PS5 PlayStation 5 Heatsink 2
Image: Sony Interactive Entertainment

Sony’s range of PlayStation 4 hardware is so loud it could be considered a public disturbance. We’re all praying to the hardware gods that it’s come up with a solution to keep its next-gen console quiet, then, and a patent from 2018 hints at what the device’s cooling system may look like. It’s worth mentioning that the PlayStation 5 isn’t referenced explicitly in the documentation, and plans are always subject to change.

Nevertheless, the abstract explains roughly how the cooling solution will operate: “A heatsink is disposed on a lower surface of a circuit board. The circuit board has through holes that penetrate the circuit board in an area where an integrated circuit apparatus is disposed. Heat conduction paths are provided in the through holes. The heat conduction paths connect the integrated circuit apparatus and the heatsink. This structure allows for disposition of a component different from the heatsink on the same side as the integrated circuit apparatus, thus ensuring a higher degree of freedom in a component layout.”

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Speaking as part of his PS5 presentation earlier in the year, architect Mark Cerny explained that the unique design of Sony’s next-gen system will help to prevent it from turning into a hairdryer. He also mentioned as part of an interview with Digital Foundry that we’ll get to see the console’s cooling solution as part of a teardown in the near future.

For now, Reddit user nemesis_scale has prepared some renders which show how the patented heatsink could look in physical form. They’re not to scale, but should give you a better idea of what the Japanese giant has in mind here:

PS5 PlayStation 5 Heatsink 1
Image: nemesis_scale / Reddit
PS5 PlayStation 5 Heatsink 3
Image: nemesis_scale / Reddit

With competitor Microsoft promising whisper quiet performance for Xbox Series X, we’re hoping Sony has a decent solution to this problem, as the PS4 range is so loud it’s attracted ridicule in recent weeks.

[source appft.uspto.gov, via reddit.com]