Playstation 3

Playstation 3
Manufacturer	Sony
Code name
Release date	North America: November 17, 2006
Device type	Game Console

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Guides

Explanatory Guides

Repair Guides

Device pictures

PCB pictures

Reference measurements (also schematics if available)

More Information/External Sources

Models

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]

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]

Model #	PS2 Compatibility?	Original HDD Size	Possible Board Revisions	CELL	RSX
`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]

Model #	PS2 Compatibility?	Original HDD Size	Possible Board Revisions	CELL	RSX
`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]

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

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)

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

File:Ylod.png

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

[:0-1] 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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