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By golly it's loud!

Melchiah

Melchiah

Member
I bought the 60GB PS3 Starter Pack yesterday, and I've got a question I desperately need an answer to. Here it goes...

I was unpleasantly surprised how loud the system is, it seems to be louder than my 7-year old PS2 was. And the fan volume level stayed the same all the time, whether I played a game or not. I'd think that isn't normal, or is it? The thing is, it's even noisier than my old Nokia digital recorder, and it's pretty loud. They're side by side, and the digital recorder's fan noise is completely drowned by the PS3.

I should probably mention, that the devices are not stacked in a closed space. There's definitely enough room for ventilation for the PS3.

I let the system cool for few hours. When I turned it on again, I heard the fan start to spin (not that loud), after a second or two it became quiet. Really quiet. I could only hear the fan when I went close to the system. It stayed quiet for some time, until I launched Super Rub 'a' Dub. When the game was loading the fan noise suddenly increased to a level, which I'd describe as annoying when watching a movie.

Should it be like this, or was I just unlucky enough to get a system as noisy as this is? If it's the latter, I'm wondering whether I can bring it back to the store and exhange it for another? I really, really hate it when something like this happens.
 
A

ascully

Member
I have a launch 60GB model and its silent in the xmb, ramps up a little during games or movie playback it isn't loud though, my 360 is loud I would say the ps3 is about 80% quieter at its loudest.
 
T

theultimo

Member
Melchiah said:
I bought the 60GB PS3 Starter Pack yesterday, and I've got a question I desperately need an answer to. Here it goes...

I was unpleasantly surprised how loud the system is, it seems to be louder than my 7-year old PS2 was. And the fan volume level stayed the same all the time, whether I played a game or not. I'd think that isn't normal, or is it? The thing is, it's even noisier than my old Nokia digital recorder, and it's pretty loud. They're side by side, and the digital recorder's fan noise is completely drowned by the PS3.

I should probably mention, that the devices are not stacked in a closed space. There's definitely enough room for ventilation for the PS3.

I let the system cool for few hours. When I turned it on again, I heard the fan start to spin (not that loud), after a second or two it became quiet. Really quiet. I could only hear the fan when I went close to the system. It stayed quiet for some time, until I launched Super Rub 'a' Dub. When the game was loading the fan noise suddenly increased to a level, which I'd describe as annoying when watching a movie.

Should it be like this, or was I just unlucky enough to get a system as noisy as this is? If it's the latter, I'm wondering whether I can bring it back to the store and exhange it for another? I really, really hate it when something like this happens.
Click to expand...
When my(20/100GB) ps3 goes into Mid-Full fan setting it does not drop back down. Don't know if this is a feature or just bad juju. However, Mid is normal.
 
N

nofi

Member
Melchiah said:
Should it be like this, or was I just unlucky enough to get a system as noisy as this is? If it's the latter, I'm wondering whether I can bring it back to the store and exhange it for another? I really, really hate it when something like this happens.
Click to expand...

Do you live in a desert?

Seriously, if the machine is well ventilated with plenty of room it should only get loud when it's really concentrating, such as when Folding. The PS3 is really quiet.
 
G

gofreak

GAF's Bob Woodward
Noise is a very very relative thing, so it's very difficult to say if it's 'normal' or not. My PS3 now makes noticeable noise, for example, since I quietened down my PC (which is virtually silent now). But when I was in my brother's place, the PS3 seemed really silent because of the ambient noise level there. It's all relative, all depends on the noise environment you're in.
 
S

SuomiDude

Member
One Finnish magazine made a comparison of the three consoles, and one of them was how loud the systems are.

PlayStation 3:
28,7dB - Blu-Ray -movie
35,8dB - DVD-movie
35,8dB - playing games
23,5dB - doing nothing

XBox 360:
38,1dB - HD-DVD -movie
35,7dB - DVD-movie
~44dB - playing games
36,0dB - doing nothing

Wii:
32,3dB - playing games
22,9dB - doing nothing

So I guess there's something wrong with your PS3. Of course each of the systems may have some bad copies, causing much louder noise than what it should be. And on the other hand, some systems may be more quiet than what those dBs show.
 
D

DieH@rd

Banned
Melchiah said:
I was unpleasantly surprised how loud the system is, it seems to be louder than my 7-year old PS2 was. And the fan volume level stayed the same all the time, whether I played a game or not. I'd think that isn't normal, or is it?
Click to expand...

No, this is not normal.
 
K

Kosma

Banned
SuomiDude said:
One Finnish magazine made a comparison of the three consoles, and one of them was how loud the systems are.

PlayStation 3:
28,7dB - Blu-Ray -movie
35,8dB - DVD-movie
35,8dB - playing games
23,5dB - doing nothing

XBox 360:
38,1dB - HD-DVD -movie
35,7dB - DVD-movie
~44dB - playing games
36,0dB - doing nothing

Wii:
32,3dB - playing games
22,9dB - doing nothing

So I guess there's something wrong with your PS3. Of course each of the systems may have some bad copies, causing much louder noise than what it should be. And on the other hand, some systems may be more quiet than what those dBs show.
Click to expand...

That's some nice research.
 
G

Gibb

Member
Melchiah said:
I bought the 60GB PS3 Starter Pack yesterday, and I've got a question I desperately need an answer to. Here it goes... Should it be.. >loud< .. like this, or was I just unlucky enough to get a system as noisy as this is?
Click to expand...

My starter pack is not as load as you describe it. Bring it back to the store and exchange it with another starter pack (most stores have a return policy or legal obligation to refund/exchange).
 
NekoFever

NekoFever

Member
My PS3's almost silent when it's just on XMB doing very little. When it's doing something strenuous it's about as loud as an idling 360 (meaning a 360 without its jet engine disc drive working).
 
G

glaurung

Member
My PS3 is dead silent in XMB and hard-drive driven stuff.

It makes a somewhat louder noise when playing DVDs and it makes almost no noise when playing BD-ROM games or movies.

So, no, PS3s are silent.

This thread's been done over and over and over again.

Almost lolcat territory already.
 
Melchiah

Melchiah

Member
Thanks for all the replies.

I think there's enough room for ventilation around the unit. It sits on open shelf with a digital recorder by its right. There is about 10cm of space for ventilation in the back and on the right side (where the ventilation holes are), and about 30cm space on the top, and the left side is completely open. Perhaps I should try to switch their places, so there would be more room for ventilation on PS3's right side. Would that make any difference?

And like I said, it's noticeably louder than my 7-year old PS2 was, and I don't think that's how it's supposed to be. I'm going to call the store and/or Sony's customer service when I get off from work.
 
N

nofi

Member
Melchiah said:
Thanks for all the replies.

I think there's enough room for ventilation around the unit. It sits on open shelf with a digital recorder by its right. There is about 10cm of space for ventilation in the back and on the right side (where the ventilation holes are), and about 30cm space on the top, and the left side is completely open. Perhaps I should try to switch their places, so there would be more room for ventilation on PS3's right side. Would that make any difference?

And like I said, it's noticeably louder than my 7-year old PS2 was, and I don't think that's how it's supposed to be. I'm going to call the sotre and/or Sony's customer service when I get off from work.
Click to expand...

It's not how it's supposed to be mate, no. You need to get it replaced before your house burns down.
 
A

Awntawn

Member
Melchiah said:
I think there's enough room for ventilation around the unit. It sits on open shelf with a digital recorder by its right. There is about 10cm of space for ventilation in the back and on the right side (where the ventilation holes are), and about 30cm space on the top, and the left side is completely open. Perhaps I should try to switch their places, so there would be more room for ventilation on PS3's right side. Would that make any difference?
Click to expand...
It's worth a try. You could just take it out of the shelf and turn it on for awhile and see if it gets that loud before rearranging all of your other stuff. 10cm should be ok if the air in the room is well-circulated, but if there are any other appliances in there producing heat making an oven, it defeats the purpose. If the hot air is blowing into the shelf, it heats up the air in the shelf, whereas if it's pointing out it gets expended.

Basically, put your hand in the air in the area over your PS3 when it's loud; if the air feels really warm then that's clearly why the fans are working so hard. Since most of the heat is coming out the right vent, it's best to position it where the hot air won't get trapped. The machine is built like a tank, so it shouldn't overheat that easily, the consequence of poor ventilation is just extremely loud fans working harder to try to cool it (as opposed to dying) 3;
 
lionelhutz

lionelhutz

Member
For the most part mine is quiet (XMB, playing demos, PSN, etc.). When using F@H or playing disc based games I can hear the fan if the room is quiet or there isn't any audio from the game (a loading screen for example). Very rarely do I hear the drive. I've read Blu-Ray is only spinning at 2x's which is part of the reason.

Is your place real warm? In the summer months the fan will kick on more frequently but it's nothing I've ever worried about. I've been very pleased with the build quality and performance of my PS3. Unless there is some kind of mechanical noise that doesn't sound right I don't know if I'd worry too much.
 
T

The Hedon

Banned
I also have the starter pack, and mine is loud too. During the XMB use, not so much so. But when playing games and watching Blu-Rays, it ramps up pretty loud. I would say it's the same loudness as my 360 Elite (which is quiet on it's dasboard, but gets loud during games and HD-DVD movies).
 
P

Psychotext

Member
On a related note, as an audio nerd I often feel the need to kick people when they say quiet things are silent. :lol (If any of these machines were sub 20 decibels you could argue it, but they're not)
 
T

The Hedon

Banned
Psychotext said:
On a related note, as an audio nerd I often feel the need to kick people when they say quiet things are silent. :lol (If any of these machines were sub 20 decibels you could argue it, but they're not)
Click to expand...

Which is why my home theater in my basement is being built with a room BEHIND the home theater room to house my electronics and game consoles. Out of site, out of mind, and silent due to them being in a different room.
 
E

Elios83

Member
Noise is subjective unless you make a dB measurement :D

The 60 GB european PS3 has three fan modes.
The first is the silent one, just when you turn on the system and you stare at the XMB (and yes, the system starts in mode two for a couple of seconds and then turns in mode one). You can hear the console only if you get near to it, it's really silent. When you play a PS3 game the fan tipically swtich to the second mode, in this mode you can hear the console if there's silence in the room (it's easily covered by the TV audio). Third mode is when Cell is working in full force (Folding@Home), which is loud, definitely noisier than the original PS2.

I don't think that there's something wrong with your PS3, probably you were mislead by reports on in the Internet which effectively describe the console as silent as if it was permanently in mode one, which is not the case, at least with the european 60GB model.
 
Melchiah

Melchiah

Member
I just called Sony's customer service, they'll get back at me within a couple of hours. I was somewhat annoyed by the condescending tone I was replied with, when I said it's really loud compared to the 7-year old PS2 I had; "Well, it has a fan and it tends to make some noise." D'uh.
 
N

nofi

Member
Melchiah said:
I just called Sony's customer service, they'll get back at me within a couple of hours. I was somewhat annoyed by the condescending tone I was replied with, when I said it's really loud compared to the 7-year old PS2 I had; "Well, it has a fan and it tends to make some noise." D'uh.
Click to expand...

Tell them GAF sent you.
 
Melchiah

Melchiah

Member
Elios83 said:
Third mode is when Cell is working in full force (Folding@Home), which is loud, definitely noisier than the original PS2.

I don't think that there's something wrong with your PS3, probably you were mislead by reports on in the Internet which effectively describe the console as silent as if it was permanently in mode one, which is not the case, at least with the european 60GB model.
Click to expand...

Sounds just like what I heard yesterday. The thing is, it was at that volume all the time, before and after I playing games. Comparing it to a blow drier wouldn't be that far from the truth.
 
J

JB1981

Member
PhiLonius said:
Mines is really, really quiet
Click to expand...
My first 60gb (which died) was a lot louder than the refurb Sony sent me. Doesn't matter what I'm doing with the new one; playing PS3/PS2 games, watching blu-rays or DVDs shit is quiet. I like.
 
A

Aalyx

Member
For me, once my PS3 hits the 3rd Fan Level (e.g. From playing a game), if I go back to the XMB, it'll drop down to the 2nd Fan Level and never drop back down to the 1st.

I don't mind the noise though, if the fan is really loud, 9 times out of 10 it means I'm playing a game therefore the game sound can block it out.
 
A

Android18a

Member
I've got a PAL 60gb machine. It's always silent, whether on the XMB or in-game. Much quieter than my 360. Even the Wii can drown out the PS3's noise. It's the quietest disc-based machine since the PSone, I find.
 
T

The Hedon

Banned
Android18a said:
I've got a PAL 60gb machine. It's always silent, whether on the XMB or in-game. Much quieter than my 360. Even the Wii can drown out the PS3's noise. It's the quietest disc-based machine since the PSone, I find.
Click to expand...

My PS3 and 360 are equally loud, and the loudest machines I have owned since the Sega Saturn.
 
A

Android18a

Member
The Hedon said:
My PS3 and 360 are equally loud, and the loudest machines I have owned since the Sega Saturn.
Click to expand...

That must really suck =0

My PS3's quietness amazed me from the first time I turned it on. It seems they are pretty inconsistent, then...

Or maybe my fans aren't working ;-p
 
fse

fse

Member
Melchiah said:
I bought the 60GB PS3 Starter Pack yesterday, and I've got a question I desperately need an answer to. Here it goes...

I was unpleasantly surprised how loud the system is, it seems to be louder than my 7-year old PS2 was. And the fan volume level stayed the same all the time, whether I played a game or not. I'd think that isn't normal, or is it? The thing is, it's even noisier than my old Nokia digital recorder, and it's pretty loud. They're side by side, and the digital recorder's fan noise is completely drowned by the PS3.

I should probably mention, that the devices are not stacked in a closed space. There's definitely enough room for ventilation for the PS3.

I let the system cool for few hours. When I turned it on again, I heard the fan start to spin (not that loud), after a second or two it became quiet. Really quiet. I could only hear the fan when I went close to the system. It stayed quiet for some time, until I launched Super Rub 'a' Dub. When the game was loading the fan noise suddenly increased to a level, which I'd describe as annoying when watching a movie.

Should it be like this, or was I just unlucky enough to get a system as noisy as this is? If it's the latter, I'm wondering whether I can bring it back to the store and exhange it for another? I really, really hate it when something like this happens.
Click to expand...

its normal, its quiet for a console but not that quiet.
mine sounds like a ps2 once its on, even just idle on the xmb.
 
M

MrPing1000

Member
JodyAnthony said:
my dreamcast is loud.
Click to expand...

The dreamcast is a noisy bastard. Anytime it has to load something it damn well makes sure you know about it. It sounds like it's made of entirely manual parts and the files are being manually moved around inside.
 
F

Fuzzy

I would bang a hot farmer!
SuomiDude said:
One Finnish magazine made a comparison of the three consoles, and one of them was how loud the systems are.

PlayStation 3:
35,8dB - playing games

XBox 360:
~44dB - playing games

Wii:
32,3dB - playing games

So I guess there's something wrong with your PS3. Of course each of the systems may have some bad copies, causing much louder noise than what it should be. And on the other hand, some systems may be more quiet than what those dBs show.
Click to expand...
Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't a 3dB increase equal to doubling the noise?

PS3 = ~2x as loud as Wii when playing a game.
Xbox 360 = ~8x as loud as PS3 when playing a game.
 
N

nofi

Member
Fuzzy said:
Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't a 3dB increase equal to doubling the noise?

PS3 = ~2x as loud as Wii when playing a game.
Xbox 360 = ~8x as loud as PS3 when playing a game.
Click to expand...

I think it's 6db.
 
D

Dragona Akehi

Retired
Mine is absolutely silent, asides from the occasional extremely quiet discread when the volume is off.

There's something wrong with your PS3. Return it for another one.
 
J

jey_16

Banned
my NTSC PS3 was really quiet with my initial batch of games like Resistance & Motorstorm....you could not even hear the thing

but with the latest games i have bough, mainly COD4 and Assassins Creed, it has become substantially louder during gameplay....i dont know if the games are more taxing or because its just a bit warmer now but the fans are defiantly working harder, it doesn't really bother me because with the surround sound pumping, you dont really notice it and i never hear the disc drive

its still dead quiet in the XMB though
 
S

Superblatt

Member
Linkzg said:
yeah, mine is dead silent, and I usually have to crank up the volume when playing my 360 because it is quite annoying.
Click to expand...

Same here. My 360 sounds like I have a four giant hurricane fans blowing while I play Mass Effect, but the PS3 is almost totally silent. At least Sony got that part right.
 
P

Ptaaty

Member
First of all, to be valid loudness levels for equipment must include a distance (usually when not given 1 meter is assumed, but this can be completely wrong).

Secondly the type of environment and placement of the equipment makes a big difference.

Third, the type of equipment used makes a big difference (unless called and spec'd to read at the levels being measured)

My point is, it is not a good idea to compare one persons numbers to anothers.

The other thing is this, there is clearly variations in hardware. My friends PS3 is louder than mine and his x360 is much quieter. In fact, my friends PS3 is louder than his 360, while mine is completely the opposite.
 
B

Bonerville High

Banned
I have a launch 60GB PS3 and I've only now put in something besides a Blu-Ray, it is horrifying how loud it is while playing Dragon Quest VIII. I guess there is a lot of loading going on in that game, as it constantly sounds like an extreme whirring is going on.
 
B

blindrocket

Member
60GB here, bought back in February. Quiet most of the time unless the room is really hot (like no A/C and summer time) and I'm Folding @ Home. Then it's pushing out the air quite fast.
 
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