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The PS5 uses a liquid metal interface between the heatsink and the chip to increase thermal conductivity, but the potential for leaks in the vertically oriented console poses a major reliability risk.
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A new teardown of the PS5 Pro reveals that the console's heatsink design has been tweaked compared to the base PS5 in an effort to mitigate liquid metal leaks.
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Although the liquid metal issue hasn't had a widespread impact on PS5 owners, Sony is committed to identifying and addressing possible risks to ensure long-term reliability.
According to a recent survey playstation 5 pro The issue could possibly render the PS5 completely unusable, and while the console hasn't actually experienced widespread errors, Sony appears to have quietly taken steps to prevent it. This is what happens with PS5 Pro.
Since the PS5's GPU can clock up to a fairly high 2.23GHz, Sony decided to use liquid metal instead of thermal paste on the console's chips as a means of transferring heat to the heatsink. The advantage of liquid metal is that it is a much better thermal conductor than thermal paste, but it has a major disadvantage. If liquid metal leaks out of the enclosure, it will immediately short out the motherboard and irreparably damage the system. In early 2023, reports emerged that the PS5 could experience this issue if it was left upright for long periods of time, sparking major concerns among owners.
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Fortunately, it was later revealed that the PS5's liquid metal interface was only a potential problem for used consoles that had previously been disassembled for other repairs. A new and unopened PS5 has little risk of problems, but Sony still designed the PS5 Pro's internals to mitigate liquid metal leaks. As much as possible. YouTube channel How-FixIT recently posted a teardown comparison of the PS5 Pro and PS5 Slim. Here, the heatsink block of the latest console appears to have surface ridges that help distribute the liquid metal evenly over the chip.
The surface elevation of the heatsink minimizes the risk of liquid metal pooling at the bottom of the chip and is known to have a negative impact on the PS5 Pro's thermal efficiency. In comparison, the PS5 Slim's heat sink contact area is flat, effectively proving that Sony has solved the liquid metal problem with the PS5 Pro. Interestingly, this isn't the only implicit change Sony has made to the PS5 Pro. Ahead of the console's release, it was revealed that Sony would include an easily accessible bay for the PS5 Pro's CMOS battery, allowing owners to easily replace the component if it malfunctions.
Liquid metal leaks haven't appeared en masse for PS5 owners so far, with many even disputing the possibility of such an issue. Nonetheless, the design changes to the PS5 Pro heatsink show that Sony is constantly keeping an eye on potential causes of hardware failures and eliminating them early through fixes. Both the PS5 and Xbox Series