FAO PS3 and X360 owners - noise of fans advice please

goonergaz

Veteran
OK, the other night I had ~5hrs of continuous use out of the PS3 - ending with a 2hr session on Dead Space...anyway I switched on my brand new (and cold) X360 and the noise was 2/3x that of the PS3 (which had been working like a dog)...it's the 60gb machine with HDMI...and the PS3 is a 60gb JP launch unit...does this sound right? I remember the X360s were noisey but I thought the newer models had fixed this?

Any advice/comparisions/opinions appreciated!

Thanks in advance :)
 
Were you running something off the disc? I have a brand new arcade, it's much quieter than my mostly-dead mid-2007 elite, but the drive is still noisy as hell.
 
Indeed... there's nothing quite like the sound of a drive spinning a disc from 8-12x. I recommend installing the game to the hard drive. The console will be much much quieter.
 
I have a PS3 launch unit and a newer Xbox 360 (Falcon). The PS3 is much quieter than the 360. The 360 (mine and my four friends that have one) is just plain loud. I know it's been said before, but when the DVD-ROM spins up, it sounds like a jet engine during takeoff. Fortunately, there's hard-drive install, so you don't have to listen to the disc while playing, but even just the fans are annoyingly loud. It's honestly not something I notice much while playing Halo or Gears multi-player, because there's just too much action going on most of the time, but in single player games, especially more thoughtful ones, like Prince of Persia or Fable or Mass Effect, I find the fan noise really annoying. It's so annoying to me, that I don't even like using the 360 for Netflix.

I've taken apart a 360 (my third broken one), and there's no way MS could have saved another penny on the design or construction. Everything inside is so cheap, the noise, the faulty optical drives, and the RROD aren't surprising. It's not like your typical nVidia or ATI reference board, made with high-quality components and over-designed cooling, assembled with precision. It's clear that MS prioritized cost-reduction over all else, and, frankly, along with promoting ease of development, it's a strategy that seems to have worked out well for them.
 
Thanks for the replies! :)

Sorry, forgot to say - no disk!

It's a shame, I think a decent fan would cost them what? a few pence more? why couldn't they have done this in the newer/ HDD models? :(
 
I have a PS3 launch unit and a newer Xbox 360 (Falcon). The PS3 is much quieter than the 360. The 360 (mine and my four friends that have one) is just plain loud. I know it's been said before, but when the DVD-ROM spins up, it sounds like a jet engine during takeoff. Fortunately, there's hard-drive install, so you don't have to listen to the disc while playing, but even just the fans are annoyingly loud. It's honestly not something I notice much while playing Halo or Gears multi-player, because there's just too much action going on most of the time, but in single player games, especially more thoughtful ones, like Prince of Persia or Fable or Mass Effect, I find the fan noise really annoying. It's so annoying to me, that I don't even like using the 360 for Netflix.

I've taken apart a 360 (my third broken one), and there's no way MS could have saved another penny on the design or construction. Everything inside is so cheap, the noise, the faulty optical drives, and the RROD aren't surprising. It's not like your typical nVidia or ATI reference board, made with high-quality components and over-designed cooling, assembled with precision. It's clear that MS prioritized cost-reduction over all else, and, frankly, along with promoting ease of development, it's a strategy that seems to have worked out well for them.

Is it really that bad? :rolleyes:

360 is fairly loud I guess, but to me it's something that can easily be lived with. I guess some people are more sensitive to others. And yes, installs help a lot, though I only have a 20GB so that basically limits me to one install at a time.
 
One thing that annoys me is that apart from being loud, they have a constantly varying speed on both the DVD drive and the regular fan (but its much worse on the regular fan). That makes it even harder to filter the noise out.
 
Is it really that bad? :rolleyes:

360 is fairly loud I guess, but to me it's something that can easily be lived with. I guess some people are more sensitive to others. And yes, installs help a lot, though I only have a 20GB so that basically limits me to one install at a time.

There is quite a big difference between Xbox models and their noice levels, even in dashboard. My early Elite (no process shrinks yet) unit is actually noisier than my launch day premium unit was. My friend just bought a new unit and that is pretty quiet, when the disk is not spinning.
 
Is it really that bad? :rolleyes:

360 is fairly loud I guess, but to me it's something that can easily be lived with. I guess some people are more sensitive to others.

I think you're right. People told me plasmas were no good for gaming due to 'plasma trails' (IIRC) but I haven't suffered at all.

The problem with the X360 is - due to the fear of it dying I don't want to risk it's longevity by putting it into a TV cabinet! If these things were more reliable I'd try to shut it away - or damped the noise somehow.

It just seems frustrating that there clearly are alternative fans for a small amount more yet MS think so little of their customers that they use the cheapest components possible.
 
Is it really that bad? :rolleyes:

360 is fairly loud I guess, but to me it's something that can easily be lived with. I guess some people are more sensitive to others. And yes, installs help a lot, though I only have a 20GB so that basically limits me to one install at a time.

Like me! ;)
Have a 360 GOW pack so end 2006, I don't think is very loud when only fans turn just a little high frequency sound when there no others sound.
And for DVD some game use more than other and DVD are more noisy, but like said is normal.
Our 360 is also in the living-room, not a very big place but we're generally in the range of 2,5 m from 360 so we not the ears stick on the 360.
And with a great 5.1, you don't need to push the volume to have great Sound, so no problem!;)
I know a PS3 who made a lot of noise due to her installation, closing in a box… very bad place for electronic devise…:cry:
 
My 60 GB PS3 and 60GB Falcon Xbox 360 are about the same distance from me about 2-2.5M. Unless im deaf in my left ear my PS3 is quite a bit louder than my Xbox 360.
 
There is quite a big difference between Xbox models and their noice levels, even in dashboard.


Yes, different manufacturing plants will have different suppliers. Relevant to noise, this will apply to both the DVD drives being used as well as the fans.
 
My 360 at the dashboard is far more annoying than my PS3 running full bore. It has more to do with the frequencies involved than the dB.


360 is a Falcon Elite and PS3 is a newer 80GB
 
I've been lucky, all of my 360's have been quiet (my launch Premium) which I replaced with a launch Elite, my second Elite (bedroom) and then letting a friend borrow that one and deciding to just give it to him (sans drive) and the Arcade unit I replaced that Elite with. All were quiet, drive noise on some games but not really noticeable to be bothersome.

The Arcade unit I have is so quiet I have to visually check to see that it's on.
 
Yes, different manufacturing plants will have different suppliers. Relevant to noise, this will apply to both the DVD drives being used as well as the fans.

I wonder...is there a way to tell the models apart? Would I be able to return this unit and 'cherry pick' a replacement?
 
My 360's relatively quiet, probably due to the BenQ drive it has.


The fan noise is basically a non-issue for me- my house is non air-conditioned (using large amount of spaces to make up for that) so we have zomghueg standing fans, 1 in my living room blowing air almost as fast as a hairdryer. Even without the fan, after taking TV sound output into consideration, I can barely see what the ranting is about, though.
 
I wonder...is there a way to tell the models apart? Would I be able to return this unit and 'cherry pick' a replacement?

You can check for the Team and Lot # at the back of the unit. Unless they've changed the part of the box that lets you poke in the cardboard flap, you can check any of the units at the store fairly easily. Beyond that, there was one website that relied on people reporting the Team, Lot #, and the type of drive & whether it was a Zephyr/Falcon/Jasper. It wasn't entirely reliable due to people's misunderstanding in identifying the latter, but the dvd drives that Microsoft use are easily distinguished by looking at the tray - for potential buyers, you'll have to trust the Lot # and Team.
 
There are two different brands of exhaust fans used in XBox 360's. One of the brands seems to be approx. as quiet as PS3's. The other is a lot louder. Unfortunately I don't think there is any way to tell which type you will get before you open the cardboard box and power on.

All XBox 360 DVD drives are pretty damn loud, again there are differences, but I've never heard a quiet one. I was lucky to get quiet exhaust fans, so I can barely hear my 360 when playing games from the hard disk.
 
There are two different brands of exhaust fans used in XBox 360's. One of the brands seems to be approx. as quiet as PS3's. The other is a lot louder. Unfortunately I don't think there is any way to tell which type you will get before you open the cardboard box and power on.

Darn! I must've gotten the loud brand. My home theater is pretty quiet, but it's in the basement with a clothes washer and dryer, and I'll be damned if I can't hear the Xbox over the sound of the clothes dryer!
 
lmao, this lunchtime my son put H3 on "dad there's no sound" - sure enough, no sound at all, rebooted. No sound! switched leads - no sound...put back to original configuration and sound came back.

Have to see if currys will allow me to exchange the unit only as I've setup the HDD now...and then of course my DRM will be screwed :(
 
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