PS4's thermal engineering is hilariously bad.

[Kawaii Koneko]

30 minutes ago, Nedkely said:

I dont think overheating will be a problem with ps4 chip, especially ps4 pro. 

Unless the cooling system stopped suddenly to work or you will get dust inside.  

Console is running low power consuming HSA chip integrated GPU and CPU, which architecture significantly decreases the heat waste for a computing power it delivers. 

My ps4 pro is way more silent playing witcher 3 for several hours than my gaming yetfueled laptop running gta 5. 

 

Practically, there should be no problems with the console as long as you will keep it clean. Keep it horizontally and it will be fine playing games for many many many hours. 

 

Yeah, I'm not worried about any overheating. I was just wondering if perhaps the chip is capable of running harder than it actually runs due to cooling limitations. Like if the cooling was a little better, they could have pushed it a little harder.

I vacuum out my consoles every time I clean my gaming area so I keep the PS4 fairly clean from dust. I think it is out of warranty by now so I should probably start opening it up now and then for a thorough cleaning though. 

[minervx]

im not saying the ps4 was ever at risk of overheating.  but i am saying it's a marvel of science sony was able to combine so many bad decisions in a system that actually deosnt overheat

[Ithanul]

On 10/5/2017 at 8:28 PM, Valkyrie Lenneth said:

stop placing it inside a box then coz i dont even hear my ps4

Same, I have a PS4 Pro.  I keep all my consoles on an open shelf for best cooling.  Don't hear the bugger at all.  Plus, I dust them on a regular basis.  Main reason I still have a running Xbox, Gamecube, Wii, Wii U, PS2, and PS3.  I tend to look after my electronics.

 

Also, some consoles are designed to use the body to pull heat off the hardware (depending on console build).  So, the body acts like a large heat sink.

[Stefan Payne]

On 5.11.2017 at 5:03 AM, minervx said:

im not saying the ps4 was ever at risk of overheating.  but i am saying it's a marvel of science sony was able to combine so many bad decisions in a system that actually deosnt overheat

That's only your oppinion.

The reality is somewhat different and more complicated from what you think.

 

And it may be better to let the APU run at a higher temperature while it is in use but keep the temperature as steady as possible....

 

You have no idea how hot the APU gets and how long it will last, you are just guessing.

[Nedkely]

4 hours ago, Stefan Payne said:

That's only your oppinion.

The reality is somewhat different and more complicated from what you think.

 

And it may be better to let the APU run at a higher temperature while it is in use but keep the temperature as steady as possible....

 

You have no idea how hot the APU gets and how long it will last, you are just guessing.

APU is not getting any hotter than your standard CPU or GPU, in fact it is a chip solution that reduces the power usage and heat waste. While thinking that one chip contain GPU and CPU together will result in higher temperatures and power usage, it is not because that chip solution optimize both computing units to the point where there are no blank and scheduling process needed between them, it saves a tons of computing power and the chip needs less power as a result. 

APU on ps4 is optimized to maintain hours of playing games, it hardly gets hot and loud comparing it to the PC rigs with stock coolers. 

I had a 11 hours gaming session on diablo 3 with friends and mortal combat etc, the console didnt got any hot or loud. Ps4 could get hot if you put it in the bad position like vertically without a stand, it will make cooling system to work harder. 

 

[Monte_Carlo]

Considering the PS4 keeps cool with so little apparent airflow isn't really bad engineering, but rather impressive engineering.

 

If you want hilariously bad cooling design/engineering, look to the Nissan 370z.  Apparently a few publications had issues with overheating brakes on the track due to a lack of airflow over the hardware.  A few of the publications have gone on to wonder if it was aero tweaks aimed at fuel economy that killed airflow over the brakes.  

[Zodiark1593]

On 11/4/2017 at 8:58 PM, Kawaii Koneko said:

Yeah, I'm not worried about any overheating. I was just wondering if perhaps the chip is capable of running harder than it actually runs due to cooling limitations. Like if the cooling was a little better, they could have pushed it a little harder.

I vacuum out my consoles every time I clean my gaming area so I keep the PS4 fairly clean from dust. I think it is out of warranty by now so I should probably start opening it up now and then for a thorough cleaning though. 

Most probably, higher clocks could be achieved with better cooling, but costs also go up. The extra cooling costs money, and the PSU may need modification to accommodate the extra power draw, and may need extra cooling itself.

 

I have doubts that Sony or Microsoft are eager have a repeat of the failure rates that plagued early PS3 and 360 units, leading to much more conservative systems in the later iterations. Less power hungry components means less heat output, and cheaper cooling + psu, and better reliability.

 

Fun fact: I predicted (on the Steam forums in 2012) that at least one of the two major consoles would use an APU-type chip, citing the above reasons. I got some bashing as it was believed current APUs then were too weak, though no one there seemed to believe a custom APU would be made. As it would turn out, I was correct.

[AshleyAshes]

1 hour ago, Zodiark1593 said:

I got some bashing as it was believed current APUs then were too weak

Well they were, are, and maybe Vega powered PC APUs will change that but we'll see.  But I only mean that in that even the most powerful APUs for PC were only HALF the performance of the original Xbox One.  The APUs seen in consoles were simply monstrous in comparison to what AMD released on PC.  I was hoping that we'd see a trickle down of those large APUs into PC but so far it's never happened.

 

The real fault was people assuming that the APUs used in console could be no more powerful than the ones seen in PC.