PlayStation 5 teardown finds intense cooling system, custom SSD controller
The console was built to handle the PS5's "crazy high data speeds," iFixit said.
- I've been covering technology and mobile for 12 years, first as a telecommunications reporter and assistant editor at ZDNet in Australia, then as CNET's West Coast head of breaking news, and now in the Thought Leadership team.
iFixit has revealed the internals of the PS5.
iFixit published its teardown of Sony's PlayStation 5 on Friday, exploring the repairability and internal workings of the new console. The company took apart the more expensive disc drive version of the PS5 rather than the digital edition, finding what looks to be a proprietary SSD controller. Overall, the site called the PlayStation 5 "a huge leap forward in console gaming technology."
"It appears Sony made a custom SSD controller to handle the PS5's crazy high data speeds," iFixit said. "Whereas the [Xbox] Series X uses a more conventional-looking setup with hardware from SanDisk."
PS5 restock alerts: Get inventory updates for GameStop, Best Buy, Walmart, Amazon and Target
iFixit lauded the PS5's huge fan, multiple heat pipes that overlap "like a freeway interchange," and vacuum-able dust ports.
"When it comes to easy maintenance of your console's cooling hardware, you could say we're pretty big fans," iFixit wrote. "The PS5 implements 'omnidirectional' cooling, with this thick 120 mm squirrel cage pulling in cool air from both sides."
On the issue of repairability, iFixit said that though the main storage is paired with the motherboard, expansion should be possible with M.2 SSDs once enabled by Sony. The optical drive is also replaceable "but cannot be easily swapped thanks to software locks."
You can read CNET's review of the PlayStation 5 and our pick of the best PS5 games to play right now.
Sony didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
