Using Your PS5 Vertically May Result in Hardware Failure

The PS5 looks to have a design fault that can take months to appear and only seems to happen if you use the console while it’s in a vertical orientation.

As Wololo reports(Opens in a new window), hardware repair specialists working on PS5 consoles that fail to boot are finding the problem is caused by the liquid metal thermal interface Sony used on the custom AMD Zen 2 CPU.

When the PS5 is oriented in a vertical position, over time the liquid metal is moving and spilling out on to the components surrounding the CPU. This also means the liquid metal is no longer evenly spread across the chip it’s meant to help cool.

Tweet(Opens in a new window)

Twitter user @68Logic, who runs a hardware repair store in France, has told PS5 owners not to use the console in a vertical position and shared a photo(Opens in a new window) of what can happen if you do. YouTube channel TheCod3r also shared a video of a PS5 repair(Opens in a new window) which turned out to be the same leaking liquid metal problem. A problem he said shouldn’t happen and pins the blame squarely on Sony.

It’s important to point out that many PS5 owners have been using their console in a vertical orientation since launch without any problems. However, it’s impossible to tell which consoles have this problem. The best advice for now is to use the PS5 in a horizontal position if you have the space to do so. That way, the chip and liquid metal covering it is laid flat and shouldn’t continue to evenly cover the chip.