Durability-the super-slim PS3 vs. the oringal slim model...

[dave4shmups]

I would like to get a new PS3, but I'm not sure which of these models to go for. A lot of people claim that the super slim PS3 is a piece of crap, but I've always assumed that the model with the least moving parts would be the most durable. The original slim has a slot loading device, and that could break pretty easily, right?

[22point8]

I have both, mainly because my 250gb Slim hard disk ran out of space (playstation plus). I got a pre-owned super slim 12gb for £90, a HDD bracket for £5 and I had a 750gb hdd from my laptop (replaced it with a 120gb samsung ssd, don't need the storage space). The super slim is MUCH quieter than the slim. I haven't played a disc based game on the super slim yet but I'd imagine it would make more noise than the slim. The build quality is a bit of a step down but not rubbish, I think its mainly that it weighs a lot less makes it feel cheap.

[dave4shmups]

I have both, mainly because my 250gb Slim hard disk ran out of space (playstation plus). I got a pre-owned super slim 12gb for £90, a HDD bracket for £5 and I had a 750gb hdd from my laptop (replaced it with a 120gb samsung ssd, don't need the storage space). The super slim is MUCH quieter than the slim. I haven't played a disc based game on the super slim yet but I'd imagine it would make more noise than the slim. The build quality is a bit of a step down but not rubbish, I think its mainly that it weighs a lot less makes it feel cheap.

Yeah, I have nothing against pre-owned consoles, but I WON'T get one from Gamestop ever; the one that died on me was from there. In terms of noise, the fat PS3 that died on me had the loudest fan I've ever heard from a console. I have no hearing problems, but when watching DVDs on it, I'd often have to turn up the volume! Thanks for your thoughts.

[gct]

I have a super slim PS3 but I can't comment on durability since it gets rarely used. It is quiet and runs cool though.

What I can tell you is that I am having mad HDMI handshaking problems with it. It won't send anything to my computer monitor, a BENQ XL2410T. We have two Sony BRAVIA televisions in this household, one of which is from the acclaimed W6-series. Super slim PS3 won't talk to either of them. Fancy that, Sony's own devices don't play nice with each other. Hard settings reset by holding down the power button until it beeps does nothing. The only way I ever got HDMI to display on one of the BRAVIA TVs was to put an HDMI A/V receiver in between. Most (all) of my gaming is done on my monitor though so I resorted to using component through an HDMI transcoder.

Anyway, how's that for not answering your question, Dave?

[Xyga]

I have HDMI trouble with W6 as well. Found out one of the old HDMI cables I was using wasn't good enough, the TV's picky about HDMI version compatibility.
Also I suspect the one port which is MHL compatible to be more tolerant with imperfect signals.

[LEGENOARYNINLIA]

I had HDMI problems with a PAL slim unit with my Eizo monitor. Sold it and got a fat HK unit which worked with the same monitor without problems. The only issue is that the fat system is so damn loud.

[HydrogLox]

Using a CECH-4201A (12GB Super Slim) with a WD Blue (WD5000LPVX) drive. No problems using HDMI against a DELL U2312HM through a StarTech 6 ft HDMI® to DVI-D or against a Sony KDL-50EX645 through a HDMI Cable 1.5M/4.9ft. ATC Certified 1.3C. The only thing that may be considered close to "cringe-worthy" about the build quality is that the AC-socket in the back jiggles a bit - but I guess I'm overly sensitive.

Fancy that, Sony's own devices don't play nice with each other.

I had a SCPH-10100 Component AV Cable for my SCPH-79001 PS2 which refused to work on the Sony WEGA KV-27FS100L - worked fine with other TVs. Once I swapped to a SCPH-10490 Component AV Cable everything worked - go figure.

[Ed Oscuro]

I had a SCPH-10100 Component AV Cable for my SCPH-79001 PS2 which refused to work on the Sony WEGA KV-27FS100L - worked fine with other TVs. Once I swapped to a SCPH-10490 Component AV Cable everything worked - go figure.

Interesting. Lucky me, I had a 10490 cable from the start, used on a KV-27FS120 and the same model PS2. If I ever run into a 10100 cable I will try it out.

[dave4shmups]

I have a super slim PS3 but I can't comment on durability since it gets rarely used. It is quiet and runs cool though.

What I can tell you is that I am having mad HDMI handshaking problems with it. It won't send anything to my computer monitor, a BENQ XL2410T. We have two Sony BRAVIA televisions in this household, one of which is from the acclaimed W6-series. Super slim PS3 won't talk to either of them. Fancy that, Sony's own devices don't play nice with each other. Hard settings reset by holding down the power button until it beeps does nothing. The only way I ever got HDMI to display on one of the BRAVIA TVs was to put an HDMI A/V receiver in between. Most (all) of my gaming is done on my monitor though so I resorted to using component through an HDMI transcoder.

Anyway, how's that for not answering your question, Dave?

It helps! After watching this CNET video on both models, I think I'd go with the original slim: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucGBKxN7fZA

I wouldn't mind going with another older fat PS3, but I'd have to make sure that the seller fixed the yellow light of death issue.

[HydrogLox]

I think I'd go with the original slim.

As mentioned in your earlier topic you may want to look for a CECH-30xxx Slim (rather than CECH-20xxx, CECH-21xxx, or CECH-25xxx) as it has the least potential for waste heat (200W power supply instead of 230W or even 250W).

I wouldn't mind going with another older fat PS3, but I'd have to make sure that the seller fixed the yellow light of death issue.

That statement probably applies to every PS3 model ever manufactured. There is no indication that Sony ever switched to a better thermal compound - so there is potentially some risk (increasing with time) that the thermal compound will eventually fail, causing the GPU/CPU to overheat, resulting in a YLOD. In that light due to their date of manufacture any Slim (used or un-used) may have a head start towards YLOD over the Super Slims - it's just a matter of whether the Super Slims develop a problem of a different nature before their own thermal compound failure...

[dave4shmups]

I think I'd go with the original slim.

As mentioned in your earlier topic you may want to look for a CECH-30xxx Slim (rather than CECH-20xxx, CECH-21xxx, or CECH-25xxx) as it has the least potential for waste heat (200W power supply instead of 230W or even 250W).

I wouldn't mind going with another older fat PS3, but I'd have to make sure that the seller fixed the yellow light of death issue.

That statement probably applies to every PS3 model ever manufactured. There is no indication that Sony ever switched to a better thermal compound - so there is potentially some risk (increasing with time) that the thermal compound will eventually fail, causing the GPU/CPU to overheat, resulting in a YLOD. In that light due to their date of manufacture any Slim (used or un-used) may have a head start towards YLOD over the Super Slims - it's just a matter of whether the Super Slims develop a problem of a different nature before their own thermal compound failure...

Which model of the original slim PS3's has the 200W power supply-the 160gb or 320gb? I'm skeptical that the newer PS3's-the slim and the superslim- aren't more durable. Look at that video that I posted a link to in this thread. In the fat PS3s, everything looks so crammed together that I'm surprised that more of them didn't overheat. I don't know anything about thermal compounds, but in that video, the slim and the superslim have nice large fans, and look very well ventilated.

[HydrogLox]

Which model of the original slim PS3's has the 200W power supply-the 160gb or 320gb?

Hard drive size has nothing to do with it. There were four different "Slim" models in production: CECH-20xxx (250W), CECH-21xxx (230W), CECH-25xxx (230W), and CECH-30xxx (200W) - models ending with an "A" where delivered with a 160GB drive while models with a "B" suffix where delivered with a 320GB drive. The remaining to digits identify the region, e.g. "01" for North America. So a CECH-3001B is a North American Slim delivered with a 320GB drive and a 200W power supply. The model number can be found on the retail box and the unit itself.

I'm skeptical that the newer PS3's-the slim and the superslim- aren't more durable.

I'm not saying the aren't "more durable" - but they are far from YLOD-proof. YLOD is simply an indication of a general hardware failure which could have any number of underlying causes most of them related to motherboard or hard drive issues. The classic PS3s up to and including the CECHExx model had 380W power supplies - the motherboard produced a lot of waste heat exposing itself to intense heating and cooling cycles that could eventually crack the solder connections on the GPU/CPU leading to a YLOD. The Slim and Super Slim should be much less prone to this type of YLOD failure. However some classic PS3s dodged that bullet only to be YLODed by thermal compound failure - it's just something that tends to happen later. The Slim and Super Slim could still be subject to this type of YLOD failure. It seems that to prolong the life of any PS3 it will have to undergo a thermal compound replacement at some point in its life.

[22point8]

Oh another thing I noticed, the super slim barely gets warm, the slim does get a bit hot.

[dave4shmups]

Which model of the original slim PS3's has the 200W power supply-the 160gb or 320gb?

Hard drive size has nothing to do with it. There were four different "Slim" models in production: CECH-20xxx (250W), CECH-21xxx (230W), CECH-25xxx (230W), and CECH-30xxx (200W) - models ending with an "A" where delivered with a 160GB drive while models with a "B" suffix where delivered with a 320GB drive. The remaining to digits identify the region, e.g. "01" for North America. So a CECH-3001B is a North American Slim delivered with a 320GB drive and a 200W power supply. The model number can be found on the retail box and the unit itself.

I'm skeptical that the newer PS3's-the slim and the superslim- aren't more durable.

I'm not saying the aren't "more durable" - but they are far from YLOD-proof. YLOD is simply an indication of a general hardware failure which could have any number of underlying causes most of them related to motherboard or hard drive issues. The classic PS3s up to and including the CECHExx model had 380W power supplies - the motherboard produced a lot of waste heat exposing itself to intense heating and cooling cycles that could eventually crack the solder connections on the GPU/CPU leading to a YLOD. The Slim and Super Slim should be much less prone to this type of YLOD failure. However some classic PS3s dodged that bullet only to be YLODed by thermal compound failure - it's just something that tends to happen later. The Slim and Super Slim could still be subject to this type of YLOD failure. It seems that to prolong the life of any PS3 it will have to undergo a thermal compound replacement at some point in its life.

OK, thanks for that information! I wish I knew how to do a thermal compound replacement.

[Ed Oscuro]

/me goes to google and does a search for 'super slim thermal paste replacement'

[HydrogLox]

It'll take some time before that will become an issue. A quick scan turns up a guide from early 2010 for the 2006 launch models. It is also unclear whether the heat of the classic models accelerated the aging of the compound (it would have to be pretty bad if that were true).

[dave4shmups]

/me goes to google and does a search for 'super slim thermal paste replacement'

I found a video on Youtube about how to do it on the regular slim, as well as a Wikipedia entry on Thermal Compound-which I gather is interchangeable with thermal paste, and thermal grease.

[HydrogLox]

This suggests using AC MX-4 instead of AS5 (and also talks about thermal pads). Seems even the "good stuff" will start to degrade after 8 years.

[Ed Oscuro]

Ceramique 2 is another choice - you can get 25 grams for roughly the same price that a 4 gram tube of MX-4. It's also an insulator. It doesn't have quite the performance of MX-4, and does require a while to set, but you can probably run your equipment while it's doing that. Don't know the shelf life of MX-4 (and nobody seems to advertise how long their thermal pastes last under normal conditions...) but I think Ceramique 2 is advertised for 7-8 years. That's long enough to care care of lots of stuff.

Another thing to look at with PS3s is getting new thermal pads. I don't know what works best here, but there is some outfit called Endless Electronics which has some. I assume this is just something else being sold in marked-up, cut-down quantities, but I haven't found anything to suggest what the source material is.

[dave4shmups]

OK, what about the different models of Sega CD? Everyone seems to say that the top-loading Sega CD model is the most durable. Why? Is it just because it's top-loading? Because the front-loading/tray-loading Sega CD unit looks as durable to me as the original Xbox, or the older PS2s, with their disc trays.

[HydrogLox]

Is it just because it's top-loading?

I've suffered numerous failed CD players where the tray loading mechanism was the first thing to go - otherwise they were still in working condition. This is particularly true for models that use a "belt" of some form - though wear and tear of any gears, aged lubricant gumming up the works or a failing tray motor can also be at fault. That being said some top loaders can have their spindle pushed down too low through heavy handed use - to the point that the game disc gets scratched.

[rCadeGaming]

All this talk of the YLOD and no mention of the lead-free solder? I think that's the real problem.

[HydrogLox]

Plenty over here.