A recent Kickstarter campaign has stirred up excitement with its innovative PlayStation 5 cooling unit, claiming to tackle overheating issues and prevent the rear I/O from melting. At the time of writing, the campaign has raised a significant $89,000, with aspirations to hit a $125,000 stretch goal. The cooling unit comes with a starting price of $39.
This addition to the PS5, known as the Arctic PS5 cooler, is making waves as the first AI-driven cooling system for the console. Designed to clip onto the back of Sony’s PS5, it uses either four or six fans to efficiently dispel heat. The cooler is powered through a single USB port yet cleverly includes a pass-through USB, ensuring you don’t lose access to your console’s ports.
SCRY, the company behind this campaign, is offering three versions of the cooler tailored to different PS5 models: the original (which they refer to as the “fat” model), the PS5 Slim, and the newly released PS5 Pro. The Pro and Slim versions share a design with four fans—three positioned on top and one on the bottom—while the “fat” model boasts six fans.
A key selling point touted throughout their campaign page is the integration of “smart thermal AI,” which dynamically adjusts fan speeds based on the console’s internal temperature. Not much is revealed about how this AI differs from traditional PC fan controls. Nevertheless, the system automatically kicks into high gear at 50°C to maintain optimal cooling performance.
SCRY claims that their cooler slashes the console’s temperature by an impressive 30% from its standard operation, bringing it down from a peak of 64°C to a much cooler max of 55°C. Thermal imaging featured on their site highlights a significant 9°C temperature drop at the PS5’s warmest external point—the ethernet port.
These coolers are designed to tackle any potential overheating problems that might plague Sony’s latest gaming machine, particularly considering last year’s reports about overheating with games like Final Fantasy XVI. In some extreme cases, overheating even led to melting connectors on the PS5’s rear.
Beyond the cooling solution, SCRY’s Kickstarter is also promoting a Gen 4 M.2 SSD with a built-in heatsink, adding even more value to their project.
A notable highlight of their campaign is the stretch goal feature. Hitting the $125,000 mark will unlock a complimentary “vertikal” universal stand for the PS5. Other stretch goals at $75,000 and $100,000 are set and will be announced once those thresholds are reached.
