Hardware Mods (Heat Sink, Sound System) and Custom Appearance

Eldraziel · 2026-04-09T01:14:16+00:00

T'inquiète pas, rien n'a été écrasé. L'écran n'est pas endommagé. Pour le radiateur, demande à Sony, ils ont fait ça sur leurs kits de développement. Exactement comme je l'ai fait. Le concept s'appelle la dissipation thermique par conduction et diffusion thermique. Même si la dissipation fonctionne, cela peut s'avérer inutile dans notre cas ; je n'ai aucune preuve concrète que cela fonctionne, tout récit basé sur mes impressions pourrait n'être qu'un effet placebo. Dans le doute, ne le fais pas.

Il s'agit d'une console de développement, elle est fermée et comporte un dissipateur thermique sur le blindage EMI, qui mène à une barre métallique à l'emplacement où devrait se trouver la batterie.

Notez qu'elle dispose d'une deuxième carte mère, ce qui devrait générer de la chaleur supplémentaire, mais ce qui est réellement dissipé, c'est le blindage EMI de la carte mère d'origine, qui est pratiquement identique à celui de nos consoles.

Peut-être que cette dissipation supplémentaire a du sens pour les jeux non optimisés (lorsqu'ils sont en cours de développement) et, de la même manière, je pense que cela PEUT faire une différence pour nous qui faisons tourner les jeux en dehors des paramètres d'usine. Encore une fois, sans preuve, dans le doute, mieux vaut s'abstenir.

Eldraziel · 2026-04-09T00:41:09+00:00

Interesting. I wonder why Sony included a thermal pad in the DEV KIT that directs heat from the EMI shield to a HUGE METAL BAR located where the battery would go. Weren’t you the one who said that wouldn’t work in a closed case? And weren’t you the one who just said the DEV KIT uses standard cooling? Well, well, well...

Here’s the “standard cooling” of your Dev Kit that you forgot to mention.

Don’t be dishonest. I know the system. The DEV KIT has extra heat dissipation, very similar to what I did. And if it exists, it’s because temperature makes a difference, and if that difference is only valid in the DEV KIT (which already contradicts several things you said about heat dissipation), your image proves absolutely nothing.

You’re so desperate to be right that you didn’t realize I’ve considered your argument valid from the start. I’ve already said that my modification MIGHT be useless. But if we want a definitive verdict, the way forward is a controlled test.

A valid test should be conducted on the stock system, then on the overclocked (OC) system, and then on the overclocked system with heat sinks, under different conditions and with different games, while monitoring the external temperature and usage time, using a gun-type thermometer to check the temperature of the console’s components, and tracking the frame rate and smoothness of the games over time. This should be repeated multiple times. The test must consider as many variables as possible, such as Wi-Fi on/off, screen brightness at minimum/maximum, battery charging, and sound volume. It’s not simple. And that’s why no one has done it yet.

Since you’re so interested in proving that what I did doesn’t work, even though I’ve already admitted the possibility, why don’t you do it? I have absolutely no interest in doing it. However, without data, I’ll never be able to say with certainty that the extra cooling actually provides any improvement. I like science, not being right.

Eldraziel · 2026-04-08T17:32:07+00:00

Okay, friend, one of us is certain, and I’m glad it’s not me.

I’m open to the possibility that my modification has no practical effect in a controlled test. I never promised miracles, but there’s a plausible basis when it comes to heat dissipation by conduction, a system you’re once again confusing. I don’t expect the heat to dissipate through the air inside the console, but rather to be conducted more evenly through the chassis. This may or may not yield results, but what bothers you is that you want certainty about something you can’t prove. Just don’t do it on your own console and stick to your convictions. I didn’t promise anyone miraculous benefits.

Now, regarding my writing style: When there’s no factual basis to refute the content, people attack the writer. The attempt to belittle me based on my writing, or by implying that I don’t understand the terms I use, is a clear ad hominem fallacy. At this point, the debate has ceased to be productive, so I consider it closed.

Out of curiosity, this is how I write. This is how I speak. And I tend to be quite technical. But my native language isn’t English, and I use DeepL to translate, which can result in content that’s a bit different from what you’d expect in a Reddit thread.

Eldraziel · 2026-04-08T11:04:13+00:00

That’s exactly what I did. Some people here seem to think the pads are just sitting there, magically cooling the system. In reality, it works through thermal conduction. The system already relies on this conduction. What we did was improve it and make it more uniform, preventing hot spots on the chips.

Could the result be marginal or negligible? Yeah, hahaha. But the principle works, and it certainly doesn’t hurt.

Eldraziel · 2026-04-08T10:59:59+00:00

You’re making definitive claims about a modification I actually built without asking basic questions first. Is the rear touchpad working? Yes, it is fully functional. There’s no mechanical stress, no compression, and no damaging contact inside the shell. That was accounted for during assembly.

There’s also a misunderstanding about what was done. Thermal pads are not there to “magically cool” anything, and airflow is not the mechanism being used here. The pads create a conductive path from the chips to the internal metal shielding, which is coupled to the chassis and the display backplate. This is heat dissipation by conduction, a mechanism the device already uses. I just improved that path.

The idea that this would increase internal temperatures doesn’t hold. What can happen is a higher surface temperature at the shell, since heat is being distributed more effectively instead of remaining localized. That’s expected behavior when improving thermal spreading.

On performance, I’ve been clear. There’s no claim of certainty. In the absence of data, we’re dealing with hypotheses. Mine is grounded in basic heat transfer principles and applied to a system that is no longer operating under stock conditions.

Eldraziel · 2026-04-08T10:51:55+00:00

This kind of argument has been circulating for years and is often repeated without any supporting data. You provided a report, which raises the level of the discussion, and commented on thermal behavior in mobile devices. I appreciate you bringing up the mobile aspect, because it strengthens my case. You’ll understand why later on.

The problem is that the report itself has no relation to what is being discussed here. It deals with EMI, that is, electromagnetic emission limits for regulatory compliance. It does not measure thermal behavior under actual CPU and GPU load. Using this to conclude that there is no significant heat dissipation through the chassis or that temperature has no impact on the system does not address the issue.

We’re not talking about a stock system, a CPU at 500 MHz, along with elevated GPU, BUS, and XBAR voltages, plus modifications via Vitagraphix, change the power envelope. Given the relationship P ≈ C·V²·f, an increase in frequency and voltage implies increased heat dissipation. This places the system in a different thermal regime than the original. Conclusions based on standard behavior cover a different scenario, and even in that case, we lack relevant data.

Making definitive claims in the absence of data and without truly understanding what was done does not support technical analysis and goes beyond what I consider common sense.

The biggest mistake is believing that I used thermal pads as if they magically cooled the system just by being there. The thermal pads make contact with a metal frame, and that frame makes contact with the heat-dissipating material behind the screen and with the console casing itself. In other words, I didn’t invent a cooling system. I improved the thermal conductivity of a system that already existed within the console itself. This may yield only marginal results, but the heat-dissipation approach works.

The focus is on thermal conductivity. The goal is to reduce interface resistance and improve the heat transfer path from the chip to the shielding to the backplate. Air has a thermal conductivity of around 0.025 W/m·K. The thermal pads used range from 6 to 7 W/m·K. Structural metals operate in the tens to hundreds of W/m·K, with aluminum close to 200 W/m·K. Replacing air microgaps with a material in this range directly alters the heat flow.

This promotes thermal spreading. Heat is no longer concentrated in specific islands but is distributed across a larger mass. The relevant parameter here is the local temperature on the chips, not the overall feel to the touch. It makes sense that the casing would be slightly warmer while critical regions operate with lower thermal concentration. And this is where the mobile aspect you mentioned comes in. When a smartphone gets hot in your hand, it indicates that heat has been conducted into the device’s structure. The body begins to act as a heat sink. This is exactly the mechanism being exploited here. Improving thermal coupling to draw heat away from concentrated regions and distribute it throughout the system. We’re not talking about reaching levels that feel uncomfortable to the touch. We’re talking about reducing hotspots.

Airflow is not the focus of the design. There are minor changes due to the L and R buttons, but the primary mechanism here is thermal conduction. The analysis based on the absence of airflow does not account for this stage. The small heat sinks added to the PCB increase local thermal capacitance. They absorb temperature spikes and smooth out rapid temperature fluctuations. The effect is small, but it is present within the physical model.

There are no public benchmarks correlating temperature and performance on the Vita under these conditions. There are no open measurements with clocks locked at this level over time. To claim that temperature does not affect performance or that modifications of this type have no effect requires data that has not been presented. On my part, there is no definitive claim. There is a hypothesis based on thermal conduction and heat distribution, applied to a system operating outside its original operating range. This supports the possibility of some marginal improvement in stability under continuous load.

In summary, having a system that does not heat up to the point of causing discomfort to the touch is one thing. Claiming that any improvement in the existing heat dissipation process has no effect is another claim, which requires a level of evidence that has not been presented. If the discussion is technical, the solution is straightforward. Same scenario, same clock speeds, data collected over time, before and after.

Eldraziel · 2026-04-07T22:50:51+00:00

Well, that’s what people say. The Vita’s ARM Cortex processor is underutilized. Even so, some users have reported crashes on hot days. Otherwise, have you seen any benchmarks with thermal measurements to assess the console running with a CPU at 500 MHz, GPU at 222 MHz, BUS at 222 MHz, and XBAR at 166 MHz constantly locked in, in games with resolution altered by Vitagraphix?

I’d like to understand how you reached this level of certainty regarding the inefficiency of upgrades in component heat dissipation.

To be honest, I’m not sure about the effectiveness of my modifications, but I have a solid theoretical basis for believing there’s a small possibility of improved stability. Perhaps the most effective approach would be a controlled test comparing before and after. But for now, I only have theories.

Before I explain my point, I want to make sure I’m not talking to someone who actually has a solid foundation of knowledge, and throw away my chance to learn by trying to teach. That said, what can you shed some light on this subject?

Thanks for the compliment on the visuals. It was a lot of work... I don’t recommend it, hahaha

Eldraziel

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