Sony using new PS3 hardware
Sony has begun using a new revision of the PlayStation 3 hardware, which may sell at a profit.
Spotted by PlayStation University, the new hardware includes changes to the RSX graphics chip and tweaks to the RAM setup.
The new RSX chip has changed to a 45nm version which uses 15 percent less power and is less prone to overheating, hopefully minimising on cases of the 'yellow light of death'. The Cell chip however remains unchanged.
RAM-wise, the new PlayStation 3 consoles will use two 128MB XDR RAM sticks, rather than the four 64MB chips used in older consoles. There's a new cooling assembly too, plus the power supply is a lot lighter.
Interestingly, the new console may enable Sony to start selling individual consoles at a profit given that the original PS3 Slim design was thought to be breaking even for Sony, says GI.biz.
The new PS3 has been labelled as CECH-2100A and, like most minor hardware changes, has not been formally announced or promoted by Sony.
Let us know your thoughts in the forums.
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31 Comments
Discuss in the forums ReplyAlso waiting to see the new XBox 360 hardware.
would be nice to see the power figures on these. When the slim launched sony had managed to get it even with the 360. Other than that theres not much more for me to care about.
If sony if making money on these things then they should either:
lower price of games
lower price of PS3
make a higher quality PS3
but it had everything to do with breaking the blu-ray drive in fat PS3s...
Ok so now we don't buy a console just because its appearance & case quality. Sounds like your girlfriend is prone to marketing trick like those made by Apple (for example :p). I think she should buy an iPad instead!
You use your console to play golf? I would think that the console would be left alone (except for ejecting CD's etc), like a TV, unless you do use your TV to play baseball. Or something.
Playing devil's advocate, why shouldn't Sony make a profit from the consoles?
It would seem that these changes both save them some money & provide a slightly more stable console for buyers. Surely the news is win-win?
Ehm? what about the money invested in Games? besides, what are the alternatives? the RRODind not exactly designer piece console going by the name of Xbox 360? or the lacking in the games department Wii?
Yea if this was to ever actually happen it would be the ultimate Truth to humanity that God does exist.
yep
fat > skinny
(only when it comes to PS3s though...)
:)
I prefer -
matte > shiny
(regardless of the product brand name...I used to prefer the look of the XBOX Elite over the original PS3s)
1. that wont happen till microsoft lowers the prices.
2. wont happen.
3. the slim is already made of a pretty good quality. your on a tech site, you should know electronics can break. 99% of the time its not the casing that breaks. its the actual electronic components.
This may eventually lead to more dropped prices, if they keep getting more and more of a margin on the console. But frankly, why should they? They're not in it to pander to whinging gamers who think they have every right to moan about a console that they then go and buy.
The PS3 Slim is a really nice little console. I don't miss anything that's been taken out of it, I bought a PS3 to play PS3 games and Blu Rays on, not play old PS2 games or install a very constrictive Linux OS on. Mine is incredibly good and solidly built. A lot more so than the Xbox 360 that's for sure.
I'm not a Sony fanboy by a long way (in fact, the Xbox 360 is sitting on the shelf above my PS3 Slim), but do people honestly think Sony would add more expensive build quality to a console when they've just started making money on it? Seriously?
Anyway, let's hope this leads to a drop in prices, could do with another one in the lounge for the missus to play her rock band on :p
She actually is prone to marketing tricks. She needs a new laptop and wanted an apple. I found a samsung laptop with almost identical specs to a mac and compared the price. She now swears to never buy anything from apple.
And she actually uses a win mobile phone and loves it. I don't know what it is about the ps3 that she loves so much, but you have to pick your battles with women.
She likes to have things perfect. Even one scratch or crack would make it ugly for her.
The last three cell phones I had the case broke. not the internal components.
And she has it in her head that the new cases break easily from speaking with a sony rep. Not exactly a good source if you ask me. Its not like someone is going to call in and complain that their case hasn't broken...
I do like having my things perfect - which would explain why they're usually found with some sort of covering over the most easily scratched parts. For example, for the PS3 I would probably have covered the bottom and the top with a layer of plastic. :X
And the Sony rep was probably being cautious - by saying they aren't very solid, in case there are issues the company won't get any flak for units that don't take much abuse. If Microsoft said that all Xbox 360 has a risk of getting RRoD easily, I guess they won't have so much sales, but satisfaction levels would be higher, since those who bought it knew what they would have to deal with, and for those who bought it thinking they know how to deal with it (95% of the time they don't, but bah, that's another rant for another day) but end up complaining would be much lesser.
I don't understand comments like this. Sony were selling their consoles for a loss and no-one was running around praising them for it. They are a business, they need to make money and now hopefully they will be. Nothing wrong with that.
As for their build quality, i find they are much better built than 360's (not being a fanboy I own both). You'd have to be doing something pretty wrong to damage it though, I move mine around a bit and there's not a scratch on it. Guess it depends how you treat your stuff really.
I totally agree, Sony needs to make a profit so they can invest in new products and fund more games development for the console. Microsoft have been throwing money at developers for exclusivity and Sony just haven't. Companies need to make money.
But in general the first few years of a consoles lifetime it is sold at a loss because money is made from accessory's and games. When production gets cheaper they reduce the price to sell more units instead of
finally making profit on the hardware.
As much as I love PCs, I much prefer games on the console. Everything is there, self-contained and all games have been tested for the same spec..