I love gadgets and the latest I m handling, as you might already know, is the PS3. I m open to any advice on how to keep the system running cool mainly, because I heard the fans going quite loud when I was playing UNCHARTED demo on it. The fans kept going even after I finished and exited the demo. I keep my system horizontaly. On the web, some people claim Vertial positioning is optimal for cooling. Others say the opposite. I trust our members here are more technically qualified to answer such a question! Also, what material would be ideal under the PS3 (while horizontal)? I have a metal chassis DVD player underneath it yet it's open all around and gets plenty of air. The room is not air conditioned however and room temp. can be about 25 C or more.
Strange... I have 'Uncharted' as a full title and have never heard the PS3 really getting above a standard fan noise. In fact most of the time you'd be unable to detect the fans running at all. As for what you have underneath, so long as it's not running it wouldn't cause any additional heat. If you have several units underneath it or place it on top of an amplifier (which generates a lot of heat) then you would imagine the additional heat might affect the PS3. In your situation I'd doubt it very much. The heat is being conducted up through the heat sink and into the cooling fins of the metal block & the heat should be constant across the entire length of the heatsink if laid flat. If you stand the device on end, then surely the heat would do as it should do, which is rise. Thus one end of the heatsink would increase in temperature as the heat travelled upwards through the block. Luckily the fan kicks in to reduce the internal temperature just like any other device and increase their speed as and when required and therefore it's all cooled of very evenly. Sony introduced a massive fan directly onto of the GPU and CPU. Without a fan you'd be listening to it cooking! You'll get minor hot spots in any device, such as around GPU / CPU / PSU and laser, but they are tested horizontally & vertically to ensure they are safe for user & device.
What's the enviromental temperature in the room where you house the PS3? You see here in Greece it does get quite hot around now and in the summer!
Shouldn't really be a factor as the PS3 has in-built sensors for the fans. It measures the internal not external temperature. If you threw the unit into an area with poor ventilation such as a TV cabinet with insufficient air flow or room then you'd slowly increase the internal temperature and you'd hear the internal fans doing more work than normally. The manual indicates the minimum & maximum operational temperatures a PS3 can be safely used within and so long as it's not sitting in direct sunlight on a backing hot day I'd see no issue. You are in a pretty hot part of the World, but I've still to hear any real grumbles about PS3 units overheating.
mine isn't overheating at all. when the fans are at full blast its very cool actually. it's just the noise that gets me. of course, nothing like the dreaded 360 and its even more dreaded DVD-drive nut cracking factory.
I'll eventually be watercooling mine with the InnovaTek block (unfortunately, the waterblock costs some 89 euros...). They have one for the 360 as well for the same price. Problem is, I'll still need pump/radiator/fans (something along the lines of a Koolance Exos2).
Just got mine today & so far all that it's played has been Rez...even so the fans have been relatively silent. Maybe my 360 has just made me deaf?
The external heat has an impact on the heat exchange of the PS3 though. The hotter it is outside, the warmer the air going in. The less heat that will be exchanged, so the harder the blower will work. Where do you have it Barc0de? They don't like being in a cabinet at all. I keep mine horizontal.
The room temperature will definately affect your PS3 performance....This may be the main reason, and sounds like your fans are running at full force.
Mine is just horizontally placed with nothing around it, the fans rarely come on during gaming, only when i watch movies on dvd/blueray for extended periods of time does the fan kick in on a level you could hear. But even on full blast it's more silent then my 360 when it's just hanging in the xbox live menu doing nothing
Which is precisely what I was saying, but that the impact will be minimal as the console 'reacts' i.e. it is designed to respond and reduce the internal temperature by increasing fan speed. We both said precisely the same thing. I just think the language used within the thread seems to suggest that normal room temperature ranges would cause the PS3 to become damaged, which is not correct. He was concerned that it had an adverse effect. The minimum & maximum temperature ranges would be a guide as to whether he is required to move his unit out of a poorly ventilated cabinet or out of direct sunlight. All I am saying is that the external temperature will not adversely affect the unit unless it swings beyond the guide temperatures. People apparently have tried their hardest to over work the PS3: http://www.ps3vault.com/how-to-kill-a-ps3-console-1975 The next query was whether horizontal or vertical usage made any difference. Unlike the 360, I don't think it does as Sony have put the required effort into their cooling system. The 360 was badly designed from the off and is a special case lol
Their launch design for cooling was a basketcase lol :lol: I've got the Halo 3 LE now and it is equipped with the additional fins and heatsink. At time of writing it has not displayed any issues. Not played GoW on it yet though...
I wonder if hardware revision plays a factor in PS3 cooling. I have a 60GB in the vertial position and the fans run constantly. The top is very hot to the touch and the external temperature is mild.
Early Japanese PS3 here, but I really doubt whether Sony would reduce their cooling components given what MS had been experiencing, and the huge slap Sony got for others products they manufactured that have caught fire! I hate to keep banging at the same door, but the Xbox 360 has made everyone overly cautious about their console hardware. By this time I had replaced my 360 for overheating. The PS3 gets FAR more game play and it's doing fine.
I just love my Ps3 as a gadget!!! too bad most games aren't worth it. That said, I m looking to get UNCHARTED cheap if anyone wants to get rid of it, same goes for Prologue.
