Cracking Open the PlayStation 3 Slim

The box

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Glamour shot

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

What you get

Along with the PS3 Slim you get:

• Sixaxis DualShock 3 controller
• RCA Cables
• USB Cable
• Power Cord
• QuickStart Guide and Instruction Manual
• Welcome to PS3 and PS Network Blu-ray Disc
• One of those "Guide to Video Game Ratings" guides that nobody gives a [redacted] about.

Contents listed

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Front

On the front left we have two USB ports, a hard drive indicator light, and a Wi-Fi indicator light.

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Power

Front right yields a slot-loading Blu-ray drive, power button, and eject button.

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Back

The back has a LAN connection, HDMI port, digital audio-out, multi-connector (RCA or component video) and a new type of power plug.

Owners of the current-gen PS3s will notice an absence of the rear manual power switch. All your powering needs are now served by the front power button.

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Hard drive

Now that we've dispensed with the pleasantries, let's get into the meat of the subject, so to speak. We start with the hard drive first. A blue Phillips screw is hidden beneath "the blue Phillips screw cover," as we call it. Remove this screw.

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Hard drive cover

Next, remove the hard drive cover.

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Tab

The drive enclosure has a metal pull tab attached to it. Pull on it to release the drive from the bay.

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Upgradeable

The 120 GB Toshiba drive, in all its glory. We have a feeling that it's going to be super-easy to upgrade this drive to 500GB.

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Security screws

Remove the three T8 security Torx screws on the underside of the PS3 slim.

What's that, you say? Security screws? Yes, that's right. These screws have a pin in the center of them that prevents an ordinary Torx screwdriver from working. These screwdrivers are widely available, just not quite as easy to come by as a normal Torx. Sony did this to prevent people like us from taking it apart. Those three T8 security Torx screws seem to be the only non-Phillips head fasteners on the entire device. This seems a little spiteful-- hardware hacking is a fine American tradition. No worries, we'll make sure it's easy for you to get these screwdrivers.

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Warranty removal

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Tab

Under the warranty sticker is another screw.

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

7 screws

Seven Phillips screws need to be removed from the bottom. Interestingly enough, the rubber pad on the front-right corner of the PS3 has no screw hidden underneath it. Imagine our surprise when we removed it!

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Opening

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Still opening

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

MEGA FAN revealed!

This 12V, 1.3A monster rivals the best fans found in desktop PC machines. Sony spared no expense.

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Closeup of the massive fan

This is a brushless DC motor, which is fairly standard for fans in devices like this. Brushless motors are quieter than more traditional fans, but require fine computer control to function. It is not a maglev fan like Apple is known to use, however.

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Closeup of the controller antennas

The Bluetooth and WLAN antennas, intentionally three-dimensional in design, are attached to the lower case with Phillips screws.

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Disconnecting the power

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Disconnecting the other power connection

The AC inlet cable is devoid of a third 'ground' pin, surprising for a unit that draws nearly 250W.

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Removing the power supply

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Removing the power supply

This is quite a bit smaller than the original PS3's power supply, and presumably has better thermal characteristics.

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Voltage

Much to the relief of users worldwide, the power supply is designed for inputs ranging from 100V to 240V AC.

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Digging deeper into power supply

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Power supply exposed

This is a startlingly compact unit. It will be interesting to see what the thermal dissipation is like. This puppy cranks out 18 amps at 12V DC! Fingers beware.

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Backside power supply

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Disconnect the fan

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Here it comes

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

And here it is

This is the largest fan we've come across in a consumer electronics device of this size. Sony is really taking cooling quite seriously.

The ~95 mm diameter 17 blade impeller was definitely designed with quiet in mind. It is extremely stiff and presumably made of ABS plastic.

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Tape to remove

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

More tape

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Ribbon cable

Open the gate with screwdriver of spudger.

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Give it a yank

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Another screw

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Optical Drive

The Blu-ray drive comes right out. This drive is still quite large, and takes up the bulk of the space inside the PS3.

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Blue-ray

iFixit disassembled the drive, and found that it appears to be a proprietary Sony-manufactured part.

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

More screws

The design aesthetic of this machine is quite a bit more bare-bones-functional than Apple's, but is still beautiful in its own way.

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Yet another ribbon connection

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Power connector

Several components, including the AC power inlet, are simply held to the unit by the pressure of the screws connecting the top and bottom cases.

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

More screws on the way to logic board

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Keep going

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Logic board coming out

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

EMI shield

The two identical matte finished brackets are designed to apply pressure to the center of the processors, keeping them firmly planted on their heat sinks.

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

EMI shield coming off

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Work carefully

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

And we have separation

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

All the parts

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Logic board

Notice the thermal paste pattern.

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Flip side

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Cell processor

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

RSX Reality Synthesizer

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Two of the four NEC/TOKIN 0e108 capacitors

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

RAM

Dual Elpida 512Mbit RAM chips (there are four total on the board).

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Controllers

(Red) - Marvell Ethernet controller
?(Orange) - Panasonic HDMI controller
(Yellow) - Sony AV multi-out controller

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Clock generators

(Orange) Clock generator (1): ICS 9249AGLF
(Yello) Clock generator (2): ICS 1493DG

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Support chips

Samsung K8Q2815UQB-PI4B
SW2-301 0920KMOOT
Sony CXD9963G8

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.

Shuffle comparison

iFixit put the latest iPod Shuffle on top of the processor. The shuffle is just slightly longer, but the overall area of the processor is vastly larger.

Photo by iFixit, used by permission. The original iFixit Teardown Photo Gallery can be found here.