Original Xbox Upgrades Explained
The Original Xbox is over 20 years old, and stock consoles are showing their age. The good news: it’s one of the most upgradeable consoles ever made. Here’s what each of the upgrades in our Original Xbox builds does, and why it’s worth having.
1.4GHz CPU upgrade
The stock Xbox runs a 733MHz Intel processor. The CPU upgrade replaces it with a much faster Intel Pentium III “Tualatin” chip, most often 1.4GHz (we’ve also built 1.0GHz and 1.2GHz versions). The new chip is mounted on an interposer board between the processor and the motherboard, and the CPU voltage is modified to suit it.
The idea isn’t new: a company called Friendtech sold 1.4GHz “DreamX” Xboxes back in 2003, but the upgrade has been rare ever since because it takes BGA rework equipment and experience to do properly.
What you get: noticeably fewer slowdowns in demanding games and much more power for homebrew and emulation. Worth knowing: because games were designed for the original 733MHz chip, a few need a patch to run at normal speed.
128MB RAM upgrade
The Xbox shipped with 64MB of memory. Doubling it to 128MB gives homebrew apps and emulators more room, and it’s considered a must alongside the CPU upgrade. It can now be done on every motherboard revision, including the 1.6.
Modchip (Open Xenium)
A modchip lets the Xbox run a custom dashboard and homebrew software, use hard drives far larger than the original, and support upgrades like HDMI. We install an Open Xenium, an open-source take on the classic Xenium chip.
HDMI
Out of the box, the Xbox only outputs analog video, which looks soft on modern TVs. The XboxHD+ mod from MakeMHz takes the console’s digital video and audio signals before they’re converted to analog and outputs them over a real HDMI port. It replaces the original AV port, so no cutting the case is needed.
Big hard drive or SSD
The stock Xbox has a small IDE hard drive, and its original software can only use around 137GB. With a modchip, the console can use much larger drives. Our builds use a 2TB hard drive or SSD, connected through an IDE-to-SATA adapter and a custom 80-wire IDE cable for reliable, faster transfers.
Recap, repaste, and cleaning
Twenty-year-old capacitors dry out and can leak, which is one of the most common ways an Original Xbox dies. Every console we build is recapped with new capacitors, has fresh MX4 thermal paste on the CPU and GPU, and gets an ultrasonic cleaning of the motherboard.
What a Techbabblers Xbox build includes
Every build is a little different (check each listing for its exact parts), but a fully upgraded console typically includes:
- 1.4GHz Pentium III Tualatin CPU with voltage mod and a custom 3D-printed bracket to support the original heatsinks
- 128MB RAM
- LPC header installed, with an Open Xenium modchip
- HDMI (on HDMI builds)
- 2TB HDD or SSD with an IDE-to-SATA adapter and custom 80-wire IDE cable
- New capacitors, MX4 thermal paste, and an ultrasonic-cleaned motherboard
Every console is covered by our 6-month warranty.
Watch a 1.4GHz CPU upgrade
See the CPU upgrade done step by step:
Does the Xbox revision matter?
Original Xbox motherboards come in revisions from 1.0 to 1.6. The CPU upgrade works on all of them, though the 1.6 takes a little more work. If you’re after a specific revision, ask us before you buy.
Want to see more? Watch our builds on YouTube.
Sources: Xbox CPU interposer documentation, RetroRGB on the 1.4GHz upgrade, RetroRGB on the XboxHD mod.