PS3 Slimline...?

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Parker

Limp Gawd
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Apr 18, 2006
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It may have been asked already but I haven't seen the thread. Does Sony have a PS3 slimline in the works?
 
They'll be working on it, of course. Don't expect to see it before late 2009 at the very earliest though.
 
they will need to have a different GPU in it and some big advances in the Cell processor so the heat sinks will be a lot smaller. The main problem with the current generation of consoles is the amount of heat they need to get rid of so I wouldnt count on it it the near future.
 
Crighton said:
they will need to have a different GPU in it and some big advances in the Cell processor so the heat sinks will be a lot smaller. The main problem with the current generation of consoles is the amount of heat they need to get rid of so I wouldnt count on it it the near future.
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The company that I work for has been using Mercury CABs (Cell on A Board) for development work, and we have a hand (cannot disclose) in creating LANL's RoadRunner machine. The Cell processors have already gone through a die size shrink to 45nm, and power consumption is reportedly half. We have new CAB's on order for our dev boxes, and Mercury confirmed that they are anywhere from 40-60% more efficient at 45nm (CAB2's).

Whether Sony is making a slim or not, is anyone's guess but the other key component would be to get the GFX engine to shrink in die size, as well. If you could do both of those, I would think that would take care of the two largest heat sources in the chassis, next to the internal PSU, that is. Anyone's guess, but as for the Cell part of it, that shift has already happened.
 
They've shrunk the cell processors to 45nm... but so far they're not using them in PS3s (probably late 2008).

Their biggest problem will be getting Nvidia to play ball when it comes to integrating the cell processor and the GPU into a single die.
 
Psychotext said:
They've shrunk the cell processors to 45nm... but so far they're not using them in PS3s (probably late 2008).

Their biggest problem will be getting Nvidia to play ball when it comes to integrating the cell processor and the GPU into a single die.
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very true. Even though the Nvidia graphics processors in the PS3 are only used in the PS3, I'm not sure Nvidia is going to be willing to have it smacked into the same package as the Cell, itself. Aside from that, is Nvidia even planning on doing anything about die shrinking and power consumption on the PS3 graphics processor? I don't know if anyone knows the answer to that question or not, save TSMC, Nvidia, and Sony. Sony has always had a slim version of every console though. I would imagine that it would have been in the originally disclosed roadmap plans for PS3. Hell, they even did it with PSP. I do not think, however, that we will see the Cell and the graphics core integrated into the same die. That just might be too much of a stretch.
 
I highly doubt there will be a slimline. Keep in mind they omitted the hard drive on the PS2 slim. A PS3 without a hard drive is unlikely to hit the shelves in the near or distant future.
 
actually the HD is a very small foot print now. They are using notbook drives now. with the costy of flash drive storeage co0mming so far down I really dont see a problem with getting a 32 gig PS3 slim once they can get the heat problem sorted out and move to an external Power Supply like the 360's power brick. I just fealt that the GPU will be a sticking point
 
I'm waiting for the slimline to come out before I get a ps3. By then there will be a nice cheap library of games to get. I don't mind waiting becase 360 will hold me over.
 
Crighton said:
actually the HD is a very small foot print now. They are using notbook drives now. with the costy of flash drive storeage co0mming so far down I really dont see a problem with getting a 32 gig PS3 slim once they can get the heat problem sorted out and move to an external Power Supply like the 360's power brick. I just fealt that the GPU will be a sticking point
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Dear god, no more external power bricks. The 360 power brick is a gigantic POS, the Wii brick is OK however I still prefer just plugging in a cable into the console, then I can run the cable however I want without dealing with the extra mess of a brick in the line to deal with :eek:
 
manual disc eject? The BD disk drive is huge ( just like the dvd one), but making PS3 manual open feel kind of cheap, but we will have to see.
 
exe163 said:
manual disc eject? The BD disk drive is huge ( just like the dvd one), but making PS3 manual open feel kind of cheap, but we will have to see.
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If they can make blu-ray for laptops they can make it slim enough for a PS3 slim. I'm sure Apple will get a slot loading blu-ray drive for the MBP.
 
If/When they make a PS3 slim, it will very likely have a power brick. But I don't care either way, I like my big PS3.
 
I don’t think the PS3 is all that big. Relatively speaking, I've had much bigger/uglier pieces of hardware.

The thing that gets me is how heavy the damn thing is. The heat-sinks must be made of some kinda weird lead.
 
sigh.

by from the lines, i mean starting there, k? big box out there, no boxes in your casa
 
does anyone know where I can buy the ps3 slimline?
 
Sixthsense said:
A PS3 without a hard drive is unlikely to hit the shelves in the near or distant future.
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A PS3 without a hard drive will never hit the shelves. Most games require installation.

Anways, it's only a 2.5" HDD, you can make the PS3 smaller, it just won't be as small as PS2 slim.
 
Hey if they can shrink it down to the size of a like say... a 14'' notebook I'm all for it. Which, pretty much has the same type of components. Its all about cutting the heat output to match.
 
Has anyone here heard the rumor of Sony making a non-blueray equipped slim PS3?

Games downloadable only. They think in a year or so, the average US broadband user will have enough bandwidth available to allow for this. Hmm, not so sure 'bout that...
 
MrkXCeL said:
Has anyone here heard the rumor of Sony making a non-blueray equipped slim PS3?

Games downloadable only. They think in a year or so, the average US broadband user will have enough bandwidth available to allow for this. Hmm, not so sure 'bout that...
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Now that BR won the formate war, doesnt sound like a bad idea :p
 
MrkXCeL said:
Has anyone here heard the rumor of Sony making a non-blueray equipped slim PS3?

Games downloadable only. They think in a year or so, the average US broadband user will have enough bandwidth available to allow for this. Hmm, not so sure 'bout that...
Click to expand...

Where the hell do you people come up with this stuff? If it could not play a PS3 disc, then its not even a PS3, it would be a Core powered internet gaming station (that no one wants).
 
I'll be happy when they release a PS3 that doesn't look like a refrigerator. Seriously, why couldn't they make the top flat?
 
What we might see in a PS3 slimline is the obvious: die shrinks of the chips used in the system (Cell at High-K 45nm RSX @ 65nm). However, unlike the slimline versions of the PS2 and PS1, there won't be a single chip package with the CPU and GPU onboard. Building an external bus between the two chips will certainly increase its size. Also, an external power supply (most likely around 120-150W) will be in place in lieu of the installed power supply. Any hardware related to backwards compat will be removed (this isn't new). Finally, instead of using a traditional HDD, Sony may opt with Flash (likely 8 or 16GB to keep costs down), either soldered on the mainboard or in a smaller 1.8" drive size. Sony will most likely recommend users pay for an external HDD for game installs and the like. With that in place, I could easily see a good share of real estate be removed from the case. It obviously won't be the size of a slimline PS2 or a Wii, still.
 
ocellaris said:
Where the hell do you people come up with this stuff? If it could not play a PS3 disc, then its not even a PS3, it would be a Core powered internet gaming station (that no one wants).
Click to expand...

I think they'll call it "Phantom" too.
 
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