After all the screws from the bottom are removed, you can easily lift the top of the unit open to expose the internals.
This redesigned unit is approx 30% smaller in size and packs a serious media punch.
Sony managed to cram all the components in a smaller shell, to say the least, we are impressed!
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View with the top cover removed. Removal of some easy cables can be done at this time.
There are two cables to remove from the power supply, and one cable going to the Blu-Ray drive.
Lift the power supply out to expose more cables.
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Power Supply Removal
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In this step remove the 3 drive cables to get them out of the way. Feel free to remove the antennae wires for wireless access and bluetooth at this time (2x) Black/White.
Remove the fan cable, and slip the power wires through the plastic case to remove the 120v power module.
There are two Phillips screws holding the modules in place, remove them.
Remove the front button panel ribbon now. The panel should easily come up after lifting the Blu-Ray drive out. One screw should be removed from the back of the Blu-Ray drive now. Sony decided to change this panel from a touch sensitive version to an actual push button layout.
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Fan removal is easy, two Phillips screws hold this fan on.
Remove two Phillips screws by the hard drive bay. Three more black
Phillips screws hold the metal shroud in place, remove them.
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Removing the shroud requires 11 screws to be removed. After all the screws have been removed, easily pull the shroud up. The larger four black screws hold the heat sinks in place.
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Be gentle when exposing the board. There will be excess thermal paste on the heatsinks. you will need to re-apply this paste when you put the PS3 back together.
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PS3 Microprocessors
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System Boards Compared
Take a look at the differences between the old board (left) and slim board (right).
Slim Model:
Following speculation that a 'slim' model was in the pipeline Sony officially announced the PS3 CECH-2000 on August 18, 2009 at the Sony Gamescom press conference.
The PS3 slim (officially called the PS3 CECH-2000) will feature an upgradeable 120GB hard drive and is 33% smaller, 36% lighter, and consumes 34% less power than previous models.
The cooling system has been redesigned and Cell processor has moved to a 45nm manufacturing process. The PS3 slim will also include support for BRAVIA Sync allowing control of the console over HDMI and will run quieter than previous models but no longer has the ability to install third party operating systems such as Linux.
FCC filings also reveal a second slim model, the 250GB CECH-2000B.
