it out below.

The heat sink covers about a quarter of the entire chip’s surface area, and is composed of 3 copper heat pipes. Check out how this compares to the Xbox 360’s heat sink in size, including the number of copper heat pipes in place.

With rumours still abounding of the Blue Light of Death for the PS4, will it be enough to ensure the Xbox One avoids any hardware faults? We’ll find out in the coming months but in case you were wondering why the box is so big, here’s one of the reasons.

The Xbox One launches today across 13 territories, with Dead Rising 3, Forza Motorsport 5, Ryse: Son of Rome and Killer Instinct as launch titles.

(Image source: iFixit, AnandTech)