The world’s first PlayStation 5 ‘slim’ is now available on a YouTuber . exists because of

The PS5 is a giant console, the largest in modern history, and a DIY YouTuber has now created a PS5 “slim” model that’s a fraction more than the thickness of the plastic cases that hold PS5 games. Matt Perks, known on YouTube as DIY Perks, has spent a great deal of time and effort making the PS5 “slim” that bring the size down from about four inches to just under an inch.

The result is a slim copper console that houses key PS5 components, and a massive external power supply and cooling solution that can be hidden away. Much of the PS5’s thickness comes from its cooling heatsink and power supply, so DIY perks moved the actual console on top of the TV stand to a taller external unit to make them more attractive.

A custom water cooling system replaces the PS5’s existing cooling solution, and uses copper sheeting to channel the water to the CPU. This sheeting also includes several thermal bridges that help cool components like the SSD and power circuitry that attaches to the PS5’s motherboard.

While Sony has reduced the power consumption of some previous PlayStation models to create a slim version, it’s a bit out of reach for DIY and modding. Instead, DIY perks took the route of PS2 or PS One Slim models by creating an external power supply.

Image: DIY Perks (YouTube)

This external power and cooling unit first resulted in disaster frying the PS5’s motherboard as the unit fell over and blocked airflow to effectively cool the console. After swapping out the motherboard, the PS5 “Slim” successfully boots up and plays the game as you’d expect.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, this custom cooling solution results in some temperature improvement for the PS5. The DIY perk measured major improvements in RAM and VRM temperatures, and noted that temperatures could be lowered with an even larger external cooling unit.

While some people will ditch the massive power and cooling unit, the whole project is still a fascinating 30-minute journey into trial and error modifying the console. The Custom Copper Water Block is impressive in how simple it looks as a DIY perk, made using a jigsaw and regular tools. Thankfully, scalpers probably won’t put nearly as much effort into making the PS5 “slim” a reality on eBay anytime soon.