I live in a climate where it is mostly cool for the duration of the year, so this generally isn't much of an issue, however during the summer it can get quite humid and my apartment can reach up to 91 degrees in the hottest of times. I have AC set up in my bedroom and do plan to move my PS5 into that area during the hottest months, however during the in-between times of getting my AC set up, I've been wondering if it is detrimental to my PS5 to run it in hotter conditions.
I've looked online into cooling options, and from my slightly above average understanding of technology, the cooling fans sold on Amazon etc. are NOT worth it. At the very least they do pretty much nothing, and at the worst they could make your console work harder, especially if they need to draw power from the console to function. In fact, I'd like to sate here that you should seriously reconsider before buying any sort of cooling device for your console as generally speaking they don't need it and do a very good job of handling cooling on their own.
That being said, I'm worried that a higher ambient temperature may also not be good for them. As a bit of a work-around, I had a personal air cooler unit that uses water to cool a portion of the air around something. I pointed this at the intake vents on the PS5 and while the temperature in the room is around 85-90 degrees, the personal cooling unit keeps the air around the intake vents at about 70 or lower depending. I realize this isn't cooling the GPU directly, but it should in theory be keeping the heatsinks that the heat is transmitted into cooler thus aiding in keeping the PS5 cooler. This unit is independent of the console and runs off its own power source.
I guess my question is - is there a point to me doing this? Or am I blowing cold air around my console for no good reason? I'd like to hear your opinion on this. I ask mainly because near the end of using my PS4, the fan was so loud I could hear it from down the hall. I'd like to keep my PS5 under as limited amount of stress with cooling as possible. Yes, I keep it in a well ventilated area and keep it on Standby or shut it down fully when not using it.
@DailyNightly I’m certainly no expert either, but keeping the air around your console cooler is probably helpful, I would surmise. The only issue I worried about with your set up there was saying that the space cooler you have is water based and I would just hope it’s not blowing humidified air at your console. I’m wondering if water condensation is a concern and how that may get in the workings of the console. Just a thought.
Otherwise, if there not moisture being generated by your cooler, then the lower temperature is sure to help. I know Sony is proud of the cooling system they designed for the PS5, so you’re probably in good shape regardless. The console is supposed to shut down if it gets too warm, although I’ve never experienced that happening.
And I’m sure you have already done this or considered it, but for completeness sake I would just mention cleaning the fans and even the heat sink from dust and debris if you’re worried. I’ve had my PS5 for over 2 years and have yet to do it myself though. 😅
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
Colder, moist air from a space cooler won’t condense on the warmer surfaces inside the console. Quite the opposite actually, warm moist air would condense on a cold surface, like on a cold mirror after a hot shower. There’s essentially no risk of that happening in a normal situation.
(Anyway, there are typically vast amounts of moisture in the air all the time, you breathe out a large cup full each day alone! Let alone sweating, drying soaking wet towels, etc a bit more in the summer from a space cooler is no drama)
A space cooler wouldn’t hurt if it’s lowering the ambient temperature in the room, not really eco friendly, I would say really just make sure there is plenty of space around the console and use it as normal. If it really starts overheating it’ll be doing weird stuff like slowing down, locking up and crashing. I wouldn’t be worried unless it was like… 40 degrees out.
@Th3solution Thank you for your input! I did initially have the thought, but the air cooler itself does evaporate the moisture into the air highly effectively, and doesn't seem to condense. That, and because its the cold air going into the much warmer space inside the console, any sort of condensation shouldn't really be a thing.
I do have to say that after tearing down and fixing several PS4s for people (apply new thermal paste, cleaning out the vents etc), Sony did a MUCH better job with cooling on the PS5. I think the main issue with the PS4, at least the base model PS4 - is that the air vents were easily clogged and the internal fan was far too small. While the air current generated was sufficient (my console never flat out overheated), it wasn't enough to keep the fan from running on high during more demanding games that came out later in its lifespan. Playing Red Dead Redemption 2 was nuts, I had to have a noise cancelling headset because as mentioned, I couldn't hear my TV over the roar of that little fan spinning its heart out.
Colder, moist air from a space cooler won’t condense on the warmer surfaces inside the console. Quite the opposite actually, warm moist air would condense on a cold surface, like on a cold mirror after a hot shower. There’s essentially no risk of that happening in a normal situation.
(Anyway, there are typically vast amounts of moisture in the air all the time, you breathe out a large cup full each day alone! Let alone sweating, drying soaking wet towels, etc a bit more in the summer from a space cooler is no drama)
Thanks for your input on this. After doing a few teardowns on PS4s for people, I have to say that the PS5 has a much more robust cooling system - massive fan, huge heatsinks - much more open air grill and the new liquid metal is supposed to work quite well too.
The space cooler I have is actually really good with energy, it runs off a micro USB and has a very small electricity consumption, providing just enough cooling to create a 'bubble' of cold air around the console's intake vents. But the vibe I'm getting is, so long as the console has adequate ventilation around it and I'm not using it in extreme heat (90 degrees+) in like, directly sunlight or something silly, it should be able to handle it well without any issues (I also realize all modern consoles now have a safety shut off to prevent damage if there is excessive heat the console can't manage).
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Topic: Cooling aid for the PS5
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