Featured Image Credit: SIE
Topics: PlayStation, PlayStation 5, Sony, Tech
Users are being warned that PlayStation 5 consoles could end up dying over the next few years due to one possible point of failure in the hardware.
It’s a theory that has been bandied about for a while on PlayStation messages boards and in the news, and is affecting older consoles, as opposed to the PS5 Pro or the PS5 Slim.
The founder of Alderon Games, Matthew Cassells, recently appeared on the Moore’s Law Is Dead YouTube channel to discuss the problem.
Inside the PlayStation 5, Sony used liquid metal as part of the heat reduction technology, which helps to keep the console cool.
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It does an excellent job, but it could cause some problems for those players who store the console vertically.
In this configuration, the liquid metal could leak down, leaving patches of the APU to dry out, which would then cause overheating issues, leading to full system issues.
At first, it was thought to be a rare case, however, more and more cases of this happening are starting to appear.
Cassells reports his belief that it’s this issue that’s causing their game, Path of Titans, to crash when the console shuts down due to overheating.
Sony hasn’t discussed the issue, and as it’s believed to only impact early buyers, newer players shouldn’t have any issues.
Sadly, there’s not much to be done in this situation except laying the console horizontally instead, which isn’t the best solution for all players.
Will this become a more widespread issue that sees further discussion? It’s hard to say, as many players will simply report the fault to Sony directly, or replace the console when it breaks.
It could very well be that this is a very uncommon issue, but it’s always best to be on the safe side when talking about expensive technology.