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Sony really cheaped out on their PSUs didn't they?

DonJorginho

Banned
EDIT: I may be a dumb dumb and this could and most likely actually stems from the GPU which is why it is audible from near the top of the system.

Jesus fucking Christ this is getting annoying now, I've been adoring my time with the PS5, the games are great, the UI is snappy and beautiful, the controller is a delight and the system itself is gorgeous.

However there's one thing that sticks out like a sore thumb whenever I go from my Series X to the PS5, the sound. The Series X is a marvel in how quiet it is for the power it holds, you can tell the engineering team did a top job, taking care with every minute component.

The PS5 on the other hand is starting to feel like a cheap hunk of junk in that department. It really feels like Sony cheaped out with their PSUs as not only my PS5 but my entire friend groups are making the most annoying coil whine which seem to have gotten worse since Nov.19

Here's a little diary of my coil whine experience:

Nov 19: quiet as hell, no fan or coil whine sound at all, Astro and Miles Morales running with no issues.

Nov 22: start to notice some very quiet humming from around the PSU of the console, only flairs up when on Miles Morales, everything else is fine and the sound was only audible as I was sorting out my cable management whilst game was on.

Nov 25: coil whine evolves into a more audible sound, has a pretty noticeable whine when TV is quiet now when on Miles Morales, no other games creating a hum.

Nov 27: coil whine evolves again, this time easing itself into not only Miles Morales but Spider-Man Remastered, Astro, AC Valhalla and even when I power it on, still not a major annoyance but it now varies in sound from app to app.

Nov 29: coil whine fucking evolves tenfold as it now starts to get slightly louder and the fan starts to kick in whenever I start a game, pretty audible noises from the fan doing its work on games which never made it work this hard before, coil whine frequency changes wildly from game to game.

Dec 1: Coil whine reaches a new phase of fuckery, I didn't record my own as my phone doesn't pick it up well but this YouTube video sounds exactly like mine, the coil whine and fan have gotten slightly louder, I must stress with my TV on around 20 volume or with headphones in you can't hear it, it's only when the game hits a quiet spot on TV or the volume is low, but now the coil whine is rapidly changing frequency out of nowhere whilst playing Valhalla, it only stopped doing this once I closed the app entirely but even then it slowly whirred down to a quiet hum. Video below is just like mine.



All in all I'm very disappointed, especially seeing as barely any review units have mentioned coil whine yet most people I know on here who have a PS5 are experiencing this to a degree, seems like something Sony were aware of as they wouldn't have not noticed this during testing, but as it wasn't a threat to the system health they let it through to be sold, which is very poor on their part seeing as all we hear is how quiet the system is.

As it stands I won't be replacing my unit yet as I want to wait for Sony to address this or make a slightly revised model under the radar which solves this by grounding the coils so this coil whine doesn't happen on as many consoles. I'm still loving my PS5 but I think this was something that Sony have really fucked their customers over on.
 
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THEAP99

Banned
Yeah. My coil whine as thankfully gotten more quiet actually, not as bad as it once was.. but it really pisses me off how my first two days with the system, it was completely silent.. but now I can hear a slight fan plus the coil whine, like wtf happened?


It's so fucking embarrassing and humiliating for Mark Cerny to be honest considering how big the god damn thing is. That size and yet it still can't be more quiet than a series x (which more powerful going by the sheets).

As you said everything else is great on the system, but the god damn sacrifices we put up with to experience greatness.. I swear.

When I get back to campus it's gonna be embarrassing as fuck if my xbox/nintendo fanboy of a roommate will be able to hear the ps5 considering I boasted about the size and that's why it would be quiet compared to the ps4 pro.. but he'll just rub it in my face and embarrassing me with his ultra silent series x
 
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DonJorginho

Banned
Yeah. My coil whine as thankfully gotten more quiet actually, not as bad as it once was.. but it really pisses me off how my first two days with the system, it was completely silent.. but now I can hear a slight fan plus the coil whine, like wtf happened?


It's so fucking embarrassing and humiliating for Mark Cerny to be honest considering how big the god damn thing is. That size and yet it still can't be more quiet than a series x (which more powerful going by the sheets).

As you said everything else is great on the system, but the god damn sacrifices we put up with to experience greatness.. I swear
I'm hoping mine gets quieter but it's getting worse 😂 I've tried vertical and horizontal aswell, not helping so I'm just gonna keep playing on it and hoping it works itself out in time.

Very disappointing from Sony seeing as this was the whole point for the size but maybe we're just an unlucky bunch (an unlucky bunch that seem to be growing daily mind you)
 

DonJorginho

Banned
Damn, sorry then. Maybe try a replacement? Or if you can't stand it at all I'll pm you my address, I promise I'll look into it. 🤭 :messenger_beaming:
For now I'm going to keep going on it but just stick to my headset as can't hear anything then and it isn't bad enough for me to hear it when my TV is on a medium ish volume so I'm still quite lucky but at some point next year I'll definitely try for a replacement when stock is more plentiful unless by some Cerny magic it gets better with time!

And maybe some other time 😂
 

THEAP99

Banned
I'm hoping mine gets quieter but it's getting worse 😂 I've tried vertical and horizontal aswell, not helping so I'm just gonna keep playing on it and hoping it works itself out in time.

Very disappointing from Sony seeing as this was the whole point for the size but maybe we're just an unlucky bunch (an bunch that seem to be growing daily mind you)
I'll keep my model until an eventual slim model in a few years that'll be quieter and smaller unless it just gets to ps4 pro levels sometime soon. I just wonder though if this is something I would mention in resale value. Feels disingenuous not to mention it when selling it to someone considering Sony boasted about how it should be quiet.

As of rn I can't hear it at all with my headphones on and I sit close to it. So it's not a big issue but when the coil whine first started I could hear it very slightly even with my headphones on.
 
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DonJorginho

Banned
Sounds a bit weird for a coil whine. It should be more constant and frame rate dependant. It super loud on my 3080 but it's kinda normal. On console its a bit strange
It definitely changes when I play certain modes, for example Performance Mode makes it louder than fidelity, and going to the UI reduces the sound a lot and closing the game almost kills it entirely.

Mostly the wild frequency change that worried me today.
 

John2290

Member
Never buy the first round of tech, I've always said and now I've a new phrase never buy new tech that was produced at the height of a pandemic.
 

kingwingin

Member
I dont think its from the psu. I unplugged my fan to hear it better and its coming out from the top half of the system. Unless its just reverberating out the top
 

DonJorginho

Banned
Doesn't sound like any sort of coil whine I've heard before. Why not contact Sony about it.
I would but tbh it isn't affecting me to the point where I actively want it replaced as even though it's got worse it's never loud enough to notice with the TV on, if it keeps doing that weird frequency change I may enquire though.

Also I don't wanna go without my precious plastic box for a few weeks with Cyberpunk around the corner as I've pre-ordered it on PS 😂 could always double dip with the XSX though.
 

DonJorginho

Banned
I dont think its from the psu. I unplugged my fan to hear it better and its coming out from the top half of the system. Unless its just reverberating out the top
It normally comes from the bottom for me but I just checked and it sounded like it was audible from the top, I can't put my finger on what it could be though.
 
Mine is super quiet but man is it ugly and you have to use that ghetto stand in both orientations. The perfect representation for it’s the inside that counts ugly girl.
 

Redlight

Member
I don't vouch for this image at all, stumbled across it a couple of days back on Reddit. Does anyone know if this is true? It could explain the difference.


wzxjiE8.jpg
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
It definitely changes when I play certain modes, for example Performance Mode makes it louder than fidelity, and going to the UI reduces the sound a lot and closing the game almost kills it entirely.

Mostly the wild frequency change that worried me today.
Yeah it's coil whine if it's audible when gpu is strained. Ticks slow at 4k60 and faster high fps. At least on 3080
 
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TJC

Member
My PS5 makes a slight humming noise but with the tv on Silent and even just a little bit of back noise I can't hear a thing.. I'm sitting 5 ft away though. Compared to ps4 pro it's a dream.
 

Golgo 13

The Man With The Golden Dong
Compared to my PS4 Pro my PS5 is whisper quiet. Does it still make noise? Yes, but it’s not as bad as your unit.

I’d probably process a return/repair if it’s bothering you that much, and it sounds like the issue could be escalating (never a good sign with hardware problems).
 

Concern

Member
That sucks. I been playing most my ps4 games with headphones to not hear it. Thats probably the only alternative till you get it replaced. Or up the tv volume.
 
People ITT still saying it's because of launch units and it will get better with newer revisions... no it won't anytime soon.

People with coil whiney PSUs in their PS4 Pros rev. 71XXb were already hoping that this will be fixed with the 72XXb and everyone was sure that the PS5 won't have it anymore, but look at where we are now, 3 years later.

If Sony has a 10 year contract with the PSU manufacturer who is making the affected PSU, then we'll be seeing this throughout this generation and unless Sony addresses this officially, I wouldn't hold my breath for any changes being made here.
 

LordOfChaos

Member
There's this poll from other place that seems to mirror my impressions of other impressions, and every time someone I know gets one I make a point to ask about their noise situation. It seems like the majority are very silent, coil whine is the next concern, and less people than that have notable fan noise from a reasonable distance.

Sucks for those with a less than stellar unit, I feel for ya and it's probably going to be hard to swap with these supply constraints. But I do think the overall design is quiet if you haven't gotten a minority issue.


EnInog3.png
 

GHG

Gold Member
Put in for a replacement. If your unit is poorly put together or has components that are not functioning correctly you don't have to settle for it.

My first impression when taking the PS5 out of its box was that it feels cheap and not as sturdy as any other console I've previously owned (a lot of that is down to the poxy plates) but thankfully I've not had any noise or hardware related issues with it.
 

BlackTron

Member
Yeah. My coil whine as thankfully gotten more quiet actually, not as bad as it once was.. but it really pisses me off how my first two days with the system, it was completely silent.. but now I can hear a slight fan plus the coil whine, like wtf happened?


It's so fucking embarrassing and humiliating for Mark Cerny to be honest considering how big the god damn thing is. That size and yet it still can't be more quiet than a series x (which more powerful going by the sheets).

As you said everything else is great on the system, but the god damn sacrifices we put up with to experience greatness.. I swear.

When I get back to campus it's gonna be embarrassing as fuck if my xbox/nintendo fanboy of a roommate will be able to hear the ps5 considering I boasted about the size and that's why it would be quiet compared to the ps4 pro.. but he'll just rub it in my face and embarrassing me with his ultra silent series x

Back when Dreamcast was my main system it never crossed my mind that anyone would not like a console because of the noise it makes. I mean when comparing it to N64 it certainly never even registered as a thing.

Consoles are just SO similar now, that we have to compare the tiniest minute details like noise it makes or how it looks, just to find a difference. Even software libraries are more similar than ever with a giant mass of the same third party games on everything, with very small changes compared to different versions on old consoles.

I wish both of the new systems were so impossibly awesome that a detail like noise it makes it so under the radar, no one even cares. But these are the only hills left to fight battles on!
 

JORMBO

Darkness no more
Mine has a low hum I can only hear if the room is silent. I hope it doesn’t get worse over time. XB is almost completely silent.
 
Im sorry but stick a cellphone microphone behind an iMac and it will make nosie. I literally had to put my speakers all the way up to even hear anything in that video. I think some of you are way too sensitive or dont realize that there will never be a completely silent machine. Your desktop machine makes about 50 times more fan noise, the PS4 Pro is a fighter jet compared to this. Unless you are playing with teh PS5 next to your head, I dont understand how some of you find this annoying unless you are looking for a problem that was never there so placebo effect, oh I hear "something". You will always hear "something", compared to the Nintendo Switch it has about 10.000 more moving parts. Hell even the switch makes noise if you want to find it.

The electric cars are "silent". Have you actually stood by a Tesla or any other electric car? They still make some sound just not the roaring VROOM. So yes they are silent but no such thing as complete silence. You guys are expecting 2050 tech.
 
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Larlight

Member
Yeah. My coil whine as thankfully gotten more quiet actually, not as bad as it once was.. but it really pisses me off how my first two days with the system, it was completely silent.. but now I can hear a slight fan plus the coil whine, like wtf happened?


It's so fucking embarrassing and humiliating for Mark Cerny to be honest considering how big the god damn thing is. That size and yet it still can't be more quiet than a series x (which more powerful going by the sheets).

As you said everything else is great on the system, but the god damn sacrifices we put up with to experience greatness.. I swear.

When I get back to campus it's gonna be embarrassing as fuck if my xbox/nintendo fanboy of a roommate will be able to hear the ps5 considering I boasted about the size and that's why it would be quiet compared to the ps4 pro.. but he'll just rub it in my face and embarrassing me with his ultra silent series x

Considering most people don’t have any issues with coil whine,I don’t think Mark Cerny has anything to worry about.
 

ReBurn

Gold Member
Complete bollocks. Coil whine won’t even be coming from the psu.
I mean, it absolutely can come from a PSU. There are multiple exposed electromagnetic coils on that PSU that can vibrate as power flows through them. The capacitors can also vibrate, but usually not as much as the coils. Fluctuating power draw and the resistance to those fluctuations can cause the coils to vibrate at various frequencies and could indeed be audible, just like similar but smaller coils in a GPU. If they're not securely seated on the silicon they can buzz even more loudly as they vibrate against the circuit board.
 
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kuncol02

Banned
There's this poll from other place that seems to mirror my impressions of other impressions, and every time someone I know gets one I make a point to ask about their noise situation. It seems like the majority are very silent, coil whine is the next concern, and less people than that have notable fan noise from a reasonable distance.

Sucks for those with a less than stellar unit, I feel for ya and it's probably going to be hard to swap with these supply constraints. But I do think the overall design is quiet if you haven't gotten a minority issue.


EnInog3.png
Any poll about coil whine is pointless, because that problem depends on way to many variables.
1. It is on end of audible spectrum which means that some people will not hear it.
2. It can be heard only from specific points of space in relation to console. No joke I had whining PSU in notebook which you could hear in like 1m diameter sphere, just when my head was when I was sleeping.
3. It depends on what you actually play
4. For some people background noise can totally hide the noise.
5. Even where you put it can change how loud whine is.

Even without that all in mind 12% of people hearing coils whining is terrible result.
 

Antelope

Member
Sounds like your PS5 is busted or you are being pretty dramatic. I have coil whine, have had it since day 1 and the sound has remained constant. It changes depending on context (menu, loading, in game) but has not changed in overall volume. It’s too early for them to have revised the build, so an exchange is just a gamble and you might get a worse issue.
 
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M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
Cheapen out is not really a way to describe it. Many high-priced coils whine, while cheaper less capable does not. It's about what you are designing your board for and for what purpose. That "whine" is just annoying to humans, that's all. There is no indication that "whining" coils are some cheap coils. It's mainly the packaging and in this year I think you want to get what you can which fit the actual electrical specification.

Goop in MS case, is nice gesture, which probably increase BOM by 10 cents per console, but nothing "better quality".

I don't vouch for this image at all, stumbled across it a couple of days back on Reddit. Does anyone know if this is true? It could explain the difference.


wzxjiE8.jpg
Yeah in a sense that it's more digital thus less analog frequencies (read noise), but nothing "cheaper", if anything discrete components are more expensive and most likely having better voltage/current ripple.

These things are not really cut and dry. Servers whine a shitton and they are designed to reliability.
 
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