Cracking open the Sony PlayStation 3

Before surgery

Our 60GB HDD PlayStation 3 comes with IBM's ell Broadband Engine CPU, Nvidia's RSX Reality Synthesizer (main GPU), Sony Emotion Engine Graphics Synthesizer (GPU for PS2 games), 256MB XDR Main RAM and 256MB GDDR3 VRAM, 2.5' Serial ATA (60GB) hard drive, 4 USB 2.0 ports, Memory Stick/SD/CompactFlash Slots, Ethernet (10BASE-T, 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T jack, IEEE 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi support, Bluetooth 2.0 (EDR), 1 HDMI output, 1 analog AV output, 1 digital audio output (optical), the over-hyped Blu-ray/DVD/CD Drive "read only".

The PS3 is approximately 325mm (W) x 98mm (H) x 274mm (D) and weighs in at about 5 kg.

Hidden Torx security screw

First, remove the "Warranty void if removed" sticker on the right side/bottom of the PS3--above the hard drive panel. Then, use a flathead screwdriver to carefully remove the pad beneath the sticker.

Warranty sticker - Now void

There's no going back now.

Torx security screw

Removing the rubber pad reveals a Torx security screw--with a raised pin in the center. I was able to remove the screw with a regular Torx driver.

Slide open the top cover

With the single security screw removed, you can slide the PlayStation's top cover sideways and remove it.

Top cover removed

Now remove the seven Phillips screws that hold the PlayStation 3's black plastic case together. Arrows on the plastic cover indicate the proper screws to remove.

Unlike Nintendo's Wii, which uses several Tri-wing screws throughout the system, the PS3 uses only standard Phillips screws inside the case. This dramatically simplifies disassembly and reassembly.

Seven Phillips head case screws

One screw is shorter than the others.

S marks the short case screw

Luckily, an S marks the location of the short screw.

Plastic case clip

Once the screws have been removed and safely set aside, gently depress the plastic clips that secure the top of the case to the bottom. There are two clips at the back and one in the middle of the case. You'll need a screw driver to press inside the small square holes and release the latches.

As you release the latches, gently pull up on the top of the case from the back of the PS3.

Remove the case's top half

With the latches released, the top half of the case should lift off easily.

PlayStation 3 case top

PlayStation 3 without case top - Front

We now get our first look at the PlayStation 3's internal components. With the case top removed, we can see the power supply, memory card slots, Wi-Fi/Bluetooth board, Blu-Ray Disc (BD)/DVD/CD drive, and the front switch panel circuit board.

Memory card slots and Wi-Fi/Bluetooth board

Memory card connector and optical drive power cable

Eject button, Power button, and associated lights

PlayStation 3 without case top - Side

PlayStation 3 without case top - Back

Wi-Fi/Bluetooth board

Power supply cables

PlayStation 3 without case top - Top

Remove the memory card unit

To continue disassembling our 60GB HDD PlayStation 3, we must remove the Memory Stick/SD/CompactFlash unit, which is held in place by two screws.

Lift up the memory card unit

The Memory Stick/SD/CompactFlash unit is connected via very thin ribbon cable. The cable is held in place with a white, adhesive sticker that you will need to cut, tear, or completely remove before disconnecting the cable from the motherboard.

Locate the memory card unit ribbon cable

Memory card unit ribbon cable connector

Gently lift up on the ribbon cable connector's brown gate to release the cable.

Flip up the connector's gate

The ribbon cable connector in the open/unlocked position. Now, you can safely remove the ribbon cable.

PlayStation 3 Memory Stick/SD/CompactFlash unit

PlayStation 3 with the memory card unit removed

Remove the power supply

Removing the PlayStation 3's power supply unit (PSU) is next on our disassembly task list. If you haven't done so, disconnect all the PSU cables and remove the screws, that hold the PSU to the metal chassis and plastic case.

PlayStation 3 power supply

Self-contained power supply

Unlike Microsoft's Xbox 360, the entire power supply unit is contained within the PlayStation 3's case. The Xbox 360 uses a configuration similar to many laptop power adapters, which keeps the capacitors and other large components outside the Xbox 360's case.

PlayStation 3 with the power supply removed - Top

With the power supply unit remove, we can see a bit more of the metal shielding.

PlayStation 3 with the power supply removed - Side

Remove the Bluetooth/Wi-Fi boards and wire

The 60GB HDD PlayStation 3 system contains both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. I can't be 100 percent certain, but most of my research indicates that both are located on these boards. My assumption makes sense, as Sony could easily install different boards for each model PS3.

There are four screws holding the front board in place and one screw holding the rear board in place. Remove all five screws.

Rear Bloutooth/Wi-Fi board

I'm not sure whether this board houses the Bluetooth or Wi-Fi unit. Regardless, you'll need to remove it to proceed.

Lift up the Bluetooth/Wi-Fi board

With the screws removed, gently lift off the Bluetooth/Wi-Fi board and locate the board's ribbon cable.

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi board ribbon cable and connector

As with the memory card unit's ribbon cable connector, you'll need to gently raise the brown gate on the Bluetooth/Wi-Fi board's ribbon cable connector.

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi boards and wire

Although both the 60GB HDD and 20GB HDD versions support the PlayStation 3's wireless Bluetooth controller, only the 60GB HDD version supports Wi-Fi. I'm not sure what this board looks like, or if it even exists, on 20GB HDD PS3 models.

PlayStation 3 with Bluetooth/Wi-Fi boards removed

Remove the PlayStation 3 optical drive

To remove the Blu-ray/DVD/CD Drive, disconnect the drive's power cable and gently lift up on the drive. Don't lift too far. The drive's ribbon cable is hidden under the drive and must also be disconnected.

Gently lift up on the optical drive

The ribbon cable is folded under the drive.

Set the optical drive on its end

By standing the drive up on end, I could use both hands to remove the ribbon cable.

Optical drive ribbon cable and connector

I really hate these fragile ribbon cable connectors.

Gently flip up the connector's gate

Very gently lift up the gate on the connector and pull the cable free.

PlayStation 3 Blu-Ray Disc (BD)/DVD/CD drive

Well, here it is. The much-hyped Blu-ray drive that Sony hopes will be the next video standard.

Blu-Ray Disc (BD)/DVD/CD - Bottom

The drive's controller board is mounted under the drive.

Blu-Ray Disc (BD)/DVD/CD - Controller board

The drive's controller board contains a 64M

PlayStation 3 with optical drive removed

Remove the Power and Eject button circuit board

Next, remove the four screws that hold the power and eject button circuit board and its metal stand. Then, gently disconnect the board's ribbon cable and remove the board and stand.

Power and Eject button circuit board

PlayStation 3 with the Power and Eject button circuit board removed

Finally, all the top components are removed.

Remove the metal shield's case screws

Now remove the eight screws holding the metal chassis to the plastic case. Sony has conveniently marked these screws with small arrows.

Longest case screw screw goes next to the power switch

All but one of the screws will be the same length. The longer screw is located next to the PlayStation 3's power switch.

Remove the hard drive case panel

If you haven't done so already, you must remove the hard drive panel before continuing. When in place, the panel's plastic catches prevent you from removing the motherboard assembly from the case.

Easily removable hard drive

To remove the panel, use your fingernail or a flathead screwdriver to gently it loose from the slot next to the HDD sticker.

Gently lift up on the motherboard assembly

With the hard drive case panel removed, gently lift up on the motherboard assembly to remove the remaining components.

PlayStation 3 case bottom

With the motherboard assembly out, there's nothing left to remove from the PlayStation 3 case's bottom half.

Motherboard assembly - Top

With the exception of the two diagonal brackets that secure the motherboard and shielding to the cooling system, there's not much to see on top of the motherboard assembly. The motherboard is mounted upside down in the chassis, therefore most of the interesting components are hidden on the bottom.

Main power switch

You can easily remove the PlayStation 3's main power switch at this time by sliding it out of the rear case panel.

Motherboard assembly - Bottom

The PlayStation 3 has a massive cooling system that dominates the underside of the motherboard assembly.

Motherboard assembly - Side

The cooling system is almost as wide as the motherboard assembly.

System battery

The system battery is mounted on the metal shielding.

Hard drive enclosure

USB ports

Cooling fan power connection

Remove the rear case panel

To remove the rear case panel, gently pry up the four plastic clips that secure it to the metal shielding.

Motherboard assembly without rear case a panel

Remove the cooling fan

Disconnect the fan's power cable. Then, remove the four Phillips screws that secure the fan to the colling system and lift out the fan.

PlayStation 3's massive cooling fan

Compared to standard PC fans, The PlayStation 3's cooling fan is absolutely massive.

Holding the PlayStation 3 cooling fan

To give you an idea of the fan's impressive size, this picture shows me holding the fan.

Motherboard assembly and cooling system with fan removed

With the fan removed, we get our first glimpse at one of the system's two cooling blocks.

Motherboard assembly back - Ports and cooling vents

The cooling system makes up most of the motherboard assembly's rear profile.

Mother assembly back - Ports and cooling vents close up

Remove the diagonal brackets

To release the cooling system and metal shielding from the motherboard, remove the four screws that hold the diagonal brackets in place. The brackets are bent to create pressure when screwed in place. When reassembling the PS3, you must tighten each bracket's screws a little at a time to avoid binding one of the screws.

Diagonal brackets removed

With the brackets removed, you can remove the cooling system and metal shielding.

Gently remove the cooling system enclosure

Carefully flip the motherboard assembly over and gently lift up on the cooling system enclosure. A layer of thermal paste exists between the cooling blocks and PS3's CPU and main GPU. Be gentle when removing the cooling system enclosure to avoid damaging the CPU or main GPU.

PlayStation 3 - Cooling system and motherboard assembly

With the cooling system removed, we get our first look at the IBM Cell Broadband Engine (right) and Nvidia's RSX Reality Synthesizer (left).

Cooling enclosure removed

Cooling blocks and copper tubes

Cooling enclosure fins

Remove the top metal shield plate

With the colling system enclosure removed, gently separate the metal shielding from the motherboard. Because the motherboard is mounted upside down in the PS3 case, the removing the the top metal shield reveals the bottom of the motherboard. Be careful with lifting the shield. The metal is thin and easily bent.

Metal shielding - Top half

Motherboard - Bottom

While most of the action happens on top of the motherboard, the underside does have a few note-worthy components, including most of the device connectors, portions of the CPU and GPU power regulators, and 128MB of flash memory.

NEC TOKIN Proadlizers (black chips) and gray foam protection pads

These are two of the four NEC TOKIN Proadlizers located on the bottom of the motherboard--another four are located on top. These Proadlizers work as part of the power regulator for the Cell Broadband Engine (CPU), shown in this photo, and Nvidia's RSX Reality Synthesizer (main GPU).

The gray foam pads protect and cushion the motherboard from the metal shielding.

NEC TOKIN Proadlizers for Nvidia's RSX Reality Synthesizer (main GPU)

NEC TOKIN Proadlizers - Close up

Bluetooth/Wi-Fi connector, Memory Stick/SD/CompactFlash unit connector, and Blu-Ray Disc (BD)/DVD/CD drive power connector

Samsung 1Gb SLC NAND Flash Memory chip

Located directly below the optical drive connector, this Samsung chip provides 128MB (128M x 8 Bit) of NAND Flash memory.

Beneath IBM's Cell Broadband Engine (CPU)

PlayStation 3 motherboard labling

More PlayStation 3 motherboard labling

Power supply posts

These posts connect the PlayStation 3's motherboard to the unit's power supply.

Remove the PlayStation 3 hard drive

Unlike the Xbox 360, the Playstation 3's hard drive is designed to easily upgraded. I could have, and probably should have, removed the HDD before disassembling the PS3, but the thought slipped my mind. There's no time like the present.

Remove the blue screw, slide, then pull

Remove the single blue screw holding the hard drive cage in place. Using the pull-out wire tab, slide the drive back away from the connectors and pull the drive cage out of the metal shielding's drive enclosure.

PlayStation 3 hard drive in cage

PlayStation 3 hard drive

Our 60GB HDD PlayStation 3 used a Seagate Momentus 5400.2 OEM SATA hard drive.

PlayStation 3 hard drive specs

You can learn more about the PlayStation 3's 60GB HDD on Seagate's Web site.

PlayStation 3 hard drive SATA connections

According to Seagate, the "SATA 1.5 Gb/s interface offers fast 150-MB/s interface speed."

System battery

If I ever need to replace the PlayStation 3's system battery, I'll know to by a CR2032-LC1, which currently costs about $3.00 US.

Metal shielding

PlayStation 3 motherboard - Bottom without any metal shielding

PlayStation 3 motherboard - Top

With the metal shielding removed from the top of the PlayStation 3's motherboard we can see where most of the action happens.

IBM's Cell Broadband Engine (CPU)and Nvidia's RSX Reality Synthesizer (main GPU)

The white stuff is thermal paste. I didn't have any extra on hand, so I left the original paste as is.

IBM's Cell Broadband Engine (CPU)

Cell Broadband Engine companion chip

Samsung XDR DRAM

The PlayStation 3 has 256MB of XDR DRAM.

Marvell Technology Group Ltd.'s network chip

After quite a bit of research, I believe this chip is Marvell Technology Group Ltd.'s 802.11 b/g module, which provides the PS3's WLAN capabilities. This chip may also provide the PS3's wired LAN functionality.

Marvell Technology Group Ltd.'s Serial ATA controller

The information I've found indicates this chip is the PS3's Serial ATA controller.

USB Ports

Sony Emotion Engine Graphics Synthesizer - Covered with rubber pad

The PlayStation 3 is backward-compatible with PlayStation 2 game. Much of the PS3's motherboard in used for PS2 components, such as the Sony Emotion Engine Graphics Synthesizer. In this picture, a black, rubber pad protects the top of the processor.

Sony Emotion Engine Graphics Synthesizer

The Sony Emotion Engine Graphics Synthesizer is used as the GPU for PS2 games.

PlayStation 2 components and buzzer

Located above the Sony Emotion Engine Graphics Synthesizer, the components in this picture are also part of the PlayStation 3's PS2 hardware, including the round buzzer.

System battery connector (white) and PlayStation 1 chip

Much like Nintendo's Virtual Console, Sony's PlayStation Network will allow PlayStation 3 owners to download PlayStation 1 and PlayStation 2 titles to their PS3.

PlayStation 3 completely disassembled

I was honestly amazed at how easy the PlayStation 3 was to disassemble. When compared with the Microsoft Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii, the PS3 gave me the least problems. The Wii was the most difficult (I hate Tri-wing screws) and the Xbox 360 was in the middle. Sony seems to have had disassembly in mind when they designed the PS3.

It still works!

After a few tense moments, the reassembled PlayStation 3 powered on normally.

Madden NFL 07

To test the Blu-Ray Disc (BD)/DVD/CD drive, I inserted Madden NFL 07. It worked!

Internet Browser

I even tried the Wi-Fi network connection. This photo shows me browsing TechRepublic with the PlayStation 3's built-in Web browser.