PS5 coil whine has been perhaps the biggest complaint of next-gen early adopters. While Sony’s new console is undoubtedly quieter than its PlayStation 4 range, some users are reporting an irritating whistling sound when playing graphically intensive games, like Demon’s Souls. This can range from a whining to a buzzing to a grinding sound. One fan has even hypothesised that it could be caused by a loose sticky label. Regardless, you can hear some examples of the noise through here.
But how widespread is this problem? We’re eager to find out what your experience has been: does your PS5 have coil whine? And if so, when do you experience it and how close do you need to be to the console to hear it? It’ll be interesting to see just how common this problem is, and if we can learn a little more about when it occurs and why.
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Will be interesting to get a picture of how common or widespread this is. For me, I don't hear anything beyond a very low hum when I'm playing a game.
Honestly, I thought I had coil whine. But then I slightly pressed the two points of the face plates together and it stopped. So it seems either loose faceplates or general vibrations that were dampened when I was touching them.
@thefourfoldroot That's interesting, might be something others can try! Thanks for sharing.
My console is silent unless I’m playing a game and even then it’s just the soft click/whir of the fan and I literally need to put my ear about 2-4 inches from the console to hear it.
That seems normal I think?
My console is completely silent idle, on menus etc. When I am playing a ps5 game (miles morales) I can hear the fan/coil whine/both (I am note sure) when the sound is muted and I am standing next to the console. If I am playing normally, sitting on my couch I can't hear a thing. I am very pleased with my ps5 so far.
PS. What I found interesting is that the sound profile of the console is different on miles morales, depending on the chosen graphics mode (fidelity/performance).
My PS5 is mouse quiet. It's performed beautifully, except for a single crash during Miles when I was skipping cutscenes during NG+ and a freeze during WD Legion.
No, my PS5 is quiet.
The only thing loud on the PS5 is that disc drive, spinning up at random times makes it feel like the PS4 Pro again, if only for 15 seconds at a time.
Yes I can hear it
I can hear the fan too, sitting 3 metres away. Both with game audio and a podcast playing. The fan I'm not too fussed about, but there's definitely a whirring/vibrating sound accompanying it.
I get a loud noise only when in rest mode and USB power is being supplied to the controllers.
when my daughter is playing Dreams (using speakers or headphones) II can hear it from 20 feet. It makes me question if I have super hearing.
Thankfully my PS5 seems to be perfectly fine
Horizontal.
Played Astro, Miles Morales, and Demons.
Muted volume, put Morales in performance mode. Then there is a slight hum of the fan, but certainly nothing to bother.
Only noise I have had is drive spinning up on game install.
Just good times. 👍
If anyone got it horizontal could it be vibration through the 'fins'? The stand doesn't bolt on in the traditional sense, maybe adjust it a bit.
Disk drive gets slightly loud on occasion but nothing to be concerned about.
I've heard some noise when playing BC games from the PS+ collection, but I'm not sure whether it's coil whine or just generic fan noise. It's not bothersome either way and I'm sure it would go away if I found somewhere to put it with better airflow.
I don't hear anything at all to be fair. Haven't played a graphically intensive game though.
Haven't heard anything during my time with Astro and Demon's Souls, apart from the disc drive whizzing for about 10 seconds every now and again.
Nothing for me so far. Just annoyed no themes yet.
For the most part its completely silent, sometimes there's a mild humming but nothing I can hear over the games. The noisiest part is the disc drive but overall this is significantly quieter than any PS4 I've owned.
I did have a slight buzzing when it was horizontal but since its been stood vertically I haven't heard that at all
I have it on mine. It's constant through out any game (AC/Astro/Spelunky) and it's certainly noticeable enough to want something official announced from Sony in terms of how it can be alleviated.
I have it, my console is horizontal. It is intermittent, and will start randomly. I can be in what I feel like is a relatively low graphic intensive moment in a game and it will start. It will only last for a minute or two and not really be enough to be annoying or me to be worried though.
It's been hot here in Aus so I have my fan on...
https://youtu.be/sKpBXZcb6tI
Is this considered coil whine? Then yes. Horizontally.
I've only heard it once. I moved stuff around so that my ps5 and the fan had more space to breathe and I've not heard it since. Also it was very quiet as in I needed to take my head phones off and put my head really close before I could hear anything.
blown away by how quiet the PS5 is & it never gets hot!! not heard any noises only when a disc is installing which is normal
I don't think I have any coil whine in my console. It only makes noise when reading the disc and when it does the random disc spin.
Coil whine is something that generally bothers me. However, I don't hear any from my PS5.
I have my PS5 out in the open in a climate controlled room. Maybe my fans just aren't spinning as much as others are.
I hear quiet whirring when I have audio muted or listen very closely. Not even sure if it's coil whine, might be the fan for all I know - I could probably remove the top plate and check but honestly I don't wanna do it just for that reason
It sounds like some of the videos people have labled "coil whine" but honestly it seems that's what the internet defaults to these days when electronics make any sound. I mean, you could have a clearly broken fan, post it on youtube and someone will tell you it's coil whine.
Mine's pretty much impossible to hear from 2m away when actually playing a game with sound on.
edit: sounds pretty much like what @Yinx posted
😶-My PS5 is in the Horizontal position and is completely silent when playing games on it, the fan can only be heard after I was playing Days Gone at 4K at 60fps and there were a horde of Freakers (about 200 of them) on the screen and I jumped up and went over to the PS5 to see if I could actually hear the fan, and instead of it being completely silent, I could actually hear the fan with my head about 6 inches from the console and it was whisper quite instead of it normally being completely silent, I then checked the exhaust vent and after 4 hours of gameplay and the horde still frantically killing some bikers on the screen, the air coming out was only slightly warm and not even remotely close to hot. No complaints, I definitely would say that I got a solidly built first run PS5.
I've heard that it's not actually the PS5 making the noise but people's neglected PS4's crying.
You can only hear it if you put your head at the console, on the most demanding launch game. Now 5 years from now at the peak of this gen, maybe you can hear it...
if you try to hear it.
Mine is silent the majority of the time, apart from when I first turn it on and there is a disk in the console, and also when the game first loads up. And even then, it is really quiet, I hardly notice the sounds it makes.
Mine has it in a vertical position, if the noise stays at the same level and doesn't get worse, then I'm fine with it👍
Noticed it playing Sekiro, but interestingly only during gameplay, during loading screens and menus it disappears.
@Yaycandy 😶-I totally agree!
It's amazingly silent and it stays pretty frosty considering after hours and hours of gameplay, with only slightly warm air pumping outta the back exhaust vent.(At least in my experience so far)
I'm ready for the games to really start pushing it.
Has anyone had any hard resets while playing Miles Morales? It’s happened to me twice now I don’t have rest mode enabled but both times it’s happened a separate
ps5 game was getting an update in the background
No coil whine here.
I would hear it because it is 3at the same distance my 1080Ti was and that had coil whine.
The drive is super loud when installing a game from disk. That is about it.
My ps5 is very quiet apart from the disc drive. It sounded like a lawnmower when I first put a disk in and I was genuinely worried it was chewing / crunching up a disc! I've since removed the panels and put them back on and have applied a bit of pressure on the case having read some bits on reddit and it has improved the sound of the drive a lot. It's still very loud though and I wish it wasn't. Besides that my ps5 has been running very smoothly with only one crash out of demon's souls on day 1. Nothing since.
@get2sammyb
As I posted before again and again. I have the answer of "It’ll be interesting to see just how common this problem is, and if we can learn a little more about when it occurs and why."
This is the PSU of the PS5. It has COILS. When you play intensive games the electricity that passes through them makes them VIBRATE and they touch nearby parts. That is what is making that sound. Some units do not have it because the coils do not touch anything.
The Xbox dealt with this problem by GROUNDING the vibrating parts with grey goo.
It would be nice to have some kind of feedback from you btw. Do you agree or not. Anything.
Yup and it sucks. It’s not the fan/tape situation for me, it’s a coil whine.
I’m sitting about 6-7 from it and the only time I don’t hear it is in the main PS5 menu.
It’s there but very low but as soon as start a game it’s all over the place. It changes tone depending on what is happening on screen. The only way to minimize it is by surrounding my PS5 with some panels but then I have a possible heat problem.
I’m taking it to be evaluated and fixed by geeksquad on friday since there’s no stock for an exchange. They may ***** it up worse but at this point I’ll take a full refund and wait for another one....someday
@razorxkenshin, hopefully we get a Chrono Trigger remake this time like we did with FF7
I think I can hear a very faint and rapid tat-tat type noise when in certain menu's in game. Other than that, completely silent. Might just be fan?
Nothing in the main menu.
I got my ps5 from Game in-store and I've had 4 ps5 games and to be honest it runs quiet as hell, especially from past experience with a ps4 pro and everyone can agree on that is an experience in more ways then one. But on an overall basis I've been lucky to have a ps5 and not to have any known issues with mine.
It's just very sad news that people are missing out on the ps5 because of greedy people and bots!
@Zuljaras First time I've seen your comment, so wasn't ignoring you! That's definitely interesting, though.
I mean, sounds like you understand this better than I do so that does sound like it could be a likely culprit. Is it something Sony could easily remedy for future PS5 assembly do you think?
@get2sammyb Sorry for the little harsh comment! I tagged you 2 times with the same stuff I think. But no worries.
I know about that because I exchanged my One X 5 times because of it! And I just deal with it on my PS4 Pro (which has it on a minimal level).
I have read and read and then read about the coil whine as it is one of my most hates things in consoles!
Sony could definitely do this in future revision! Actually when the warranty expires anyone could put the same compound in their PSUs or give it to a professional to do it.
People need to understand that there is NO way for a coil to not vibrate when electricity passes through it. It is normal but there are cases where the coils are close to other parts (or more coils) and they could sound like the unit is broken!
Saw a guy who took the panel off, looked into the fan and saw a sticker hanging out. He pulled the sticker out and the coil noise stopped.
Now I can't say if that voids any warranty, not sure what the sticker is for, but he had to pull the fan out to get to it.
I have mine vertical, out in the open (not in my entertainment center) and if it didn't have a light on, I wouldn't even know it was turned on. Well, other than the fact that I'm using it, 😆
Horizontal unfortunately. Ugly has hell that way, but doesn't fit under my TV. The only noise mine makes is the loud disc drive.
I'm not convinced it's a real problem, since literally every video that says it has it shows absolutely nothing and it's completely quiet.
wouldnt know its there so quite might be because not been able to purchase one
My PS5 is as quiet as one of my silent but deadly farts.
I have a tapping noise I can hear from a good 2-3meters away, with the speakers on. I can't say that it's coil whine but more a clicking noise similar to this: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.reddit.com/r/PS5/comments/jw4667/ps5_clicking_noise_even_when_not_running_games/&ved=2ahUKEwiYh9yvipztAhWZVRUIHb_1BHQQrAIoAHoECAIQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1DjSMNV6ujp00PNAS9coOs
Console is horizontal. But as soon as I rotate it vertically the noise goes away. Then comes back again as it rotates horizontally.
Has anyone else experienced this?
How can I start a fire without a torch?
How can I get coil whine without a Ps5?
One step at a time! I haven't even experienced PS5 yet!😂
Don't know about any coil whine but mine had a vibrating clicking sound when the fan speeds up; same as a few on here. I took the sides off and removed the fan (warranty seal untouched) to check, nothing obvious causing the noise. Put it all back together nice and firm, noise still there. Little press down on the top (horizonal position) and the sound stops. It only comes back it I move the PS5. For this reason I am certain my issue is just the bottom plate vibrating on the base. Hope that helps a few people hear. It's a security torx 8 for the fan if you want to check yourselves.
There has also been reports of a sticker slightly hitting the fan which has created noise.
Of note even my 3080 has coil noise, even my old 6 series Nvidia had some coil noise. It's common, unless it's very loud then just take it back under warranty. Out of the million sold, and only 1000 have an issue, this is normal for any electronics.
My ps5 not only has coil whine, but crashes continually (more than 10 times in one evening) during Dirt 5. Also crashed during astro-bot and Sackboy.
Mine is almost silent. I have to turn off volume on the tv, turn the ceiling fan and floor fan off in my room, and then stand next to the console to hear anything. All I hear is a small whir from the fan. The fan noise gets a little louder in a game.
Except for reading from the disc drive. Then it sounds like my old PS4’s Blu-Ray drive. Which is loud as hell.
@Fuzzymonkeyfunk
I’ve had one soft crash (the game crashed back to the main menu with an error code) and one hard crash (console threw up a warning about external memory, which freaked me out because I don’t have any external media devices plugged up to it) during Miles where the system shut down. Pressed the power button, it booted to safe mode for a second automatically, scanned the SSD, and then rebooted. Haven’t had an issue since.
I played it some after the patch issued yesterday and it hasn’t crashed. Since both the hard and soft crashes occurred during Miles Morales I’m assuming it’s an issue with the game.
Played four hours of Fortnite after playing Miles and no issues at all. Even checked the temperature with a laser thermometer at the vents. Running at the same temp Digital Foundries did.
My workstation has 10 fans and it sounds like it’s about to take off during demanding calculations so no coil whine can surprise me lol.
No coil whine here.
The only thing is sometimes the disc starts spinning once in a while and a bit loud (not too often though).
My PS5 is virtually silent. I can just about hear the faintest whirr from where I sit with all audio muted. With ANY sort of volume in game even when getting right next to it the sound blends into ambient noise and for all intents and purposes IS silent.
For reference Series X is even quieter, I have to double check the light is on to check it is even running.
(Both are upright and have good ventilation outside an enclosed tv stand)
@TheRedComet I’m guessing it’s an update firmware problem. When the game was freezing no buttons worked on the PS5 at all couldn’t eject a disc had the power off button pressed down for over a minute and nothing happened in the end I had to pull the plug. Works perfectly with every other game I’ve played
Haven't heard any 'Coil Whine' as this subject now seems to be labelled.
Heard a lot of 'user whine' about it though.
I’m not sure if this is coil whine or not, but whenever my PS5 is downloading or updating a game it definitely gets loud. I’ll know an update is about to pop up as being complete because the console will just get really loud mid game for no reason for a couple minutes.
Mine is vertical and I can hear a whine albeit quite low and only during Miles Morales, it is not constant but it is there! No biggie for me as it is still silent in comparison to how my Pro performed. MM did also cause my console to crash (only once so far).
Mine seems ok and I have very sensitive ears to The only one thing that happened so far was when I was installing Spiderman PS4 disc the PS5 outer plate(the one with the cutout Logo) stated to vibrate quite loud and if I put my finger on the top of the white plate it stopped Very odd. Maybe the plate is loose a bit? But installing GT Sport PS4 disc was ok tho and the Sackboy PS5 disc was loud like it was spinning at a BILLION miles an hour But only when installing. Apart from that all ok so far. Anyway Astro's Playroom is AMAZING!!!
@ScottyG that's interesting - are you on wifi or ethernet?
@Carl-G How does GT run? I am little worried to put PS4 discs in at the moment but I will have to for Cyberpunk!
I can't wait for GT 7 but wondered if sport uses the dual sense at all or is it just like the DS4?
@get2sammyb
Confirmed it’s the rattling and vibrating of a slightly loose face plate. I resorted to placing a piece of sellotape from one plate across to the other to have them both held towards the middle. Now I have no buzzing at all. Deathly quiet.
To be fair, I have yet to play anything that really pushes the limits of PS5, but I have not noticed anything yet.
@Mostik
I’m on WiFi. If I had to give it my best guess I’d say it’s the fan. But yeah whether I’m installing a game or downloading something it gets very loud during that process.
Not a huge deal since it does this stuff pretty quick
@AJDarkstar
Interesting I’m wondering if that could be it. Next time it happens I’ll get right next to it to get a better idea
Edit: ok it started a system update when I turned it on so I got very close to check it out. It IS definitely the disc spinning. 100% the noise was coming from the disc drive
Mine grumbles a bit and gets super hot at times!
Just saw this article on another site. Interesting...
https://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2020/11/21/ps5-noise-sticky-label/
I don't have any but I feel for those that do have it. Had a graphics card with coil whine a while back and my kids could not sit in the same room. Can have that finger nail effect.
@EricLane85 That is an interesting issue that I'm surprised even is an option to occur. Why they thought putting a small piece of tape right above the fan was a good idea, I don't know. Anyways, there are far more people experiencing the actual coil whine as opposed to that. The person's video that first showed people the sticker issue and how they fixed it has a much louder sound than what the coil whine actually is. I have the coil whine, but thankfully not that.
It's only really an issue because this was supposed to be a near silent machine and it's not. One could go as far as saying it's just yet another thing you could add to the list that Sony has lied about, but I'm not really sure it's as big of a deal as it's been made out to be. It's far less loud than the jet engine of the PS4 Pro. It's more or less just disappointing because it should be near silent.
Glad to know that it's not an isolated issue. I can hear it from approx. 2 meters away while playing Spiderman.
It becomes slightly annoying after a while, so hopefully someone figures out what the issue is and we can potentially fix it if it doesn't require excessive knowledge.
@tehKAMI As you asked what and how to fix it.
Perhaps some kind of hot glue or hardening foam might dampen the vibrations.
@Zuljaras Yeah...I don't really wanna void the warranty or potentially break the console with my uneducated shenanigans. Thanks for sharing, though!
Maybe the stores in my area will eventually offer such a service, considering they are offering various cooling and noise reduction solutions for previous generations of consoles.
It's interesting I was playing Elite Dangerous on my PS4 Pro the other day and my PS4 Pro turns out to have coil whine too. It's just most of the time I can't hear it over the fan. Still waiting for my PS5 but fully expect it to have coil whine. On the PS4 Pro with instances such as Elite where it's audible its not actually audible from the seating position you have to get within a meter or so of the console. Have Sony actually commented on it yet?
My theory: there is no coil whine at all... People were so used to have some kind of noise going on before that now their minds are playing tricks on them... or they have tinnitus and never realized before!! 😁
Has anybody here tried to read the following ?
https://www.lesnumeriques.com/console-de-jeu/labo-playstation-5-et-bruit-toutes-les-consoles-ne-sont-pas-dotees-du-meme-ventilateur-n157521.html
It basically says that there are at least two types of fans in the ps5s, one that is noticeably louder than the other... and that you can't know which one you have unless you open it. They also speak of the power supply, which can be responsible for the coil whine...
The website is legit and renowned in France.
Got mine today, coil whine but, not as bad as I was expecting. Only hear it if I get within a meter or so of the console. The fan is silent and the disk drive is not as bad as thought. My first DS controller seems to have great battery life too. Not tried the second one.
Mine has developed slight coil whine since received it two weeks ago. But it’s not too bad. I can hear it when I stand the near the console with my recirculating fan turned off in the room.
I play with a wireless headset on at all times so I never hear it during game play.
@BusyOlf Same here. Obviously, it's not as bad as PS4, but PS4 was easily identifiable as fan noise. This has an electronic flavor to it that I could be comfortable with if Sony would let us know exactly what it is and, more importantly, if it's bad for the console long run.
@Rodogonio i'm about to try a disc based game for the first time on the PS5 so i'm dreading it being worse than playing a digital. Mine has to go back, i'm just biding my time because ..... going cold turkey reasons
@BusyOlf Problem is one: Sony is warning people about long repair waits due to the situation, I suppose. Two, I've read more than a few comments saying they got a console with the same issue.
@arthiev @BusyOlf I have but I'm not sure this is fan noise. Fan noise sounds like a hairdryer and, after the PS4 experience, I guess most of us can easily identify it as such. Coil Whine on the other hand sounds electric, like processors doing stuff inside, it's very different.
@Rodogonio I did think it might be something inside the fan like the situation with the loose sticker that was obstructing the air flow of one persons PS5. However, the sound it's now making is a lot harsher almost as if it's a 56.6k dial up modem noise so i'm thinking it's something that's not screwed in properly.
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