PS3 Frankenstein PHAT PS3: CECHA with 40nm RSX

[TheMadPolarBear]

Have to say, this was a fascinating read on my journey home from work. Like others have mentioned, I am curious to see if we will be able to replicate this and provide a nice upgrade for the CECHA01.

This forum is like a gold mine with threads like these and members who provide in-depth information.

 

[nCadeRegal]

So going off of what major has provided this swap would work if syscon , cell, and rsx are swapped then everything should work? How is this possible if cell aren't same between motherboard revisions?

At least this is what I have gathered from reading this thread. Am I wrong and that all cell are the same, or is it just 90nm to 65nm that the issue lies? So if all 90 nm are compatible to swap to a cech a01 then what is the newest revision of the rsx before they shrunk the cell down and changed its footprint? So many questions....

I wish I had the equipment and time needed to play around with this stuff. I'll be first in line when and if this gets sorted with my beloved launch day a01, daddy needs a new pair of shoes... lol.

 

[M4j0r]

So going off of what major has provided this swap would work if syscon , cell, and rsx are swapped then everything should work?

Swapping the RSX revision doesn't mean you need to swap the Syscon, only if it's not compatible with the RSX model.
CELL can be swapped with the same model but Syscon needs to be paired again.
South Bridge can be swapped with the same model without changing Syscon.

At least this is what I have gathered from reading this thread. Am I wrong and that all cell are the same, or is it just 90nm to 65nm that the issue lies? So if all 90 nm are compatible to swap to a cech a01 then what is the newest revision of the rsx before they shrunk the cell down and changed its footprint? So many questions....

The first code section lists the different revisions used: https://www.psx-place.com/threads/frankenstein-phat-ps3-cecha-with-40nm-rsx.28069/page-7#post-226857

 

[Cypher_CG89]

I'll be first in line when and if this gets sorted with my beloved launch day a01, daddy needs a new pair of shoes... lol.

I was never one for these consoles really, but since I bought a Jap CECHA00 they are starting to grown on me, also the fact this PS3 only has about less than 10 hours of run time or something like that, irrc when I checked it with HEN + webMAN then put it back in its box, and everything is more or less brand new, even the box is minted.... well worth what I paid for it... which wasn't cheap lol...

 

[squeept]

If there is enough demand for 40nm CECHA systems, do we have everything needed to slap our own syscon on an FPGA? I assume cost isn't an issue since people still pay out the nose for stock CECHA, so $30 for a good FPGA and $10 for a custom adapter board is hardly gonna break the bank.

 

[TheMadPolarBear]

If we are able to create our own CECHA with 40nm RSX and the benefits of it become clear after proper testing (lower temps + delid) then i'd be more than happy to pay a bit more for one.

 

[M4j0r]

If there is enough demand for 40nm CECHA systems, do we have everything needed to slap our own syscon on an FPGA? I assume cost isn't an issue since people still pay out the nose for stock CECHA, so $30 for a good FPGA and $10 for a custom adapter board is hardly gonna break the bank.

There're some brokers which offer the CXR714120-304GB or even the CXR713F120A for a price of ~30$ per piece (Quantity: 1), but you'd need to be located in China to ensure that they don't sell you fake ICs.

 

[raidriar]

Alright so I knew something was up with my "Ghost" PlayStation 3 I received back around 2012 directly from SONY after I sent it in for service. The bottom shell says "made in Japan", and there is no production stamped in the spot for it (hence why I name it "Ghost"). I opened her up for a delid and noticed some very interesting things:

1. It does NOT use the single laser Blu ray drive KEM-400A, but uses the KES-410ACA from the CECHK series. I'm assuming Sony did this for improved reliability.

2. I prematurely delidded the CPU and GPU, it did need it. But I could never understand WHY my RSX was always so much cooler than other systems I've delidded in the past. It will never break 60-61 C, cell will run up to 67-68C in the mean time @ 28-31% fan speed (aps231, 19 blade fan). Comparable A01s and my DECHA00A will run nearly identical CPU and GPU temps after delid (67-68 C @ 31-34% fan) within a degree of each other at similar fan speeds. I'm going to assume they also shoved a 40NM RSX into my Ghost, it's by far the best performing unit I have, and I could never understand why until now.

 

[sandungas]

Alright so I knew something was up with my "Ghost" PlayStation 3 I received back around 2012 directly from SONY after I sent it in for service. The bottom shell says "made in Japan", and there is no production stamped in the spot for it (hence why I name it "Ghost"). I opened her up for a delid and noticed some very interesting things:

1. It does NOT use the single laser Blu ray drive KEM-400A, but uses the KES-410ACA from the CECHK series. I'm assuming Sony did this for improved reliability.

2. I prematurely delidded the CPU and GPU, it did need it. But I could never understand WHY my RSX was always so much cooler than other systems I've delidded in the past. It will never break 60-61 C, cell will run up to 67-68C in the mean time @ 28-31% fan speed (aps231, 19 blade fan). Comparable A01s and my DECHA00A will run nearly identical CPU and GPU temps after delid (67-68 C @ 31-34% fan) within a degree of each other at similar fan speeds. I'm going to assume they also shoved a 40NM RSX into my Ghost, it's by far the best performing unit I have, and I could never understand why until now.

But do you know the motherboard model of that ghost ?

Next time you open it for a thermal paste replacement you should take a look at the RSX model etched in the IHS, and the syscon

 

[raidriar]

But do you know the motherboard model of that ghost ?

Next time you open it for a thermal paste replacement you should take a look at the RSX model etched in the IHS, and the syscon

Would it be possible to retrieve information without opening her up? Would a full NAND dump give us the information needed or is there a way to dump syscon from CFW?

 

[sandungas]

Would it be possible to retrieve information without opening her up? Would a full NAND dump give us the information needed or is there a way to dump syscon from CFW?

Well, in ths screen can be seen some info related with syscon
https://www.psdevwiki.com/ps3/More_System_Information
The third line most at top are the syscon patches, based in them we could deduce the motherboard model
https://www.psdevwiki.com/ps3/System_Controller_Firmware#Known_Retail_syscon_update_packages

With the RSX i dont know how to identify it by software, probably there is some way but i dont know right now and i dont remember any program giving that info

*Maybe there are some identifyers inside the (encrypted) eEID area of the flash dump

 

[M4j0r]

The RSX version can be dumped from lv1. Just search for the second occurence of "rsx:". (example: rsx: rsx65 a06 1f4/28a vpe:ff shd:3f [K6A300100:1:2:4:10:10:3:8:1][1d:0:2:0:1:2:0][2:1:0])
Syscon can be identified by the more system info as sandungas already pointed out.

 

[sandungas]

I moved the latest posts talking about the PS3 manufacturing process to a new thread
Please feel free to continue discussing about it in the new thread

https://www.psx-place.com/threads/ps3-manufacturing-process.28342/

 

[raidriar]

The RSX version can be dumped from lv1. Just search for the second occurence of "rsx:". (example: rsx: rsx65 a06 1f4/28a vpe:ff shd:3f [K6A300100:1:2:4:10:10:3:8:1][1d:0:2:0:1:2:0][2:1:0])
Syscon can be identified by the more system info as sandungas already pointed out.

I dumped LV1 and found several instances of rsx but nothing definitive. LV1 Dump:
http://s000.tinyupload.com/?file_id=06877736662898119840

 

[M4j0r]

I dumped LV1 and found several instances of rsx but nothing definitive. LV1 Dump:
http://s000.tinyupload.com/?file_id=06877736662898119840

Thanks, your PS3 still has the original RSX: "rsx: b08 500/650 vpe:ff shd:3f [AP0005626:1:1:10:e:a:2:f:2][16:3:1:1:1:3:1][0:0:0]".

 

[raidriar]

Thanks, your PS3 still has the original RSX: "rsx: b08 500/650 vpe:ff shd:3f [AP0005626:1:1:10:e:a:2:f:2][16:3:1:1:1:3:1][0:0:0]".

Bummer, thanks for checking. I have no idea why this one runs so cool

 

[GlowingHead]

Hi !
About the pictures of the COK-001 motherboard... Do you still need those? I saw your thread several days ago, and decided to create an account to participate.
I have a CECHA00 here and I can take it apart tomorrow if you want. It wasn't opened before I bought it, and I opened it only once to clean it and change the thermal paste, so the motherboard has not been modified.

 

[RockL79]

Is this possible to do on any bc unit yet? I need to replace the rsx on mine soon, and I would pay to have this done to mine

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

 

[DoublesAdvocate]

I'd love to help out with the documentation of this rarity @lcferrum do you live in North America and do you happen to own a multimeter? If you do I'd also love to help in any other way I can like sending scans of stock COK-001s or even a few dead ones I have lying around. The service manual with all the resistor values is public so it would be nice to know just how many of those values match the original COK-001 values.

Just as a side note I saw your wattage testing and wanted to add that I think the wikipedia article is actually slightly off on the power consumption, I tested TLoU and Resistance 1 a little while ago on either a CECHA/E (can't remember which one) and the wattage it was drawing from the wall while playing from the disc was actually closer to 220-230W at its highest points. It could be that tron just isn't as stressful a test as TLoU or Resistance 1 but that's still a massive drop.

 

[LeoTW630]

Hi
My English is not very good so use google translation
Share the PS3 purchased by my friend
(Replace PS3 with 40nm RSX)

I hope everyone can understand

I own a cecha00 (Made in China) because of the YLOD problem, so I need to replace the TOKIN/NEC capacitor.
I think it is the problem of TOKIN/NEC capacitors, and now I want to buy the capacitors.
After I get it, I have to replace my PS3.

However, because of fear of RSX also having problems.
So I also bought the re-balled RSX to replace it.

In addition, is there a way to make a simple measurement to determine whether RSX is good or is there a problem?

A few days ago, my friend bought a cecha00 (Made in Japan)
When disassembling to replace the thermal paste, he found that RSX is 40nm (CXD5300A1GB)
He informed me about this problem
I also took pictures to show me
His cecha00 motherboard is COK-001 just like mine

I saw the picture
RSX was replaced with a 40nm package
I also found that there are other differences besides the 45-degree resistance

Then I found this discussion on this forum
So also provide the photos he gave me for reference

The model of cecha00 is also very precious
Hope to find out the correct way to replace 40nm RSX
After all, 40nm has less heat than 90nm


Attached below is a photo of my friend's PS3 motherboard