When the PS3 Slim debuted earlier this week, the immediate takeaway from the reveal was that the redesigned console was 33 percent smaller, 36 percent lighter and consumes 34 percent less power.
Buyers will also be paying less and getting more, with the $100 drop to $299 and the hard drive getting bumped from 80 GB to 120 GB.
Inside, however, there was also another shrink job at play. According to the IDG News Service, the new PS3 Slim utilizes a Cell Broadband Engine CPU manufactured using a 45-nm process.
The outgoing, larger models of PlayStation 3 use a 65-nm Cell/B.E., and the original launch units (which had the PS2 backwards compatibility) run the hottest with the 90-nm chips.
While IBM confirmed that the Cell chip had indeed undergone a process shrink, Nvidia hasn't spoke out on whether or not the RSX graphics chip in the PS3 is now made using a more advanced process.
Either way, the 45-nm Cell processor helps to explain a decent amount of the power savings.
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