Super Slim PS3 CECH-4000 Coming Up

[Friendly]

well, what do you know... I just got the YLOD on my 40gb fat. All of a sudden I need a serious showdown between the still-on-shelves slim and the superslim. Which one would you go for?

Oh, sorry. I didn't see that your PS3 already got a YLOD. There is only one way to get your saves back: Do a temp YLOD fix and then quickly transfer the saves.
Unfortunately that's not quite as easy. You'll need a heatgun.

Here's a guide how to do it for a 60GB model: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U70SgRDVcBo

Here's how to disassemble a 40GB model (slightly different than the 60GB version): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6qRLytwykE

This reflow fix is only temporary; once it's done, transfer your saves as quickly as possible.

PS.
Before doing the reflow, maybe you should make sure that your power supply unit isn't broken. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmFFd8tT_kM
However, if your PS3's fan was running at very high speeds before you got the YLOD, then that indicates overheating, and it's likely unrelated to the PSU.

PPS.
Your PS3's hdd is encrypted. You can't simply put it into another PS3 to read it; and once you insert a new HDD into your 40GB PS3 and format it a new encryption key is generated, meaning your PS3 can no longer read the previous hdd if you put it back.

[Turrican]

Unfortunately that's not quite as easy. You'll need a heatgun.

Oh man, thanks, but if that's the only option I might as well restart MGS and Wipeout from scratch I suppose a regular hair dryer won't do the trick, right?

PPS.
Your PS3's hdd is encrypted. You can't simply put it into another PS3 to read it; and once you insert a new HDD into your 40GB PS3 and format it a new encryption key is generated, meaning your PS3 can no longer read the previous hdd if you put it back.

I thought so. I suppose no one has been able to decrypt these yet?

[Friendly]

I thought so. I suppose no one has been able to decrypt these yet?

There is a POC (proof of concept) to make a PS3 hdd readable on a PC (it's relatively new and there isn't an actual tool for it yet). However, that's only possible if you already have the encryption key of your hdd, which you can only obtain if you have a custom firmware installed on your PS3. Since your PS3 is unhacked (and dead now), there is no way to get the key. You can forget about brute-forcing, because it uses a 256-bit key.

Breaking a symmetric 256-bit key by brute force requires 2128 times more computational power than a 128-bit key. A device that could check a billion billion (10^18) AES keys per second (if such a device could ever be made - as of 2012, supercomputers have computing capacities of 20 Peta-FLOPS, see Titan. So 50 supercomputers would be required to process (10^18) operations per second) would in theory require about 3×10^51 years to exhaust the 256-bit key space.

[Specineff]

A hair dryer won't do, Turrican. It's like 1/3 of the minimum needed heat, last time I checked.

[Turrican]

Thanks for the input guys.

You know, even if I'm inside the "business" since decades by now, this is really the first system that simply dies on me. My Amiga 500, Gameboy, Snes, Megadrive, NES, Master System, PSone, PS2... They all do just fine. Admittedly I had to replace my first playstation with another one because Vagrant Story pushed it to its limits, and both have some issues reading discs... And my PS2 too might stumble once or twice.

Don't get me wrong - I think I abused a bit my PS3. I got it already used (in 2008), and I made extensive use of its 40gb space playing a large majority of games from the HD and keeping it filled. I also used it relentlessly as a BD player and I got more than a hundred movies. So yeah, I didn't use much caution and I used it fiercely. But it's still a first. What a crappy record.

[Friendly]

If that's the first system that ever died on you, then that's an awesome track record.

For your next PS3, do not buy a CECH-2000; that's the very first slim and actually got more hot than a phat 40GB system. Make sure to get at least a CECH-2100 or higher (45nm Cell, 40nm RSX). CECH-2500 was the best slim; the model that came afterwards (CECH-3000) doesn't have backlit butons (eject/power) and can't output BDs via component (hdmi only).

[Ruldra]

For your next PS3, do not buy a CECH-2000; that's the very first slim and actually got more hot than a phat 40GB system.

That's the one I have, it indeed gets absurdly hot. Never seen a piece of hardware heat up so much like this one.

When I'm playing AAA titles that demand more power from the GPU, the internal fan goes crazy. I either turn the console off or put a big fan in front of it to help cool it down. I'm afraid all the heat will eventually kill the console.