Sorry Xbox Series X, this water-cooled PS5 oozes class – and it's real

Imagine a PS5 crossed between a Mr. Freeze-esque villain from Batman and something from the Transformers – what you'd get is something akin to this custom, water-cooled PS5. Unwind, put all the rumpus around ballot systems for the Xbox Series X to one side, and bask in this beauty of epic proportions.

Yes, thanks to a Vietnamese modding channel, Modding Cafe, there now exists this hulking, reengineered, and fully-functional version of Sony's flagship console that will certainly turn a few heads. 

The Vietnamese hardware modders apparently took just two months to build the labyrinthine-looking machine. Water-cooled hardware is the darling of the gaming sector, as water transfers heat much more efficiently than air, besides making things quieter without the constant spinning of fans.

First, the modders deconstructed the PS5 console and then created an entirely new custom-made faceplate on both sides before reassembling. Easier said than done in T3's estimation.

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It’s basically a whole new rig; if this sounds like light work, then a cursory glance at the modding video says otherwise. Even if you could pull this together, you'd still be panicked to try out entries from our best PS5 games for the risk of causing irreversible damage. T3 thinks it works better as a sort of museum piece, offered protected status, and exhibited as a gaming artifact in the decades to follow.

All of this water-cooling wonder is laid bare in the video from the Modding Cafe channel that delves into the nitty-gritty of building the liquid-cooling infrastructure, not only explaining each step in detail, but then putting the actual pedal to the metal and showing Sony’s water-cooled console in action.

The good news is that it works a treat and successfully runs with aplomb: those do-it-yourself steps may look appetizing, but we wouldn’t recommend trying this at home, especially with an intact warranty and at risk of wrecking a console that is devilishly hard to get even with the help of our PS5 stock tracker.

We think you've got more of a chance of actually beating the scalpers than taking this on as a lockdown DIY project, especially with recent reports of scalpers now falling back because of users' rightful refusals to buy inflated stock. If you're quite content with your current PS5, then check out our top PS5 tips for those hidden features that unlock your machine to further innovation.

Meanwhile, you can always pick up the matte-black custom darkplates from the Canadian console customizer, dbrand, which offers skins that can be picked up for $49.99 (roughly £40 / AU$60). Alas, there's no word on an Xbox Series X version of this, but anything's possible, especially through the gigantic collective brain of the modding community. 

Source: Tom's Guide