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External or internal power supply for consoles?

Next Gen: internal or external PSU?

  • External brick please!

    Votes: 158 31.2%

  • Internal power please!

    Votes: 276 54.5%

  • Mini coal-fired power station boxed with every console

    Votes: 34 6.7%

  • Either; I'm a fence-sitting coward

    Votes: 38 7.5%
  • Total voters
    506
Overflow

Overflow

Member
Oct 29, 2017
3,155
Wollongong
This is a topic that I have observed as being very divisive. Personally, having owned a PS4 Pro since launch, I am really hoping that Sony opt for an external power brick in the PlayStation 5.

There's advantages to both design philosophies, but I'm definitely willing to sacrifice convenience and aesthetic if it means my console doesn't run crazy hot/loud.

Thoughts? What would you like Sony/MS to do?
 
Aranjah

Aranjah

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,185
I was kinda ambivalent on it before, but after the power brick died on my Xbox One a few months back, I'm glad I just had to replace that one afternoon rather than sending the whole console in for repairs. Unfortunately the replacement is third-party and is loud as shit. :/ I can hear it from a couple rooms away.
 
ThreepQuest64

ThreepQuest64

Avenger
Oct 29, 2017
5,735
Germany
Internal ones have advantages when you carry them over to your friend's or with you on vacation. Less to carry, a bit easier to set up because you only need a cable and you aren't screwed if you forget to bring it. On the other hand those consoles are meant to be stationary, and for that I prefer less heat, less noise and therefore an external one. And as someone just mentioned it, if the external PU dies you just buy a new one without sending in your console for days or weeks.
 

devSin

Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,194
The fan is for the CPU and GPU. The power supply isn't the problem.

An external power supply is simply admitting the fact that you don't know what you're doing in designing your hardware.
 
Yerffej

Yerffej

Prophet of Regret
Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,447
External lol. What is this the 1800s? I think not sir/madam.
 
QuantumZebra

QuantumZebra

Attempted to circumvent ban with alt account
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,304
devSin said:
The fan is for the CPU and GPU. The power supply isn't the problem.

An external power supply is simply admitting the fact that you don't know what you're doing in designing your hardware.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

hard truths

my launch PS4 sounded like a jet turbine but never had a power supply issue ... hell my 1st revision PS3 is still chugging...

a good surge protector goes a long way too
 
Pyro

Pyro

God help us the mods are making weekend threads
Member
Jul 30, 2018
14,505
United States
Internal. I think all controllers going forward will have headphone jacks (which I always use) so I won't have to hear it if it does so happen to sound like a jet engine.
 
IIFloodyII

IIFloodyII

Member
Oct 26, 2017
23,939
Internal I guess, just because less wire or brick to mess with, but it's right down there on the list of stuff I care about.
 
Onix555

Onix555

Member
Apr 23, 2019
3,379
UK
PSU's are the most likely unit, next to drives, in hardware to fail.

External bricks allow users to easily replace broken supplies, while also producing less heat in the consoles and extending their lifetime.
 

Deleted member 7948

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,285
devSin said:
The fan is for the CPU and GPU. The power supply isn't the problem.

An external power supply is simply admitting the fact that you don't know what you're doing in designing your hardware.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
PS2-Versions.png


I don't know how, but everything in your post is wrong.
 
TK-421

TK-421

Member
Nov 30, 2017
1,729
Death Star
External, easier to replace. I had to deal with this when my Xbox One X PSU died and I had to send it back to Microsoft which took almost 3 weeks.
 
Cass_Se

Cass_Se

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,123
Launch day 360's power brick kept me warm through more than one winter, for what that's worth
 
Bessy67

Bessy67

Member
Oct 29, 2017
11,557
I don't have a strong preference either way but I guess if I had to pick I'd be in favor of external. It just sits behind my TV stand anyways, can be easily replaced if it fails and isn't contributing to more heat inside the console itself.
 
LazyLain

LazyLain

Member
Jan 17, 2019
6,484
My launch PS4's PSU died on me in 2016, so I can definitely see the case for external PSUs.
 

Deleted member 12790

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
24,537
I've been going through an replacing internal PSUs in many of my retro consoles -- Sega Saturn, Dreamcast, Amiga 1000, Atari ST, etc -- With Pico PSUs so I can use external power supplies, because it's way, waaaaay easier to replace a dead external PSU than a dead internal one.

External all the way.
 

Deleted member 48897

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 22, 2018
13,623
External ones are easier to replace and other than that it doesn't really matter. Just as long as it's not the large ones with the plug in the brick in the pre-N64 era. Those were dark times.
 
J_ToSaveTheDay

J_ToSaveTheDay

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
18,775
USA
If an external power brick helps alleviate internal system temperatures and therefore prevent it from overpowering my audio environment while I game like pretty much every current gen console does, then make it external please. The fan noise issue has been significant for me this generation across every PS4 and XB1 SKU except the base XB1 (both the OG and the S). Launch PS4 and launch PS4 Pro got intolerably loud and whiny over time and my XB1X was nearing the same noise levels in some more intensive games and it was just naggingly stupid. I really hope my new model Pro stays as quiet as it's been, 3 other consoles this generation just straight up got annoying to use.
 
affeinvasion

affeinvasion

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,946
The only advantage of internal I can think of is aesthetics, which is subjective anyway. Is there any real benefit to having an internal one?
 
Hesemonni

Hesemonni

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,974
Whilst I really like the idea of having a compact console I just have everything tucked away so less heat sources inside the better. So external.
 
Faenix1

Faenix1

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,114
Canada
I'd prefer an internal one, unless both sides of the wire are crazy long - my TV has a brick and it's maybe two feet on both sides. Fucking nightmare to get it in a spot where it's not in the way.
 
.exe

.exe

Member
Oct 25, 2017
22,205
If an external one keeps temps lower and cuts down the size of the console itself, that. You can just tuck it away whereas the console needs to be accessible/in view.
 
Pasha

Pasha

Banned
Jan 27, 2018
3,018
External.
There is near zero benefit to an internal PSU, aside from very slight convenience in certain situations.
External on the other hand can reduce the heat inside the console, making it less noisy, and if your PSU ever fails you can easily replace it without changing the whole console.
 

Deleted member 12790

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
24,537
The bunk-ass PSU in the Dreamcast is actually the main reason it has that holy-shit loud fan in it. With a PicoPSU and external power supply, the dreamcast itself runs way, waaaay cooler.

Look at this piece of shit:

WTApW8L.jpg


Disgusting.
 
hikarutilmitt

hikarutilmitt

Member
Dec 16, 2017
11,393
It depends on it if affects the thermals of the system in a significant way. I appreciate the size of the Wii and Wii U and how easily they can fit underneath a TV bezel on a shelf. The PS4 barely fits underneath my living room TV, so a Pro is always out of the question unless I move it down to a lower shelf (that I don't have room for, really). I'm hoping the PS5 can still fit under the TV, and if it cannot, that it can be a little less deep to be able to fit onto a shelf more easily.
 
Fisty

Fisty

Member
Oct 25, 2017
20,180
I am fine with bricks if the trade off is worth it. Internal definitely adds a bit of a "sleek" quality to the hardware though
 
jukeboxhero2396

jukeboxhero2396

Member
Dec 25, 2018
3,075
depends, Xbox 360's external power supply still made mine sound like a nuclear power plant. Had a PS2 slim with built in PSU, it was dead quiet. Really just depends on the design of the system I guess.

PS2 35000 PSU, what a monster system model. holy grail of Fat PS2's.
 

Deleted member 8468

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
9,109
Doesn't matter to me. Just make sure your console is cooled well without sounding like a wind tunnel and I'm all gucci.
 
RivalGT

RivalGT

Member
Dec 13, 2017
6,382
I have enough cables going around as it is, I dont need little boxes next to them. Internal is what I would want, so what PS4, and xbox one have now, not the OG xbox one.
 
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