The PlayStation 5’s cooling fan will be optimized in future updates but will vary considerably on how future titles affect the console’s thermoregulation.
Coming from an interview by 4Gamer.net, as translated into English by ResetEra user orzkare, PS5 Mechanical and Thermal Design Engineer Yasuhiro Ootori unveils Sony’s adaptive plan to make the next-gen console a capable platform for upcoming games. The suggestion, specifically, is to maintain a level of coolness over the console’s APU.
To the unaware of the technical terminology, APU pertains to the gaming platform’s chip that provides its processing power. Furthermore, it’s also a hybrid between a CPU and GPU in a single component. Among the tech enthusiasts or experts, the APU would be reminiscent of AMD’s “A” series chips or its “G” variant of Ryzen CPUs.
“Various games will be released in the future, and data on the APU’s behaviour in each game will be collected. We have a plan to optimize the fan control based on this data.”
Cool is always better
In other words, Sony is still testing PlayStation 5’s capability to sustain a degree of temperature that renders it capable of working at optimum performance. An issue that would otherwise be hampered—or worse, ruined—resulted from having too much heat.
Going further into the technical details, Ootori explains how the PS5 inhabits plenty of unique sensors that will aid in the overall process. He also reveals the number of sensors in the console’s motherboard (four) as well as that in the APU (one) itself. More importantly, he discloses the benchmark, which they will be using as a reference for future adjustments on the cooling fan.
“… internal temperature of the APU and the highest temperature of the three temperature sensors”.
Despite the uncertainty with the PlayStation 5’s current setup, Ootori, however, is confident in having delivered the right practice to its cooling system’s making. In particular, he mentions how his team has made use of computer-aided engineering as well as practical knowledge on the subject.
“We made a transparent model of the chassis and observed the dry ice smoke flowing through it, and took temperature readings in each part of the system as we made improvements.”
Microsoft issue
While Sony may have uneasiness over its upcoming next-gen console’s ability to cool itself, Microsoft, on the other hand, has an almost similar issue with its own prototype, which was reportedly a source of heat.
For the benefit of the consumers, especially those in arid areas, let’s just hope that the latter will not release a “heater” for a gaming product.
Image used courtesy of PlayStation/YouTube Screenshot