If you've been following the life of the Xbox 360, then you know the system has had its share of problems, which I know all too well as my system literally just got the Red Rings of Death earlier this week. Created in the wake of early reports, Nyko released the Intercooler, an add on system of fans to cool the system down, since many felt overheating issues were why the systems were failing after only a short time of use. So does the fan get rid of hot air, or is that ultimately what its promises turn out to be?

Right off the bat, there really is no way to tell you if the Intercooler works or not. If you look at your PC, you'll notice it has at least one fan, and if it is a high powered system, you'll have more cooling systems than just that. So to think that the same idea would apply to the Xbox 360, which is a mini-computer all by itself in many respects, it would seem like the Intercooler is a sound idea. The numbers on the box certainly sound promising, showing a listing of the different quadrants of the 360 and how it seems as if there is a general ten to six point degree change throughout the different spots. However, to know if the fan makes any difference is hard to properly state.

For every report out there saying that, out of all the launch systems they've had, the one with the Nyko Intercooler attached remains the only one working, there is an equal number of reports saying that Microsoft is actually against the Intercooler, as it apparently takes too much power to power, and that it is fusing to systems and scorching them. So to say whether either one or both is true is impossible really to state.

Up for the challenge, I took my newly broke system and attached the Intercooler, thinking it could correct some problems. The Intercooler plugs into the spot where the power cord goes into, which makes the Intercooler a socket in itself, which the power cord then is plugged into. At first, it felt like the installation was easy enough, but then after pushing the power button on the 360 I noticed that nothing happened; it turns out the Intercooler wasn't plugged in perfectly. On a second try I managed to get everything attached, but it was rather hard getting it to attach, as the place where the fans are positioned have these tiny little feet, which have to go inside the holes of the 360 so it fits flush with the system.

I have to admit that it felt like the system operated a bit cooler, but the Intercooler still feels hot from use. Plus, after firing up my 360 to see if I could play it while the Intercooler ran, I noticed it didn't do anything to improve the freezing of my system. But then again, perhaps my system was far too gone for it to have had any affect.

If you thought it was difficult trying to get the Intercooler onto the 360, wait until you have to remove it. The fan part with the feet had a considerably easier time being removed than installed, but the plug part was really shoved tightly in there, and required me to exert a great deal of pull for it to finally be removed…and then scratch my system. Given, it is in the back and nobody would see it, plus I don't really care as I'm boxing up the system for a replacement as soon as I get the shipping label sent by Best Buy, but the action of pulling, only for it to finally pop out, caused the Intercooler to slam against the back with an edge and put a little cut in my system.

In the end, the Intercooler feels like a crapshoot. Could it work? Sure. Could it be more nuisance than anything? Sure. As I sit here writing now, though I hate Best Buy is dragging their feet on emailing me my product replacement label and answering back if I can keep my hard drive or not, I'm still glad I bought the 2 year replacement deal as my backup plan incase my system failed. If a deal like that is too much for you, perhaps this is a cheaper method that could help you out. Then again, it could cause more problems than it is worth, so ultimately fate is in your hands (though Nyko has stood behind the fact that if the Intercooler should cause your system problems, they would help you replace it). So at least Nyko stands behind their product and fully endorse it.

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