Die casting machines can be mainly divided into two different types: hot chamber die casting machines and cold chamber die casting machines. The difference lies in how much force they can withstand. The typical pressure range is between 400 and 4000 tons.
Hot chamber die casting, sometimes called gooseneck die casting, involves a pool of molten, semi-liquid metal that fills a mold under pressure. At the start of the cycle, the machine's piston is retracted, allowing molten metal to fill the gooseneck. A pneumatic or hydraulic piston squeezes the metal and fills it into a die.

The advantages of this system include high cycle speed (approximately 15 cycles per minute), ease of automation, and ease of melting the metal. Disadvantages include the inability to die-cast metals with higher melting points, as well as the inability to die-cast aluminum, which would carry iron out of the molten pool. Thus, hot chamber die casting machines are generally used for alloys of zinc, tin and lead. Moreover, hot chamber die casting is difficult to use for die casting large castings, which are usually die casting of small castings.