Friday, something strange happend to my PS3.

I was playing fallout 3 when, without warning, i heard what sound like the disc scratching or electrical buzzing coming from the ps3 with static lines going across screen. It was like this for a second or 2 before it powered down completely, not even a red standby light. I then tuned the power switch at the back off and on and tryed to restart it, only to have the same buzzing for a second before powering down again. This time it was about a minute before i could turn it back on again and power it up.
Strange thing is its fine now, even after a long fallout3 session the next day.

Anyone else had a problem like this and anyway to avoid it happening again?

Sounds like it overheated.

Does the PS3 have a big overheating problem like the 360?

On topic I've spent time working in computer repair and can offer you the only thing I've learnt from it. Turn it off and on.

I does get quite warm, but normaly when it does it just turns the fans up on the back to max so it can flush the heat out.

I think the fans were at normal speed when this happened, i 'think'.

thenumberthirteen:
Does the PS3 have a big overheating problem like the 360?

On topic I've spent time working in computer repair and can offer you the only thing I've learnt from it. Turn it off and on.

I have never experienced any overheating problems and i have had mine for almost two years now.

@FireFly90 - Where are you keeping your PS3? If it is an overheating problem it may be because of the enviroment it is in. E.g. Somewhere warm.

FireFly90:
I does get quite warm, but normaly when it does it just turns the fans up on the back to max so it can flush the heat out.

I think the fans were at normal speed when this happened, i 'think'.

I'd give it an hour or two before playing it again. Turn it off, leave it alone and come back. If that doesn't work, ring their Tech Support.

Overheating wouldn't surprise me. I've heard they get pretty hot. The only other thing I could think of would be a power surge, but that seems unlikely.

Also, it seems the PS3 failures are on a slight rise. Odd.

I have to admit i have had a few problems with mine, nothing serious though so hopefully it will stay that way.

Reminds me of the first ps2's that used to fail a lot.

i don't own a ps3 so can only offer theoretical insight.

When the ps3 came outt, i'm guessing the games that came with it didn't test its graphical prowess much at all. Now games such as fallout 3 and farcry 2 have appeared, we've seen some power from the games. So i'm basically thinking modern games are now pushing the ps3 beyond its original test specs, and so now things are starting to over heat.

McMo0^:
i don't own a ps3 so can only offer theoretical insight.

When the ps3 came outt, i'm guessing the games that came with it didn't test its graphical prowess much at all. Now games such as fallout 3 and farcry 2 have appeared, we've seen some power from the games. So i'm basically thinking modern games are now pushing the ps3 beyond its original test specs, and so now things are starting to over heat.

Unlikely. Compare the first ps2 games to the latest ones. When the first games come out usually developers are still getting to grips, but the PS3 is quite powerful, and I don't think we've reached the PS3's limit yet.

I'm sorry, but there's no way in hell modern games are "pushing beyond" the PS3's capability. Not by a long shot.

The problem itself is very odd; I've never experienced anything like that. My advice would be Tech Support.

Sounds like an overheat, which is odd. How long had you been playing?

Make sure it's not enclosed in a cramped space, such as in an entertainment stand, and if possible, avoid placing it near a radiator or anything like that.

One way to tell for sure if it overheats is if the power light turns yellow. That lets you know that the system overheated. I have a house fan placed near my PS3 and 360, and have it on very low, blowing cool air towards the 2 consoles. Which seems to help. However, if you do this, be sure that the fan isn't positioned so that it just blows the hot air back inside the consoles.

curlycrouton:
Sounds like an overheat, which is odd. How long had you been playing?

Thats the thing, not very long. I've had much longer sessions on it without problems (the occasional crash maybe but nothing serious).

I put this thread on the PS3 forums and most people on there think it was a power surge or some electrical glitch.

thenumberthirteen:
Does the PS3 have a big overheating problem like the 360?

On topic I've spent time working in computer repair and can offer you the only thing I've learnt from it. Turn it off and on.

No were near as big.

I have had this happen before it just over heated should be fine.

The only overheating issues I've heard with the PS3 are when it's in a closed space like a cabinet or such.

PS3s need to be out in the open where the fans can bring in cool air.

thenumberthirteen:

McMo0^:
i don't own a ps3 so can only offer theoretical insight.

When the ps3 came outt, i'm guessing the games that came with it didn't test its graphical prowess much at all. Now games such as fallout 3 and farcry 2 have appeared, we've seen some power from the games. So i'm basically thinking modern games are now pushing the ps3 beyond its original test specs, and so now things are starting to over heat.

Unlikely. Compare the first ps2 games to the latest ones. When the first games come out usually developers are still getting to grips, but the PS3 is quite powerful, and I don't think we've reached the PS3's limit yet.

It isn't impossible. Like mcmoo said a lot of the newer games are a lot more graphically demanding than the original releases. Couple this with games that are developed for both Ati and Nvidia graphics setups (xbox360 and ps3 respectively) it is quite possible that the devs are straining the wrong parts of the ps3 7800 based chip. As the graphics arcitecture of both are completely different. I have a memory of several ps2 games being released with firmware updates, maybe playstation will do similar things as the potential power of the ps3 becomes increasingly available?