New PS3 Slim is cooler and greener

By Richard Leadbetter Published 26 April, 2010

RSX graphics chip shrinks to 40nm.

Sony has released a new version of the PlayStation 3 Slim, with a revised, energy-saving RSX chip.

The new CECH-2100A revision of the hardware features a 45nm graphics chip, shrunk down from the 65nm version seen in the launch version of the Slim, and retains the 45nm Cell CPU from the existing model.

Additional tweaks to the motherboard also include the implementation of two 128MB XDR RAM chips in favour of the four 64MB modules seen in the original model. The cooling assembly of the new unit is also dialled back, and there's a different, lighter power supply contained within the console too.

All this can be witnessed in a tear-down of the new console by PocketNews.

The result is a machine that is cheaper for Sony to produce, cooler, and more power efficient. The site's tests of the new model reveal a 15 per cent drop in power usage compared to the existing Slim model, as you can see in these tests (translated by PlayStation University.

Update: The RSX die-shrink is now confirmed at 40nm, as covered in a PSU update.

Test CECH-2000 CECH-2100A
XMB Menu (Still wallpapers) 76W 67W
XMB Menu (Active theme) 83-86W 71W
FFXIII game event scene 96-107W 78-83W
FFXIII game menu 83-84W 74W
BD Playback 88-91W 77-78W
Standby (remote play active) 9W 9W
Picture of Richard.

About Richard Leadbetter

Rich has been a games journalist since the days of 16-bit and specialises in technical analysis. Commonly known around Eurogamer as the Blacksmith of the Future.

Read more articles from Richard by visiting the Richard Leadbetter archive page.

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Comments (61) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • makeamazing #1 2 years ago

    Has SPAM actually posted anything of use yet?

  • americorloliveira #2 2 years ago

    I hope that with this new sku sony will cut the price

  • dagas #3 2 years ago

    Nice! less power, less heat, cheaper to produce. Always a good thing.

  • spiritsnake #4 2 years ago

    makes me feel i wish id known this was coming. just bought a slim 2 months ago,and if i understand it correct,the fan noise in this new one must be less than the older slim version. ahhh what to do. if anyone reads something about how the new XDR arrangement will affect the functionality please post sumthn about it.

  • UncleLou #5 2 years ago

    So, the first Slim models are said to be quiet, these new ones here will probably be quiet, and I bought one in the phase in between where the fan makes a racket. :-(

  • Beano #6 2 years ago

    "Also, any idea what the power draw is in standby without remote play?"

    Yes, I have measured it on my CECH-2000 model : 0-0.2W (which is basicly nothing)
    Edited by 1 at 26/04/10 @ 09:02

  • king2001 #7 2 years ago

    If memory serves, that power usage is not far off the original xbox. Good show.

  • Widge #8 2 years ago

    The slim is pretty damn quiet as it is, if you have one, I wouldn't bother grabbing a new one.

  • Retro_ #9 2 years ago

    @SPAM.... You are a Twat !

    Back on topic, a 15% drop in power is a tidy drop. Well done SONY !!
    Edited by 1 at 26/04/10 @ 09:16

  • UncleLou #10 2 years ago

    The slim is pretty damn quiet as it is, if you have one, I wouldn't bother grabbing a new one.

    It really seems to depend on when you bought it. I've heard people claim they can hardly hear if theirs is on or not. Allegedly, they changed the fan manufacturer some time ago. Mine (bought a couple of weeks ago) isn't that loud as such, but the fan is humming at a frequency that can be a little distracting. Doesn't bother me when I play games, but it's not quite the perfect Blu-Ray player that I had hoped it would be.

  • Beano #11 2 years ago

    "It really seems to depend on when you bought it. I've heard people claim they can hardly hear if theirs is on or not. "

    How people persive noice is very subjective. I know people who claimed their launch 360 didn't make much noise while I thought it was terrible. Environment and ambient noice level is also important on how people persive console noise.

  • aliki #12 2 years ago

    Bought mine at the end of October and it is pretty darn quiet.

  • UncleLou #13 2 years ago

    How people persive noice is very subjective.

    Goes without saying. But googling still suggests there has been a point where the Slim went from "barely audible" to "humming" at one point. :) People on the forum who bought the Slim early were surprised when I said mine is significantly louder than the Wii, for example.

    Anyway, not a drama, really, but it might be worth waiting for the new one.

  • Adi-C #14 2 years ago

    How can one tell that it's actually 45nm and not- say 55nm? Has there been any oficcial word on that, or are these estimates?
    Like- the nvidia GT200 has been shrunk from 65nm to 55nm, then GF100 jumped straight to 40nm. 45nm on the pc is only used for cpus, not gpus. But yeah, it's no pc.
    But it looks as it coud very much be less than 55nm- actual power usage during gaming (as shown in scene from ff13) on this older ps3 version was 23-29% higher, so the difference is very nice indeed.
    Only question now is- how quiet it is, since they've changed cooling solution.

  • Beano #15 2 years ago

    "Anyway, not a drama, really, but it might be worth waiting for the new one. "

    Agreed :)

  • KayJay #16 2 years ago

    How long might I want to wait to ensure I get one of these newer Slims?
    Old Stock, New Stock etc...

    I have a perfectly good Launch Fatty atm but wouldnt mind upgrading to take advantage of these power savings.

    /throws ICO & SOTC in the bin
    /jokes ;-)

  • Widge #17 2 years ago

    Got mine at launch, I guess compared to the 60GB which ran at turbine it is quiet! Certainly quieter than the Sky box and my fridge!

  • Mkwone #18 2 years ago

    Does it have an on/off switch like the fat PS3?

    Surely that would save more energy, same goes for 360, game believe that if you switch it off at the socket it forgets what the time is.

  • Beano #19 2 years ago

    "Does it have an on/off switch like the fat PS3? Surely that would save more energy..."

    No not really. It only use 0-0.2W in standby with remote-play turned off.
    Edited by 1 at 26/04/10 @ 10:31

  • KayJay #20 2 years ago

    Looking at what they did with the PS2 I imagine they are continually looking to reduce everything. Power, Size, Manf cost etc...

    Its all good and shows commitment to the product. I know the main reason is certianly to increase profit, but this can only be a good thing. Im not sure we will see a reduction in the Cost of the PS3 that soon (On the High Street) .
    I imagine Sony would like to take advantage of its savings for a little while before passing that saving onto us.

  • tomjoadsghost #21 2 years ago

    @jackwarnel.

    y'know at first i thought you were just a memorybits shill, but your posts are so bloody positive that its difficult not to enjoy them (the hackysack/ mount awesome combination in the halo:reach thread was verging on genius.

    If only you could drop the memory schtick you could be a *hero* god-damnit.
    Edited by 1 at 26/04/10 @ 10:33

  • king2001 #22 2 years ago

    Any news of a forthcoming price drop?

    Having sold my phat 40Gb just after Christmas I'm hankering for a bit more PS3 action.

  • siro #23 2 years ago

    Wow, the difference in game is quite big. Just got mine a month ago. Maybe I'll rebuy if I there's a bargain chance at some point.

  • telboy007 #24 2 years ago

    Still waiting for more price cuts on the PS3 before I invest, hopefully once they've clawed back some profits from this new model they will drop it. Fingers crossed and all that!

  • Trigga_Tybalt #25 2 years ago

    very tempted to get rid of my launch 60GB for one of these...

  • MightyMouse #26 2 years ago

    Good to hear. My launch model's fine currently but everyone always says that launch models of anything fail sooner or later so nice to see upgrades available.

  • spookyzombie #27 2 years ago

    How annoying. Recently bought a 250GB slim and that was hard to get hold of at the time. It makes sense now though. A lot of stores weren't getting stock in because Sony were planning to launch this model.

  • chrisjm #28 2 years ago

    9W standby is pretty outragous

  • knightmt #29 2 years ago

    I hope this comes out before Christmas, if it is 200 or less I think that is good. But I usually wait six months to see how reliable stuff is. Also I do not understand can I transfer my game saves to it, specifically I see people saying that you cannot use memory sticks with the slim model, what can you do?

  • xentar #30 2 years ago

    @Doctor Shipman - even quieter? I almost cant imagine that... compared to my Jasper based Xbox 360 Elite made in January 2010 PS3 is absolutely silent :)

    As fort he announcement itself - it is always a good thing - less power, lower costs and on market with ove... you do the math. Now only if Sony unveiled some 3D games with head tracking so you could "look behind the corner"... and if they dont i will be very disappointed because thats the only thing making sense with 3D TVs

  • makeamazing #31 2 years ago

    Is this the reason for the apparent stock issues with the PS3? They were trying to get rid of the older(?) slim before putting this out there?

    It hasnt taken Sony long to get round to doing this, (or so it seems), perhaps they know that Natal will have some impact, and if Sony can do a price drop at the right time (e.g just before Xmas) then they might steal some of that thunder. But they couldnt do a price cut without saving more money first. Its going to be an interesting year.

    Seriously who are the idiots negging me for comments about what Sony might do... I'm not slating the PS3... ah fanboys are idiots
    Edited by 1 at 27/04/10 @ 13:03

  • zedzee #32 2 years ago

    So does this mean the PS3 slim will now be reduced in price to finally make it competitive with the X360 and Nintendo's console?

  • KayJay #33 2 years ago

    @ zedzee - Are you asking us? How the hell would we know?
    Anyway, it certainly seems to be pretty competitive looking at all the sales figures.

  • KayJay #34 2 years ago

    @ makeamazing - Natalol. You think Sony are worried about some phoney add on and thats why they are doing this. I dont think so. Profit maybe.
    Its just the progression of all their consoles. PS1 & 2 both have many different iterations all do reduce the production cost thus increasing the Profits they can take.

    "It hasnt taken Sony long to get round to doing this" About same amount of time it took Natal/360 to react to Jonathan Ross big head waving around in front of it... ;-)
    Edited by 1 at 26/04/10 @ 13:34

  • Beano #35 2 years ago

    "Is this the reason for the apparent stock issues with the PS3? They were trying to get rid of the older(?) slim before putting this out there? "

    I doubt it. This new minor revision wll not be promoted as a new model like the slim in september. It will just be a revised model in the same way 360 also have multiple and revisions which are not promoted either.

  • GreyBeard #36 2 years ago

    The RSX is actually now fabbed at 40nm not 45.
    Reported on Engadget as confirmed by Sony.

    Next stop, 32nm CELL.

  • Anufea #37 2 years ago

    Mine (bought a couple of weeks ago) isn't that loud as such, but the fan is humming at a frequency that can be a little distracting. Doesn't bother me when I play games, but it's not quite the perfect Blu-Ray player that I had hoped it would be.

    I bought the slim as soon as it was available and totally second your opinion. Not really loud, but a distracting sound - not to mention the 6-ish increasingly noisy levels from startup coolness to standard operating temperature.

  • chrisjm #38 2 years ago

    lol i got negged for saying 9w standby is outragious, most tv's these days use less than 1w and they still have ability to use a remote control to wake up. ps3 is not green.

  • Zaiz #39 2 years ago

    Hmm, will the change in RAM cause a change in performance? It seems like it'll be a slight boost to me, more memory is allocated to less places, but I honestly don't know. Or it could be a decrease, it depends on how RAM is handled by the PS3 and its games.

    And yeah, the Wii just doesn't make noise. Probably my favorite part of the system, other than MH3.

    @ChrisJM

    That's because TVs on standby aren't keeping RAM and a multicore CPU warm. Gigantic difference there. And trust me, your PC and Xbox 360 draw more than that when on "standby".
    Edited by 1 at 26/04/10 @ 16:33

  • GreyBeard #40 2 years ago

    @Chrisjm

    Its 9W for REMOTE PLAY standby. This is not the same as normal standby mode.

  • chrisjm #41 2 years ago

    ah ok..
    the polar bear's are ressurected from the dead!
    Edited by 1 at 26/04/10 @ 16:39

  • IonOnion #42 2 years ago

    Slim on (normal) standby is 0.36W
    PS3 60GB on standby is 1.22W
    http://gi zmodo.com/5346894/ps3-slim-eats...
    Edited by 1 at 26/04/10 @ 17:17

  • DoctorFouad #43 2 years ago

    I would love to know how much a PS3 console costs sony to produce ?

    I would assume less than the retail price (300 $) so now they are making a profit....

    does anyone knows ?

    Maybe sony will announce a cut on the pirce of ps3 this E3....but it it very improbable...along with a GT5 release on august 2010...

  • nemesisND1derboy #44 2 years ago

    WOW SPAM, -150...are you any use at all or just simply a waste of space? im going for a waste of space...stop breathing my air loser!!!

  • Crunchers #45 2 years ago

    It really warms my cockles(?) when I hear news like this. Good job.

  • makeamazing #46 2 years ago

    @kj66246 lol you don't need to neg me just because i said Sony may be doing this so they can reduce the price later in the year, and because i said they could be worried about Natal.

    Now, mate, I really like Sony, and I think Natal isn't going to be very good, but that doesn't take away from the fact no one knows what the majority of consumers will do,... Sony needs a backup plan to unsettle MS.. a price cut would do that. No need to go all defensive... or are you saying Sony shouldnt have any plans to compete with MS? Very strange indeed.

  • SavageEvil #47 2 years ago

    It's great that they got the power consumption down on the PS3, I own 2 so far, one original 60GB and a newer 160GB the, 160 is quieter than the 60GB. But that's only if I'm playing games with my HT system off. That said, it's not even close to the loudness of all the 360's I've had, latest Elite i have is early 2009 model, louder than all hell, even when it's just charging a controller.

    Some people on here complaining about PS3 sliim being hot? Really, how hot is it? My 160GB PS3 doesn't get all that hot, funny thing is the guy who said that doesn't even own a PS3 slim, go figure. As for PS3 being loud, please the sound coming from it won't bother you unless you are playing with the sound on mute and you live in an area when there is no other sound outside of your living space.
    Why would Sony have a price cut? Not like PS3 is selling badly, and the point of the redesign is to make building the PS3 more profitable to sell. Unless there is a huge drop in sales of PS3, Sony doesn't have to budge on the pricing of it, it's $299 for the slim, how cheap can some of you be? If you can't afford a PS3 as of yet, you shouldn't be talking about the thing as you can't even invest in one. In fact you can get a used one for even cheaper, ye old tightwad.

    I don't really like the look of the Slim as aesthetically it doesn't go with my shiny entertainment center in my room, everything is a shiny black, save for the 360 Elite. Wish the Slim had the gloss as the original, that would look great in my center. I'll probably get one when PS3 is being replaced by the PS4.

  • varsas #48 2 years ago

    verything is a shiny black, save for the 360 Elite

    Yet a non-shiny PS3 is not okay?

  • Dr_Wookiee #49 2 years ago

    Release GT5!!! What can possibly be the issue!?

  • dsmx #50 2 years ago

    Spam is on my ignore list for obvious reasons but still what insane things is he saying?

  • SavageEvil #51 2 years ago

    @varsas The 360 Elite is ok because it has different games to play than the PS3, why not have it? I just don't want to replace my shiny PS3 with the Slim, because of the aesthetics. 360 is a different system altogether so it gets added to the center regardless, could be worse...could be that white one.

  • RodHull #52 2 years ago

    It's refreshing that Sony are continuing to improve their system. If only MS would do the same with the 360 rather than the odd shrinkage of die size.

    As for noise though, so long as I install a game to the HDD I find the 360 no louder than my PS3 fat. Run a game from disc though and it does sound like Chris Moyles running down the stairs full of marbles and hammers.

  • PatTheMav #53 2 years ago

    I'm not one for saying good things about Sony or the PS3, but shrinking DIE sizes, thus reducing heat, noise and power consumption results always in a big "thumbs up" from me! Job well done (again).

    It's especially great as I'm currently using my PS3 for playing MKVs (as m2ts) and Blurays only ;)

  • Rens11 #54 2 years ago

    I hate spam........tastes like shit

  • freakzilla #55 2 years ago

    why is SPAM not banned yet?

  • TomSwift #56 2 years ago

    Sholy moly macaroni

  • Darkjinxter #57 2 years ago

    At least Sony are actively reducing the size/noise of their consoles, unlike you know who - bliddy helicopter in yer room.

  • Les #58 2 years ago

    "and because i said they could be worried about Natal."

    Indeed, no need for a neg. Rather a +1 to reward a good joke! ;)

  • Arwin #59 2 years ago

    So that's now about a third of the power used by my launch unit. I think I'll buy a second PS3 around the time the Move controller is launched, and save some money on the electricity bill. Would amount to something like 32 Euro a year saved, and my launch unit isn't the quietest these days.

  • NimbusTLD #60 2 years ago

    Are these at retail yet?

  • Alestes #61 2 years ago

    Very nice :-)