Update to my previous post on reviving my fat PS3.
Time for an update on the PS3 saga. As planned, she went back to Matt at Rarethingz in Wales.
Matt’s first instinct was a delid, carefully removing the CPU and GPU heatspreaders to reapply the cooling paste underneath, and that alone quietened Cinder-ella down a bit. But while she was already under the knife, we decided it was worth going further: pulling the fragile old 90nm RSX GPU and replacing it with the 40nm part from later PS3 Super Slim models.
As well as being far more reliable, the 40nm part runs cooler, which keeps the whole console a lot further from the self-destruction these early, very desirable fat PS3s are prone to.
Matt was great throughout. He’s a true gent and an artisan, and he kept me updated with photos and progress the whole way. He’s a busy modder too, so I’m glad he turned this around in a week.
Royal Mail knocked on the door with an extremely well-packaged console, which my son and I unpacked and put back in place ready for testing. As soon as I turned it on, it was clear this thing was now completely silent. Before it went away, it sounded like a jet engine. Now it just hums along happily, which is a bonus when I want to play DSD files and my old CDs on it (which, by the way, sound so much better than the likes of Spotify).
A cute touch: Matt changed the desktop background to say “40nm inside”, done in the style of the old Intel Inside stickers.
He also returned my old 90nm GPU, which I think I’ll get framed.
If you’ve got any issues with your consoles, especially a PS3, give Matt a shout. You won’t be disappointed.
The Phoenix has landed. Anyone else been through an RSX swap, or found their own version of Matt? Let me know.