PS5 cooling fan will get online updates for optimization

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The fan will adjust its speed based on the games you're playing

(Image credit: Sony)

The PS5 cooling fan will get online optimization updates that will adjust the fan's speed based on the game you're playing.

The news, which comes from Eurogamer by way of Japanese gaming site 4Gamer.net, is based on an interview with Yasuhiro Ootori, the vice president of mechanical design at Sony. "Various games will be released in the future, and data on the APU's behavior in each game will be collected. We have a plan to optimize fan control based on this date," Ootori tells 4Gamer. In layman's terms, this means data on the games that cause heavy loads on PS5 will be sent to Sony, and the internal fan can be adjusted accordingly - even if that means your living room is going to sound like the runways at JFK Airport. 

The PS5 has a double-sided air intake fan and internal sensor temperatures inside the APU and the main board that control the fan speed. Now we know that speed will also be adjusted with online updates based on game data collected by Sony. 

In order to test the PS5's fan capabilities, Sony made a completely transparent model of the PS5 chassis and observed dry ice flowing through it. The team took temperature readings in each area of the system and the engineers adjusted the fan accordingly. I'd like to formally request a transparent PS5 so I can relive my clear blue Nintendo Gameboy days, please.

As we previously reported, we got an incredibly close look at the PS5 and its design two weeks ago, when Ootori himself disassembled the entire console down to its circuit boards. If that wasn't mind-blowing enough, news that the console will regularly get cooling fan adjustments based on data Sony is collecting is taking it even further. Welcome to the future of gaming, eh?

Sony details PS5 voice chat recording feature. 

Alyssa Mercante
Alyssa Mercante
Former Features Writer

Alyssa Mercante used to be a features writer at GamesRadar+ and is now a freelance writer and editor. Prior to entering the industry, she got her Masters's degree in Modern and Contemporary Literature at Newcastle University with a dissertation focusing on contemporary indie games. She spends most of her time playing competitive shooters and in-depth RPGs and was recently on a PAX Panel about the best bars in video games. In her spare time Alyssa rescues cats, practices her Italian, and plays soccer.