Hardware modder builds overclocked PS3 ‘Pro’ v3 with 3D-printed cooling mod — dual Noctua fans and server heatsinks provide FPS boost in 'almost every game'
'Almost every game has a boost in FPS,' crows console modder.
A Sony PlayStation 3 console modder has shared images and details of their ‘PS3 Pro v3’ design. On the PS3 subreddit, Fun-Equivalent-7785 showcases this project, which includes a heavily customized 3D-printed top case, dual Noctua fans, and liberal use of tin foil. While you may love or hate the new aesthetic, the results seem impressive, with the PS3 overclocked like a champ and running very cool and quiet.
My ps3 pro v3 RSX 750/1000 512gb ssd, 2tb iso hdd, ps5 pad plus wingman xe2.from r/PS3
Yes, this is at least the third PS3 Pro mod from Fun-Equivalent-7785, but all projects benefit from refinement. PC builders will be familiar with the dread of unwrapping their motherboards and seeing the revision number is v1.0.0, contrasting with the pleasure of seeing v1.0.3. Moving swiftly back on topic, you can look and read about the first version of this PS3 Pro project here, and there’s also a video about the PS3 Pro v2.
In some comments following the original post, Fun-Equivalent-7785 provides more technical details about the PS Pro v3 mod. They claim that the processors aren’t delidded, nor undervolted. Instead, they have installed “server heatsinks” on Sony’s custom PS3 processors. In front of these, one can clearly see two chunky Noctua fans, presumably pushing much air through the heatsink fins. Tinfoil has been used to shape the ducting. The Noctua fans are somewhat wider than the heatsinks, and overall it is “super silent.”
One screenshot shows an overlay from the ‘PS3 Pro v3’ running. Specifically, we can see the CPU is 40 degrees Celsius, the Reality Synthesizer (AKA the RSX, a GPU) is 42 degrees Celsius, while the fans are only rotating at 24% max RPM. This is while the RSX is overclocked to 750 MHz core and 1,000 MHz memory. A stock PS3 would achieve around 500 MHz core and 650 MHz memory.
Those uprated numbers result in broadly improved performance in PS3 gaming. “Almost every game has a boost in FPS,” crows Fun-Equivalent-7785. The results seem pretty worthwhile, especially if you like the look of this design from Fun-Equivalent-7785.
While it is an interesting project that might inspire you to do something similar with your old PS3, there are some aspects to modding like this that you have to consider. This particular project isn’t a ‘product’ so you can’t just buy a kit to copy it. There aren't yet 3D printer resource files shared on GitHub or similar. We are also not aware of any other shared resources to make it easy for other modders to replicate the PS3 Pro v3 project.
Lastly, please remember, before you risk your precious PS3 under the knife, there can be risks to modding. For example, there are many opportunities to inflict accidental physical damage to electronics when undertaking DIY projects like this. Moreover, overclocking may shorten the lifespan of your console's components, and applying unofficial firmware has the potential to soft- or hard-brick your system.
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Mark Tyson is a news editor at Tom's Hardware. He enjoys covering the full breadth of PC tech; from business and semiconductor design to products approaching the edge of reason.
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DingusDog I have the 40gb PS3 that didn't even have enough space to install GTAV back when it was released. I've since installed a 1tb hdd in it. It mostly just gets used for Sports Champions with the PS move these days.Reply -
bit_user I always thought Sony should've made a PS3 Pro. When you consider that the Cell had 3 die-shrinks (starting at 90 nm and ending up on 45 nm) and that the GPU has 4 die-shrinks (starting at 90 nm and ending up at 28 nm), I'm not at all surprised to hear the later revisions had enough headroom for such overclocks!Reply
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3_technical_specifications -
bit_user Reply
I have a Super Slim and replaced its 2.5" HDD with a SSD. It was so easy, I was just annoyed with myself for not doing it sooner. The improvement in boot & loading times was simply massive!DingusDog said:I have the 40gb PS3 that didn't even have enough space to install GTAV back when it was released. I've since installed a 1tb hdd in it.
Sadly, I think the PS3 only supported SATA 1 or 2, so it pretty much didn't even matter which SSD you put in there.
BTW, another improvement I'd recommend is using wired Ethernet, instead of wifi. -
Andrew Fox Reply
Every generation of PS3 only supports SATAI and USB2 which massively limits the transfer rate. I upgraded the drive in my PS3 with a SATA2 1.5TB HDD which can easily max out the SATAI interface but man the OS is so slow on them, I think the CPU must hold it back. Installing patches on games is heavily I/O intensive and takes forever on PS3 & PS4 consoles (upgraded my PS4 HDD with a 4TB drive I took out of an external USB drive)bit_user said:I have a Super Slim and replaced its 2.5" HDD with a SSD. It was so easy, I was just annoyed with myself for not doing it sooner. The improvement in boot & loading times was simply massive!
Sadly, I think the PS3 only supported SATA 1 or 2, so it pretty much didn't even matter which SSD you put in there.
BTW, another improvement I'd recommend is using wired Ethernet, instead of wifi.
Thankfully the console has gigabit ethernet and not just 100mbps. webMAN MOD let you mount an NFS or SMB network share and run games directly off it which if the game doesn't have compatibility issues is the fastest way to run a game on the console provided the computer/NAS you're accessing the game from is also on gigabit Ethernet. -
bit_user Reply
Yeah, I was going to say SATA 1, but I had a moment of doubt and figured I'd leave myself some wiggle room.Andrew Fox said:Every generation of PS3 only supports SATAI and USB2 which massively limits the transfer rate.
Only for sequential I/O. For random I/O patterns, which I think is fairly common in games, hard drives can't touch SSDs!Andrew Fox said:I upgraded the drive in my PS3 with a SATA2 1.5TB HDD which can easily max out the SATAI interface
See, this is where SSD is king. Booting my PS3 and installing either OS updates or game patches improved like 10x with the SSD.Andrew Fox said:but man the OS is so slow on them, I think the CPU must hold it back. Installing patches on games is heavily I/O intensive and takes forever on PS3 & PS4 consoles (upgraded my PS4 HDD with a 4TB drive I took out of an external USB drive)
I know, right? Giving it gigabit in 2005 would be like if PS5 had 10 gigabit, today! I mean, it was almost that big of a reach. Perhaps a better analogy would be 5 gbps for the PS5.Andrew Fox said:Thankfully the console has gigabit ethernet and not just 100mbps.
That's cool! Just playing off the SSD made me happy, though.Andrew Fox said:webMAN MOD let you mount an NFS or SMB network share and run games directly off it which if the game doesn't have compatibility issues is the fastest way to run a game on the console provided the computer/NAS you're accessing the game from is also on gigabit Ethernet.