Study on Gaming Consoles Heat Management, Schemes and Mind Maps of Mechanical Engineering

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STUDY ON GAMING CONSOLES HEAT MANAGEMENT A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering By Bianca Kwok 2021 ii SIGNATURE PAGE THESIS: STUDY ON GAMING CONSOLES HEAT MANAGEMENT AUTHOR: Bianca Kwok DATE SUBMITTED: Spring 2021 Department of Mechanical Engineering Dr. Kevin Anderson ________________________________________________ Thesis Committee Chair Mechanical Engineering Dr. Maryam Shafahi ________________________________________________ Mechanical Engineering Dr. Henry Xue ________________________________________________ Mechanical Engineering v LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Materials for computational thermal analysis.........................................................7 Table 2: Numerical result for the Xbox simulation...............................................................9 Table 3: Numerical result for the PS5 simulation...............................................................11 Table 4: Maximum temperatures for different consoles.....................................................18 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Breakdowns of Xbox Series X and PS5.................................................................1 Figure 2: PS5 “less silent” Fan B and “silent” Fan A............................................................1 Figure 3: The SOC side of the motherboard for PS5 and Xbox.............................................2 Figure 4: Size comparison of the heatsinks to their covers....................................................3 Figure 5: X-ray of PS5..........................................................................................................4 Figure 6: Actual vapor chamber and heat pipe vs their CAD counterpart.............................5 Figure 7: Xbox heatsink, assembly model front, assembly model back................................6 Figure 8: PS5 heatsink, assembly model front, assembly model back..................................6 Figure 9: Meshed model: Xbox, PS5....................................................................................8 Figure 10: Temperature distribution on Xbox back view......................................................9 Figure 11: Xbox SOC maximum temperature vs film coefficient.......................................10 Figure 12: Temperature distribution on PS5 back view......................................................10 Figure 13: Temperature distribution on PS5 working fluid................................................11 Figure 14: PS5 SOC maximum temperature vs film coefficient.........................................12 Figure 15: temperature of Xbox SOC for different games..................................................13 Figure 16: temperature of Xbox RAM for different games.................................................14 Figure 17: Xbox temperature vs time graph for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War...........14 Figure 18: Temperature of PS5 chips at steady state...........................................................15 Figure 19: Targeted water-cooled components for custom PS5..........................................16 Figure 20: Assemblies of custom PS5................................................................................17 Figure 21: Maximum surface temperature of original PS5 and water-cooled PS5..............17 Figure 22: Appearance comparison of original PS5 and customized PS5...........................17 - 1 - INTRODUCTION Both Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 are the next-gen gaming consoles that enable Unreal Engine 5 as game engine, which means more power consumption and heat generation than previous consoles. To improve customer’s gaming experience, Microsoft and Sony focused hard on the heat management. Figure 1: breakdowns of Xbox Series X (left)1 and PS5 (right)2 Figure 2: PS5 “less silent” Fan B and “silent” Fan A3 In both designs, big fan is used for more air displacement and less noise. Xbox makes a linear approach, using a 130mm axial exhaust fan placed on the most top 1 iFixit. (November 11, 2020). Xbox Series X Teardown. 2 iFixit. (November 5, 2020). PlayStation 5 Teardown. 3 Deakin, Daniel R. (Dec 1, 2020). PlayStation 5 fan lottery leaves some gamers with a noisier console than others while Sony may have used an even quieter fan for PS5 review units. - 4 - COMPUTATIONAL THERMAL ANALYSIS ON HEATSINK ASSEMBLIES The heatsinks were 3D modeled using computer-aided design. Models were then imported to ANSYS Steady-State Thermal for comparison. This is solely for comparing the heat dissipating ability of the two heatsink assembly, not the overall heat management of the consoles. The biggest difference between vapor chamber and heat pipe is the direction of heat transfer. Vapor chamber spreads heat in 2-dimensional, planar direction. Heat pipe moves heat along the axial direction. Although they function differently, both contain 3 layers of material: envelope, wick, and working fluid. Envelop is a sealed outer wall that contains the wick and fluid layers. In the wick layer, vapor condenses and travels along the wick to the SOC where it evaporates again. Working fluid layer is vapor that travels through the center to carry the heat to the heatsink fin. CAD Modeling Figure 5: X-ray of PS52 above - 5 - Figure 6: actual vapor chamber (top left)5 and heat pipe (bottom left)6 vs their CAD counterpart For computational analysis, both heatsinks are simplified. Envelope and wick are combined to a thicker, solid envelope with the vaporized working fluid in the middle. In the Xbox model, fluid is sandwiched by the envelope instead of sealed inside. Heat pipe cross section is rectangular instead of racetrack shaped. From the PS5’s X-ray, there are total of 7 heat pipes used for cooling the SOC. Both thermal interface material is assumed to be 100μm thick with Fuji Electric Global’s recommendation.7 The specific sizes or dimensions of the heatsinks cannot be found. To estimate their sizes, “Sketch Picture” function was used along with the overall dimension of Xbox (30.1cm tall × 15.1cm wide × 15.1cm deep) and PS5 (39cm tall × 10.4cm wide × 26cm deep). 5 COFAN USA. (n.d.). Vapor Chambers 6 Epbernard. (January 24, 2013). Laptop CPU Heat Pipe Cross Section. Wikipedia. 7 Fuji Electric Co., Ltd. (n.d.). Chapter 5 Heat dissipation design. PDF. - 6 - Figure 7: Xbox heatsink (left)4 above, assembly model front (middle), assembly model back (right) Figure 8: PS5 heatsink (left)4 above, assembly model front (middle), assembly model back (right) Materials Both Xbox and PS5 uses aluminum fins and copper base plate for their heatsinks. The specific type of alloys used is unknown, therefore default properties from ANSYS data base are used in the analysis. Method of attachment between the fins and base is also unknown. They are assumed to have perfect contact with each other in the model. According to Advanced Cooling Technologies, a thermal management solutions company, water is usually the working fluid for electronics cooling, so water vapor from the database is set as the material for the fluid inside the vapor chamber and the heat pipe. Thermal paste used on the Xbox SOC is unknown. With its gray color and assuming it is non-metal based, Thermalright TF8 Thermal Paste is chose for this simulation with its - 9 - Result Figure 10: temperature distribution on Xbox back view. Overall assembly (left), working fluid (right) Table 2: numerical result for the Xbox simulation Film Coefficient W/(m2·°C) Xbox Series X SOC Maximum Temperature (°C) Tambient = 0 °C Tambient = 10 °C Tambient = 20 °C Tambient = 30 °C 20 65.06 75.06 85.06 95.06 40 60.47 70.47 80.47 90.47 60 58.85 68.85 78.85 88.85 80 57.98 67.99 77.99 87.99 100 57.44 67.44 77.44 87.44 120 57.05 67.05 77.05 87.05 140 56.751 66.75 76.75 86.75 160 56.52 66.52 76.52 86.52 180 56.33 66.33 76.33 86.33 200 56.16 66.16 76.16 86.16 - 10 - Figure 11: Xbox SOC maximum temperature vs film coefficient Figure 12: temperature distribution on PS5 back view - 11 - Figure 13: temperature distribution on PS5 working fluid Table 3: numerical result for the PS5 simulation Film Coefficient W/(m2·°C) PlayStation SOC Maximum Temperature (°C) Tambient = 0 °C Tambient = 10 °C Tambient = 20 °C Tambient = 30 °C 20 41.75 51.75 61.75 71.75 40 32.62 42.62 52.62 62.62 60 28.77 38.77 48.77 58.77 80 26.53 36.53 46.53 56.53 100 25.02 35.02 45.02 55.02 120 23.92 33.92 43.92 53.92 140 23.07 33.07 43.07 53.07 160 22.38 32.38 42.38 52.38 180 21.82 31.82 41.82 51.82 200 21.34 31.34 41.34 51.34 - 14 - Figure 16: temperature of Xbox RAM for different games9 Figure 17: Xbox temperature vs time graph for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War9 above - 15 - Figure 18: temperature of PS5 chips at steady state9 above - 16 - LIQUID COOLED CONSOLE Liquid does a better job in cooling than air but there was never an official liquid cooled console before. Modding Cafe on YouTube created the first custom liquid-water- cooled PS5 and did testing on it. The liquid metal was replaced by thermal paste, and thermal pad was used on the other components. One hour of game play was also used for the custom PS5 to reach steady state. Thermal sensor was placed into the custom aluminum backplate, which is on the other side of the SOC, instead of the electric components. But when comparing the thermal camera images (note: thermal camera only shows surface temperature) to the official PS5, it proves that liquid cooling lowers the maximum surface temperature by 8°C. When the custom PS5 is assembled with fan blowing air from radiator to backplate, water temperature stables at 40°C, and backplate temperature stables at 50°C. Figure 19: targeted water-cooled components for custom PS510 10 Modding Café. (Feb 26, 2021). PS5 Watercooling Anthology Part 1 to 4 [Video] - 19 - unit cost and transferred to the consumer, resulting in decrease in sales. Pump is necessary in any liquid system, but the pump would add additional mechanical point of failure. Any leakage would cause breakdown or safety issue to the system. An official liquid-cooled gaming consoles would not be possible unless the high price and the failure possibility can be greatly reduced in the future. At current state, it can only be achieved through self-installing. - 20 - CONCLUSION PS5 has a better heatsink assembly, but Xbox Series X has a better overall heat management. Other than self-installing a liquid cooling system after the warranty, the best way to achieve cooler temperature is to remove the side panels (PS5 only), lower the in-game graphic quality accordingly, and to place the console at a spacious, cool, and clean environment for both PS5 and Xbox Series X. - 21 - REFERENCES COFAN USA. (n.d.). Vapor Chambers. https://cofan-usa.com/products/vapor-chambers Deakin, Daniel R. (Dec 1, 2020). PlayStation 5 fan lottery leaves some gamers with a noisier console than others while Sony may have used an even quieter fan for PS5 review units. https://www.notebookcheck.net/PlayStation-5-fan-lottery-leaves- some-gamers-with-a-noisier-console-than-others-while-Sony-may-have-used-an- even-quieter-fan-for-PS5-review-units.506879.0.html Dixon, Taylor. (November 13, 2020). PlayStation 5 vs Xbox Series X: A Heated Teardown Showdown. https://www.ifixit.com/News/46580/playstation-5-vs-xbox- series-x-a-heated-teardown-showdown Epbernard. (January 24, 2013). Laptop CPU Heat Pipe Cross Section. Wikipedia. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Laptop_CPU_Heat_Pipe_Cross_Sectio n.jpg Fuji Electric Co., Ltd. (n.d.). Chapter 5 Heat dissipation design. PDF. https://www.fujielectric.com/products/semiconductor/model/igbt/application/box/ doc/pdf/REH985b/REH985b_05.pdf Gamers Nexus. (May 11, 2009). Home [YouTube channel]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/c/GamersNexus/featured iFixit. (November 5, 2020). PlayStation 5 Teardown. https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/PlayStation+5+Teardown/138280 iFixit. (November 11, 2020). Xbox Series X Teardown. https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Xbox+Series+X+Teardown/138451