Cracking open Sony’s PlayStation 2 (slim case)
Image 1 of 54
Sony PlayStation 2 (slim case)
ntReleased in 2000, the PlayStation 2 (PS2) was Sony’s second game console. According to Sony sales reports, over 115 million PS2s have been shipped as of December 31, 2006. Many consider the PS2 to be the most successful game console to date.
nt
ntThe PS2 can read both CDs and DVDs and is backwards compatible with PlayStation (PS1) games. Since the unit’s launch, Sony has given the PS2 several hardware revisions, including a dramatic case size reduction in 2004. Originally priced at $299.99 USD, we purchased this new slimeline PS2 for $129.99.
nn
Box - Front
The new slim case PlayStation 2’s box is smaller then the boxes for the Xbox 360, Wii, and PlayStation 3.
Box - Back
Sony packed a ton of information on the box’s back in English, French, and Spanish.
Box contents label
For $129.99 (plus tax), this new PlayStation 2 SCPH-77001 comes with the console, one DUALSHOCK 2 analog controller, an AV cable, AC power cord and adaptor, online sart-up disc, and printed manuals.
What, no stand?
If you look closely at the box’s front cover, you’ll see the PlayStation 2 standing upright on a thin, circular stand. Unfortunately, this vertical stand is not included with the console. You can buy the vertical stand for about $20 USD from various retailers.
PlayStation 2 box contents
Before buying this unit, I had never seen or held a slim case PlayStation 2. I was surprised by the PS2’s tiny size. The included DUALSHOCK 2 controller is almost as wide as the PS2.
Analog DUALSHOCK 2 controller - Top
The DUALSHOCK 2 controller provides vibration feedback.
Analog DUALSHOCK 2 controller - Front
AV cable
The included AV cable provides RCA video and audio plugs.
PlayStation 2 - Front
On the front of the PlayStation 2, you’ll find two memory card ports, two controller ports, disc cover open button, power/reset button, two USB ports, the IR receiver, and front cooling vents.
PlayStation 2 - Front controller and memory card ports
The PlayStation 2 supports both the ~120KB PlayStation memory cards (SCPH-1020 U) and the 8MB PlayStation 2 memory cards (SCPH-10020 U).
PlayStation 2 - Front buttons and USB ports
PlayStation 2 - Right side
The PlayStation 2’s right side, or bottom when mounted vertically, has three small holes used to attached the vertical stand–sold separately.
PlayStation 2 - Back
The Ethernet jack, digital audio out (optical), AV multi out connector, power connector, and two cooling vents are located on rear of the PlayStation 2.
PlayStation 2 - Rear Ports
This image shows a closeup of the Ethernet jack, digital audio out (optical), AV multi out connector, power connector, and one of the rear vents.
PlayStation 2 - Left side
The PlayStation 2’s CD/DVD drive takes up most of the unit’s left side.
PlayStation 2 - Drive door open
The PlayStation 2’s optical drive supports the following formats:
PlayStation format CD-ROM
PlayStation 2 format CD-ROM
PlayStation 2 format DVD-ROM
Audio CD
DVD-R
DVD-RW (Video mode)
DVD R
DVD RW
PlayStation 2 vs. PlayStation 3 Blu-Ray drive
I thought it would be interesting to compare the PlayStation 2 and some of the components from the PlayStation 3. This picture shows the whole PlayStation 2 console and the PlayStation 3’s Blu-Ray drive.
If you would like to see more of the PlayStation 3’s internal hardware, check out my gallery, “Cracking open the Sony PlayStation 3”.
PlayStation 2 vs. PlayStation 3 Blu-Ray drive
This picture is another shot with the PlayStation 2’s drive cover open and the PlayStation 3’s Blu-Ray drive.
PlayStation 2 vs. PlayStation 3 Cooling system
This photo shows another shocking comparison–the slim case PlayStation 2 and the cooling system from the PlayStation 3.
PlayStation 2 vs. PlayStation 3 cooling fan
When I saw the size of the PlayStation 3’s fan, I had to take this photo.
PlayStation 2 - Bottom
To disassemble the PlayStation 2, you’ll start on the bottom. There are six case screws that you must remove.
Warranty seal
This warranty seal covers one of the case screws.
Void if removed
There’s no turning back now.
Remove the six Phillips case screws
Removing the warranty stick, the unit’s two rear rubber feat and three rubber plugs from the front will reveal the six Phillips case screws.
Unlike the Nintendo Wii or PlayStation 3, the PlayStation 2 has no security screws.
PlayStation 2, case top, and screws
With the six case screws removed, you can gently lift off the PlayStation 2’s top cover. Unlike the Xbox 360, Wii, or PlayStation 3, the PlayStation 2’s lacks a self contained optical drive. Removing the case’s top half exposes the optical drive’s laser and drive mechanism. Be careful not to damage these components during dissection and reassembly.
Case top removed
Removing the case’s top half also exposes the PlayStation 2’s metal shielding, tiny cooling fan, heatsink, power button PCB, and a tiny bit of the mainboard.
Metal shielding screw
To remove the metal shielding and mainboard from the case’s bottom half, remove this screw–located between the two memory card ports.
PlayStation 2 mainboard and metal shielding - Top
With the last screw removed, you can lift the metal shielding and mother assembly away from the case’s bottom half.
Cooling fins
Compared with the PlayStation 3’s massive cooling system, the PlayStation 2 heatsink is downright puny.
CD/DVD ROM drive
Instead of being a self-contained component, the PlayStation 2’s CD/DVD drive is part of the metal shielding. Four, screws hold the drive mechanism to the shielding and mainboard. You must remove these screws before removing the shielding.
CD/DVD ROM drive ribbon cable
Before removing the metal shield from the mainboard, disconnect the CD/DVD drive’s ribbon cable.
CD/DVD ROM drive lifted up
The CD/DVD drive’s ribbon cable is fastened to the metal shield with an adhesive. I was unsure if the cable could withstand the stress of being pulled free, so I left the CD/DVD drive in place.
PlayStation 2 metal shielding - Top
With the CD/DVD ROM screws removed and the ribbon cable disconnected, you can remove the top section of the metal shielding.
PlayStation 2 mainboard and metal shielding - Bottom
There are not screws to remove on the bottom of the metal shielding. Just gently separate the shield from the mainboard.
PlayStation 2 metal shielding - Bottom
The metal shields are easily bent. Be careful when removing them.
Mainboard - Top
The slimline PlayStation 2’s mainboard is dramatically different than the original PS2 mainboard. Many of the functions once handled by separate components hare now handled by single chips. For example, the Emotion Engine (CPU) and Graphics Synthesizer (GPU) are now a single chip.
Mainboard - Rear ports
This image shows the system batter, CPU/GPU (covered with a gray pad), and the PS2’s rear ports.
Mainboard - Memory card and controller ports
PlayStation 2 mainboard - without CPU/GPU pad
With the protective pad removed, you get a better view of the integrated Emotion Engine and Graphic Synthesizer.
Integrated Emotion Engine (CPU) and Graphics Synthesizer (GPU)
Jointly designed by Toshiba and Sony, the PlayStation 2’s Emotion Engine is a 128 bit, 294.9 MHz RISC processor that provides 6.2 GFLOPS of floating-point performance. The graphic processor is capable of 128-bit 2D/3D graphics acceleration, uses 4MB of video RAM, and can produce a maximum resolution (external) of 1280 x 1024.
Sony CXD9209GP
I was unable to locate any information on the Sony CXD9209GP chip. The PlayStation 3 has a very similar Sony chip labeled CXD9208GP, but I was unable to locate any specific information on that chip.
Hynix 616A - 32MB RDRAM
Samsung K4R271669F 128Mbit RDRAM
Samsung K4R271669F 128Mbit RDRAM (F-die) – 256K x 16 bit x 32s Banks
Spansion NOR Flash memory chip
Although I can’t be 100 percent certain, I believe this Spansion NOR Flash memory chip is used to store the PlayStation 2’s BIOS.
Spansion, AMD’s former memory division, also provided memory chips for the PS3’s Bluetooth module and Blu-Ray drive. AMD spun Spansion off as a separate company in 2006.
Texas Instruments or Sipex SP375 1A integrated circuit
I was unable to find any information explaining this chip’s function. Searching the Internet for ‘SP375’, I found several references for a SP375 integrated circuit made by Texas Instruments and Sipex.
DVD Control integrated circuit (IC)
Posts on several PlayStation 2 forums identified the CXR716080 chip as the DVD Control integrated circuit (IC)
Broadcom BCM524110/100BASE-TX Single-Channel Transceiver
Broadcom’s BCM524110/100BASE-TX Single-Channel Transceiver provides the PlayStation 2’s Ethernet support.
Mainboard - Bottom
Sony CXD3098Q digital signal processor (DSP)
My research indicated that the chip shown in this picture is a custom digital signal processor (DSP) that provides the floating-point calculations used for 3D graphics and the video decoding for DVD playback.
Sony CXM4015R video signal processing
According to a forum post on nfggames.com, the Sony CXM4015R chip converts the raw video signal from the CPU/GPU into RGB video. As part of the signal processing, the chip handles the MacroVision (copy protection) mixing and Sync-On-Green (component video sync signal) mixing.
Mainboard labeling
Mainboard Sony copyright
It still works!
After putting the pieces back together, our PlayStation 2 test system still worked.
-
-
Account Information
Contact Bill Detwiler
- |
- See all of Bill's content