PlayStation 4 Scores High On Repairability Scale
Check out what's inside the PS4.
Sony's PS4 launched today, and the iFixit team has wasted no time in getting down to the nitty gritty. The site, as usual, was among the first in line for the PS4 just so it could tear it apart and assess how easy it is to repair. The answer? Pretty easy. iFixit reports that the new PlayStation console is easy-to-open and repair friendly, scoring an 8 out of 10 on its repairability scale. Not bad!
Notable finds include a user-replaceable hard drive, Security Torx screws, and tattle-tale anti-tamper stickers. It's worth noting that the user replaceable drive is stowed behind an easily removable cover, and you don't have to remove the case to replace the HDD. In other words, you don't need to worry about those 'warranty void if seal removed/damaged' stickers. They don't come into play until later in the game.
The chips inside include the eight-core 64-bit AMD Jaguar CPU and Radeon GPU we heard about previously. This is working alongside 16 x 512 MB of Samsung GDDR5 RAM (total is 8 GB), Samsung's K4B2G1646E-BCK0 2 Gb DDR3 SDRAM, and a secondary processor for network tasks.
Check the full list of chips below:
• SCEI CXD90026G SoC (includes AMD "Jaguar" CPU Cores and Radeon GPU)
• Samsung K4G41325FC-HC03 512 MB GDDR5 RAM (total of 16 x 512 MB = 8 GB)
• SCEI CXD90025G Secondary/Low Power Processor for Network Tasks
• Samsung K4B2G1646E-BCK0 2 Gb DDR3 SDRAM
• Macronix MX25L25635FMI 256 Mb Serial Flash Memory
• Marvell Wireless Avastar 88W8797 7 Integrated 2x2 WLAN/Bluetooth/FM Single-Chip SoC
• Panasonic MN86471A HDMI Communication LSI
• Marvell 88EC060-NN82 Ethernet Controller
• SCEI 1327KM44S
• Genesys Logic GL3520 USB 3.0 Hub Controller
• Samsung K4G41325FC-HC03 4 Gb (512 MB) GDDR5 RAM
• International Rectifier 35858 N326P IC2X
• Macronix 25L1006E CMOS Serial Flash Memory
• Renesas SCEI RJ832841FP1
• Microchip Technology 312 3536A
For all the gory photos and the step-by-step guide, hit up iFixit.
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Nice to see Sony has taken a similar approach on this system. Can't wait to see all of the things welded, riveted and soldered together in the Xbone.
Nice to see Sony has taken a similar approach on this system. Can't wait to see all of the things welded, riveted and soldered together in the Xbone.
I don't know how many "destroyed" playstations (1,2, and 3) I've been able to easily take apart and repair.
Well, while the PS4 can be pulled apart relatively easily, nearly everything important is integrated on a single PCB so there isn't much to repair anyhow unless you are "lucky enough" to blow the PSU, optical drive or fan.
The primary reason these are used is that power tools (and assembly machines) have a lot more torque than you would with a screw driver. Having more contact points avoids stripping out the screw head. I'd rather have block top star or Allen heads any day.
But repairing these consoles would be easier as it is repairing a android phone.
Would love to know the normal running temperature to see how much headroom the cooling has (will help give an idea of if it will run into cooling issues when it begins to get dust buildup.)
It has 8GB GDDR5 total. Each of the 16 chips is 4Gb (512MB), 16 x 512MB = 8GB, which runs over a 256-bit bus. Apparently in addition to this the PS4 also has a single 2Gb (256MB) DDR3 chip, which I wasn't aware of. I'm not sure what it's used for, but whatever it is it doesn't need a whole lot of bandwidth. Perhaps it's dedicated to the OS?
If I had a guess it could had been 2 GB DDR for the network processor, 8 GB GDR for the APU and another 4 GB GDR especially for the graphics part of the APU. At first.
But I guess it could rather be 8 GB GDR + 4 GB GDR for both the processors (APU + network chip) and 2 GB DDR used for caching maybe.
But guesses are pretty worthless. Would be more interesting to know. And how much is different if one compare the claimed to be network chip vs the regular APU. (Someone says two GPUs, are there possibly one on each chip and that the CPU part of the second APU just isn't used as much / lower clocked?)
The 2Gb DDR3 chip is for the secondary CPU/"network processor" on the back side of the mainboard. I'm guessing it does things like check for updates, notifications and other stuff like that without powering up the rest of the console.
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.controlyourcash.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/torx-security.jpeg&imgrefurl=http://www.controlyourcash.com/2013/02/11/carnival-of-wealth-how-home-depot-gets-rich-edition/&h=385&w=400&sz=92&tbnid=c3w7Q-f6-Q5XyM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=94&zoom=1&usg=__6id8cbB89dwWHUSmGgpXPfyVWq0=&docid=zNrhVLn3RtnToM&sa=X&ei=dVyIUun5MKn-2gWQxIDoAQ&ved=0CFsQ9QEwBQ
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.controlyourcash.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/torx-security.jpeg&imgrefurl=http://www.controlyourcash.com/2013/02/11/carnival-of-wealth-how-home-depot-gets-rich-edition/&h=385&w=400&sz=92&tbnid=c3w7Q-f6-Q5XyM:&tbnh=90&tbnw=94&zoom=1&usg=__6id8cbB89dwWHUSmGgpXPfyVWq0=&docid=zNrhVLn3RtnToM&sa=X&ei=dVyIUun5MKn-2gWQxIDoAQ&ved=0CFsQ9QEwBQ
This article has some pretty offensive language that I won't repeat here. I think there's probably a more appropriate example you could give.
You could also link to the secure torx tools, which are just as easy to get:
http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=security+torx
http://www.amazon.com/Torx-Driver-Security-T-10-T-40/dp/B0002SPLQ8
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-6-Piece-Security-Torx-Bit-Set-CC60391/203688817
Instead, you linked to a sight with anti-semitic remarks blaming a group of people for some conspiracy with tools.