Topic: PS4 Louder While Playing Skyrim Special Edition?

This might be a stupid question, so please go easy on me... But does anyone else's PS4 run a bit more loudly when playing Skyrim Special Edition? My PS4 is well ventilated (it sits ontop of my TV stand, and has plenty of space around all sides) and is only a year old; is this just normal because the game is making the PS4 work harder, or should I be worried?

When I say "a bit more loudly", I mean it's loud enough that I can hear a clear humming noise over the game's audio. Again, I know this is probably a stupid question, but please help a lady out who knows hardly anything about hardware, and just wants to enjoy the game without worrying that her console is on the brink of breaking? Thanks!

@lauravalentine Your PS4 is probably fine - a lot of different types of games can make the console's fans kick into gear. There can be quite a few reasons for this, but most of the time it'll be because the game, for whatever reason, is being particularly demanding.

For example, my PS4 gets loud during The Witcher 3, specifically when there's a lot going on. Maybe there are a lot of weather effects or characters on screen - stuff like that.

If you're still worried, you could always try playing different games and seeing whether your PS4 is as loud. If it's a constant thing, there might be a problem, but from what you've posted it sounds like it's probably just Skyrim.

@lauravalentine Oh, and I meant to ask, is this happening with Skyrim constantly or is it only when you're in specific areas of the game?

@ShogunRok, thanks for replying and not laughing at my question! To be told that it's probably just the fans is reassuring and Skyrim is a pretty demanding game, isn't it? I don't know for sure if it's happening constantly, but it's been happening enough that I've kept stopping what I'm doing to mute to sound, to see if the humming is coming from the fridge, or something - not how I want to enjoy the game!

I did try playing Rocket League to see if that made any difference (i.e. digital download, no disk) but I could still hear that humming noise after it loaded up. It could well be that I'm being paranoid though, and oversensitive to the sounds... This is my second PS4, you see, and so I really don't want anything happening to it! Probably worth mentioning as well that I recently cleared the vents/sides of dust... Could some dust be trapped inside, causing noisy fans?

I had this issue with Uncharted 4 seems to be the more intensive the graphics the more the PS4 wants to take off like a jet engine.

@KratosMD, when you say the original PS4, do you mean the launch model? Because mine is the 1 TB Ultimate Player Edition one... Glad to hear I'm not alone though!

Oh yeah, I definitely don't own the Slim. Sorry I misread there.

@lauravalentine: i don't think it's an issue my PS4 does it when i play Uncharted 4

graphic heavy games can push the hardware a bit so the fans go faster in order to keep the system cool, so in fact you should only be worried if it STOPS making that noise when playing Skyrim

depends on the game, and how it utilises the system resources. games which put the CPU/GPU under a lot of load (either because of intensive graphics or badly optimised code) tend to make the fans kick in more often. killzone shadowfall was particularly loud from what i recall. uncharted 4 wasn't particularly loud for me though. i haven't tried skyrim on PS4, but the original made the old fat PS3 whirr a fair bit.

Thanks all! Maybe now I can enjoy the game without paranoia ruining it me... I've waited so long to play Skyrim again!

@lauravalentine Worth mentioning that Rocket League is somewhat infamous for making PS4 fans go crazy. Perhaps not the best game to try instead of Skyrim! But yeah, like others have said, this doesn't sound like it's anything to worry about too much. Serious overheating would probably lead to the system crashing and stuff like that, so unless it gets to that point, just keep enjoying Skyrim (maybe with a pair of headphones).

One last thing: Although it's likely that the noise is being generated by the fans, if it's more of a slight rattle or vibration rather than a light fan noise, it could mean that the PS4's slightly off balance, or even that something's loose. My friend had an issue where when the fan was going, the system would rattle a little. When he pressed down gently on the top of the PS4, it would stop, indicating that something was a bit off.

As far as I know, it just stopped happening for whatever reason. Plastic may have expanded in the heat? No idea, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

My PS4 is louder than my PS3 ever was, on occasion. Its generally acceptable though.

@lauravalentine: I own the original model. The fan noise slowly became more noticeable as time went on. I keep mine on top of my television stand and it's well ventilated. It wasn't overheating, it was a build up of dust inside and around the fan. I eventually had to open mine up to clean it. I've cleaned it several times since. I used the link below and it took about 30 minutes.

http://m.imgur.com/gallery/UGxHR

Copy that into you address bar. It's a pictorial guide on how to open, clean and close your ps4. The difference it made was great. It went from sounding like it was about to take flight to whisper quiet again.

No problem for me - I definitely second cleaning it out, though. It takes 5 minutes and makes a big difference.

If your console seems particularly perturbed I'd also suggest cradling it overnight and whisper sweet nothings to soothe her.