So I am one of those unfortuante souls who got a 60 gig PS3 only to find that it was fairly loud when it came to upconverting DVDs or PS2 games. I now have a chance however to sell my 60gig and possibly buy a 40 gig after that.

Has anyone tested the fan noise of a 40 gig versus a 60/80 gig and if so, what's the difference in improvement?

I thought they sounded similar, though the noise from the 60 was never very high for me to begin with.

The heat output on the 40 was much less for me.

If you are concerned about the noise your 60Gb makes when playing PS2 games then you may have an issue with the 40Gb PS3 - as it doesn't play PS2 games at all. (They removed backwards compatibility from it...)

I'm not concerned with the PS2 game aspect...I know it's not backwards compatibile.

I use my PS3 99% of the time as a Blu-ray and/or upconverting DVD player.

I have the 40 gig and it's whisper quiet, compared to a co-worker's 60 gig, it's quieter, but not by much, the 60 gig is pretty quiet itself. The 80 gig though is supposedly loud, or louder than the other two that is.

I have a 20 and a 60 and both are silent when doing anything including folding 24/7 for months on end. I assume some must be louder then others though of course. If one runs alittle hotter then others then I'd guess the fans normal speed would be highter hence louder.

In your case it seems you have one of the louder 60's maybe. If I had to guess I'd say the 40's have a lot less chance of being loud due to its lower power consumption and less heat probably resulting in less of a chance of having a hot one and hearing the fan.

Good luck with your choice.

I have a 40 and 80. Once they get warmed up I can hear the fan from 10 feet.
The 80 is about twice loader than the 40. I can hear 80 has three stage fan speed but none of them are really distrcting.
The 80 gig blows warm air from the right side of the unit and 40 gig from the rear.
The 80 gig gets also warmer even with more air flow.
If you need the quietest get the 40 gig but that should not be the deciding factor if you need some BC and other features imbedded in the 80.

yep, 40gb is the most quiet but not completely silent. Its definitly not distracting, 80gb goes to 3rd fan speed always and the 40gb usually stays at 2nd. Tried a test to run my 40gb at full power by leaving folding at home all night, it was at the 3rd loud fan speed when woke up to find it.

I first bought a 20gb and was really happy with the fan noise. Then picked up a 60gb since I wanted wireless and it's fan was a lot louder than the 20gb. I recently switched to a 40gb since I didn't need BC and it is the best of them all.

I have a friend that has a 60gb and his was better noise wise than mine. Since there are a lot of people who claim their 60gb are silent I think it is either everyone has a different definition of "silent" or the 60gb can just be good or bad noise wise depending on your unit.

I wonder if hard drive size has anything to do with the heat & fans. Do these drives run any different? Different speeds? Different brands?

Do you guys know how the ps3 controls fan speeds?? I had two 80gb and now on 40gb. Both systems once it hits 3rd fan speed, it never ramps down when left in xmb for 1+ hour.

This debate will never end.....................................

I changed my 40gb (coz the disk started not ejecting) & tin ass'd a silent 1.Honestly wouldnt know its on. I also know of 2 friends who have demanded a replacement & at least 4 other people who have purchased within the last fortnight & have no fan issue's. If it's that bad you could always cast a spell, leave it on 24/7 & pray for something to malfunction then use your warranty. If all else fails try throwing it at the wall ;)

My 40gb is pretty silent also for blu ray playback. But noticed increased fan speed for SD dvd play back. For folding at home, it gets loud as my 360. Unforunatly once it hits full speed, you have to reset or the speed never goes down. Hopefully by next xmas 45nm cell/rsx will be out, than replace this ps3.

Noise issue takes a back seat in ps3 when you consider the heat the generate.
Make sure you have all open environment for any of these units.
Some feel some quieter than others.. if you feel your is loud put your hand near the exhaust fan and feel the heat. If it is warm then you know fans are doing their job and cannot slow down. It is hard to imagine that some units actually run hotter than others within same model group.

I just got a 60gig and even at its loudest its quieter than the 360 as its quietest.

But I don't know. If you want a super-quiet device then the 40gig is the way to go. The Cell chip is smaller and cooler so the system runs the fans slower. I think it also does not have the grill in the front of the unit which also may help with noise.