PLAYSTATION 5 IS SONY’S LARGEST CONSOLE EVER, AND THAT’S A FACT THAT NEEDS TO BE CELEBRATED.

PS4 Pro is plagued by noise. Sony’s next-gen console promises peace and quiet

Gaming for me has become a lonely, isolated place. Why? Because my PS4 Pro is so loud I’m forced to play in a pair of headphones. The thing sounds like it’s winding up to explode. I’ve flown in planes quieter than my current console.

It’s why I have no qualms about PS5 being the size of a small man. It’s why I’d happily have a next-gen console that I could wear as cosplay. PS5 is the largest console Sony has made, and I’m okay with that, because every inch of this super-sized, let’s-go-large console has been packed with tech to cool the workings.

The 120mm-diameter, 46mm-thick centrifugal fan takes up most of the console’s left side, and on the right we have the massive L-shaped heat sink. This pipe-based hunk of tech emulates vapour chamber cooling and tests show after 90 minutes of play the console is still cold to the touch and deadly quiet.

The two chunks of metal are old tech compared to the real magic Sony has hiding away inside PS5 to keep it cool: liquid metal. This futuristic stuff took Sony five years to design, and can conduct 86% more heat than the standard metal parts found in previous consoles. It can significantly reduce temperatures while under the demanding loads our next-gen games will produce.

DADDY COOL

Coupled with an organic design created for the sole purpose, it seems to me, to cool the hardware, PS5 could be the best-designed console Sony has created. Put it this way: the fins and shape of PS5 have been designed to maximise airflow up, around, and through the console. The entire rear of the machine is made up of exhaust ports.

This means I’ll finally be able to hear what’s happening on-screen without expensive noise-cancelling headphones. Even with my ears protected I can always hear the background whine and growl of my PS4 Pro, removing any emotional connection from yet another angst-ridden cutscene in The Last Of Us Part II. Playing on PS5 I can finally discover if Ellie was out for revenge or just miffed because the bigger girl took her golf club.

When it comes to silent running, size matters.