This PS5 Slim has a not-at-all-thin secret
So small is the self-made PS5? As the thick cables on the back suggest: well, not quite.
The design of the PlayStation 5 is excellent for arguing. Some, like our editor-in-chief Rae, bury the console opaquely on the back shelf due to its eccentric design, while others enjoy the visual daring.
Of the Youtuber Matthew “DIY Perks” Perks probably belongs to the former category. For him, it wasn’t just a wish for a slim, inconspicuous PS5, he built it himself. However, he had to do a little tricking.
A copper dream
Perks’ goal was to design a chassis for the PS5 with a maximum height of two centimeters – roughly the height of a DVD box. To achieve this, he removed the motherboard from a PS5 and stripped it of all the bulky components, such as the gigantic cooling blocks and the power supply. But he wouldn’t be able to get the device running again without cooling, so his idea for a flat PS5 is as simple as it is clever.
PS5 case from the oven: Instead of dissipating the heat of the PS5 through the air, water cooling is used. Much more, a large part of the chassis, in which the PS5 motherboard sits, becomes a water cooler. To do this, he laid three copper plates on top of each other, sawed a water channel into the middle layer, coated the individual layers with solder and let them fuse into an airtight chamber in the oven.
The clamps and metal angles applied a little pressure so the panels fused together evenly.
He then screwed the circuit board to the large cooler and rewired all the components. Seen in this way, the housing only serves as a cooling plate that absorbs the heat loss of the PS5. To cool the water heated there, it is pumped to a large block outside the console. Several fans are attached to the block, which emit the heat to the environment, but at the same time the power supply is screwed on there, which supplies the PS5 with power.
Overall, the “PS5 Slim” from DIY Perks is still quite large, even if many components can be hidden externally:
Overall, the finished device is not that much smaller than a conventional PS5, space-consuming components have simply been outsourced. And in the huge block in the background.
Outstanding thermal conductivity properties
After a few quarrels – a PS5 died from heat when the Youtuber accidentally knocked over the fans on the water cooling system – Perks tested how well its construction conducts heat away from the PS5. And the results were indeed amazing, although not particularly surprising given the oversized copper construction and water cooling.
Compared to the data from GamersNexuswho disassembled and examined an original PS5, he measured a nearly 50% reduction in temperature on almost all heat-emitting components.
The lower temperatures ensure a longer service life for the components. SoC stands for the processor of the PlayStation, VRM for the voltage regulation.
In particular, the power supply and the memory modules of the PS5 remained significantly cooler. It should not be forgotten that in the meantime a revised model (the CF1100 series) of the PS5 has appeared, which significantly improves the cooling of the memory thanks to a more precisely fitting contact surface, as GamersNexus confirmed in a follow-up video.
The cooling of smaller components thus approached the great concept of the processor:
more on the subject
PS5: The cooling concept deserves the next-gen stamp!
Not really a slim console
The structure with the large block for the power supply and the water cooling naturally speaks against the designation as “PS5 Slim”. External power supplies are rather unusual these days and overall the water cooling is relatively large. If you look at the PS4 Slim and the Xbox One S, it becomes clear where the real advantages of a new model should lie:
- Less power consumptionsince the processors can be made smaller thanks to new manufacturing techniques.
- As a result, it required no longer such a large power supply.
- Cooling solutions can be reduced in sizebecause less heat is generated.
- costs are greatly reduced resulting in a lower selling pricet.
- The device is made by eliminating numerous, larger components overall smaller. With a lower power consumption z. B. also a space-saving power supply can be installed.
- The console becomes quieter.
Unfortunately, DIY Perks cannot check off all points with its PS5 Slim, but its construction is impressive.
Have a look at the manufacturing process, which the Youtuber has prepared in a very informative and entertaining way:
link to YouTube content
Also, its PS5 makes us dream of a more understated design. Maybe it will be in a few years – but then I would love to have it without a large external block that you have to somehow hide behind the TV lowboard.
Would you put the DIY Perks copper PS5 under the TV?
Reference-www.gamepro.de