PS5 is Larger Than Xbox Series X, But It is Cooler, Says Digital Foundry - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 02 June 2021 / 8,672 Views
Digital Foundry has posted its review of Sony's next-generation console, the PlayStation 5. In the review, they say the PS5 is similar to the Xbox Series X in that the noise is not an issue. The PS5 is also larger than the Xbox Series X, however, in their testing, the console didn't run as hot as the Xbox Series X.
"Thankfully, a lot more thought has gone into the physical design of the console itself," said Digital Foundry. "Yes, it's large and unwieldy and certainly not as media cabinet friendly as prior generations. It also seems fairly clear that similar to Series X, this is a machine designed to be placed in a vertical configuration: what looks futuristic and elegant (if imposing) when upright doesn't quite work when placed on its side, requiring the stand to sit comfortably at all - a stand that all too easily slips off the console when you move it.
"It's a controversial design (as was PS4 back in the day), but it is what it is for a very specific reason - and it works. Put simply, in working with a high-power processor, heat generation (and dissipation) is a genuine issue. Microsoft's solution is a compact, dense piece of industrial design aimed at maximising airflow. Sony's alternative is sheer area: allowing heat to siphon off into a relatively gigantic cooler, expelled out of the case in several directions via a 120mm fan. The same problem is dealt with in very different ways - but crucially both of them work in delivering cool and quiet consoles.
"First of all, similar to Series X, I think that noise is basically a non-issue with PlayStation 5. Close-up to the console, you can hear the slight whir of the fan, but in living room, office or bedroom conditions, this totally disappears into the ambient noise. Fan speeds (and thus noise) also seem remarkably consistent, and even ramping up power draw as much as I could with Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales in photo mode - and then leaving the console alone for an hour - PlayStation 5 continued to be just as cool and quiet. The thermal photography of the system under load is literally illuminating.
"The top of the machine is essentially at room temperature, and even in the centre of the unit where the SoC lurks, the console's skin temperature is in the mid-30s Celsius. Some of the excess heat leaves the console via the vents in the centre, where temperatures rise to the mid 40s. However, the back of PlayStation 5 is the main escape route for heat - the whole rear of the unit is basically a big vent and temperatures hit around 50 Celsius max here, generally. The hottest point in the thermal photography comes in at 57 Celsius on the LAN port, but I think that's just the nature of metal conducting heat and not anything to worry about.
"All told then, job done: PlayStation 5 is larger than Xbox Series X, but it is also cooler. The key point is that the days of jet engine acoustics emanating from your Sony console are a thing of the past."
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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Yep cooler and less noisy.... the trade off is its size.
It is about 4 decibels louder.
You're point? It's bigger, more premium device.
More premium design, aesthetics, materials, peripherals. The power doesn't mean much when ps5 has less bottlenecks and better i/o design.
Personally, I couldn't say which one is cooler, both look nice.
OK, from now on... Cerny is known as ICE MAN... 8-P
I don't care for the look of the PS5, or the fact that it is gigantic. But, I don't buy consoles for the look of the hardware. I buy them for performance. So, if it's cool and quiet, that's what matters most.
I think it is cooler on design as well.
Ps5 looks beautiful
Well you would hope so if its bigger.
I actually agree with this. If your design is much larger, on a slightly weaker console (that uses less power), and it runs hotter and is more noisy.... its a bad design. You would naturally assume the bigger design, made cooling and such much easier.
Except Sony lead designer said they could have achieved same effect on smaller size but would have a higher production cost because they would need to use two fans.
Essay Pro