Playstation 5 [PS5] [Release November 12 2020]

[eastmen]

It looks like the SOC might be the one element that has decent contact with the cooler. It has a punchout in the metal EM shield that covers the main board, and the heatsink base matches it. The SSD looks to be on the wrong side of the board for the main heatsink, and at least around the curved edge of the fan chamber there's some kind of sponge material between the heatsink and the shield.
Other components may have thermal grease or pads that bring them in contact with the shield, but it may be relying on their modest power needs and the area of the EM shield rather than the heatsink.




I don't think I've found the references I've seen before, but generally it's possible to get good thermal performance out of a poorer application of liquid metal, as long as the other downsides are handled. A slightly thick silicone compound can lead to unacceptable results more readily.
From the following, a good grease layer is 25 microns or less, whereas at least one kind of liquid metal material can go from 25 to 150 microns acceptably.
https://thermal.live/2019/liquid-me...-innovations-for-high-performance-devices-qa/


I think some modules have more than one channel, which would explain the physical difference.


It looks NAND is contacting an EM shield on either side of the main board. Not much sign of close contact with the main heatsink, unless they cleaned grease or pads off of the surfaces..

I posted video to gamer nexus where they check on liquid metal after x amount of time. I know how it works. I don't seen an issue with it really inside the console. I think its a great addition and would love to see it standard on more things.

The only concern I've had with the ps5 is the diy nvme drive and the apparently lack of cooling available.

 

[3dilettante]

I posted video to gamer nexus where they check on liquid metal after x amount of time. I know how it works. I don't seen an issue with it really inside the console. I think its a great addition and would love to see it standard on more things.

The only concern I've had with the ps5 is the diy nvme drive and the apparently lack of cooling available.

Not sure if I messed up the multiquote or cut the text, but I was going to comment from your post comparing the two teardowns about my curiosity about the number of screws or fasteners for the Series X, and how readily a production part could be taken apart. The PS5 looks to be a fully assembled production unit, versus a sample designed for simple clicking together as a demonstration.

Microsoft did mention needing to tweak manufacturing equipment to handle the depth of the box. The PS5 is a broad console, but it may be that those axes are less problematic for the standard production line equipment.

 

[iroboto]

In their 1 million subscriber celebration livestream today, John and Richard of DF said they had yet to receive a PS5.

Sorry, I meant with respect to Xbox series X.

 

[iroboto]

It looks NAND is contacting an EM shield on either side of the main board. Not much sign of close contact with the main heatsink, unless they cleaned grease or pads off of the surfaces..

There is a photo around here showing the board before and after they clean the compounds off. The nand chips and controller appear to have your standard thermal paste

 

[3dilettante]

There is a photo around here showing the board before and after they clean the compounds off. The nand chips and controller appear to have your standard thermal paste

Those should be between the SSD and the EM shield. There may be rough contour matching between the heatsink and EM shield, but I'm not sure there's strong contact between the heatsink and shield. Without that contact or pads, I would expect the cooling supplied to the SSD to be mostly independent of the SOC's heatsink. If not, it would also cause asymmetric cooling since it looks like there are NAND modules on the other side without the big heatsink nearby.

 

[Kugai Calo]

Is leaking a common problem for liquid metal applications? I think having it factory applied, they should be able to control the precise amount of liquid metal so that the surface tension allows it to never leak?

 

[Jay]

Microsoft did mention needing to tweak manufacturing equipment to handle the depth of the box.

Do you know where that is said?
I remember them saying the teardown demo units having magnets to make it easier for people who's having a go.
You wouldn't put it together inside the case, the whole unit slides in?

 

[3dilettante]

Is leaking a common problem for liquid metal applications? I think having it factory applied, they should be able to control the precise amount of liquid metal so that the surface tension allows it to never leak?

It's been a matter of research on how to adequately apply liquid metal in a mass production product like this. Most applications are more specialized and can receive more attention at application time or more expense to safeguard the product and equipment.
Since the PS5 is produced at the scale of consoles that typically have rather inconsistent application of thermal grease, I don't now of a comparable scale deployment.

Do you know where that is said?
I remember them saying the teardown demo units having magnets to make it easier for people who's having a go.
You wouldn't put it together inside the case, the whole unit slides in?

The reference was from Digital Foundry's assembly video. The tooling seems to pertain to the construction of the case.

 

[Kugai Calo]

The PlayStation 5 just keeps bringing surprises: 2.23GHz, huge, digital edition, now liquid metal...

 

[orangpelupa]

All the secrecy over the PS5 dash makes me think: what if Sony brings back other os?

 

[JPT]

All the secrecy over the PS5 dash makes me think: what if Sony brings back other os?

Why would they, I mean whats in it for Sony?

 

[eastmen]

Not sure if I messed up the multiquote or cut the text, but I was going to comment from your post comparing the two teardowns about my curiosity about the number of screws or fasteners for the Series X, and how readily a production part could be taken apart. The PS5 looks to be a fully assembled production unit, versus a sample designed for simple clicking together as a demonstration.

Microsoft did mention needing to tweak manufacturing equipment to handle the depth of the box. The PS5 is a broad console, but it may be that those axes are less problematic for the standard production line equipment.

Its possible.

I think DF said it was pretty easy to take apart and put back together but some pieces they didn't have access too since it wasn't a functioning unit. I think both designs are a step forward. I like the xsx because its small , simple and quiet and the ssd expansion is hot swapable. The ps5 has that massive squirrel fan and seems to be just as quiet and has space for an off the shelf ssd that doesn't seem to take to much to get too.

 

[BRiT]

All the secrecy over the PS5 dash makes me think: what if Sony brings back other os?

What if it runs Xbox Shell?

 

[Deleted member 11852]

I was thinking more like a metal mesh, with large enough holes to not block airflow instead of those two cut out disk "grills". The current setup will suck in every clump to the only moving part of the system and not all of those will leave the fan to the dust collectors.

Ultimately it's about air flow. The smaller the individual apertures, the more you restrict airflow and the wider you need to made the overall vent to compensate. A mesh would reduce airflow and also increase noise. The 120mm x 45mm fan has decided on specifically for airflow reasons I'm sure.

I am curious about how effective the dust catches will be, but this isn't rocket science. The side plates serve as 'wind breakers' in that nothing adjacent to the console, like a desk fan, can influence the direction or force of air around the two large intakes so modelling the air turbulence and path of particulates (dust) is easy. They're not going to catch everything, obviously.

I agree, longevity was the first reason I guessed, but I did not think about the production difficulties, good point.

I'm curious abut the implementation because in the video it also looked like a free-flowing viscous liquid, but I'm assume there is some form of thin adaptive membrane.

Looks like a decent quality build, the wide fan blades probably push a lot of air, and that big sink must be very expensive.

I missed this yesterday. If it was entirely copper I'd agree, but it looks like a combination of copper and aluminium. This is undoubtedly cheaper than a smaller vapour chamber. It's easy/cheap to cast an alloy block like this, but vapour chambers are typically produced in atmosphere-controlled furnaces which is why they cost more.

 

[orangpelupa]

Is leaking a common problem for liquid metal applications? I think having it factory applied, they should be able to control the precise amount of liquid metal so that the surface tension allows it to never leak?

on PS5, there's some kind of sponge around the liquid metal. so it should not be leaking.

 

[Kugai Calo]

on PS5, there's some kind of sponge around the liquid metal. so it should not be leaking.

Oh yeah I'm aware of that. I was referring to the scenario where after many years of use, the sponge soaks a significant enough amount of the liquid metal so that the thermal performance decreases below threshold. Because unlike silicone grease, liquid metal does not dry.

 

[dskneo]

You dont need to put back the metal shield after putting in the nvme drive. So, the nvme heatsinks can go as high as the white side panel. Maybe 3 cm tall.

With that height it could fit almost all drives in the market, if not all.

 

[orangpelupa]

Oh yeah I'm aware of that. I was referring to the scenario where after many years of use, the sponge soaks a significant enough amount of the liquid metal so that the thermal performance decreases below threshold. Because unlike silicone grease, liquid metal does not dry.

it could be that sponge is non-soaking sponge. So its pliable but it doesnt absorb the TIM. So it functions like the gasket on xperia waterproof phones.

 

[Tkumpathenurple]

All the secrecy over the PS5 dash makes me think: what if Sony brings back other os?

Or StreamOS

Spoiler

Before anyone comes in with the "why *snort* would they do that when it would eat into PSN's profits?" I'm kidding.

 

[goonergaz]

So I guess @TeamGhobad is happy now. I see most the nay-sayers seem happy also.

I'm very happy...there were some genuine moments of 'holy shi'...' during that tear down, I felt the liquid metal was almost like the PS4 8GB RAM moment for me...long rumoured but not fully believed to be real.

The SSD compartment looks a complete doddle and highly compatible regarding sizes - and I love the dust collection bits, it's like Sony went all out.