How long can a ps3 be on?

  • Thread starter Jorsne
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Jorsne
Usally I grind b-spec at night/school, but I try to turn it off every second night.
But if I'm ever going to reach 40 that will probably take another month.
 
so its not going to break down if it stays on for 3 days etc.

I dont want it to break down for over 2 more years either :)
 
Electronics suffer more from going through expansion and contraction from temperature differences than running for long time periods (unless they overheat during those long work hours).

If the PS3 is kept cool, leaving it on forever is better for it than turning it on and off.
 


I ordered 2 of the 120mm fans. I dont care for TT, but it was the simplest solution. Plus it has speed control.

I took off the stand, cut holes and mount holes and just threaded in small bolts to fasten the fans and guards to the back of my cabinet.
Fans power on and off with the PS3.

I have them both running exhaust right at the rear, door infront has gaps for fresh air to enter. Have kids so it was the only real way to cool without exposing fans to tiny fingers.
Right behind fans is the wall and my cold air return vent is right there

Total cost was sub $20CDN

Thermaltake also makes an 80mm USB fan aswell.
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I liked the USB fan because its powered by whatever device I choose. My DVD player, Wii and PS3 all have USB, but I only ever use the PS3, so I plug it and the fans start and stop when the power up the PS3. Saves you trying to rig up some electrical frankenfan.
Its a very simple DIY project that takes no time and costs almost nothing.

EVEN if you dont rig it up to the back of a cabinet, just the fan sitting aimed to help exhaust air can make a world of difference for thermal protection.
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The PS3 cools itself fine, so long as you can remove the heat from the area directly behind it. My method works excellent, also for even more cooling, add a cheap laptop cooler, they wont directly cool the system, but it helps with area airflow.
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Duster clean our the PS3 once a week.
 
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I suppose pointing a fan toward it would help with cooling, wouldn't do much good to the electric bills though. My PS3 is near a window so when it starts getting hot i open the window to let cool air in.
 
Usually, if it stays well ventilated, any kind of computer or gaming console can stay open pretty much indefinitely.
Usually, if a computer is going to overheat, its going to do so in the first hour of continuous use.
 
Indefinitely. As long as you don't mind the power bill and make sure that you keep it nice and ventilated so it doesn't overheat. Don't forget to dust!! 👍
 
Well, I've been running mine for about 11 days or so just doing the b-spec 9h and now the 24h races over and over. Just 3 more 24h races until I'm level 40.
 
Don't know what your worrying about my PS3 Fat has been turned on for the last three years and rarely gets turned off. Can't ever remember it being turned off for more than 24 hours tbh.

I do make sure it's in a very well ventilated space with nothing close to the cooling vents plus I make sure there clear from dust every few days.
 
Electronics suffer more from going through expansion and contraction from temperature differences than running for long time periods (unless they overheat during those long work hours).

If the PS3 is kept cool, leaving it on forever is better for it than turning it on and off.


While this is 100% true, the problem with ps3 (and xbox) is they are using a really crappy thermal tape. Also, leaving it on the xmb screen would have more gain than leaving it on a 24hr endurance pushing 1080p, you are working the gpu and cpu close to max which will in turn generate a lot of heat. So just leaving it on is one thing, leaving it on while pushing it to the max is another. Best thing you could do for the ps3 if you wanted it to last a lot longer would be to pop the case, drop the heat sinks, clear the tape, and replace with artic silver or some other thermal compound.

Aiding airflow (fans, space, clear air vents, etc) to help keep the system cooler would be beneficial. Fans at the front and/or side vent and sufficient space in the back for the exhaust should help. Another thing if you are really worried about frying it, drop the ps3 resolution output on the ps3 if you are running max hd drop it to 480/sd. That will reduce the workload on the gpu and reduce heat. The guy who has his by a window also has a good idea by allowing cooler air in, only thing I would be concerned about is the heating bill because you have window open during the winter time.
 
It won't just break down but having it on for several days will dramatically reduce its life span.

Thats completely false.

The only thing that is influenced by leaving the PS3 on constantly is the fan's lifespan. Fans lifespan should be around 63,000 hours at high temperature. Thats 2625 days, or 7.2 years.
Server fans that run full tilt 24/7 at high temperatures still last years.
Using a PS3 for a few hours here and there and then on a few days solid will not harm your system so long as its in a ventilated area and cleaned of dust.

Harddrives are good for 5-10 years.

This myth that leaving the PS3 on for more then a few hours is nothing more then fear mongering ignorance originally pushed on the scene by the Xbox fanboys.

Stop spreading misinformation.

The guy who has his by a window also has a good idea by allowing cooler air in, only thing I would be concerned about is the heating bill because you have window open during the winter time.

Humidity and condensation should also be considered.


electricity bills are usually paid by the kilowatt-hours

it's kilowatts-hours
not kilowatts

a kilowatt-hour is 3,600,000 joules or 3.6 megajoules


now, 200 watts (amount of power needed to run a ps3) is by definition 200 joules per sec


every year, a ps3 will suck up 200*60sec*60min*8hours*30days= 172 800 000Joules

how many kilowatt hours is that?

172 800 000joules / 3 600 000 = 48 kilowatthours

now to divide by the cost per kilowatt hours ( or 3.6 megajoules)
48 * 0.0683 (cost per kilowatthour here, that is after the initial cheaper 30 kilowatthour) kilowatthour = 3.28$ (CA, in my case)



that's 3.28$ a month! next time your parents complain about you playing too much (8 hours a day) and spending too much electricity hand over a couple dollards and get back to playing,
The cost of running a PC or PS3 24/7 is quite minimal. For me, its the cost of a coffee and a muffin once a month IF I ran it all month solid.
Its less then leaving a few incandescent light bulbs on all month.
 
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This myth that leaving the PS3 on for more then a few hours is nothing more then fear mongering ignorance originally pushed on the scene by the Xbox fanboys.

Wow. It's not every day you see someone jumping from made-up statistics to conspiracy theories. I'm impressed.
 
The cost of running a PC or PS3 24/7 is quite minimal. For me, its the cost of a coffee and a muffin once a month IF I ran it all month solid.

By the way, those stats (200w/hr) are for the fat PS3. The slims use 94w/hr.

I already did the math in many other threads. To run a slim PS3 for five hours a day, every single day for an entire year, it would cost a whopping $1.05cdn.

Yes. A dollar and five cents. That's 1800 hours of game time, by the way.

Can we stop brining up the miniscule cost of running a PS3 please?
 
Wow. It's not every day you see someone jumping from made-up statistics to conspiracy theories. I'm impressed.

Meh, it gets tossed around so much people think its fact, but it was never an issue until PS3 users were ripping on the 360's RROD, and it was a common retort that the PS3 would die if left on for more then a few hours at a time. Nw we see that rumor all the time.
 
Meh, it gets tossed around so much people think its fact, but it was never an issue until PS3 users were ripping on the 360's RROD, and it was a common retort that the PS3 would die if left on for more then a few hours at a time. Nw we see that rumor all the time.

I've never heard this rumor, and to be honest, I don't pay any attention at all to fanboys. It's really a debate that's not worth having with anyone, ever. Just play what you want, who cares what other people choose to play on?

//End off topic tangent.
 
I had my fat PS3 for about 3 years, got PlayTV for it early on so when I wasn't playing games / movies it was always running PlayTV.

I moved last year to a house that is nice and warm until the heating is off at night where it got quite cold this winter. I think this caused my YLOD, very likely from it (the GPU) been really hot then cooling down too quickly.

But like any other electrical item from any manufacturer, things can go wrong. The PS3 is Sony's 3rd console, Sony have been making electrical items for decades, they have sold tens of MILLIONS of PlayStations so you can be confident it was designed to be used and kept 'on'.

The only reason it gets a bad rep is because people are more likely to complain when something goes wrong.
 
I don't really care about electric bills, we pay 690$ per month in this house for electricity. So the ps3 is absolutely not affecting bills anyway.

I don't think keeping it cool is a problem, it's around 21 degree celcius (70 Fahrenheit) in this house 24/7.
Opening a window doesn't work anyway, drops down to -40 celcius/-40 Fahrenheit when it's winter here in norway:drool:

But when you guys say I have to "dust" the ps3, does that mean I have to open it up? Or just go around and blow on it? does a vacum cleaner on its fan work? (when its turned off of course)

FYI, its a 120gb slim.
 
I don't really care about electric bills, we pay 690$ per month in this house for electricity. So the ps3 is absolutely not affecting bills anyway.

I don't think keeping it cool is a problem, it's around 21 degree celcius (70 Fahrenheit) in this house 24/7.
Opening a window doesn't work anyway, drops down to -40 celcius/-40 Fahrenheit when it's winter here in norway:drool:

But when you guys say I have to "dust" the ps3, does that mean I have to open it up? Or just go around and blow on it? does a vacum cleaner on its fan work? (when its turned off of course)

FYI, its a 120gb slim.
Just a blast with duster gas.

Some recommend against using a vacuum cleaner as they can often buildup a static charge.
 
Mine has been on for over a months now. Doing the 24 hr b spec daily this past week. Not sure why people are scared to leave it on. When it is it's time to break it will break. Just use it and have fun.
 
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