[PS3] Playstation 3 Fan Noise. Actually concerns RPM this time.

I wanted to run a quick poll on PS3 owners about the PS3 fan noise they are experiencing. I figured a new thread would be better for this rather than clogging up the main PS3 thread.

Anyway as most know the PS3 has three fan stages. Stage 1, the unit is basically silent, stage 2 is relatively quite and stage 3 rivals the Xbox 360 in noise.

I'm looking for some honest first hand experience with how your PS3s behave with these stages along with some general information as some people claim the PS3 is silent running while in my experience it is only silent running for the first 20-30 minutes in a complete open air environment in luke-warm ambient temperature.

So how many people hear their PS3s hit stage 3 on a regular basis and how long does it usually take? I'm also interested if people can actually leave their PS3 folding or such overnight and never hear the unit ramp up to stage 3. I've heard some claims that some machines won't even ramp up to stage 2 when folding so if anyone can do this, please post.

Second if you answer just toss down what SKU you have.

60 Gig, only hits full bore when playing Warhawk, never when running PS1/PS2 games, oddly enough.

On an entertainment shelf with doors, but doors are never closed, but most new air for circulation would come front to back.

I have left it folding over night only once, and while I didn't notice how fast it the fan was spinning, I didn't notice the noise, so take that as you will.

I have a launch 60 gig triple and it sometimes gets as loud as the 360 but only when it is on for more then 6-7 hours. Stage 2 though always kicks in within 30-40 minutes and it doesn't matter if i'm playing a game or idling in XMB.

60 gig inside an open entertainment center, and it really only reaches stage three while playing disc-based PS3 games for more than half an hour or so. And even when it does, it's only takes about a minute or so for it to quiet down again.

I have a 60 gig and I guess I have only heard up to stage two ever. I have never once heard mine sound anywhere near as loud as my 360 Elite. I honestly have always thought that people were just exaggerating about the fact that it can get really loud. I generally only use mine to watch DVDs and blu-rays, but even when I was using for hours on end playing such games as Assassin's Creed and Uncharted, I never noticed a "stage 3" fan.

I heard that the fan enters stage 4 when you boot up MGS4.

60 gig, usually stage 3 (this is the only thing I would notice), on an open area, extremely dusty room. I have to dust the poor baby every week.

Stage 4 requires it to be in one of Gamestop's closed cases with zero circulation. I walked by one the other day that was as loud as a vacuum cleaner, and possibly ready to explode.

i've got an 80gig, usually hear the fan alternate from stage 1 to stage 2 every few minutes while playing games. i've only heard it go stage 3 once for a few minutes while watching a blu-ray movie. it's really quiet and i don't really notice the fan unless i'm actually paying attention to it.

My brother has the 40GB no-BC SKU, and he keeps it in a cupboard udner his desk. It's roaring after about half an hour of use.

I have a 40Gb unit and I have never once noticed the fan particularly. I certainly can't think of any time it's come close to making the sort of noise you'd associated with a typical 360.

Given that most noise that my 360 makes comes from the optical drive rather than from the fans, I'd personally be interested in how those compare in noise level to the PS3s drive.
But, yeah I know, the 360 has diffrent drive models built in which vary in loudness...

I dont know if this is relevant...but my new silver ps2 makes fan noise after awhile. Is that typical? lol.

40 GB model, and it sits in this with the rest of my living room entertainment. I have it running 24/7 with Folding@Home anytime I'm not actively playing a game, and it's never gone past stage 1.

Mine gets pretty loud, but also doesn't have too much air circulation. I'd say it's usually around stage 2 when playing CoD4. This is the 40gb SKU, non-BC.

A poll without an actual poll?

My 60gb sometimes gets to level 3 every now and then when I'm playing a game for more than a couple of hours, but it's very rare (or maybe I have the sound turned up so much I just don't notice it).

EDIT:
Here's level 4 fan noise:

YouTube Video
Get the Flash Player to play this youtube video file.

I wish they would update the 60gb models via firmware or something to include this test. I would do this once a month just to help get rid of the insane amounts of dust my PS3 sees...

Originally Posted by eprox1

I wish they would update the 60gb models via firmware or something to include this test. I would do this once a month just to help get rid of the insane amounts of dust my PS3 sees...

Or you could, you know, tidy your room up once in a while.

Originally Posted by eprox1

EDIT:
Here's level 4 fan noise:

I wish they would update the 60gb models via firmware or something to include this test. I would do this once a month just to help get rid of the insane amounts of dust my PS3 sees...

This is not a test for cleaning out dust in the system and I hope for the love of god you (and everyone else) correct people who also think it is.

This is a feature of the 40GB model to remove a stuck disc. In older models if your PS3 froze and you couldn't remove your disc, that was it. They added this backup feature to remove discs if this happens, so Sony doesn't need to open up the consoles at their factories and bother sending stuck discs back.

You remove dust by vacuuming the air vents yourself, just like on a PS2. Or like Shin said, don't let that much dust get in there in the first place.

Vacuuming electronic equipment is pretty much the worst idea ever as you are just asking for a static discharge.


Anyway thanks for the few replies. If you were curious as why I asked this, we ran into the possibility of a bug in the PS3 with the digital CPU thermometer. We were actually able to get a few various PS3 models to run some tests and it turns out there is indeed a bug in late model 60GB PS3s and very early model 40GB PS3s(none of these may have made it to the US even). Seems there was a batch of PS3s that have 'faulty' digital thermometers and its reading the CPU temperature at exactly +8 degrees and its constant across all of these models. This is causing these units to ramp up the fan speed too early.

Without going into too much detail this is probably something fixable though a firmware upgrade as the manufacturing ID is available to OS. Word has been sent to Sony but who knows if they will actually follow up on it. They may already know about it because if you call them up and complain about the fan noise, they'll set you up with a warranty return with no questions asked.