Using Your PS5 Vertically May Result in Hardware Failure

UPDATE: 1/9: Electronics repair technician TheCod3r posted a follow-up video over the weekend discussing the PS5's use of liquid metal in more detail and the problems that can occur. In summary, TheCod3r explains there is a flaw in the design that will impact some consoles and the easiest way to protect your PS5 is to use it in a horizontal position.

Original Story 1/6:
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, 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.

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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 of what can happen if you do. YouTube channel TheCod3r also shared a video of a PS5 repair 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.

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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 should continue to evenly cover the chip.