lol.. Listen closely to the Dreamcast ESPECIALLY while fighting the final boss in Soul Calibur! Damn thing began ticking. Almost evacuated the apartment as a result.

I see. That' s probably why my teacher got so upset everytime a said the alphabet:
b, a, c, d, e....
I played Nes a lot back then.

it' s not only the final boss - it' s ticking all the time on SC :)
I don' t know why but I have to agree DC was quite noisy -more or less ,depending on the system you had- but X has taken it to another dimension.Maybe because games became so cinematic a and DC was a great Home-Arcade Machine.

I' m not sure about the 360 noise but I hear it everywhere that it' s worse than X and that' s bad - even more cinematic games with better use of sound plus the fan.

Terry have you ever plugged Japanese DC to an European socket with damaged AC converter?

That was incredible - first it the lights go up , then the strange noise , the POOF sound and with it a Hiroshima like cloud of smoke :)

And that' s after you went through all the trouble to import it an paid a lot.

..... i don' t know about Dreamcast, but xbox can be particularly noisy with some games... my xbox goes:

" ....whirrrrrr.....click click click....whirrrrrr...."

...constantly on games like DOAU and NGB..... mind you, these are probably the only games that really test the ' box' s capabilities....

...it also sometimes freezes up if it miss a click or something....

My original xbox never clicked either. It was kinda loud but I think the 360 is a relatively quiet system. It' s quieter than my laptop.

i hate noisey systems. Thats one thing the past gen as over all the current/next gen consoles, they where seathly silent [N64 was small and silent] I love silent machine and is a really joy to watch dvds on when there is no wirring to your left. I hope the ps3 isnt that nosey..

Revoloutionm is going to be very quiet.

Hard to say PS2 wasn' t that silent as well.

Terry have you ever plugged Japanese DC to an European socket with damaged AC converter?

Nope. Haven' t been to Europe yet

damn i' m confused , isn' t kikizo " made in england" ??

Adam (founder) and some of the staff (the big guns) reside in Europe, some of us reside in the U.S. and some (at least 1) in Japan.

I live in Sweden...

I think the noise level depends on how much you' ve used the machine. When I first got my DC, it was kind of silent, even when I was playing against the boss in Soul Calibur. But after a month the noises became louder and now, I' m keeping the thing inside a pillow to reduce noise. Not sure if that' s good for its ventilation.....
Anyway, same with the other consoles I' ve had. Silent at first, but after a lot of playing they start to make strange noises. It might be caused by playing to many straight hours. I mean, you' re supposed to take a break every hour, not only for you own health but for the machines health as well.

Terry - European AC outlets are 220 V , US and Japan - 110 V.

Ginjirou - I think I know why your systems get noisy with use ...that pillow thing ...how to put it ...it' s not the best idea :)

ORIGINAL: Silentbomber

i hate noisey systems. Thats one thing the past gen as over all the current/next gen consoles, they where seathly silent [N64 was small and silent] I love silent machine and is a really joy to watch dvds on when there is no wirring to your left. I hope the ps3 isnt that nosey..

Revoloutionm is going to be very quiet.

The more powerful the systems are, the more cooling is needed, and, thusly, more noise is produced. I can pretty much guarantee that the PS3 will be very loud (especially considering the problems they' re having with overheating). The Rev will probably be the quietest of the three. Of course when you play DVDs in the 360 it' s quieter than when playing games (or even just messing around the dashboard). It' s designed to turn off non-essential parts when playing DVDs. I' m sure it shuts down at least two of the cores when just watching movies.

The more powerful the systems are, the more cooling is needed, and, thusly, more noise is produced.

Chee Saw that' s what lame designers say.

Check PowerMac G5 - it' s got a water cooled CPU combined with silent fans and special tunneling system.Why so much trouble?Because some companies like Apple and some (but not that much) more have a name to live up to.It' s all about users comfort.MS needs to learn that.

Check MS media Center remote for PC and Apple Front Row Remote - almost the same functionality but the difference is H U G E

Why Ferrari' s better than bad ass Honda civic with rocket engine?
Cuz it' s optimised and polished to perfection - breaks , suspension , power , design.That' s what I want from my console and maybe PS3 will give me that - since Cell is runing extremely hot (that' s the reason why Apple decided to change to INTEL) and anything below watercooling is crazy.

They (MS) could' ve done it right but they did not have the time or it could be that they just didn' t care since they' re loosing money anyway.

Do you know why Apple powerbooks never had G5 in them? Runs to hot to keep it cooled down in a quiet way without making the Laptop bigger.

X360 has a PowerPC CPU with 3 cores based on G5 but more powerful.

Conclusion?

Power is not cool :)

Gansta those points you made aren' t very valid. Chee Saw is right in what he said.

You ever used water cooling before? Ever had any involvement with it? If you did then you' d know that watercooling requires a lot of maintenance. Even the newer water cooling systems have to have the distilled water replaced every year or so.

t' s all about users comfort.MS needs to learn that.

Would it be a smart thing for Microsoft to require everyone to send their X360' s to a service center every year to replace the distilled water? No. Would it be comfortable for consumers? No.

Water cooling is not very portable. You' re supposed to be able to carry around consoles to friends places so they' re subject to " wear and tear" . It wouldn' t be very cool if you accidentally knock your console and have it leak water all over the CPU.

The PowerMac G5 is not the best thing to compare a console to. They' re a full tower sized case so they have room to put tunnelling systems and silent heat dissipation technologies. The X360 is much smaller than a G5 and therefore cannot have these systems in place (unless you want a massive console).

I' ve read up on what the X360 uses to cool itself and I think Microsoft pretty much used everything that they were possibly able to. Technically the X360 uses Watercooling but it' s actually closer to a heatpipe. Yes, a heatpipe does have liquid in it and some H2O as well, but is usually primarily ammonia. In a heatpipe, the liquid at the “hot” end vaporizes, and is moved to the “cold” end of the heatpipe by a pressure differential and convection. Once the heat is transferred to the fins in the cold end, the substance condenses and the process repeats.

You' ve got to realize that Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, etc are offering us insane levels of technology for only a couple of hundred dollars. Do you want another couple of hundred dollars added on to satisfy your silent needs? Technology is advancing faster than cooling methods can cope so don' t expect your PS3 to be any better than the X360. Expect it to be worse.

Unlucky one it is you who are mistaken :)

1.PowerMac G5- it has a Closed Water Cooling System that doesn' t require maitenance and that' s why it' s a great example.

2.Yes it would be terrible to have to change water every week but look at 1.

3.Consoles are not supposed to be portable - we have portable systems for that.

I' ve read up on what the X360 uses to cool itself and I think Microsoft pretty much used everything that they were possibly able to. Technically the X360 uses Watercooling but it' s actually closer to a heatpipe. Yes, a heatpipe does have liquid in it and some H2O as well, but is usually primarily ammonia. In a heatpipe, the liquid at the “hot” end vaporizes, and is moved to the “cold” end of the heatpipe by a pressure differential and convection. Once the heat is transferred to the fins in the cold end, the substance condenses and the process repeats.

That' s interesting - I had no idea :)

You' ve got to realize that Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, etc are offering us insane levels of technology for only a couple of hundred dollars. Do you want another couple of hundred dollars added on to satisfy your silent needs? Technology is advancing faster than cooling methods can cope so don' t expect your PS3 to be any better than the X360. Expect it to be worse.

Revolution is going to be really quiet -that' s the approach I like - X360 - huge power at the cost of noise and heat (with some heat issues while gaming for many) plus size - PSP - Power at the cost of batterylife (for a system that' s supposed to be portable).

It' s like buying a 100" TV with crappy picture - just for the size of it.
That' s just my opinion - I think " Don' t give it power you can' t handle right"

Ofcourse I' m going to get 360 sooner or later but I' m dissapointed a bit that' s all - the cooling technology is here , and who said you need to loose 126$ per system to be succesful?

I agree that PS3 could be even worse but I just hope for a better solution.

I stand corrected on the G5 Watercooling. It' s a proprietary system so Apple tends to release jack all information regarding maintenance of the G5 cooling system. I' ll take your word for it. I was referring to the majority of watercooled setups which do require maintenance. Even the closed ones. Trust me I know - my mate has one. But even then I can' t see them fitting one of these into a console:



Even if they could it' d skyrocket the price.

Consoles are not supposed to be portable - we have portable systems for that.

Disagree there. Why does the Gamecube have a handle on the back of it? Why does the Xbox and X360 have LAN/System Link capabilities? They' re designed to be moved around and taken to friends houses on a regular basis. When you take apart your Xbox you can see that it is very structurally solid. Sure, they' re not meant to be thrown into a backpack like you would a gameboy, but they can easily withstand some wear and tear of transportation. There are also a plethora of carry cases available for your current console. Just google " console carry case" and you' ll find heaps. It' d be foolish for a company to create a console that cannot easily withstand transportation.

That' s just my opinion - I think " Don' t give it power you can' t handle right"

First generation consumer electronic products are all a little flakey and have quirks. The first generation iPod was terrible for example - but a year or so later it got better. The same will happen with all three consoles. Personally I think the for the X360 to handle power the way it does is a fantastic achievement. It leaves most PC' s in the dust - in a package that is 1/10th the size. As later revisions of it come out, problems will be solved/minimized. My first revision xbox (v1.0) sounds way louder than my 4th revision one. (v1.4).

Ofcourse I' m going to get 360 sooner or later but I' m dissapointed a bit that' s all - the cooling technology is here , and who said you need to loose 126$ per system to be succesful?

No, the technology is not here in a form that is economical or aesthetically pleasing. They could put some fancy water cooling system in but it' d just increase the price phenominally and increase the size to stupid proportions. Expect the first generation PS3 to go through the same problems as the X360.

Sure - I don' t have to trust you man:) I realise that watercooling in PC market is a crappy thing that' s why I gave PowerMac g5 as an example.

Portability - It just that we spend are gaming time different - for you portability is a factor and for me it' s not :)

First generation consumer electronic products are all a little flakey and have quirks. The first generation iPod was terrible for example - but a year or so later it got better. The same will happen with all three consoles. Personally I think the for the X360 to handle power the way it does is a fantastic achievement. It leaves most PC' s in the dust - in a package that is 1/10th the size. As later revisions of it come out, problems will be solved/minimized. My first revision xbox (v1.0) sounds way louder than my 4th revision one. (v1.4).

Good point - BUT it' s Sony and friends- Dreamcast had one model without flaws , same with N64 , GameCube.PS2 -13 versions and still not perfect.(xbox versions are more of a cost reduction issue so I' m not mentioning them)

You don' t launch a system to see if it works- that' s what you are saying-you launch it after you tested it in and out and made it perfect.And it' s not like they didn' t notice the noise in 60 - they just didn' t think it matters - cuz they have roots in PC market.

And that' s exactly what I was saying - Do something right the first time - that' s Nintendo for example.Only revisions of GBA could be considered some kind of repair but the truth is none of those versions were broken or flawed in the first place.

Do you rally believe that there will be a new version of 360? They didn' t even bother with X and they knew Japan hates it' s size.

I actually do expect PS3 to be at least as bad - but I like to hope for better :)

Dreamcast had one model without flaws ,

*clears throat* ahem*
I used a third-party controller and my Dreamcast controller port got fried. I sent it to NCS for repair and they informed me that it was a common occurrence. There' s your flaw right there

My PS2 is built like a tank and has outlasted both my Dreamcast and GameCube consoles. I think the PS2 is the only Sony device that has actually lasted me a long time. Other stuff from them have died or malfunctioned in the span of a year.