There is no doubt about the popularity of the PlayStation 5, but let’s admit one thing; the gaming console has grown in size over the years and with each new addition, more weight and size have been added to it. Even a typical mini-ITX custom PC would take up less space than the PlayStation 5. Take the example of the recently reviewed Falcon Northwest Tiki which is based on a GeForce RTX 3080 Ti and even that one seems smaller in comparison.
Let’s take a close look at what really takes up the maximum space in the gaming console. Firstly, it’s the huge chunk of copper that is the heatsink for the 180W SoC. The design of the SoC is from AMD while it was manufactured by TSMC. Secondly, it’s the power supply which really hasn’t been shaped in the right way. What remains is the motherboard and the attached components, which are actually not that bulky and don’t take up much space.
Noticing this, Matt from DIY Perks wondered what would happen if his custom built slimmer PS5 was to beat Sony. PlayStation almost always comes with a mid-life refresh which comes with a considerably shrunken size. The PlayStation 2 for instance came with the PS2 Slim after some time.
Incredibly, Matt could actually pull off the project with such precision. Numerous sheets of copper had to be purchased from his own pocket, costing him more than 300 USD. As a result of which, he created a new cooling solution to replace the gigantic one on the original PlayStation 5. This is a totally custom built liquid cooling solution which includes the SoC, flash memory, RAM, and the power delivery components. The cold plate was designed entirely from a water block which is used for PCs and he used a TFX PSU from an HP system to go as the power supply of the machine.
The clever design of the case further took off some grams from the total weight. He used a mirror-polished copper sheet sourced from a sponsor, the D-Brand. Once everything was assembled, with the thermal sensors in place too, it appeared that this custom cooling solution helped to drop the temperature of the components considerably.
This “PS5 Slim” project has definitely made a big shortcut on the road to slimming. The power supply, which is internally built on the stock PS5, has been moved to another external device in this case. This external device also serves as the water block which has been built inside the main body. Unfortunately, all items sourced for this slimmer PS5 cost more than an actual standard PS5.