Console Thermals/Fan Noise

It is clear at any rate that these measurements were done under better conditions than the initial ones posted on Eurogamer as the room there had a 40dB background noise level, which is too high.
 
It is clear at any rate that these measurements were done under better conditions than the initial ones posted on Eurogamer as the room there had a 40dB background noise level, which is too high.

The curiosity there is that in the Eurogamer test, the PS4 was above the noise floor of 40 db. In the Heisse one, the PS4 is far below 40 db. The Xbox One could be similar in noise level to what Eurogamer had, but we'd never know as it is below the noise floor either way.

That makes me wonder if there is huge variance in how quiet/noisy PS4s are from unit to unit. As you couldn't get much more difference in noise output than what Heisse got and what Eurogamer got. And that doesn't even go into other reviews that either measure the sound output or give subjective impressions of noise (pretty much all of which have the Xbox One as quieter).

Regards,
SB
 
The curiosity there is that in the Eurogamer test, the PS4 was above the noise floor of 40 db. In the Heisse one, the PS4 is far below 40 db. The Xbox One could be similar in noise level to what Eurogamer had, but we'd never know as it is below the noise floor either way.

That makes me wonder if there is huge variance in how quiet/noisy PS4s are from unit to unit. As you couldn't get much more difference in noise output than what Heisse got and what Eurogamer got. And that doesn't even go into other reviews that either measure the sound output or give subjective impressions of noise (pretty much all of which have the Xbox One as quieter).

Regards,
SB
No. It was not "above" the noise floor. Sound is additive, it's like wattage.

Here's a voltage example to illustrate how batshit crazy the DF measurement is:
Floor : 2.8V
Signal : 0.4V

With cheap multimeter without decimals, I get either 2V or 3V floor and 3V signal, when the actual signal was 0.4V.
 
The curiosity there is that in the Eurogamer test, the PS4 was above the noise floor of 40 db. In the Heisse one, the PS4 is far below 40 db. The Xbox One could be similar in noise level to what Eurogamer had, but we'd never know as it is below the noise floor either way.

That makes me wonder if there is huge variance in how quiet/noisy PS4s are from unit to unit. As you couldn't get much more difference in noise output than what Heisse got and what Eurogamer got. And that doesn't even go into other reviews that either measure the sound output or give subjective impressions of noise (pretty much all of which have the Xbox One as quieter).

Regards,
SB

What we need is people that own both consoles to tell the story. But I think it's already pretty clear, there isn't any winner in this regard. Microsoft gained ground on Sony, let's be happy about that.

Did the original Kinect have a fan, I didn't notice, I really hope that they made sure it's a very Hq fan in Kinect 2,small fans have a tendency to get noisy quicker than biggies.
 
Did the original Kinect have a fan, I didn't notice, I really hope that they made sure it's a very Hq fan in Kinect 2,small fans have a tendency to get noisy quicker than biggies.

Yep, it had a fan.

In terms of the PS4 - due to the feet position it almost looks like a cantilever design with the HDD in the 'floating' side. Could that be intended to mitigate vibration?
 
The curiosity there is that in the Eurogamer test, the PS4 was above the noise floor of 40 db. In the Heisse one, the PS4 is far below 40 db. The Xbox One could be similar in noise level to what Eurogamer had, but we'd never know as it is below the noise floor either way.

That makes me wonder if there is huge variance in how quiet/noisy PS4s are from unit to unit. As you couldn't get much more difference in noise output than what Heisse got and what Eurogamer got. And that doesn't even go into other reviews that either measure the sound output or give subjective impressions of noise (pretty much all of which have the Xbox One as quieter).

Regards,
SB

Maybe the thermal paste application is not the same for every unit? Is thermal paste application done by workers at assembly or is it botomated?
 
2.5HDDs make almost no noise at all and hardly any vibrations. The spinning mass is well balanced and not very...massive. There's basically nothing to mitigate.
 
2.5HDDs make almost no noise at all and hardly any vibrations. The spinning mass is well balanced and not very...massive. There's basically nothing to mitigate.
Yeah, it's the other way around I think, the rubber grommets are to protect the HDD from external vibration.
 
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What we need is people that own both consoles to tell the story. But I think it's already pretty clear, there isn't any winner in this regard. Microsoft gained ground on Sony, let's be happy about that.

Did the original Kinect have a fan, I didn't notice, I really hope that they made sure it's a very Hq fan in Kinect 2,small fans have a tendency to get noisy quicker than biggies.

Original Kinect did not have the three hot IR emitters for the depth camera.
 
No. It was not "above" the noise floor. Sound is additive, it's like wattage.

Here's a voltage example to illustrate how batshit crazy the DF measurement is:
Floor : 2.8V
Signal : 0.4V

With cheap multimeter without decimals, I get either 2V or 3V floor and 3V signal, when the actual signal was 0.4V.

Yes it was. The noise floor can be one of two things. The lower limit of sensitivity for the measure device or the actual lower limit based on ambient noise levels.

Yes it is additive. But if a source is significantly lower than ambient noise and/or measuring device sensititivy, then it will have a negligible effect.

In the DF measurements that is quite evident. You have to basically get right on top of the XO to be able to differentiate it from the ambient noise and/or get enough of a reading to register on their measuring device. For the PS4 at those distances the effect is very pronounced but once you get to 3 meters the impact is insignificant unless gaming.

Also note that the measured sound pressure levels of the PS3 when gaming at 3 meters is roughly equivalent to the Xbox One when gaming at 1 meter. This would not happen at all if the PS4 and XO in the DF analysis had the same sound characteristics as ones used in the Heisse analysis. While it is quite probabe that the XO is roughly equivalent in both, the PS4 that DF used on the other hand is significantly louder than the one Heisse used.

Anyway you look at it, while quiet, the PS4 is still significantly louder than the XO in the DF review. And subjectively louder in just about all review sites that have compared the two which is exactly what you would expect going by the DF analysis.

Still, that says absolutely nothing about how noisy/quiet the PS4 will appear to be depending on the ambient noise levels of any particular persons game room combined with how sensitive they are to differences in noise levels (changes in sound pressure).

In many people's relatively noise living rooms, I fully expect that the subjective and relative noise experience with a PS4 will be quite good as the DF comparison shows.

I imagine most people won't be bothered by it (assuming ambient noise from consumer electronics bothers them in the first place) until you get it into quieter environments.

Regards,
SB
 
I cannot hear my xbox one fan, and I definitely cannot hear the fan in Kinect One. I did hear the disc drive when my game was installing.
 
I hear my PS4, but I have 20/20 hearing. I can hear the (laptop) HDD spinning as well so the sound is not super loud.
 
So the takeaway point is X1 runs cooler, quieter and consumes less power compared to PS4.

Yes but the dGPU is not showing up in this image, since it is turned off you know. :LOL:

The only real noise I hear is at boot, even when installing from a disc I was bit surprised that it was not louder. If they made a longer kinect cable then I might actually be able to place it in my entertainment center and hear it better.

Edit: I have access to decibel meter, but it is out at the kart track so if I get out that way I will grab it.
 
PS4 seems whisper quiet to me. As a matter of fact the slight buzzing noise my plasma panel makes is enough to "drown" it out completely. I can hear the disc drive spinning up, but that's about it.
 
I think the problem here is that sound is subjective and relative. I could very well imagine a situation where having both consoles on a table in an emtpy room would yield different results than if you have them in a livingroom with a complex(er) environment.

The other problem I see with people testing their console noise with a sound-level-meter is that these things are not entirely accurate, especially at picking up fan noise in the dezibel range of these consoles. It's one thing to messure the noise of a test-tone at 75dB(A) and messuring a noise at around 40-50dB(A), much less messuring something that's below that. At this point, we're not even talking about using dummy apps for mobile phones.

IMO - it's all rather unimportant. I have a PS3slim (1nd generation of the slim) and it's substantially louder in my livingroom than my PS4. I haven't used any sound-level-meter to do any tests because there is no need to - the difference in noise is that big. For the most part, the PS4 is "silent" in the sense that it's not any louder than the ambient noise in my livingroom. The PS3slim was easily louder and a lot more noticable than any other device in my room - because of the higher pitched fan, both when using media functions like listening to music from a DLNA mediaserver and even louder when playing a game such as GTA5.

The PS4 might become noiser as time goes by and the unit becomes more prone to dust blocking vents (although I try to keep them clean as much as I have tried with the PS3slim) but for now - the PS4 is significantly quieter than the ~2 year old PS3slim it replaced.

IMO what I find more disturbing is that the Xbox One seems to have fans even in its powerbrick and kinect. Not because of the noise they supposedly generate, but more because I'd be concerned about it breaking given it's constantly rotating. Especially the powerbrick would be of concern to me, given it's something that most likely will find itself behind other devices locked up between cables in a very hot place. For the very same reason, I tend not to buy routers and switches with active fans - and prefer passively cooled ones.
 
Given that the next gen consoles are far quieter than the last gen, I doubt noise difference between the two consoles will ever be a factor for the majority of the userbase.

We've accepted living with some of the noisiest CE devices known to man that goes into an entertainment center. While the noise reduction is welcome, I doubt many people ears will become so discriminatory that the difference will matter.

If you spent the last 8 years drinking Wild Irish Rose, I doubt your palate will become ultra sophisticated and particular when suddenly faced with a finer assortment of wines.
 
Well yes and no. I think the noise factor is a lot more crucial to Microsofts cause and target audience than it is for Sonys. The PS4 afterall is foremost a game-console and at the moment, besides Bluray playback, there isn't anything there for it to be used as a media device. No music cds, no mediaserver ability, movie streaming (at least not in my country), nothing.

The Xbox One however is sold on the premise of being "the one device" in your livingroom. Even if it isn't it, that's exactly what they are marketing their device as. Delievering such a device comes with a certain expectancy - and considering that the device requires a certain power draw for it to function in a standby-state (so that voice-commands can work in any given moment) the noise level is of some significance. This significance is increased to the point that people obviously intend to use this device to control their TV box etc.

I really haven't heard a Xbox One to know if the noise level is above this threshold, but the Heise.de test does seem to think that both devices are too loud for that intended purpose. I do know that the PS3slim for instance (and the PS3 iterations before that one) were too loud to be used as a media device. PS4 and XBone are clearly quieter, but to which extend? Lacking personal experience, I obviously don't know and can only speculate, but IMO it is of relevance.
 
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