With all of the negativity surrounding the quality of Microsoft's Xbox 360 hardware, it's almost a welcome sight to see a headline proclaiming the durability of the PlayStation 3 (however partial the source may be).

According to recent tests conducted by PS3Vault, nothing short of a sledgehammer is powerful enough to bring the mighty PS3 to its knees. So what sort of hardships did the PSTriple endure and pass with flying colors? How about 108 hours of pretty much nonstop use in the harshest of environments:

• A typical family room with a brutal temperature of 73 F
• Four days in the back of a freezer van at 0 F
• In a sauna with a cool 120 F air temperature

Guess what? The PS3 didn't buckle under the pressure -- even when faced with the unfathomable idea of playing  a marathon of the "Blu-rays." Pretty impressive, when you consider the thousands of Xbox 360s that have perished in the most comfortable of places. However, I must point out that while this looks good to Sony fans out there, I'm less than inclined to believe it without some video to back it up. 

Hit the jump for the full details on the testing.

The following conditions were applied to each testing environment

• Continuous usuage of 108hours with no interruption to power supply
• Game of choice was Resistance Fall of Man & Motor Storm, Enchanted Arms
• Blu Ray movies – Several – around 10 different titles , Casino Royale, The Departed, Pirates of the Caribbean, Terminator 2, Superman Returns…
• Console was positioned on standalone timber unit with approximate 10cms of airflow under neath.
• Same 10 players were used over this period each playing or using the unit for a maximum of 1.5hours in any given session.
• Same controllers were used throughout the testing period

The following cycle was copied and used in each testing environment.
Start time Monday 9am –
2 hours blue ray dvd titles
4 hours continuous play on Resistance FOM
2 hours continuous play on Motor Storm
2 x blue ray dvd movies
1 x blue ray dvd movie
1 x blue ray dvd movie
2 hours continuous play on Motor Storm
6 hours of Motor Storm
6 hours of Resistance Fom
10 hours of Blue Ray Dvd 7 titles
1 hour of Motor Storm
3 hours of Resistance
5 hours of Enchanted Arms
2 hours blue ray dvd title
2 hours blue ray dvd title
5 hours Resistance FOM
5 hours Motor Storm
1 hour enchanted Arms
3 hours blue ray dvd titles
Repeated from the top until 108hours

Environment 1 Typical Family Room
Temperature 73 F
Console Ran continuous for the 108hours with only once incident happening at 12 hours in – a slight vibration coming from the tray area which lasted approximately 20 seconds. For the remaining time allocated no incidents were reported