PS4 Fan Noise

I sit about 6 feet away from my ps4. The only thing I can hear is when a disc is spinning. It's inaudible when there is no Blu Ray being accessed.
 
knerl said:
I opened my PS4 up last night. Changed the thermal paste and man what a difference.
They used far too much thermal paste before and probably a cheap brand too. Cleaned it off with some chemically clean gasoline and added a pea sized dot of Arctic's MX-2. Playing Infamous First Light never goes beyond the faint sound of air being pushed out from the unit now. Will have to take some more tests and report my decibel readings as well.
Wondering what works best for the APU. A dot of thermal paste in the middle letting it spread from the pressure of the heatsink or if I spread it around in an equally thin layer all over it. Going to get some better thermal pads for the memory chips as well.
Click to expand...
I would love a guide on how to do this.
 
Mine gets louder just from being in the Ground Zeroes menu (digital.) It's not jet engine loud, but you can hear it accelerate. I've sat and listened to it for a few minutes.

It's less loud during gameplay, but definitely a couple notches higher than it is in the PS4's OS. Resogun, though, is roughly the same fan as being in the OS.
 
i got my ps4 on christmas eve. i'd say it's pretty much silent.

i sit maybe 10ft from it and have never heard the fans. i don't hear any noise from it at all except of course when the HD/blu ray is spinning up or if i'm standing right beside it changing a game. same when i'm remote playing on vita. sitting in my usual location (bed) and the tv is off. i can't hear it.

as for heat. if i put my hand on top after playing for hours then i'd describe it as warm not hot.
 
bs135 said:
I sit about 6 feet away from my ps4. The only thing I can hear is when a disc is spinning. It's inaudible when there is no Blu Ray being accessed.
Click to expand...

Good hearing in general? If so. Nice!
Care to share the model/serial number of the unit? It's printed underneath it.
 
TheZink said:
I would love a guide on how to do this.
Click to expand...

First off. If you're not comfortable with disassembling hardware you perhaps shouldn't attempt it yourself. You break the warranty by doing it also. I decided to do it because I've exchanged it three times and sent it in to Sony. Not even they were competent enough to handle the issue correctly so I felt that in order to get it done I had to do it myself. In my case the issue was because of badly applied thermal paste in combination with a cheap brand. There could be other factors to loud noise. The fan could be faulty for example or some bad/dying components could be a contributing culprit.

If you do feel like doing it though I can recommend a search on YouTube for "Ben Heck's PS4 teardown". He got me going on opening the chassi without breaking anything. After that I kept going on my own since I felt it was pretty easy to understand which screws kept what together just by looking at it. It's very similar to a PS3 inside if that's any help.
It should be enough to look at above mentioned video for the teardown.
Removing the already applied thermal paste from the APU and the heatsink requires exactly the same techniques as for a regular CPU in a desktop computer so google something in that area and you'll find lots of info on the subject.

I used Arctic's MX-2 which is really great at lowering temperatures and it's 100% non-conductive so in case you accidentally smear some on other components you don't risk a blow-out. I used the size of a pea right in the middle on the APU.
I don't know which method is the best for applying it in this case since it varies from CPU to CPU and depending on the thermal paste being used. My Intel i5 2500k for example has a vertical line of arctic silver 5 applied on it since that's what the manufacturer recommends. The same paste on other processors could fare better with a dot in the middle or a horizontal line or perhaps being smeared out on the entire chip.

For tools you'll need a hollow torx t9 and a couple of regular cross screwdrivers.
 
I've found it to be a lot quieter when placed horizontally, which is a shame as it looks way cooler standing upright.
 
DWinn7 said:
Do you have it in an open space? or inside your entertainment console?
Click to expand...

That definitely matters. I had mine inside an entertainment console before. I'd open the door when playing of course, and it never hit more than a little warm to the touch. The fans did get fairly loud sometimes though. Nothing sitting our worrying though, and not as loud as my 360s or PS3 slim.

Now I got another tv and set up a man cave and it's totally open on all sides on a TV stand and I rarely notice any fan noise.
 
doofy102 said:
I can hear the fan quite loudish and clear, and I'm just paused in Evil Within. Definitely gonna chat to Sony in the morning.
Click to expand...

Evil within is a technical mess with bad optimization so it might be stressing PS4 a lot along with your ventilation could be bad. I think this is normal and also try the new PS4 update coming up in two days which may improve the thermal too as its big update.
 
biglittleps said:
Evil within is a technical mess with bad optimization so it might be stressing PS4 a lot along with your ventilation could be bad. I think this is normal and also try the new PS4 update coming up in two days which may improve the thermal too as its big update.
Click to expand...

Ventilation is fine, my console has plenty of open space.

While running Ground Zeroes (digital, no disc inserted) the fan is nearly as loud as during Evil Within. My PS4 can't seem to run either of these games without speeding the fan up a couple or a few dials within like eight minutes.

It's not at jet engine levels and if it weren't for this topic I'd believe it to be normal/fine, which it probably is - but it is louder than my PS3 slim. You'd be crazy to describe it as inaudible. The thing is constantly whirring.

I am testing with my TV on mute, by the way. I notice that a fair few people mention hearing it in the silent moments of The Last of Us, and it bothering them. As for the people claiming their PS4 is "whisper quiet" I'd like to know how loud their TV's are.
 
The PS4 is definitely louder than my ps3 slim (self cleaning works) and that hugely disappointing. I play on a 24inch monitor so I'm up close but the system has at least 10 inches of free room in the back. It gets super hot on top (right hand side). I'll try new thermal paste when my warranty is up (launch unit) but I was curious if the fan can actually be changed - to something better.
 
vin-buc said:
The PS4 is definitely louder than my ps3 slim (self cleaning works) and that hugely disappointing. I play on a 24inch monitor so I'm up close but the system has at least 10 inches of free room in the back. It gets super hot on top (right hand side). I'll try new thermal paste when my warranty is up (launch unit) but I was curious if the fan can actually be changed - to something better.
Click to expand...

Not with ease.
 
Yeah for me its the fan noise, not the disc drive. That said, I've become used to the noise, it doesn't bother me too much anymore. And it doesn't seem to get as loud as it used to for some reason.
 
Mine is pretty dead silent. Was at the cabin a few weeks back using it for remote play and couldn't even hear the thing and it was 3 feet from my head and the room was dead silent
 
drotahorror said:
I wonder if this is normal? I posted it in another thread (PSN thread) because I didn't see or think about this one. But I actually have some more information about it now.


Every night at 3 AM EST, my ps4's fan will turn on for less than a second and then go off. The ps4 is completely turned off (the power cord is connected though of course. But yeah, fan just comes on for less than a second and then turns off, every night at 3AM like clockwork.

Maybe it's checking to see if there's an update or something?
Click to expand...

Can anyone chime in on this?

Btw, my PS4 makes very little noise in normal play. In Driveclub there is no sound coming from it at all. It's a decent spacious enclosed area (not the front or back, just sides/bottom/top. It's in a larger space than my receiver (I flip flopped them one day). I also use an electric duster to clean out the vents and whatnot every month or two.
 
knerl said:
First off. If you're not comfortable with disassembling hardware you perhaps shouldn't attempt it yourself. You break the warranty by doing it also. I decided to do it because I've exchanged it three times and sent it in to Sony. Not even they were competent enough to handle the issue correctly so I felt that in order to get it done I had to do it myself. In my case the issue was because of badly applied thermal paste in combination with a cheap brand. There could be other factors to loud noise. The fan could be faulty for example or some bad/dying components could be a contributing culprit.

If you do feel like doing it though I can recommend a search on YouTube for "Ben Heck's PS4 teardown". He got me going on opening the chassi without breaking anything. After that I kept going on my own since I felt it was pretty easy to understand which screws kept what together just by looking at it. It's very similar to a PS3 inside if that's any help.
It should be enough to look at above mentioned video for the teardown.
Removing the already applied thermal paste from the APU and the heatsink requires exactly the same techniques as for a regular CPU in a desktop computer so google something in that area and you'll find lots of info on the subject.

I used Arctic's MX-2 which is really great at lowering temperatures and it's 100% non-conductive so in case you accidentally smear some on other components you don't risk a blow-out. I used the size of a pea right in the middle on the APU.
I don't know which method is the best for applying it in this case since it varies from CPU to CPU and depending on the thermal paste being used. My Intel i5 2500k for example has a vertical line of arctic silver 5 applied on it since that's what the manufacturer recommends. The same paste on other processors could fare better with a dot in the middle or a horizontal line or perhaps being smeared out on the entire chip.

For tools you'll need a hollow torx t9 and a couple of regular cross screwdrivers.
Click to expand...
Thanks so much. Im ok with opening stuff up. I used to work IT at a large school.
 
TheZink said:
Thanks so much. Im ok with opening stuff up. I used to work IT at a large school.
Click to expand...

dont know if thats a good idea...i read different reports that changing the thermal paste lead to nothing...and you´re voiding your warranty

is there any "proof" that this works?
 
I put all my consoles on sponge feet to raise them up a bit, my PS4 is louder than my PS3 FAT but not as noisy as my X360 FAT, i cannot hear either over the game audio though.
 
i just want to share my readings on the system.

i put my htc m8 phone on top of the black mate ps4 just 1 inch away from the lower back. the reading for my ps4 is around 30 when the system was on. then it went to 40 during the game play of drive club and it stays there between 40 to 42 max. i played for like 1 hour.

this is my phone just 1 inch away from the back on top of the ps4. if i hold the phone and put it on the floor right behind the ps4. the reading is about 50.

i am guessing thats normal. i do not think the ps4 is as quite as the xbox one.
 
Had mine since April maybe, ran fairly noisey and hot through the beginning of summer

Honestly though I have had no reason to turn it on in months

Where the hell are the exclusive games!!! I cant see anything coming before uncharted for me to turn it on neither :(

Ps4 was always going to be my single player exclusive machine but really where are they!
 
Rock Howard said:
dont know if thats a good idea...i read different reports that changing the thermal paste lead to nothing...and you´re voiding your warranty

is there any "proof" that this works?
Click to expand...

Honestly, you shouldn't have to change thermal paste after 6mos - 1 year. But there is a 100% difference in thermal paste types and the heat that they help dissipate. One thing I remember reading up on was that there are a certain number of cycles (system off/on) before the paste really kicks in. Its not like there will be a difference after the paste application.
 
vin-buc said:
Honestly, you shouldn't have to change thermal paste after 6mos - 1 year. But there is a 100% difference in thermal paste types and the heat that they help dissipate. One thing I remember reading up on was that there are a certain number of cycles (system off/on) before the paste really kicks in. Its not like there will be a difference after the paste application.
Click to expand...

Not really true. While the paste does get better with time initially the difference directly after application can be like night and day. It doesn't have to be depending on how good/bad the one before was and how it was applied etc. The proof is the world of hardware and cooling solutions. Changing thermal pastes in computers I've seen instant drops of 10 degrees celsius.
 
Ordering some better thermal pads today. Should improve the cooling even more.
For some reason only half of the memory chips in mine had thermal pads to begin with.
 
Mine is most of the time realy quiet. But sometimes it gets realy loud depending on what game I play.

When I play BF4 its realy realy quiet but when I put Metro Redux in it, it gets so loud after playing 20 min. After that it returns to normal.
 
knerl said:
I opened my PS4 up last night. Changed the thermal paste and man what a difference.
They used far too much thermal paste before and probably a cheap brand too. Cleaned it off with some chemically clean gasoline and added a pea sized dot of Arctic's MX-2. Playing Infamous First Light never goes beyond the faint sound of air being pushed out from the unit now. Will have to take some more tests and report my decibel readings as well.
Wondering what works best for the APU. A dot of thermal paste in the middle letting it spread from the pressure of the heatsink or if I spread it around in an equally thin layer all over it. Going to get some better thermal pads for the memory chips as well.
Click to expand...

do you know what kind of heatsink is used in ps4?
Im thinking about aplying some liquid metal
http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B0039RY3MM/
but Ive read its quite aggresive on aluminium.
 
shattyboombatty said:
Fair question. Yes, playing with the speakers muted, nothing else going on in the room, windows open, not even warm in the room, and 5+ inches of space on all sides of the console. Here's a pic... the phone is resting 4-5 inches behind the console. I'll contact sony and see if they think it's replacement worthy.

kg1atBB.jpg


edit: not quite 80db like I mentioned, but pretty close.
Click to expand...

Putting your phone right into the air flow will give you high values. You can check that by even lightly breathing out into your phone's microphone from a distance.
 
I've noticed my fan seems louder than I'm used to. I was in the living room for a long time but moved into an extra bedroom a couple months ago. Went from 10 feet to 2 feet away and didn't notice any difference with or without headphones. That is until The Evil Within was preloading. Was playing a game and switched to the PSN store and the fan kicked up. Come to find out TEW was loading at the same time. Restarted the Ghosts campaign this weekend for giggles and again the fan gets loud periodically. I always turn mine off and rarely use standby and it occurred to me while reading this thread that there may be background cleanup processes needing to run that I'm cutting short. I say that because I deleted a bunch of games off my hard drive and redownloaded another over the weekend. So it's possible the PS4 is optimizing the drive...maybe, seems logical unless someone has a better idea. Think I'm leaving mine on standby tonight to see if it helps.

Edit: grammar
 
knerl said:
Not really true. While the paste does get better with time initially the difference directly after application can be like night and day. It doesn't have to be depending on how good/bad the one before was and how it was applied etc. The proof is the world of hardware and cooling solutions. Changing thermal pastes in computers I've seen instant drops of 10 degrees celsius.
Click to expand...

Indeed. I have assembled enough computers to know that if I messed up the paste I know within 5 minutes of booting the computer. It can be instantly dramatic if it is poorly done.

Is the PS4 difficult to open and re-paste? Mine is also loud and I am weighing sending it in for replacement vs. doing it myself.
 
If you've guys have seen my recent threads, I think you know im gonna be right at home in here :)

What app are you guys using to capture the sound?

Thx
 
knerl said:
Are you dumb? If it's not meeting the same noise levels as a product it's supposed to be quieter than it's the product. I know exactly how it works when it comes to heat, cooling and noise. Been building computers for well over twelve years.

You realize it's only one part that's moving inside the PS4 to actively keep it cool?
The sound level of a PS4 is supposed to be lower than that of a PS3 when under full load. Full load means maximum amount of heat it can generate. It it's not met something is wrong. I'm not asking them to redesign it I'm demanding that the standard they themselves have set is met. BIG DIFFERENCE.

EDIT:
I hope for your own sake that you understand that some units do have a worse build quality than others?
They don't all come from the same factory, not all of them gets the same quality control and not all of them have identical components.
Click to expand...


knerl said:
For fuck sake Sony. Three times I've exchanged my PS4 directly from the retailer and one time I've sent it in to Sony themselves just to have to wait a month to get it back. Only to find out that the extreme noise during gameplay have not been resolved. Called their support to find out what they did with the one I sent in since they told me that I would be informed of exactly what they'd done when I got it back, but behold. They had no clue at all what their service department had done to it. I got a new unit back with another serial number so clearly they exchanged it for another one, but did they bother to even test it? Highly doubt it. They even found it strange that I said that they told me I would be informed of what they had done. Even though they said so on the phone when I sent it in and the fact that it's written on the instructions sheet I got of how to pack the unit before I sent it in.

Really irritating since none of now all five units I've had has met the standard which they are promising us. It SHOULD. Note SHOULD be quieter than a PS3 even while playing games no matter which title. Quieter than a PS3 slim that is and those bad boys if working correctly doesn't break 40dB under heavy load even after a few hours. The PS4s I've had now have all been louder than a PS3 Phat. Like I said to the support worker when I called last time I for one wont stand for it. Of course he tried to make it into a subjective matter, but like I told him noise is only subjective as long as you're discussing whether or not something is loud. When you compare two sources of noise and you can clearly come to the conclusion that object A is louder than B it's as objective as it gets. Especially when you use a scientific instrument called a decibel meter.

He ran around his office asking around of how it should be. He even tested out the units they had at his office and compared them all. Apparently all the PS4s they had were louder than all the PS3s they had and he himself after asking around confirmed that it SHOULD be quieter than a PS3. Problem is that he could not for his life guarantee that if I'd send this one in it would get better even though it has to be since they are promising us this standard. They apparently repair a shit load of units all the time and they all go through a standard test no matter what type of issue exists on the ones we send in.

I finally got him to start looking for info regarding what had happened with the one I sent in and the one they sent back to me. They are going to email me that info as soon as they have it. Been waiting a couple of days now. Waiting for that information before I break the warranty and exchange the thermal paste myself. Might as well change the thermal pads too. Problem is if he can't guarantee anything what the fuck do we need them for? He was willing to write a more demanding note to the service department about it NOT being up to their set standards, but he could still not guarantee anything.
I really don't want to wait another month just to find out that the same crap happens again. I.E. I get yet another console which haven't been properly tested.

I had to spend ~$550 just to be welcomed by unbearable noise while playing games on a game console. Not to mention exchange it, send it in for repairs and be left waiting for a month. All for nothing. Someone sue their asses. I take this pretty seriously since I want to enjoy playing games. I can't when it's so loud. Every single unit I've had has gone past ~50dB just like that. Not ok and it's certainly not even close to being as quiet as a PS3. Have had at least five of those and all of them have been really quiet at all times.

There. Had to get that out.
Click to expand...

You and I are now brothers :)
 
Compared to fat PS3, my PS4 is very silent. PS3 turned into nuclear powerplant mode after 10 minutes, PS4 is louder only on several occasions (TLOU for example), but nothing compared to PS3

It can be heard after some time, but i have it on table right next to the TV (less than 2 meters from me) and I cannot hear it with sound coming out of from TV speakers. Heck, i can even sleep with PS4 downloading stuff.
 
I can't hear shit when it's on and i have "over-sensitive" hearing.

That said, i pull the plug at night, because there is a minimal fan-sound that bothers me. Not loud, but once you notice it...
 
AndyD said:
Indeed. I have assembled enough computers to know that if I messed up the paste I know within 5 minutes of booting the computer. It can be instantly dramatic if it is poorly done.

Is the PS4 difficult to open and re-paste? Mine is also loud and I am weighing sending it in for replacement vs. doing it myself.
Click to expand...

If you have a hollow Torx T9 and a couple of regular cross screwdrivers it's pretty easy opening it up. Be careful and keep in mind that if you're using any real force to get something open you're doing it wrong. Most parts in it slides, opens or clicks apart with relative ease after removing the screws.
 
pLow7 said:
I can't hear shit when it's on and i have "over-sensitive" hearing.

That said, i pull the plug at night, because there is a minimal fan-sound that bothers me. Not loud, but once you notice it...
Click to expand...

Share the model/serial number would you?
 
My ps4 is totally silent, except when playing specific games like bf4. Playing fifa or shadow of mordor the console is whisper quiet.
I dont quite get this. Probably more demanding games force the fans to start working harder?
Its totally aceptable anyway, in its worst moments it is not that loud.
 
lordxar said:
I've noticed my fan seems louder than I'm used to. I was in the living room for a long time but moved into an extra bedroom a couple months ago. Went from 10 feet to 2 feet away and didn't notice any difference with or without headphones. That is until The Evil Within was preloading. Was playing a game and switched to the PSN store and the fan kicked up. Come to find out TEW was loading at the same time. Restarted the Ghosts campaign this weekend for giggles and again the fan gets loud periodically. I always turn mine off and rarely use standby and it occurred to me while reading this thread that there may be background cleanup processes needing to run that I'm cutting short. I say that because I deleted a bunch of games off my hard drive and redownloaded another over the weekend. So it's possible the PS4 is optimizing the drive...maybe, seems logical unless someone has a better idea. Think I'm leaving mine on standby tonight to see if it helps.

Edit: grammar
Click to expand...

if there is a change in behaviour, quite often you will need to clean up the vents... my original PS3 went from whisper quiet to crazy loud... I didnt clean the vents before, so I took it apart and found huge pile dust blocking the vents... after that, i vacuumed the wents (on low) every month and never had a problem with current PS3 i own.
 
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