Water Cooling A PlayStation 3

I'm Finally Getting To Water cool My PS3!
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[@8bitnation419]

Cooling isn't really an issue with the PS3 and even the 360, the original cooling system is plenty good. The problem with these consoles was the bump gate issue on the GPU chips. The best fix is to get the GPU Chip replaced with a known working replacement that doesn't suffer from Bump Gate, a later revision of the GPU Chips. But as for water cooling mod. What I don't like is they're external. I would like to see an internal cooling mod perhaps using a custom Vapour Chamber instead, along with the big fan to cool the rest of the components. Or just to stick with OEM, keep it at default clocks and replace the thermal paste and the thermal pads.

[@WestinEast]

Fair enough, I just really wanted to water cool it!

[@brandonstormonth8356]

Would love to see a vapor or vacuum cooled console

[@stiffybeanie4148]

Bumpgate shouldnt be issue on this watercooled ps3

[@Ordi_Ghost]

Sure, but even by replacing the RSX with a 40nm, for example, it'll still fail over time due to thermal degradation yet again, which is a problem with all sorts of electronics that rely on silicon chips. Reducing the 100% load temperatures and temperature delta (the difference between the lowest and highest temp recorded during power-on time) by water-cooling the system is the best thing you can do for it to last a long time, and can make a difference.

[@Nascar1243]

The bump gate issue was fixed on his ps3 as he replaced his gpu with a 40nm RSX from the 90nm so there are no concerns there, however the main concerns are going to now be the numerous other heat generating components inside the ps3 that were not considered during this build. You see the Cell and RSX are both very powerful chips and both have VRM modules which produce a lot of heat, they relied on the shielding as a heatsink and the internal fan to keep it cool, the issue now is because that internal fan is gone those things will just start becoming hot, reducing their lifespan, but that won’t be what goes out first. The psu will be what goes out first, the psu inside the ps3 heavily relies on continuous airflow and because he’s basically cut off all airflow from the psu internally the psu is going to burn itself up, so he will have to externalize that psu if he wants this to work long term, along with coming up with a solution for keeping the various other components on the ps3 motherboard cooled since their main cooling component was removed.

[@residentevilfan4]

I'm a proud owner of a "frankie" Backwards Compatible PS3. The stock cooler is plenty enough, the OG problem was the chip getting too hot and the infamous "bump gate" stuff. Had the tokin caps replaced along with thermal pads and paste. It's truly a work of art. Yours is too however and I wonder if a PS3 could function in that baby oil" solution PC people use. Delidded CPU and GPU of course.

[@KevinRivera-bc2ix]

i love PS3 and i´m working on watercooling mine, your video is awesome, you got a new suscriber. keep the wood work!!!!

[@RevolutionFalls]

You should learn to solder, it’ll save you money. (If you don’t mess up)

[@WestinEast]

I've got to get the stuff for microsoldering and reworking, especially because it's becoming my job!

[@MKSubzer0]

Would you ever sell a water cooling PS3? I'm interested​@@WestinEast

[@silentus1783]

Watercooled ps3 before gta 6

[@cheezyfriez12]

The launch ps3's thermals aren't "naturally bad" by any means as far as i understand. My CECHA01 was super loud until I cleaned it out and replaced the thermal paste. After doing that, it was only slightly louder than my slim, even under stress. Not to say that the 90nm gpu isn't horrible inefficient and unreliable though. If it weren't so expensive I would definitely Frankenstein my ps3.

[@cppctek]

Epic video brother !!! Heck yeah man! I love watercooling stuff like this. Great job !! ❤🤠

[@Nascar1243]

I very much worry about the fact that the fan has been removed, because you left the psu in it it will just cook itself, then there is the Cell and RSX VRM, Bluray drive IC, EEGS (PS2 Chip), and the Southbridge, all of which generate heat and all of which are no longer getting any kind of cooling whatsoever. The PSU would be the first to go though as without cooling it can run very very hot and even hot enough to burn itself out in some cases. This is why when some people watercool ps3s they will externalize the psu and make it all custom so that it has proper cooling. Just some notes to add that you can work on to make sure this console doesn’t die as right now those are some concerning notes you need to be aware of now that the airflow pattern and thermal design pattern has changed.

[@Ordi_Ghost]

Welp, the only way that could be remedied is if the guy makes a larger custom enclosure for the PS3 motherboard where either a custom AIO solution can be done, or place fans where needed (PSU/Southbridge) and additional water blocks on the EEGS.

[@Nascar1243]

@@Ordi_Ghost well really the only way that could be remedied would be to add a fan to the shell to cool those components, but then at that point just leave the fan in the console. Plus it is a Frankenstein with a 40nm RSX which is super reliable. Unfortunately now the main concern is going to be other things that aren’t being cooled, an AIO wouldn’t really solve this issue as you would have to cut the RF shield and then make a ton more modifications to the shell and at that point you would be better off putting it in a PC case. I’ve seen people do custom water cooling builds and they will put holes in the shell and add custom designs with fans so that it isn’t as ugly from the outside with holes showing, they do a lot of metal fabrication work and 3d printing, that way it gets proper airflow but still has some cool aesthetic behind it but they also still externalize the psu nearly every time they water cool it as it is the third hottest component in a BC ps3 that needs proper cooling. If you take the top cover off of a BC model and run it under a load and feel the metal shield on the PSU you will see what I mean by how hot it runs, it gets too hot to the touch after just 5 minutes or so.

[@Nascar1243]

Also another note on the “do not overclock the 90nm RSX as it will cook the power supply” this is absolutely false, it will not cook the power supply at all, in fact I know people who have put 90nm RSXs higher than the Evilnat overclock and it does not blow the PSU, the PS3 under a heavy load only consumes roughly 220w maxed out from my testing, the psu is rated for much higher than that, you won’t burn it out, in your case you will as you have removed all cooling from it. But it is absolutely fine to overclock the 90nm RSX as long as you have webman set up to 68c max, remember the bumpgate defect only happens if the RSX stays above 70c for prolonged periods of time and over multiple thermal cycles, if you have the RSX at let’s say 64c it’s not going to die unless it’s already had a defect or bumpgate issue. I’ve even overclocked ps3s and I can promise you will not burn out your power supply doing this, if you do it is because your power supply was already on its way out. The max power output I achieved with an overclocked 90nm RSX was 225w, not near the max power output of the 226 or ZSSR Psu that these BC models came with.

[@jgchgdut8327]

bro you are legendary

[@TheBrick517]

wow u truly do have the ultimate ps3

[@jarifazmain5170]

overkill 100

[@J.Wick.]

That's kinda the point tho

[@user-il9so7iu9s]

This was a legit upgrade! Well done! It seems like a power supply upgrade is the next best mod. A 500W pico power supply with an external brick would be ideal. That way you can also make a some 3D printed mount, a custom pcb to make it plug and play, extra plugs to power additional fans, and remove the power supply from the radiators.

[@ItsJustTech]

beautiful video man, kept me watching for long and i was shook ur only on 700 subs. Keep it up and you're going to make it, trust me

[@zakkzeb]

crazy vid keep it up

[@mannypaul7369]

It’s awesome that despite all the tribulations, you got it all working! I can only imagine how glorious and liberating it felt!

[@UnknownRoses]

I'll share bro 🔥

[@steliosemmanouilidis5050]

2 things you could do if you want to make it slightly more ultimate is putting a bd drive with two laser lenses (best and most reliable bd drive) and also making sure you have the most efficient psu your model supports . It should be a bit cooler. Other than that youre already set, i really want to see its temps on ps2 games since its the hardest thing for a bc ps3

[@WestinEast]

Honestly the bluray thing sounds cool, I still haven't fixed the issue of it not sptting out and receiving disks properly that I covered it my first video on the ps3

[@seganutt]

Impressive work friend, i liquid cooled my 60GB PS3 back in 2011 it's still going strong I have a small video on my channel , if you would like to see , i also have a Frankenstein 60gb it's just stock works great

[@chrisgardiner2215]

OH YEAH, well I skipped over the 4th grade because my 3rd grade teachers thought I was a very "gifted" child 🧐. (in reality there was a teacher shortage in the town)

[@JoshuaEpperson69]

Damn this is bad ass bro!

[@muhiddintopalak4386]

Impressive work.

[@Blue-bf8lv]

are you using NVIDIA's eye tracking thing?

[@RyanFennec]

Oh my god I thought I was going schitzo but I see it now lmao

[@CuztomStiiks]

Is there an actual advantage to upgrading between those ssd yk because of the ps3 speeds?

[@WestinEast]

Well, kinda. The first Kingston one was used and awful. It didn't have a d ram cache on the drive meaning it would stutter and slow down and die quicker. However the 870 evo was a bit overkill - however that was kinda the point :)

[@maytizevb]

siendo externo tiene mas ventajas por que cuando quieres pasar un juego los isos se pasan mas rapido

[@user-yy5zc6ts3l]

slightly better loading speeds, don't expect miracles

[@GooseDaPlaymaker]

Great video! Dude…how about a video showcasing a remote play option for PS3 using parsec?

[@AndreNYH]

OK, you’re gonna make the ultimate PS3 that’s good this is gonna be a good video

[@Jupiters1337]

whats up with the awful interlacing on the whole video

[@WestinEast]

@@Jupiters1337 I don't know, maybe some editing artifacts, I messed with my export settings a lot so that might've done it

[@LoafingMushroom]

This is sick

[@Wunnabeanbag]

Bro😂

[@user-pu6so4ix6w]

man!! the ps3 does not support dram catch!!! learn that the ssd does not matter!!!! if the gpu an the cpu have heating issues the hard drive does not matter!!!

[@backlashD]

Has the freezing issue been resolved?

[@WestinEast]

Yeah!

[@Nightmareof94]

I needed something like this for mine the thing kept switching itself of after 20-30 mins of playing then a disk got stuck in it and i binned it

[@replikvltyoutube3727]

Good job

[@6Zacky]

Nice Vid

[@killshock360]

The issues with the GPU is with the capacitors

[@slapndbass]

My excoworker and hus roommate watercooled his ps3. We're talking back in 2011. A lot of diy parts. It worked but it looked like a disaster.

[@erhiueQWEF]

Sheesh I can't imagine what monstrosity he must've made in 20111.

[@yariktelyashenko3774]

YESSIR!

[@rileylinde-th7bn]

I used water to cool mine down then my fish started twitching and died

[@ItsJokerZz]

you need not need a PSU at all LMAOOO

[@maytizevb]

@JElectronica el tambien hizo un ps3 modeado pero le quedo mucho mejor

[@krowan477]

This wont help you, PS3 will die eventually. I spent many times replacing themal paste every month and putting ps3 next to AC and it eventually died, its better to emulate these games or get Slim version that is from 2010+. I recommend not play games that stress RSX and CELL cpu.

[@WestinEast]

If you didn't do an RSX swap that is almost 100% what killed it. But yeah, I'm sure it'll die one day no matter what happens

[@backlashD]

I don't think you watched the video

[@krowan477]

@@backlashD i did watch it and i cried when realized another og ps3 going to die

[@Nascar1243]

@@krowan477the reason yours likely died is due to the bumpgate defect of the 90nm RSX, he has a 40nm RSX, but unfortunately the design flaw that was missed that I stated in another comment is that because he removed the internal fan he is essentially going to cook the other heat generating components inside. The VRMs get very hot as the Cell and RSX are very power hungry and without cooling they can get quite hot and their lifespan reduces significantly, the PSU heavily relies on passive airflow to keep cool so that will die out quickly as well unless externalized. Now to remedy this he could make the PSU external, add fans to the top side for the heat generating components like the BD IC, then add some way to cool the southbridge, EEGS, and VRMs as those can also get warm, especially without any airflow

[@alexmierzynski5325]

Wow, epic video. Seriously impressive. Something you can also do is add chrome “feet” to the bottom so even less heat accumulates at the base. Google “4 Sets High-End HiFi Aluminum Speaker Feet” You can super glue them to the bottom and it doesn’t ascetically alter the look. It actually looks stock. Just an idea. Great video, cheers!

[@alexmierzynski5325]

Edit: I used a metal to plastic special epoxy to glue them