Chosen Solution
Hi all, (Quick disclaimer: I’m by no means an electronic expert.) Recently my PS4 died on me after only owning it for a little over a year, and I couldn’t pinpoint the problem to anything but the motherboard (after frequenting a few forums: possible APU/CPU overheating/ weak soldering). Sure enough, I ordered a new SAB-001 motherboard and installed it and it’s back up without a hitch. Hooray! The one minor issue I’m noticing is that the fan seems…louder than before? I’m not really sure since I went a month without having it running (and my PS4 has always been a little loud). But even after cleaning the fan and using new thermal paste (silver grease metal oxide, I think), it gets loud at times – especially during The Witcher 3, but really quiet at other times (and that part is great). I initially put just the recommended pea-size drop on the CPU, but the fan was SUPER LOUD. So I reapplied a little more and it quieted down substantially, but still…seems a little loud to me. Could just be how it’s gonna run, but any good pointers is much appreciated. Thanks!
Yes, this is normal…especially for older PS4’s. When it plays graphically intense games it will get loud. Most of the time there is nothing you can do about it and that’s just how it is. Especially since you’ve already replaced the thermal paste I don’t think there is much you can do about it. You might double check that all of the thermal pads for the memory chips are in the correct places. The newer model (the 1215A) is a much quieter machine.
