PS4 Overheating – Pro Tips To Cool Your Console

Is your PS4 fan too noisy? Is your PS4 overheating? Then you need to find out the best ways to cool your console. If your console gets too hot it can cause real problems and your fans can break. So, check out these expert tips on how to stop your PS4 from getting too hot.

[Neonridr]

my Pro definitely gets noisy when the fan kicks into high gear.

[Sonyslave3]

Same with my slim lol think I playing it too much.

[Neonridr]

mine is in a TV cabinet, but it's open on the front and sides and has a good 6-8 inches above it for clearance.

[bloop]

My PS4 fan seems to always kick in when I'd least expect it to. Street fighter 5 for instance, no noise whatsoever when in menu, loading into a fight, during a fight but then on the results screen after a fight it starts going mental. And it's like this with other games too. Always found it bizarre. HZD, in a battle with 2 thunderjaws, a herd of tramplers and a sawtooth........ quiet as a mouse. Displaying the result screen in a mp match.......... Meltdown!!!

[UKRsoldja]

I don't know why Bloop got disagrees. He's right. My Pro is quiet during MWR matches, but sounds like a vacuum cleaner in post-game lobby.

[blackblades]

Hell yeah, mines get like that when playing injustice 2 with hdr on.

[yemijexox]

I quit working at shoprite and now I make $35h - $80h...how? I'm working online! My work didn't exactly make me happy so I decided to take a chance on something new… after 4 years it was so hard to quit my day job but now I couldn't be happier. Heres what I do, •••••••••>> http://www.BizPost7.com

[LonDonE]

As some one who bought the ps4 and xbox one at launch i have to say, microsoft done well with the original launch xbox one.
It may be ugly to some (not to me) but my launch xbox one is still wiser quite, the only thing noisy after years is the power brick which also has a fan but as long as you clean it out and also clean your console vents with compressed air cans they should be fine!

My launch PS4 does sound like a jet engine about to take off lol!
But again it still works fine, my slim ps4, my elite xbox one and my xbox one s are all wiser quite.
As a Store Manager at CEX i can tell you we get loads of launch ps4 consoles which sound like hoovers.

Either way hats off to both sony and ms for building reliable machines from launch, i think the fail rates for xbox one and ps4 and very good.

[Aceman18]

Mine is still whisper quiet because I clear the vents of dust every other week.

[Neonridr]

I take care of my stuff too, so it isn't just that.

[81BX]

I rarely clean my base ps4 and I've never noticed any noise coming from it.

[SonyStyled]

Mines quiet and I’ve taken it apart and cleaned the fans twice in the 3.5 yrs. it’s an easy console do clean

[andibandit]

I rarely clean mine, but I dont mind the jet-engine to much since I often wear a headset with ear-cups

[DrumBeat]

Everyone's does, but they'll deny it. Doesn't really scare me though. I'm sure it'll hold up.

[Xenophon_York]

Yeah, same with my Pro and The Witcher 3. Oddly enough, games like Gran Turismo: Sport, Destiny 2 and Horizon Zero Dawn don't seem to have that effect.

[Omnislashver36]

Yeah, this is one reason I hope PS5 gets vapor cooling. The other reason is even with the Pro model downsizing the node to 14nm, the console got bigger. So vapor cooling would allow a near-silent console, higher clocks, and smaller footprint instead of a larger one. I really don't mind if I have to pay $499 because with the memory increase to atleast 16GB, likely a larger hard drive, and Ryzen/Vega the price is probably going above $399 anyway. They might as well throw in vapor cooling and go for an even $499. I'll consider it luck if we get it for $449 or less.

[nitus10]

The most important thing a heat sink can do is to facilitate the movement of heat from one source to another.

Vapour cooling compared to liquid cooling can be a better solution however it is more expensive. No matter what solution is chosen the fact remains that there is still a need to dissipate the heat into the surrounding air so you need a radiator that is fairly large or a smaller one that is fan assisted. If that final radiator is blocked (eg. dust, insects, etc) then the heat sink performance degrades.

What is vitally important is having the ability to easily clean the radiator no matter what heatsink methodology is used.

The following is just a primer https://www.elprocus.com/di...

[MattE]

I picked up 2 AV cabinet fans to work off USB for mine, works very well to keep the console cool but it's still pretty noisy.. just use headphones or turn on speakers if available as it's pretty distracting

[isarai]

PS4 Pro owners NEED to know about this(below)

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

[ninsigma]

Thanks for that link. Did not know the top came off like that!

[Neonridr]

will definitely have a look, thanks.

[Cyborgg]

The deep cleaning is actually more difficult . Getting to the heat sink I mean

[Eidolon]

Try to blow as much air inward to the fan compartment through the heatsink and vacuum.

[nitus10]

The problem you have in cleaning any heat sink are the particulates that will cling to the surfaces. Normally dry dust is fairly easy to remove and "gentle" vacuum cleaning and a fine paint brush will usually suffice, however, if the particulates stick to the heatsink surfaces (eg. tobacco smoke plus dust) then the best solution is to wash the radiator which can be a much more difficult thing to do.

BTW. When I say "gentle" vacuum cleaning I mean putting your cleaner nozzle about two to five centimeters above the outlet although I would strongly suggest preventing the fan blades from moving (use a wire). Obviously, make sure your device is not connected to a power outlet.

[Xenophon_York]

What? No way.... That's awesome. I'd been afraid to clean my fan because of the warranty. This is the coolest little-known secret of the, well, day—because yesterday I figured out a pretty awesome secret—but this one is still up there.

[LateNightThirst]

Its so damn hard to remove that cover lol

[LoveSpuds]

Really great post squire, while I am not having overheating issues my fan does get noisy now and then. I had no idea it was this easy to clean, fair play to Sony's design here, brilliant!

Thanks again fella 👍👍

[I_am_Batman]

I wouldn't recommend this method. Chances are you're going to compress the dust into the heatsink and make things worse. Not to mention that the spinning fan will act as a generator and might cause damage to some parts.

If you want to do it right there is no way around disassembling the console, brushing of the dust with esd brushes (Don't use regular brushes), replacing the thermal paste, checking the thermal pads and replacing them when needed. You can use compressed air to clean the heat sink when it's disassembled.

In essence it's not really that hard and there are a lot of tutorials on how to do it properly. The problem is that the PS4 is a bitch to open up. First there is the weird choice of security torx with some random phillips screws thrown in. Secondly, and that was a real problem with mine, that the plactic cover is impossibly tight. It took me more than 30 minutes to pry that thing open and the cover was close to crack (kinda made me wonder what all those screws were for).

[paintedgamer1984]

I personally went and bought a small fan that makes hardly any noise at all pointed directly at my ps4pro. I also have it elevated off the floor by 2 pieces of wood so air can pass above and below it. Since doing that the fans hardly ever kick on. The main reason why i did this is that i noticed during long game sessions the fans would go into a high speed and i wanted to prevent that.

[rainslacker]

Might work better to point it away from the ps4. That'll blow the hot air away. The system fan is sufficient to pull the cool air in, and a fan doesn't actually lower the ambient temperature around the system.

[kreate]

I have the same set up except the fan part. I just have it elevated on 2 piece of wood for air to flow underneath and over the PS4. I also make sure room temp never goes above 76. No issue whatsoever in this set up.

[slappy508]

I got a ps4 docking station not only it charges my controllers and add 4 USB slots it's also got 2 fans which seems to really help. I haven't noticed my ps4 being noisy since

[jeremyj2913]

Nice. Could I get a link? Sounds like a good purchase.

[slappy508]

Kootek ps4 vertical stand
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B...

[jeremyj2913]

Thank you.

[trooper_]

I bookmarked it. Thanks too.

[GUTZnPAPERCUTZ]

Yeah mine gets wayyyy too loud sometimes, sounds like its about to take off lol

[execution17]

Mine only seems to do that on certain games during start up than it quiets down a bit

[Pennywise138]

I only just noticed my PS4 pro fan getting really loud since I started playing Horizon Zero Dawn. For some reason it hates the map screen and kicks into high gear whenever I pull it up.

[rainslacker]

Thats the only game where I ever hear the fan. It's not so loud that itits distracting though. That game and ffxv I have a problem with intermittent black screens quite often though, which is much more annoying, and it doesn't appear there is a fix for it

[DrumBeat]

It happens in Witcher 3 quite frequently.

[Pennywise138]

Yeah the intermittent black screen drives me crazy. For the longest time I thought it was my new tv and I was freaking out but after doing some research it turns out it's a common problem with the PS4 pro.

[rainslacker]

I thought it was the HDR stuff until I played a game that didn't have HDR and it still did it. Sometimes it's frequent for a while, then I won't see it in the same game for a long while. Makes it really hard to diagnose. There are some posts about it, but no one seems to have tracked down the cause, although it seems like the most likely cause is trying to prevent the GPU from overheating. I haven't really tried to look into alternate methods to cool the system yet, but since it's out of warranty I might try reseating the fan with new thermal paste and what not.

[isarai]

Yeah i don't know why but some game's menu/GUI screens make the PS4 go crazy, it happened with almost every game at launch.

[RDOUBLE]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[ninsigma]

Fan noise depends on the game for me. I think possible UC4 and TLOU (possibly bloodborne as well) really get the fan going. Other than that I don't really notice it. Louder than slim though, that's for sure.

[NextGenCeo]

I'm using day one PS4 system. I wait until over the 2 years warranty. Then I opened and cleaned dust and put some Artic Silver 5 termal paste. Until August 2017 never get to much noise from fan. But i just do same thing November last year and still going cool and quiet.
I'm highly recommend that. It is really easy guys.

(ESL guy here. So sorry for English.)

[ILostMyMind]

Stop apologizing. If someone doesn't like your English, tell him to fuck off.

[NextGenCeo]

Thanks my friend. But people not thinking like you mostly. When they saw you writing right thing but they doesn't like what you're sayin, they're finding my weak English and they getting rude to me :) That's why I always trying to put ESL guy explanation end of my comments :)
Believe me when they saying bad word to me, it doesn't hurts. But when they saying 'you're dum you can't even writing well, first learned english' yeah that one hurts me really bad.

Because at least I'm trying to learn and improve and trying to explain but they just ignoring. But thanks again my friend. I'll be keep in mind. :)
(ESL guy here)

[traumadisaster]

Fuck off he can say what he wants

[lex-1020]

Same using a Day 1 PS4. I've only recently noticed my PS4 getting really noisy.

[StormSnooper]

That title. Clickbait much?

[DrumBeat]

No. The PS4 consoles can be absolute blowdryers, and if there's a tip to cool them, that's a good thing.

[StormSnooper]

I know but the title makes it sound like they are overheating

[nitus10]

If your PS4 or any console for that matter sounds like a blowdryer then you have a problem with heat dissipation from your heatsink.

It is always a good idea to clean your heatsink radiator on a regular basis however while dry dust is fairly easy (ie. gentle vacuum and a small paintbrush) it can be difficult to remove dust that is effectively glued to the radiator (eg. tobacco smoke plus dust).

It is also possible that the thermal paste on the heatsink needs replacing and there are plenty of videos that will show you how to do this, although don't do this yourself unless you are confident. Usually, removal of particulates from the heatsink radiator is good enough.

Hints.
1) Never put your console on the floor.
2) Keep the room you are playing your console clean.
3) Smoking while playing your console is a great way to clog up its heatsink.
4) Even in a clean room your heatsink will still get dust build up so you should clean it every two to three months

[DrumBeat]

You typed all that because you wanted to be an ultra literal smartass, lol.

[EatCrow]

Those are good tips and info.
If I ever get a pro I'll definitely do the clean up part.
Air around it is an obvious suggestion that applies to absolutely all devices with vents.

[Nodoze]

Way to test fans in Ps4 Pro:
1. Insert Horizon Zero Dawn
2. Load game
3. Once in game open the map and move left stick at a medium pace
4. Listen for fans to kick into jet engine afterburner mode

Don't know why but that map kicks my pro into super cool mode every time.

[DrumBeat]

That map music is sweet, btw.

[drunkenspy007]

My PS4, not pro, nor slim, got it when the system first came out, has never overheated and runs great. I hear people complain about issues, but never experienced any problems with the system myself. Did they make the first models better or did I get lucky?

[FITSniper]

My Pro sits in a little cubby on my desk hutch. I cut out part of the back for cables and air flow. So it has good air flow from the front, 5-6 inches above it, and can blow hot air out the back. It kicks on high sometimes. But overall isn't bad.

[Silly gameAr]

Has there been a heating problem recently that I wasn't aware of?

[ziggurcat]

An occasional defective unit does not signify an inherent overheating problem with either console.

[ziggurcat]

There aren't really any problem with this console overheating - the only two incidents were from keeping the console tightly encased in an plastic box that wasn't ventilated, and people from BGST taking a lighter to the Pro's vents in a lame attempt to portray the console as having overheating problems.

[Kiwi66]

Then its strange how reports of it overheating started back in 2013 and continue to this day, but guess they're all fake seeing as you say "there aren't really any problem with this console overheating", so who to believe, people who not only report the issue on ps community sites etc and are able to describe in detail what happens or someone who just says theres no problems

[Tazzy]

Where can I get a PS4PRO cooling fan and does it work?

[Kribwalker]

i imagine it’d be like the one i got for my 360 from ebgames/gamestop. it worked great when i had one.

It was just like this one
https://m.gamestop.com/prod...

[Tazzy]

Thanks man I appreciate it.

[sampsonon]

i just finished replacing the thermal paste and now it runs smooth. look on youtube where there are many how to videos.
took me about 30 mins without rushing. OG ps4 from 2015

[DafunkyRebel]

AC Origins seems to be burning up my PS4 pro cause it gets super hot in a matter of only an 2 hours and a half. Although

[PowerOfTheCloud]

Besides having to pay for only mp, the fan noise is the one thing that annoys me the most on ps4. Imo the ps4 is an awesome (the best currently available console on the market) but the cooling solution is were sony dropped the ball.

[BigKev45]

My PS4 Pro heats up to a blistering 100 degrees, when the Xbox One X is powered on. Since it's right next to the X. lol

[8bitswarrior]

My pro is quiet , not noisy at all. Even after playing several hours (4 hours morning,2 hours afternoon (vacations ihaa - when i have the time)).

[Skankinruby]

Had the launch ps4, the uncharted one, and the star wars ps4 pro and all of them were silent. Hard to believe this is a real issue

[G3ng4r]

It's pretty random I find. Every ps2 I knew about was dying from allegedly normal use and I had a ps2 slim that displayed games poorly. Got rid of that, bought an original model and had no issues.

[michellelynn0976]

There is an overheating problem. I am glad there are articles to help out.

[OffRoadKing]

I submerge mine in ice water.

[RevXM]

I customized my cabinet that I have my consoles in.
I added sponge strips around the doors to keep dust out. removed the glass on the doors and replaced with plastic/plex glass that I made 4 120mm holes in for fans, and wrapped the front of the glass in speaker cloth to filter out dust. in the back I made 2 200mm fan holes for both doors to exhaust air out. and its powered by a PSU I had lying around with a relayed power on swithch for easy access.

Took a loot of time, but it keeps my systems cool and looks neat with the blue lighting on the rear 200 mm fans.

I used to vacuum my systems every weekend, but now I dont have to anymore. it more or less doesnt let in any dust and it was a fun DIY project.

[G3ng4r]

Sounds like a lot of work for maintaining a home console. Do you really have to clean it once a week and place it on blocks so it has room to breathe or else it sounds like a vacuum cleaner until it blows up?

[OffRoadKing]

No you really dont.

[rezzah]

I use a table top air purifier and it is directed towards the back of the system. Basically it helps remove the heated air in the area.

[quent]

When vacuuming close to any electronic internals never use suction, just blow the dust away,otherwise it could damage the mainboard or any of the smaller components around it

[ThanatosDMC]

Pfft... terrible tips. Everyone it's best to cool hot things with water. Just wash the PS4 and problem solved.