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I also have a launch console. It has served my perfectly in the past. However, while play Halo 3 the fan started to make even more noise than usual. It probably needs to be replaced. Now I am deciding to if I should fix it myself for very little cost or send it in. The only reason why I might send it in is because if the Red Rings hits I could still get it fixed under the 3 year warranty. (I read up on the Red Ring fix and it looks like it takes several hours for even experienced modders) I don't use Xbox Live so the only things on my HD are saves. Are the gamer points locked onto a console or ID? I might just run the fan into the ground, I don't like having the put the volume up high to muffle the 360 but maybe I can cause the Red Ring a get it replaced. All I want it a working 360 when Mass Effect comes out!

It's a tough call. I was shocked that my 360 died first. My wife's is always glitching out, while mine has been rock solid reliable. But then again, I didn't get the red ring this time. Who knew the video card could fail - I've never heard of this happening to anyone else.

My hope is that my wife's 360 will hold out for at least a few weeks, until mine is fixed or replaced.

-=Gamewatcher

My video card just died, 20 days after my warranty expired, microsoft wants 99 dollars, and I am very disapointed.

Sorry, I just now approved this last comment from before the holdays - it was buried amidst some 400 spam comments! (I think CAPTCHA is now blocking most of the spam, but I've had to shut off comments on a few older posts. None that will probably be missed.)

Joel: Sorry to hear about your video card woes. Mine was fixed pretty promptly and it was still covered because I paid for the extended warranty from Microsoft. I'm guessing you didn't pay for that, so you will probably come out a little behind in the end but at least you get to keep the same console and not worry about orphaned downloadable content.

Are you back up and running now?

-=Gamewatcher

I also had the same prob. with my xbox 360, no video. I called 18004myxbox and they told me my warranty was up in dec 2006. witch i know for a fact that i didn't get the xbox360 intill late feb. early march 2007. but sence i can not find my reciept for the 360. so i can't prove that they are wrong. Even though i know i am right. i was playing call of duty 4 when my sreen got a greenish light on the screen. then i turned off the 360 and powered it back up and nuthing no video but i had sound. so i gone out a bought a new ac adapter it turned on and i put in call of duty 4 in again and same thing. so then i replace that ac adapter and i had no luck no video at all. i called wal*mart and talked to a friend the to see if she could help me out. So see call xbox help line and called me back and told me that it shows on xbox files dec 2006. but we both knew it was wrong but the computer at wal*mart does not show that system of file. Makes no sence to me. but in order to get anuther xbox360 pay $300. for a new one or $99 for mine to get repaired and a one year warranty. so i prob. get a box and send it in to get it fixed sence i invested lot of money into this system. So what i want to say you are not alone in the topic video gone bad.

That's too bad - since they extended everyone's warranties, most should be covered. We were covered on our launch Xbox 360s since we bought the official extended warranties, and they extended those when they announced the expanded coverage.

I would recommend paying for the repair if you've invested in downloadable content since the DRM issue is so bad when you replace it. However, if you don't have much/any important downloaded Marketplace purchases, you might be better off buying a new model that might hold up better in the long run now that Microsoft has (supposedly) fixed a lot of the manufacturing defects.

XBOX 360 SUCKS GO BUY PS3 WAY BETTER DEAL!! YOU GET Blue-Ray and a sweet game console for the same price as you bought your crap-box.

Have you actually played both consoles? You comments make you sound like a fanboy (e.g., someone who is loyal to a platform regardless, or possibly trying to justify his purchase).

I actually do have both and, even with all of the headaches, I much prefer playing games on my Xbox 360 (and, to a lesser extent, Wii). You are right that the PS3 makes a better high-def movie player, and that's what I use mine for the most - with occasional excursions into games if they are exclusive (Ratchet and Clank, Resistance) or extremely cheap (got Harry Potter 5 for $13!).

I do think the PS3 has great potential, but Sony strikes me as playing catchup with Xbox Live right now (barely implemented in-game XMB, trophies and soundtracks). If they had launched with trophies and/or Home, it would be a different story right now I suspect. I think they're a year out from recapturing my interest in any substantial way, beyond Blu-Ray.

-=Gamewatcher

I Just had a similar problem with my console. It all started when the video went grainy during gameplay. I suspected the HDMI cable had come loose (It Wasn't). So then I restarted the console and ended out with no video or audio at all. I tried my component video cable but that didn't work either.
After waiting a few hours I tried the console again and it started up fine. Then, after a few minutes of running it went grainy again. I restarted the console and the video stopped working again.
All this leads me to believe that the video chip is overheating. Allowing it to cool down probably lets it work again temporarily.
After a call to 1-800-4MY-XBOX they sent me a return slip (Still under the 1 year warranty). They were off a few months on my purchase date though. I suspect they default to the date they sold the unit to the retail store as the purchase date.
As a Side Note, a handy place to keep your receipt so you don't loose it is to fold it up and place it under the hard drive. I've done a similar thing with the expansion slots on my PS2 and my GameCube.
The DRM management sucks, I wasn't aware of such a problem. I guess that means I'll loose all my downloaded Guitar Hero III tracks.

Hey Slimdude. Sorry to hear about your video card. The good news is that they will probably repair and not replace your console. If that happens you shouldn't have to transfer your licenses. Even if you do, it's doubtful that you'll have as many problems as I did - it might even work flawlessly. Let's hope so, anyway.

Let me know how it goes!

-=Gamewatcher

Well i just got the greenish color of dead, so not only the 3 lights is a problem but also the videocard of crapsoft.
I feel bad for the operator who was answering when i called xbox life she wanted to pay 90 bucks, i said: wtf u want me to pay $90 dollars for something that goes inside the xbox360, i didn't even drop my xbox or didn't even break it for u to tell me to pay 90 bucks.... i was piss she tried to calm me down.. i was like what is going on with Microsoft making this crap ass of a console (altho i like 360 better than ps3 only minus is that 360 gets broken easily)
But she was nice with me and sound cute and i got her myspace and IM she is single so not everything was bad, i still have my 360 and trying to find out some info of how to fix it by myself any help will be apriciate.

I feel for you, dude. The thing that saved me is that I bought an extended warranty for both of my consoles. And the highly publicized warranty extension only covers red ring issues.

But what are you going to do, void your warranty and try to install a new videocard? It's not like you can plug in one off the shelf. It's not really an option as far as I know.

You have a choice:

1. Buy a new console for $200 and then use the license transfer tool to perform your one transfer per year to migrate any content bought on your old console.

2. Pay the $90 for a video card repair. Odds are the new one will be fine and then you only have to hope you don't get a red ring (or if you do, it falls within the extended warranty period).

Or you can abandon 360 and move to another console. But you sound just like me - the 360 would be your fave if it didn't have all of these problems.

And hey, sounds like you might get a date out of this. They say things happen for a reason. Maybe you'll have a funny story to tell the grandkids. ;-)

I've been searching google for this issue and I just got exactly what you mentioned in your main blog post.
I guess 90 dollars isn't horrible, but I still would not like to invest more money into something I spent so much on. (I bought it a year ago and I've been unemployed before-during and after that purchase, up until now even).
The heart-crippling part for me on this thing is, I just rented the new Armored Core and I was very in love with it, I got to the fourth mission and had flourishes of yellow/blue/green, then all hell broke loose and the exact symptoms you posted about were happening to me.
I emailed microsoft but now I guess I know the answer to this, and I'm just unhappy that I rented a game for a week and hardly broke the surface before my gaming console died.

Dude, I just bought gears of war 2, played it for 5 minutes then all the textures started disappearing, green crap started "bleeding" all over the screen till the whole thing just crashed. Tried it again and it does the same thing, still get video signal, it doesnt do this in the menus or anything... just in games.
(graphic intensive games I guess, since it started only in gow2 and then it started to happen in all other games/demos)

Funny thing is that I can only play DOOM or hexic HD. Everything else dies after 5 minutes of green flashes that makes your head burst..I'm 90% certain its the video card.

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90 usd for them to fix it for you guys? Tell me about it... its the equivalent of 180 usd for me (in my country).. so Yeah.. 20 more and I'd just buy a new xbox arcade and pop in my HDD.

Screw this...

My system just got the green tint of death. After hooking it up to three different tvs and using three different AV cables I called xbox support and they confirmed its probably the video card. Now I have to pay $99 to get it fixed. Third time sending it in. First was RRoD, second was a dead DVD drive, and now this. I complained a little about the cost and they offered me PGR3 for free so there is that I guess.

Still think 360 is the best.

Use Better Business Bureau and file a Complaint on Microsoft Corporation....This was my complaint Description:
Xbox360 not working properly(no video signal but sound is working) checked all plugs and cords even paid for new components. Was playing a game then the colors started bleeding and then fading and now there is no video signal. Checked online and there seems to be a large amount of people with this issue. For such a common problem Microsoft is not taking responsibility to fix this.

Microsoft called me and offer to fix my 360 for $75 with 1yr warranty.

Same thing here. Green fading screen, loss of pixelation , totally unplayable. 2 DAYS OUT OF WARRANTY and they won't fix it for free. They want 99 bucks. I am so pissed.

Sheeshman

Played Halo 3 and it started getting really grainy, almost like the machine was on acid. Thought for sure it was nothing more than a partially disconnected cable in the back, but it wasn't. Not sure if its a video card issue because the sound is completely out too. Looks like I'll be saying goodbye to $100 for a fix unless purchasing a new cable does the trick. If anybody knows of a fix, I'd love to know... But with the hardware malfunctions so many are having, maybe going with a Japanese instead of a Chinese made product is the way to go.

Mine died about a month ago. I was playing Fable (downloaded onto the HDD via live) and it just stopped transmitting. Audio and video have both stopped working. It's a first launch Xbox (no HDMI) and I honestly think I'm just going to go buy an arcade an use my original HDD with it. Sucks, I honestly thought I lucked out...

As far as those saying "Buy a PS3", right. And no, I won't be. Maybe in due time the PS3 will catch up with the 360 software-wise, but for the time being, I'm still an Xboxer.

Hey, I had the same problem recently happen to me. I have the older xbox 360 with the 20GB HD. It's out of warrenty from the orginal purchase but I have a question.. I've had it replaced twice, now wouldn't the newest one I've recieved come with some type of warrenty?