What is it exactly? Well no doubt you started up your xbox 360 like any other day but this time, instead of running, a E74 code appears on your screen. It is almost always accompanied by the 3 red rings aka rings of death. The « E » simply means error. Your xbox is telling you that something is preventing it from running. The 74 is telling you that the problem is with your GPU.

A quick note on the Microsoft warranty: If you encounter the E74 error then you can send it into Microsoft assuming it is under warranty. Microsoft recently extended the warranty for errors related the red rings to 3 years. For all other malfunctions the warranty is still 1 year.

How did the E74 happen? When the xbox 360 heats up the heat becomes so excessive that the GPU becomes lose. It is connected the motherboard of course and the heat melts away the soldering and becomes dislodged.

Why did the E74 happen? To make a long story short, Microsoft rushed the production of the Xbox 360 and in doing so safeguards that should have been in place were not in place.

Ive tried the towel trick and my xbox is running at the moment, so is a loose GPU that big of a deal? Yes, things will only get worse, not better as the GPU finally tears away from the motherboard for good. The towel trick is very temporary fix and can cause serious damage in the long run. Besides causing the E74 error, a loose GPU can also cause 1 and 2 rrod, as well as freezing and of course graphical errors.

OK so what can I do about it? The fix is rather simple. It involves opening up the shell and refusing the GPU to the motherboard. Once the GPU is refused then the E74 will be gone and you can play again.