PS3 CECHH04 Maintenance

[Adam0717]

Last week after searching for 2-3 months I successfully picked up a working CECHH04 PS3 console for 15€. After function test, I realised that this piece of hardware is fully working, and kind of quiet (warranty sticker also in tact). The reason I wanted a fat PS3 was the looks and feeling. For me it feels completely different to turn on a beautiful fat PS3 and playing on it than a cheaped out Slim/Superslim. I do have a CECHC04, but I only turned it on once when I bought it, then put it back into its original box and put it on my shelf. That one also still has a warranty sticker, and was never opened. It has it's original box, controller (no sixaxis) and all the cables. All that for 40€ total. Only thing missing was the manual and some other papers. I know that's very cheap for a backwards compatible console, but as a guy living in Austria's capital, you encounter these people very often. People here usually just don't care, don't look into what they are selling. Of course many people reply to the seller on the selling site before me, but for example this CECHH04 was for sale for 10€. So I contacted the seller and she said there is a guy already coming to buy it. So I said I will pay 15€, and I am going there right now. Usually people agree to this technique. I just let it here so you get a little bit of insight of my situation and how things are working here.

The woman I bought it from said she got it from her neighbour for free when they moved out like 5-6 years ago. Well that neighbour's profile was still on there. 2 Singstar saves were on there, one from 2010, and one from 2011. So my guess is that this console was barely used. It was my plan to use this console just as it is as my main OFW "non-modded" PSN / online console, that's what I did for 1 day, then my obsession kicked in again (just as with the CECHC04, as I never use that so it stays as it is for future generations ), and thought to myself: this is too good just to start it using with the 15 year old thermal paste and the dust in it.

I looked into maintenance and prolong-ing the life of a fat PS3, and I did a fresh thermal paste application over the lids of the CELL/RSX. I did manage to take down the IHS of the RSX and apply new thermal paste there, but as I was too afraid and didn't want to break anything, I did not touch the CELL and did not take down the IHS of that. So long story short, there is fresh thermal paste on both lids but under the lids there is only fresh paste on the RSX.

After that, I went to the store and bought a 100K potentiometer and did a fan-control mod, soldered everything, and placed the potentiometer so I can set the speed of the fan outside the case. I also read about drilling and cutting the case on the bottom of the PS3, so the CPU and GPU get cooler air, But. I think those engineers at Sony were a "little bit" smarter than me with my drilling machine in my hand. I think there is an airflow that they thought about when designing the console. If I cut / drill the case there, I think the fan will only suck air from there and not from anywhere else, which can be a problem (I think?) I mean there has to be an airflow so the PSU / Bluray drive / Wifi card etc. stay cool as well. So I did NOT make this mod. At the end I also installed a 80GB hard drive I had laying around instead of the 40GB one.

I also cleaned the console from the last dust particle and is clean like new. I was playing with it around 3 hours a day for 3 days now, installing / updating games and a lot of tasks for the console, and I love the way it works and looks while doing so. The fan is set to around I would say 50%-70% if I had to guess. It's very loud, but if that makes the console more reliable, I don't mind at all. So at the end I got some questions.

Does CECHH04 have the problematic 90nm RSX (for 100% confirmation)?
Is it a big problem that I did not remove the IHS of the CELL only the one of the RSX?
Do you recommend drilling / cutting the bottom where the fan sits, or should I just let it be?
Other tips to prolong the life of this console?

Excuse me for the long text, and thank you in advance

 

[Timbo9876]

Okay, so your 'H' revision does have a 90nm RSX graphics chip. The details can be found in the link below.

Don't remove the CELL heat spreader, I have had consoles becoming problematic after a de-lid so it's simply not worth the risk. Instead place two 2mm thermal pads in the hole behind the CELL to add a small amount of pressure. This maintains good contact with the die and the heat spreader.

Don't cut holes in your PS3, instead increase the fan speed to maintain good temperatures. Cutting holes disrups the airflow and whilst it can lower temps, it can cause other issues further down the line, it also devalues the console, looking at the picture its in good shape

https://www.psdevwiki.com/ps3/RSX

 

[GuilloteTesla]

My little brother has a PS3 CECHP model, the one with the Uncharted bundle, and got some minor cracking problems on the RSX/CELL and the pin pads. My brother used to play Bioshock Infinite a lot... and I mean 4-6 hours long sesions just to give you an idea of how his console got YLOD.

Here are some very good pictures of the RSX and the microscopic BGA cracks: https://www.psdevwiki.com/ps3/RSX

So, bear in mind that even with 65nm processors the solder joints can crack if the console is not well ventilated or used under extreme conditions.

Just don't modify the case at all (drilling wholes actually worsen the heat flow and transfer), use WebMAN MOD's dyncamic fan control and set your limit temps to 68 ºC/154.4 ºF.

You've done the hardest parts, which are getting an old console in good conditions and reapplying new thermal paste. Now comes the funny part: play games and enjoy it!.

 

[Adam0717]

Thank you guys for the replies, I will not ruin it's beautiful shell, that's for sure. It sucks to read that it has the 90nm RSX chip, but I see the 65nm can have issues too, so basically every fat PS3 is a very sensitive console.

@GuilloteTesla as I said, I use it as my main OFW/ PSN and legit disc console, I did not install a Custom firmware on this one, therefore sadly I can't install WebMAN mod. I use WebMAN on my Hybrid firmware PS3 Slim, and it works really well. I can control the fan on the CECHH with the 100k Ohm potentiometer I installed externally on the back of the console, and I leave it around 70%. Very loud, but as I can feel with my hand, it basically blows out cold air on the back, even under heavy load (tested with 3 hour game session GTA 5 and GT6), I think that does the job. The only further mod I would be thinking about now is the thermal pad mod that @Timbo9876 mentioned. I may order some thermal pad in the future. Thank you again guys, this Fat PS3 will be kept alive.

 

[Revak3115]

Thank you guys for the replies, I will not ruin it's beautiful shell, that's for sure. It sucks to read that it has the 90nm RSX chip, but I see the 65nm can have issues too, so basically every fat PS3 is a very sensitive console.

@GuilloteTesla as I said, I use it as my main OFW/ PSN and legit disc console, I did not install a Custom firmware on this one, therefore sadly I can't install WebMAN mod. I use WebMAN on my Hybrid firmware PS3 Slim, and it works really well. I can control the fan on the CECHH with the 100k Ohm potentiometer I installed externally on the back of the console, and I leave it around 70%. Very loud, but as I can feel with my hand, it basically blows out cold air on the back, even under heavy load (tested with 3 hour game session GTA 5 and GT6), I think that does the job. The only further mod I would be thinking about now is the thermal pad mod that @Timbo9876 mentioned. I may order some thermal pad in the future. Thank you again guys, this Fat PS3 will be kept alive.

any RSX can fail, just depends on the specific console, it could be 90nm or 28nm and give up the ghost, since your unit is 90nm, i would just use it until it dies, and as long as its cool and stays under 70c it should last a lifetime

 

[Adam0717]

Little update, after slightly more than one year of absolute heavy usage, the console is still performing very well. The mods I have done meanwhile: PSU housing removal and adding small heatsinks to PSU components; an extra little 5V fan for cooling inside the console's shell; temperature sensor/screen, which doesn't directly measure the RSX or CELL chips, but more like it's a temp. of the mainboard heatsink, but it can be used very well as a reference, it's like human body temps, I know if the screen is showing 38C, it's already too much so I have to adjust the fan to cool the system. It also got the full chrome trims from a dead CECHC04 which couldn't be repaired and before giving it away I removed the nice trims. I also ordered an extra external USB cooler, which you can see on the picture.

I'm doing everything to make a good cooling in this system and make it as reliable as it can get. Until now it performed really well, may I mention the upgrade to a 240GB SSD, which improved loading times a lot. Out of all these modifications I recommend getting an SSD the most, as it makes the PS3 actually feels modern and fast. I really wanted to find out if you can make a reliable machine out of one of these, so I will keep this thread updated if something happens or goes wrong with this CECHH04