Watercooled PS3 - Overheating Issues

S

skorpien

n00b
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Jun 13, 2011
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Hi all,

I'm aware of the general consensus on watercooling consoles, but I was getting tired of how loud my PS3's fan got when gaming/watching Blu-ray movies. I also thought it would be a great challenge and a fun project...

Anyway, in an ironic twist of fate, after I'd put it all back together, turned it on and just 20 minutes of just sitting at the XMB, it beeped and flashed its red light and turned itself off. I'm thinking it might be a bad thermal paste/waterblock application so I'm planning on re-seating the block using Arctic Silver. It could also be that since I removed the stock heatsink and fan, there isn't enough circulation in the case, so to remedy that I'll be cutting a hole for a 120mm fan at the bottom.

Does anybody have any suggestions on how to avoid shutdowns due to overheating? Any information or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Also, some pics for reference. Pardon the horribly bad mod job on the aluminum motherboard shield and some blurry phone pics...

PS3DryMount.jpg


PS3_QDCs.jpg


PS3_TestRun.jpg


PS3_XMB.jpg
 
I have 2 main questions - is the waterblock making good contact with the CPU/GPU chips? Have you checked the thermal paste spread? Also, do those ramsinks need active airflow over them?
 
maybe im just not seeing it, but it looks like your lacking a pump?
 
Thank you both for your replies :)

dealmaster's correct, it's the MCR320 Drive w/ integrated res and MCP35X pump.

I'm fairly certain it's making good contact. I had to cut the aluminum shield around the processors as there was a lip that was preventing the block from contacting the chips. As for the thermal spread, I've removed the block since and it looks like it was spread okay. Though I think the paste that was included with the block along with the suggested method of application (using a plastic bag over your finger and spreading it across the processor) wasn't very good. I think there were too many air bubbles and I honestly think that paste that came with it was utter garbage. Thankfully I have a half a tube of Arctic Silver that I can use instead. It's just a matter of doing it tonight.

Yeah, I was thinking about the active airflow thing too. That's why I'm going to dremel a hole in the bottom of the plastic housing and mount a 120mm fan. I have a mesh filter I'll be using and I've already raised the PS3 with thick rubber feet, so hopefully that'll take care of any dust and airflow issues. I'm also thinking of installing a digital thermometer with a probe on the opposite side of the motherboard to monitor temps in there. Speaking of which, do you know of any blue LCD temp monitors that run off the 12V wire from a PSU? Everything I've seen uses the 5V wire and the power supply I have only supplies 12VDC.

Should I also be modding a fan at the top of the case for PSU ventilation? It's never shut down on me due to overheating before so this is a bit unexpected. As I'd said, it's rather ironic...

Thanks again for the help. It's much appreciated :)
 
Just an update:

I modded a 120mm fan to the bottom of the PlayStation to provide active cooling to the ramsinks, and I re-seated the waterblock with some Arctic Silver paste rather than the paste it came with. I'm not sure which it was, or even if it was both combined, but it's working great now :)

Thanks for the help...

The fan mod:
PS3FanMod2.jpg


After 30 minutes of playing a game:
PS3Success.jpg


An additional hour after the last shot, sitting in the XMB to make sure it still won't overheat:
PS3FinalShot.jpg
 
Did you notice any gaming performance improvements by water cooling the PS3? Too bad there isn't a way to increase GPU voltage or over clock it. :D
 
Great to hear that it worked out! I'm willing to bet it was the active air flow over the ramsinks - Arctic Silver isn't bad thermal paste, but it's far from the best and is fairly average nowadays. It wouldn't have caused overheating issues in and of itself, but I'm glad you got it working!
 
Yeah, that would be pretty sweet :p though my main reason for this mod was the noise the stock fan made when I was watching movies. Playing games I didn't mind so much, but with Blu-rays or even Netflix I had to turn my stereo up just to drown it out. I haven't tested it long enough to see if there's a performance increase, though I suspect it would mainly just prevent it from lagging/glitching due to overheating (or at least I hope it does).

dealmaster said:
Great to hear that it worked out! I'm willing to bet it was the active air flow over the ramsinks - Arctic Silver isn't bad thermal paste, but it's far from the best and is fairly average nowadays. It wouldn't have caused overheating issues in and of itself, but I'm glad you got it working!
Click to expand...

Thanks dealmaster! I didn't use Arctic Silver the first time but rather the paste it came with. Some silver stuff that was awfully thick and difficult to spread. The Arctic Silver, while far from the best, is a vast improvement than the junk that was included with it. Either way, I'm glad it's finally working and that I didn't ruin my PS3 like I'd feared :)
 
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