I don't think it is a matter of needing the intercooler- but it may prolong the life of the system. Or of course if you have the time to sit and play the system for 10 hours at a time, it could also be valuable.

(I wouldn't know about such luxuries in time.)
shifting gears... 
What is so wrong with how i operate the submit/edit?
I didn't know I was so fortunate that the N2 reboots itself at the proper temperature. Here I am cussing driving down the road when apparently I should be thanking God it comes back on at all!! lol
Well siiiiiince this thread changed to the 360 and that peice of junk refered to as the "intercooler" I'll chime in. DO NOT BUY thate pile of crap. The NYKO intercooler that attaches to the rear of the 360 is NOT reliable and (just as Til said) has been known to cause fires and catastrophic failures with the 360.
I myself had one of the NYKOs' and I experieced 2 of the 3 red rings of death from it. I did some research on them and found out that MANY people had problems with them as well. I removed mine and havent had an issue since.
Right now, there are only 2 brands that seem to work. The intec and the pelican verticle cooling stands. Im currently using a pelican and it does actually work quite well.
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