PS3 Fan Noise

I can hear a ticking noise when its on its lowest and second lowest fan speed. Anyone else able to hear this ? I cant capture in on my (admittedly cheapo) microphone.

Aaaah !

Now though I'm forced to question my own reliability as a judge of its noise, I can hear the electrical buzz of the burglar alarm control panel from 15 foot away for instance, maybe its me thats not normal.

I mean, I know this isnt a quiet unit, but is it defective or am I ?

One mans decent into madness brought about by a piece of consumer electronics.


( Also I have this feeling of deja-vu after writing that bit about maybe its me thats not normal :p )
 
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Sareth said:
I can hear a ticking noise when its on its lowest and second lowest fan speed. Anyone else able to hear this ? I cant capture in on my (admittedly cheapo) microphone.

Aaaah !

Now though I'm forced to question my own reliability as a judge of its noise, I can hear the electrical buzz of the burglar alarm control panel from 15 foot away for instance, maybe its me thats not normal.

I mean, I know this isnt a quiet unit, but is it defective or am I ?

One mans decent into madness brought about by a piece of consumer electronics.


( Also I have this feeling of deja-vu after writing that bit about maybe its me thats not normal :p )
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Hard drive seek noise you mean? that's perfectly normal if so.
 
mmj_uk said:
Hard drive seek noise you mean? that's perfectly normal if so.
Click to expand...


Its a constant fast ticking. I'm beginning to think It's me though, if I can get it to step down its fans later today by moving it off the shelf its on I think itll be me, if not its going back as it making the same noise as an 80mm fan most of the time and this ticking when its on low cant be right (unless its me)
 
Sareth said:
I can hear a ticking noise when its on its lowest and second lowest fan speed. Anyone else able to hear this ? I cant capture in on my (admittedly cheapo) microphone.

Aaaah !

Now though I'm forced to question my own reliability as a judge of its noise, I can hear the electrical buzz of the burglar alarm control panel from 15 foot away for instance, maybe its me thats not normal.

I mean, I know this isnt a quiet unit, but is it defective or am I ?

One mans decent into madness brought about by a piece of consumer electronics.


( Also I have this feeling of deja-vu after writing that bit about maybe its me thats not normal :p )
Click to expand...

No, it isn't just you, I have particularly sensitive hearing too, always have.

The sound of fans, from the PS3/PC, or similar, winds the hell out of me.
It really irritates, yet other people are happy to put up with it for hours on end. Sometimes I sit here, and wonder what a loud whining sound it, and it's the sound from my mobile phone charger. Nobody else can hear it, but I can ;)

So, I do sympathise, which is why I was trying to help in this thread.
When my PS3 achieved fan level 3, I found it unusable.

Since moving it out in the open, and standing on its side, it's much better.

V1N.
 
Thanks V1N, I was going to post later thanking everyone in this thread for their patience after doing some more tests, especially yourself, but I may as well do it now.
 
My fans are always quiet. I guess how people rate 'quiet' is a different question though. However, once mine hits its top speed it doesn't slow down again until it's turned off.
 
Noise is VERY subjective, when I turn on my PS3 and go to play DiRT it stays silent for a few minutes, then the fan(s) speed up a little to make them audible from 5 feet away (still quieter than the 60mm fan in my DVD Recorder) and the fans stay at that level.

To compare the noise, I can hear the Blu Ray drive stop spinning after playing a game so as far as noise goes it is hardly loud, I think it is comparable to level 2 that is talked about in this thread.
 
For the first time ever last night I actually noticed the speed of my PS3 fans increase, it was when watching a DVD.

When I turned the DVD off, The Mrs. put Lemmings on and you could hear the fans decrease to a lower setting.
 
As per V1N's suggestion I had a go at moving it around yesterday and have found that the fans step up to level 3 while folding but step down to level 2 after folding has finished when the PS3 is sat in the open, it takes two minutes for it to step down when its sat upright and four minutes for it to step down when its on its side, wether its propped up off the floor or not.

Now this puzzled me as the room was no colder than when it didnt step down while playing games, so still propped up on its side I played the Ninja Gaiden Sigma demo and it stayed at level 2. Now thoroughly perplexed I put Heavenly Sword in and let it sit at the titles for ten minutes then played through two sections, the fan had stepped up to level 3, I exited from Heavenly Sword and let it idle, no step down. I removed the disc, no step down. I eventually reset the PS3 and repeated the folding test and it stepped down again !

I put it back in the cabinet and ran the folding test and found it did step down from folding while it was in the cabinet shelf, just after a much longer period (I cant say exactly when as I was interrupted at this point, maybe eight to ten minutes).

So my PS3 does step down but it seems to behave differently if a disc has been in the drive, not stepping down despite having cooled down (my measurement being an entirely unscientific hand to the back vents approach).

The only other oddity I noticed was that when I had it out on its side I shined a torch into the side vent and could see the fan running and it doesnt look to be particularly well balanced. you can see it wobbling as it spins when its on the low speed.


So is my PS3 loud ? I think so, at level 3 the fan makes a very loud whooshing noise along with a whine that is audible from about twelve feet and a buzzing that is audible from about six inches (theyre probably the same noise) the buzzing is distinct and seperate from the high pitched noise that the cell makes when folding (that is only audible if you stick your ear right up to the unit) the only thing I can compare it to in the lving room is the 360, at level 3 the noise through air being pushed through the PS3 is comparable with the 360 but the 360s delta fans have the PS3 beaten hands down on the whining front.

Could my PS3 be quieter ? there are two different models of fan in the PS3, I'm pretty sure that one is quiter than the other and I have the loud one based off peoples accounts here and elsewhere

Could I get a quiter one ? based off other peoples accounts, yes, but it might take me four or more returns to get one.

Am I mad ? most probably

Is my PS3 faulty ? I have no idea, the fan does step down after folding but it also does wobble and make a buzzing noise, the overall noise is hard to compare to others as we are all comparing our subjective experiences and this applies also to the buzzing noise from the fan, the only other thing I think could be measured by anyone else at this point for comparison is wether your PS3 fan wobbles as it turns at low speed.

What the hell is going on with the fans not stepping down after a disc has been in the drive ? I dont know, I didnt get a chance to do another check on this, when I get the chance I'm going to play for an hour, remove disc, idle for an hour, if it hasnt stepped down I'm going to start Folding and see if it steps down after folding.

edit: Its a shame Sony didnt think to have the fan accessible through a faceplate on the bottom of the PS3, then people could clean their fans without ripping their PS3s apart and voiding their warranties, this would seem especially prudent if they intend to keep the PS3 supported as long as they have the PS2. It would also allow nosey so and so like me to go prod their fan and make sure nothing was wrong with it.
 
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Sareth said:
What the hell is going on with the fans not stepping down after a disc has been in the drive ? I dont know, I didnt get a chance to do another check on this, when I get the chance I'm going to play for an hour, remove disc, idle for an hour, if it hasnt stepped down I'm going to start Folding and see if it steps down after folding.
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Maybe the BR drive produces a lot of extra heat?
 
Folding is only CPU intensive while a game is CPU and GPU intensive together with the BD drive spinning can account for the extra heat produced.

I think the GPU alone can produce 80+W of heat.
 
I got mine yesterday and put it through its paces. The fans definitely kicked in after some game playing but then when I started watching an MP4 file from my USB stick, they quietened down again. Took about 20 minutes to do so but it happened.
 
Release day console and before now had it folding for 7 hours + with BR's played before it - (so 9-10 hours intensiive use) and the unit has never been anthing less than silent (where you can here the slight buzz of a fridge 10ft away when standing right by the ps3)

PS3 is on a carpet laying down, with nothing either side or back/front (loads of breathing space all around)

Definitely a case of some units having quieter/more efficient fans (and well ventilated)
 
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