• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

[Gamers Nexus] Weak Design: PlayStation 5 Thermals, Power, & Noise Testing

RoadHazard

Gold Member
Memory issues are what came to mind with the flickering I saw on example videos.

I wrote thst I get that error when I Overclock my gpu ram so possibly the flickering is due to overheating ram.

Interesting stuff.

Exactly what I thought when reading this. Let's hope it's not a big issue that's gonna make PS5s start dying in droves a year from now.
 
One thing a lot of people are missing is that fan speed is not constant. If the PS5 was in a hotter room, the fan would spin faster to bring temps back down. The PS5 was at these temps while at the low end of its cooling capability. There is more to spare. It'd be an entirely different situation if the PS5 had these temps while the fan was already at its acceptable max limit.

Sony has done these tests and know what the temps are. That one mem temp is right at the edge because Sony allowed it to be there to keep noise low. It is more normal for shipping hardware today to be pushed to its limits. It's like how AMD CPUs now basically come pre-overclocked.
 

Loxus

Member
Gamers Nexus is right to be concern about the memory temperature.
But with all the custom work I've seen done with the PS5, memory maybe slightly custom also.
They been testing the cooling for the PS5 for 2-3 years.
I'm pretty sure they know what temperature everything runs at, and was cool with the results.

Maybe the memory was meant to run the hot for a reason.
He did say the nand chips don't need cooling because they like to run hot.
Maybe for the PS5, the memory needs to run hot also, for it's current setup with speed in mind.

P.S.
Be prepared for "PS5 is running hot" to be trending from the Xbox side for the next few days.
 

TriSuit666

Banned
I wouldn’t be too concerned about this. Sony will have tested the system within and inch of its life before shipping. It’s not like they got all the components together, stuck it in and box and said ‘done’. It will have been tested in the worst case scenarios to ensure it still works.

Don't be naive. Companies work on the balance of probabilities. It will have been tested enough to secure the required certification versus cost to production.

I mean, a car company isn't being sued right now for allegedly lying about the environmental features of their products, right?

From personal experience of a friend who's house burnt down because of a fire caused by a faulty Xbox One power supply (it was the OG VCR Xbox One model), you probably should worry about overheating components in an enclosed cabinet.
 
Last edited:

Lysandros

Member
Good job overall by GamersNexus but extreme clickbait title is not appreciated. None of their analysis actually justifies the title.
I agree with the title being misleading, hope there isn't any ulterior motive behind it. Also, i didn't like his handling of state of art hardware at the beginning, it gives a feeling of low esteem for it.
 

TheDude108

Member
Microsoft did this knowingly during the 360 era and blamed the consumer, telling them that it was just a "perceived" issue and that faults where no more likely than any other electronic device. That was up until the courts got involved and Microsoft where legally forced to extend there warrenty to 5 years after they found that cooling simply was not adequate and the system was "cooking" leading to the dreaded red ring of death at an almost unheard of rate within main stream branded electronics.

So despite owning a PS5, let me just press the point that companies will and do, do this just for slightly more profit per unit sold.

I doubt Sony or Microsoft would want another RROD on their hands. Time will tell of course, but I’m not seeing anything concerning here. The components are all performing within rated limits.
 

Senua

Member
But why are the mem temps bad? Realistically speaking, we are talking about what? It’s so bad everyone will start having problems or is this “benchmark bad” where... it could be cooler, but there’s nothing wrong with it?
it remains to be seen i suppose!
 
Microsoft did this knowingly during the 360 era and blamed the consumer, telling them that it was just a "perceived" issue and that faults where no more likely than any other electronic device. That was up until the courts got involved and Microsoft where legally forced to extend there warrenty to 5 years after they found that cooling simply was not adequate and the system was "cooking" leading to the dreaded red ring of death at an almost unheard of rate within main stream branded electronics.

So despite owning a PS5, let me just press the point that companies will and do, do this just for slightly more profit per unit sold.

While that is true. Things are different with cooling the PS5. Cooling was a MAJOR design point for the console. You can tell so just by the size of it. There is virtually no chance Sony doesn't already know about this, and if it was an issue, they would have increased fan speed to solve it.

Now there is one conspiracy theory does have some plausibility. Sony could be keeping fan speeds low now at launch to get good press from the low fan noise knowing they'll increase it later. Not saying that's going on, but at least that is more plausible than Sony having this easy to detect problem in a major feature and not knowing about it.
 

Kenpachii

Member
Why not just blow hot air into that PS5 and see what it does. Could very well mean when temps hit x amount the fan will just starts going far more RPM to compensate.

At the end of the day the chip is still connected towards the metal plate which means entire temp of the box will effect it.
 
Last edited:

FranXico

Member
While that is true. Things are different with cooling the PS5. Cooling was a MAJOR design point for the console. You can tell so just by the size of it. There is virtually no chance Sony doesn't already know about this, and if it was an issue, they would have increased fan speed to solve it.

Now there is one conspiracy theory does have some plausibility. Sony could be keeping fan speeds low now at launch to get good press from the low fan noise knowing they'll increase it later. Not saying that's going on, but at least that is more plausible than Sony having this easy to detect problem in a major feature and not knowing about it.
Fan RPM profiles can and will be changed in the future, so it's a sensible thing to speculate about, hardly a conspiracy.
But I'd rather have a little bit of noise (not jet engine levels, though) coming from the system than have it overheat, let's be honest.
 
Last edited:

Shaukdotdj

Member
This would be good if it Shit on Xbox in every way, but that’s far from the truth.

Does it shit on it with 120fps backwards compatible support for Warzone and Rocket League? No. Xbox has vastly superior BC altogether. The Dirt devs have already came out saying there are problems with the Xbox version to be fixed soon.

Also, the value of Gamepss shits all over PS as well, as in proudly stands above it and dumps all over the PS. The differences in tech analysis between the games has been minimal at best too.

Yes Xbox Series X is a great but late mid-gen refresh for all the old games I already played but has yet to throw a single punch in the arena of the next gen gaming claims.
Like at best its "samey" for the cross Gen titles that have come out so far with some minor performance analysis issues in favor of ps5. But nothing unique or special about the software, the controller or the O/S really has anyone talking about it.

Gamepass needs to be treated as platform agnostic to a degree, it is not the sole domain of the Series X by a long shot. Meaning, nobody has a compelling reason to go out and pay $500 for a console to access a service that runs on Android devices, last gen xboxes, and PC.

Like maybe if I DIDN'T like PS exclusives OR already have a gaming PC I might be able to bring myself to care about Xbox right now but... What am I gonna do with it really?
 

cebri.one

Member
Thermal limit for GDDR6 is 100°C, the memory in PS5 hits around 95°C with a 21-22°C ambient temp.


No, but I do wonder if you'll have to during a hot summer day. Reminds me of the good old PC days where we had to take side panels off and had fans blow on the PC.

Bullshit, some AMD cards with GDDR6 exceed 100º in normal operations.

 
Last edited:

Snake29

RSI Employee of the Year
Memory is hotter then the rest of the components...shocking, since memory can always be the most hotest part in a PC/Console.
 

Bryank75

Banned
People really think that Sony have not tested the thermal limits and estimated the life of each part with regular usage?

Of course there will be failure rates and what we have seen during launch is perfectly within expectations.

The naivety of some people is extraordinary.

There is also the fact that he is not taking the temperature of the GDDR6 itself, it's indirect....
 
Last edited:

Ev1L AuRoN

Member
The fan curve reacts to the temp. Maybe Sony is pushing acoustics to the point that the components operate hotter, but if the temp get dangerous the fan speed up. I wouldn't worry to much about it. The system is working within spec, and Sony most likely has sensors on the chips and control the airflow as the system require.
 

Handy Fake

Member
Surely it's not the RAM overheating that would be producing the artifacting and would just cause a shutdown instead?
That being the case every PS5 would be shutting down?
So either a) the casing is hotter than the RAM and the RAM is fine or b) the PS5 engineering team knows the thermal limits of the architecture they designed and that it's fine?
 

cebri.one

Member
That's GPU and not DRAM

95°
MT61K512M32KPA-14 (micron.com)

GDDR6X has the same recommended OP temps and on the 3080s/90s memory reaches over 104 º C. It is speculated that GDDR6 and 6X can reach Tj of 110º before degrading with 120º being the point of failure.

I'd be extremely surprised if Sony hasn't stressed tested the console to death and has talked with their RAM providers to make sure they are operating within the margins.

This is just another fanboy wet dreams.
 
Last edited:

Md Ray

Member
Surely it's not the RAM overheating that would be producing the artifacting and would just cause a shutdown instead?
That being the case every PS5 would be shutting down?
So either a) the casing is hotter than the RAM and the RAM is fine or b) the PS5 engineering team knows the thermal limits of the architecture they designed and that it's fine?
The system shuts itself down when the APU overheats, I know this for sure. And from their tests, the backside of the APU's temps are in the 70 C region. Which is perfectly normal.

As for the memory, I don't know if RAM overheating triggers system shutdown. At worst you'll likely see those artifacting, but IMO the system won't shutdown.
 

Papacheeks

Banned
Summary? Can't watch on mobile.

Anyway, GN while good, tends to have a superiority complex, their results are but a reference for their suite of tests.

and Steve talks for too long without focus

A complex? Or maybe they want to do the best tests they can?

They point out how shitty others like austin evans and the likes are when it comes to being technical in their tests.

Nothing wrong in being prideful knowing you went all the way with your tests.

You have a complex as seen in previous thread and it's now clear to me.
 
Peopl eneed to look at other trests to put things in perspective

Sel5SBY.png
Lol, ps5 is now full fledged GPU for comparison now?! Big difference, and should not be compared, but you knew that already. Dishonestly at it's best. Tsk tsk tsk
 

Hendrick's

If only my penis was as big as my GamerScore!
Possible they knew they would be upping fan speed soon but wanted it to be known as quiet so had it lower than actually planned for launch?
That's a ridiculous notion. Risk overheating failures for awhile to fool people into thinking the console is quiet and then crank the fan up? Not saying they won't up the fan speed, but no way they would do this intentionally.
 
That's a ridiculous notion. Risk overheating failures for awhile to fool people into thinking the console is quiet and then crank the fan up? Not saying they won't up the fan speed, but no way they would do this intentionally.
That would be a lawsuit waiting to happen. Similar to Apple batterygate issues to try and cover up flaws in design choice.
 

Md Ray

Member
That's a ridiculous notion. Risk overheating failures for awhile to fool people into thinking the console is quiet and then crank the fan up? Not saying they won't up the fan speed, but no way they would do this intentionally.
The APU is fine and "cool". It's the memory module that's being suboptimally cooled. Something very easily they can fix as Steve suggested by increasing the thermal pad size between the module and the steel plate.
 
Last edited:

geordiemp

Member
The system shuts itself down when the APU overheats, I know this for sure. And from their tests, the backside of the APU's temps are in the 70 C region. Which is perfectly normal.

As for the memory, I don't know if RAM overheating triggers system shutdown. At worst you'll likely see those artifacting, but IMO the system won't shutdown.

The RAM would downclock before it shuts down above 110C or whatever limit is set on the Tj
 

kraspkibble

Permabanned.
gamers nexus don't fuck around. good watch.

very concerning the memory is running hot. will be interested to see how these consoles hold up. you don't want your memory running hot. sony will probably need to make a hardware revision to improve airflow. if there is a -5C difference by just slightly modifying the rear panel then i think they really should do that.
 
Last edited:

geordiemp

Member
gamers nexus don't fuck around. good watch.

very concerning the memory is running hot. will be interested to see how these consoles hold up. you don't want your memory running hot. sony will probably need to make a hardware revision to improve airflow. if there is a -5C difference by just slightly modifying the rear panel then i think they really should do that.

No they would up the fan by 10 % to counter the air flow resistance of the panels.

3080 the memory is 105 deg C at Tj if you want some perspective, which is unlikely.
 
Last edited:
Thermal limit for GDDR6 is 100°C, the memory in PS5 hits around 95°C with a 21-22°C ambient temp.


No, but I do wonder if you'll have to during a hot summer day. Reminds me of the good old PC days where we had to take side panels off and had fans blow on the PC.
Holy fuck, 95º with 22º ambient temp is bad. Like, REAL bad. Maybe that's why there are some people having trouble with PS5s after all. That's not good.

In time, GN is one of, if not THE best tech channel on YT.
 
The ps5 runs pretty hot
i had a gaming headset dongle in the rear of my console and it managed to warp the casing and all the cables at the rear were hot to touch

people that have this console in entertainment units are gonna learn the hard way in about 6 months...you need open space for this console
im not gonna comment on my thoughts of the design as it seems to trigger some folk here but there were certainly other options

The memory chips are pretty easy to fix in a revision...they just stick on thermal pads

interested to see the series x cooling washout

I have both the ps5 and a series x in a bedroom and it literally heats the room up
 

M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
The RAM would downclock before it shuts down above 110C or whatever limit is set on the Tj
One chip or whole memory subsystem? Anyway this is interesting, haven't known this about memory chips.

The level of detail he goes into sets him apart from most other YouTube channels.

Definitely a play-at-1.5x speed type channel though.


Still has nothing on this man : D
 
Last edited:

LordOfChaos

Member
Micron, Samsung, and Hynix give a max RAM temperature recommendation if 85c, with some industrial RAM going up to 95C, GDDR6 up to 100C.

Without knowing the design point, it’s only a problem if it becomes a problem. And it's interesting that only 1 of 8 chips ran hot.
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom