Modder Beats Sony To Making A PlayStation 5 Slim And It Looks Awesome
by
Zak Killian
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Monday, June 20, 2022, 03:20 PM EDT
The PlayStation 5 is gigantic for a game console. There's no two ways about it; Sony's latest dedicated gaming system is a beast of a machine that occupies more space than a typical Mini-ITX custom PC. It's bigger than the Falcon Northwest Tiki we just reviewed, and that machine came with a GeForce RTX 3080 Ti.
Most of the space inside is taken up by two things, a huge block of copper that serves as a heatsink for the AMD-designed, TSMC-manufactured 180W SoC, and the awkwardly-shaped power supply. When you strip the system down to its motherboard (with attached components), it's actually strikingly trim.
Seeing that gave Matt over at YouTube channel DIY Perks an idea: what if we beat Sony to the punch with a "PS5 Slim?" For those unaware, the PlayStations have historically had a mid-life refresh that shrinks the size of the system by half or more, and ever since the PlayStation 2's "PS2 Slim," they've been referred to by that moniker.
Well, Matt did an excellent job on the project. Sourcing several sheets of copper at significant personal cost—over 250 GBP, more than $300 USD—he completely fabricated a totally-custom liquid-cooling solution for the system, including its SoC, RAM, flash memory, and power delivery components. He salvaged the cold plate from a water-block meant for PCs, and completely replaced the power supply of the machine with a TFX PSU out of an HP system.
The PS5 motherboard with installed cooling apparatus. It's still super-thin.
After creating a case for the system from a mirror-polished copper sheet, he slapped it all together only to realize that he had killed his original PS5 in the process. Fortunately, he happened to have another one on hand thanks to a sponsor deal with D-Brand.
Reassembling everything a second time—now with thermal sensors in place—he found that his custom cooling solution was able to drop the temperatures on the PS5's components considerably. While the SoC temperature didn't drop that much, it's already very well-cooled in the stock PS5. The other components receive considerably less attention in the standard chassis, yet in the slim model they stay frosty.
Of course, we have to admit that his "PS5 Slim" project makes one big shortcut on the road to slim-ness. The power supply, internal on the stock PS5, was moved to an external device that also serves as the pump and radiator for the water-block built into the main chassis. There's also the small matter of the fact that the materials for his project cost more than a whole second PlayStation 5 system!
Still, there's no denying that the system runs great and looks super-slick sitting underneath a TV. As long as the massive pump-radiator-power-supply device is kept out of view, it's certainly the coolest PS5 around—in terms of both looks and temperatures.
