PlayStation 3

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The fat PlayStation 3 with its controller.

Models[edit | edit source]

There are 12 different models of the original PlayStation 3 Fat. At the end of each model number is a two digit suffix that indicates the region that the model was made for. The tables below give a brief overview of every fat retail PS3 ever released alongside applicable regions and their suffixes.

PlayStation 3 Fat Model list [1][edit | edit source]

Model # PS2 Compatibility? Original HDD Size CELL RSX Notes
CECH‑Axx Yes: EE, GS, & RDRAM hardware included. 60gb 90nm 90nm Launch NTSC model. Not released in PAL regions
CECH‑Bxx Yes: EE, GS, & RDRAM hardware included. 20gb 90nm 90nm Launch NTSC model. Not released in PAL regions.
CECH‑Cxx Yes: GS hardware included. EE & RDRAM emulated via software. 60gb 90nm 90nm Launch PAL model.
CECH‑Exx Yes: GS hardware included. EE & RDRAM emulated via software. 80gb 90nm 90nm NTSC version of the CECH-Cxx model. The only other difference is HDD size.
CECH‑Gxx No 40gb 65nm 90nm Last model to use NAND flash memory to store firmware.
CECH‑Hxx No 40gb 65nm 90nm First model to use NOR flash memory to store firmware.
CECH‑Jxx No 40gb 65nm 65nm First model to use a 65nm RSX (CXD2982GB or CXD2982BGB), potentially less vulnerable to failure (which causes YLOD). Note that a new revision of the 65nm RSX (CXD2991GB) was introduced only 2 months later, which could potentially indicate some sort of issue with the first revision was caught early on and a new "hotfix" revision pushed out to fix it.
CECH‑Kxx No 80gb 65nm 65nm
CECH‑Lxx No 80gb 65nm 65nm Notably different motherboard layout, also introduces a new revision of the 65nm RSX (CXD2991GB), potentially further reducing risk of failure. It is notable that this variant of the RSX was introduced only 2 months after the first 65nm RSX, which could point to this being a "hotfix" revision of sorts, though it could also just be because of the new mobo layout.
CECH‑Mxx No 80gb 65nm 65nm
CECH‑Pxx No 160gb 65nm 65nm
CECH‑Qxx No 160gb 65nm 65nm Last model of the fat PS3 lineup.

PlayStation 3 Slim Model list [1][edit | edit source]

Model # PS2 Compatibility? Original HDD Size Possible Board Revisions CELL RSX Notes
CECH-20xxA No 120gb DYN-001 45nm 65nm
CECH-20xxB No 250gb DYN-001 45nm 65nm
CECH-21xxA No 120gb SUR-001 45nm 40nm
CECH-21xxB No 80gb SUR-001 45nm 40nm
CECH-25xxA No 120gb or 160gb JTP-001, JSD-001 45nm 40nm
CECH-25xxB No 250gb or 320gb JTP-001, JSD-001 45nm 40nm
CECH-30xxA No 160gb KTE-001 45nm 40nm
CECH-30xxB No 320gb KTE-001 45nm 40nm

PlayStation 3 Super Slim Model list [1][edit | edit source]

Model # PS2 Compatibility? Original HDD Size Possible Board Revisions CELL RSX Notes
CECH-40xxA No 16gb eMMC MPX-001, MSX-001, NPX-001 45nm 40nm or 28nm
CECH-40xxB No 250gb or 500gb MPX-001, MSX-001, NPX-001 45nm 40nm or 28nm
CECH-40xxC No 250gb or 500gb MPX-001, MSX-001, NPX-001 45nm 40nm or 28nm
CECH-42xxA No 16gb eMMC MPX-001, MSX-001, NPX-001, PPX-001, PQX-001 45nm 40nm or 28nm
CECH-42xxB No 250gb or 500gb MPX-001, MSX-001, NPX-001, PPX-001, PQX-001 45nm 40nm or 28nm
CECH-42xxC No 250gb or 500gb MPX-001, MSX-001, NPX-001, PPX-001, PQX-001 45nm 40nm or 28nm
CECH-43xxA No 16gb eMMC RTX-001, REX-001 45nm 28nm
CECH-43xxB No 250gb or 500gb RTX-001, REX-001 45nm 28nm
CECH-43xxC No 250gb or 500gb RTX-001, REX-001 45nm 28nm

Note: The NPX-001, PPX-001, PQX-001, RTX-001 and REX-001 motherboard revisions all feature a 28nm die shrunk RSX packaged on a smaller substrate layer, which uses half the number of RAM chips of the previous 40nm design. In addition, the CELL's substrate layer was reduced in size on the PPX-001, PQX-001, RTX-001 and REX-001 revisions; however, the die size appears to have remained unchanged at 45nm. See: PS3 Super Slim Die Comparison

Region / Suffix list [2][edit | edit source]

Region Suffix Example
Japan 00 CECH-A00 or CECH-2000A
USA / Canada 01/15 CECH-A01 or CECH-2001A
Oceania 02 CECH-A02 or CECH-2002A
United Kingdom / Ireland 03 CECH-A03 or CECH-2003A
Europe / Middle East / Africa 04/16 CECH-A04 or CECH-2004A
Korea 05 CECH-A05 or CECH-2005A
Southeast Asia 06 CECH-A06 or CECH-2006A
Taiwan 07 CECH-A07 or CECH-2007A
Russia / Ukraine / India 08 CECH-A08 or CECH-2008A
Latin America 11/14 CECH-A11 or CECH-2011A
Hong Kong 12 CECH-A12 or CECH-2012A

General Issues[edit | edit source]

Problem Solution
Applications won't launch, can't update the console
  • Check the Blu-Ray drive and the Bluetooth+Wifi module
PS3 freezes on boot, laggy XMB, games/apps freeze, longer than usual load times
  • Check/test the health of the HDD, and replace it if bad. The PS3 uses a standard SATA HDD, and its health can be checked by hooking it up to a computer and using software such as GSmartControl. (Note that many USB-to-SATA adapters don't properly support checking SMART data, so hooking up the HDD directly to an internal SATA port on the computer is desirable if possible.)
Loud fan or Overheating
  • Replace the thermal paste, and clean the console (especially the fans) of any built-up dirt/debris that could limit airflow.
  • Delid the CELL/BE and/or RSX, as the factory thermal paste between the actual chips and the IHS can fail/degrade over time.
  • Put a piece of hard eraser under the CELL/BE and RSX. More about this mod here
RLOD (Red Light of Death)
  • Check if you haven't corrupted the CoreOS files, reflash the flash chips if necessary.
YLOD (Yellow Light of Death)/Visual artifacts (Bad color after a few minutes and/or lines on screen) This could be caused by a multitude of problems:
  • Bad RSX, specifically the bumps that connect the GPU to the substrate (most likely to happen on 90nm variants of the RSX, some 65nm variants may also be affected)
  • Bad solder balls between the RSX and Motherboard
  • Bad NEC/Tokin capacitors

It is highly recommended to get the exact error codes from the syscon before proceeding with any specific repair. Note that bad solder balls and bad bumps generally give the same types of errors, but failed bumps can only be fixed by replacing the RSX. If replacing the RSX, it's recommended to consider replacement with a newer 40nm RSX that is not prone to the same issues that the 90nm and some 65nm versions of the RSX are prone to. This is similar to what Sony did for a small number of officially refurbished consoles. More information here

Diagnosing the YLOD (Yellow Light of Death)[edit | edit source]

All fat PS3s can suffer from the Yellow Light of Death. Unfortunately, a YLOD doesn't really tell much, other than a failure in the hardware initialization phase has occurred. This can mean anything from a dead GPU to a dead capacitor supplying power to the southbridge. To really know for a fact where in the hardware_init phase it failed, you'll need to solder a UART connection to the system controller (a.k.a syscon). For now, follow the documents included in this repository or this guide (Windows)

Deep dive video on YLOD failures

Caps with jumpers

If the syscon gives primarily power failure codes, replace the NEC/Tokin caps. These do not remove easy, even with a hot air station. They most likely will come out in pieces. Many guides show using tantalum caps at an angle. My experience is using 330uF caps from MacBook boards 820-2850 is a good option. These caps have a second ground closer to the positive terminal. This allows you to solder the 4 per NEC/Tokin without being at an angle or without exposing more of the ground plain. Also important to note, if replacing all 4 NEC/Tokins on this particular model, a jumper will be needed from 1 end of positive to the other, as the NEC/Tokins have an internal bridge.

If 0E128 NEC/Tokin use 470uF, 4 per NEC/Tokin

If 0E108 NEC/Tokin use 330uF, 4 per NEC/Tokin

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 SKU Models - PS3 Developer wiki (psdevwiki.com)
  2. ↑ SKU Regioning - PS3 Developer wiki (psdevwiki.com)
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