PS5 cooling performance is the same, regardless of it being placed vertical or horizontal

Yasuhiro Ootori, EVP, Hardware Engineering and Operation at Sony Interactive Entertainment, has shared details about the cooling system in relation to placing PlayStation 5 horizontally or vertically on its stand.

Ootori has told Japanese outlet 4Gamer that this is “a frequently asked question,” as people got worried that a horizontal installation could prevent the console from cooling down correctly.

“From the designer’s point of view, there is no difference in cooling performance between vertical and horizontal installation,” the engineer was quick pointing out.

“I think some people think that the heat dissipation efficiency should be higher in the vertical installation due to the chimney effect,” Ootori added, remarking it is only a matter of people believing that the form factor is having an impact on the cooling system and not vice versa.

Anyway, it doesn’t work like this as PS5 has systems in place that take care of the cooling system and don’t simply let the airflow outside of the console.

“In a cooling system with an active fan (electric fan), the chimney effect is at the measurement error level,” he shared. “It works according to the specifications in both horizontal and vertical installation.”

However, the SIE engineer has his ideas clear when it comes to aesthetics, as he “personally, I like the vertical placement where the top and bottom of the “PS logo” can be seen correctly.”

Sony has poured a lot of thought into crafting PlayStation 5 in terms of engineering, to the point that it could have been smaller, but it was decided it wouldn’t work for two specific reasons. Also, the cooling system has also been engineered in a way it can be adjusted on the fly through firmware updates.