Support NeoGAF

[Cedeo]

The PS3 wispers sweet nothings into my ear, and my 360 just sort of rumbles.

 

[besada]

It depends on how hot your PS3 is. Normally it's much quieter than the 360, but if it gets hot that fan will make a noise that could crack your teeth. For awhile every gaming store I walked into had an overheating PS3 and it sounded like a hundred dentists drilling teeth.

Overall, though, the 360 is quite loud.

 

[RichP]

For awhile every gaming store I walked into had an overheating PS3 and it sounded like a hundred dentists drilling teeth.

To be fair the demo kiosks have an auxiliary fan that vents the enclosure, which for some reason is REALLY loud. PS3s themselves don't make much noise when their fans kick in.

Both my PS3 and 360 only really make appreciable noise while accessing the drive. The PS3 is MUCH quieter in this respect. Neither system's fans can be heard while watching movies, which is critical for me; with games, usually the pounding music and gunfire drown everything else out.

 

[fastasleep]

I don't think either of them are loud. 360 is sometimes loud when the disc is being read, otherwise it's quiet.

The 360 and quiet should never be used in the same sentence.

 

[Raist]

The PS3 is literally whisper quiet. Whatever sorcery Sony worked on that console, it was for the best.

2x drive + HUGE (16cm diameter :lol ) fan, thus spinning slower.

And for those wondering about heat, it gets a bit hot (more like warm) around the power supply, and it blows a LOT of warm air.

Their design is excellent, they really improved IMO.

 

[TerryLee81]

Wait, reading this thread makes me think that my PS3 is broken.

My PS3 is silent only for the first 5 minutes after startup, after that, the fans kick in, always, no matter what I do.

And the fans are pretty loud, it's annoying while watching a DVD.

Should I return it?

 

[uprightcitizen]

My 360 always sounds like someone dropped a swat team from a helicopter through the roof to my room.

My PS3 on the other hand is hardly noticeable volume wise. Even when I've been playing games on it all day it's still very quiet.

Spoiler

I sit less than 3.5 ft from my TV

 

[CSSer]

Wait, reading this thread makes me think that my PS3 is broken.

My PS3 is silent only for the first 5 minutes after startup, after that, the fans kick in, always, no matter what I do.

And the fans are pretty loud, it's annoying while watching a DVD.

Should I return it?

My ps3 does the same thing, so I wear headphones to play my games/watch movies. People say it's a good thing because it shows your ps3's cooling system is actually working; I think it's a nuisance.

 

[dfyb]

i don't think my ps3's hyper-cooling has ever kicked in at full force. i keep my place pretty cool. the ps3 is always very quiet

 

[TheFallen]

My PS3 is relatively quiet and 360 Elite only slightly louder. Though I notice the PS3s encased in glass displays at retailers are freakishly loud, let it breathe! Damn you Gamestop!

 

[nelsonroyale]

360 sounds like an aircraft taking off, ps3 is like a fat mute jumping off a cliff

 

[TerryLee81]

My ps3 does the same thing, so I wear headphones to play my games/watch movies. People say it's a good thing because it shows your ps3's cooling system is actually working; I think it's a nuisance.

I don't mind the noise while playing games, but while watching a DVD, it's really distracting.

 

[Manp]

Wait, reading this thread makes me think that my PS3 is broken.

My PS3 is silent only for the first 5 minutes after startup, after that, the fans kick in, always, no matter what I do.

And the fans are pretty loud, it's annoying while watching a DVD.

Should I return it?

My ps3 does the same thing, so I wear headphones to play my games/watch movies. People say it's a good thing because it shows your ps3's cooling system is actually working; I think it's a nuisance.

i returned my first one thinking it was broken.

the second one i got acted exactly the same: when you turn it on makes no noise. after a couple of minutes it starts to make a noise you can hear only from 5-10 cm away. after 10-15 minutes it makes a noise you can hear only if you pay attention and if there's no other noises in the room.

after 30 minutes, depending on the room temperature, the fan start spinning very fast and it becomes annoyingly loud. almost like the 360.

it seems like a lot of European PS3s act like this but it seems there are a lot that are silent. one thing for sure is that Sony is using two different fans inside the PS3 and one seems to be able to cool the console without having to spin fast and so making noise.

on the official PS3 forums, in the UK section, there is a huge thread about this issue.

 

[ymmv]

you know... people talk about the PS3 being completely inaudible. it's just a whisper...

well, i've had 2 PAL PS3s and both were deadly silent. that's for the first 10-15 minutes... then the fan kicks in and they become clearly audible. then the fan starts spinning even faster and it becomes loud. not loud as my 360 (i mean when spinning a game disc at full speed) but damn close and that's annoying when you're trying to watch a movie.

fud? lie? maybe not

I also have a PAL PS3 and the fan in mine also audibly gears up after 10 minutes. It's definitely not as noisy as my 360 (I was shocked the first time I played PGR3, it was like a Jumbo taking off), but it certainly isn't as quiet as an insect sleeping, let alone the sound of a supernova heard in outer space. It's not noticeable when you're playing a game or a movie, but it does mean that I'm turning the PS3 when I'm not actively using it at the time. The fan noise is too distracting.

 

[smurfx]

don't have a xbox 360 but the ps3 is pretty quiet. i don't generally hear a noise coming from it since the house is pretty loud all the time. lol @ all the people that got banned in this thread. :lol

 

[Loonz]

I also have a PAL PS3 and the fan in mine also audibly gears up after 10 minutes. It's definitely not as noisy as my 360 (I was shocked the first time I played PGR3, it was like a Jumbo taking off), but it certainly isn't as quiet as an insect sleeping, let alone the sound of a supernova heard in outer space. It's not noticeable when you're playing a game or a movie, but it does mean that I'm turning the PS3 when I'm not actively using it at the time. The fan noise is too distracting.

The same here (PAL PS3 from Spain). Guess it's the usual "PAL treatment": we get the things later, more expensive and with worse manufacturing quality than the other markets .

The console has a nice construction quality but it isn't quiet at all, mine at least.

 

[Jirotrom]

For the little time I owned a PS3, it was fantastically quiet... you couldn't even here it on. I've got to ssay that system was designed wonderfully, I liked how it had a built in exhaust and that worked great. To bad the HDMI handshaking problems and the announcement of VF5 coming to 360 made me return it.

 

[sonycowboy]

Wait, reading this thread makes me think that my PS3 is broken.

My PS3 is silent only for the first 5 minutes after startup, after that, the fans kick in, always, no matter what I do.

And the fans are pretty loud, it's annoying while watching a DVD.

Should I return it?

It's all about ventilation.

I have my PS3 out in the open in an vertical entertainment center that has open air access on all sides. It's absolutely and completely silent.

My brother has his in one of those Wal-Mart VCR cart type thing that only allows air through the front of the unit and not much clearance on either side for air flow and it can get quite loud. It simply the PS3 trying to keep itself cool.

Now, I have my 360 in the exact same unit and it's loud no matter what. Really loud.

 

[CrushDance]

Lots, lots of analogies in here.:lol

 

[LiquidMetal14]

Lots, lots of analogies in here.:lol

PS3s are quiet like a "silent but deadly" fart.
Xbox360 is loud like an F1 Harrier in neutral.