PS3 PS3 CECHL reliability?

[velovix]

Recently, I have been looking at importing a Japanese silver CECHL from eBay for some time now. I know that the 90nm RSX chips are notoriously unreliable and that the NEC/TOKIN capacitors are somewhat a reliability risk. But how much of a risk does the NEC/TOKIN capacitors pose in an average CECHL without an 90nm RSX, little dust and decent thermals? I'll probably end up repasting and cleaning the dust out soon after it arrives anyway. Thanks.

 

[mimi]

reliability = 0, it will go bad. Not worth it, unless some sort of limited edition console. Better import CECHA.

 

[Vinicius GP]

65nm models have a reliable rsx, the problem really is the 8 nectokins, their wear varies from use and the temperature at which it was used, due to the heat of its internal jumper together with the temperature radiated by the processors (wear can be random, some good and some bad).
My Cech-p has had its capacitors replaced, the first time I replaced only 1 of the 8 (1 from the rsx) and it lasted 3 years until it switched off with the gt6 in 20 minutes of stress, I replaced 3 more (2 from the cell and 1 from the rsx, the other 4 were fine) and the problem has been solved to this day.
If you buy it, check the error log in syscon (1001 or 1002 are tokins), or test it with GT6 in a 10-lap race, God Ascension or the last of us. But remember, one day or another they'll have to be replaced unfortunately....

 

[NightLess]

Personally i don't recommend you to buy except CECHA/B/C/E Phat models, They don't have the PS2 hardware and Functionally no different than the Slim,consume more power and have lower reliability(Compared to Slim). If you want to buy a Phat I recommend CECHA/B/C/E,yes they are unreliable (except Frankenstein), but these phat have PS2 hardware!If you want to reliability, I would recommend to buy 21xx and later models.

 

[Trin32]

@NightLess fat models also don't have HDMI-CEC as "This feature is available starting with the CECH-2000 series of the PS3™ system"

So the TV will not turn on/off automatically with the PS3 and you can't use your TV remote to navigate the XMB and apps.
Also it fix the common issue of "how to exit the game using PS4 controller" because then you can use your TV remote as the "PS button"

Anyway, I can't imagine being forced to operate bedtime Movian or Netflix with a gamepad controller

 

[NightLess]

@NightLess fat models also don't have HDMI-CEC as "This feature is available starting with the CECH-2000 series of the PS3™ system"

So the TV will not turn on/off automatically with the PS3 and you can't use your TV remote to navigate the XMB and apps.
Also it fix the common issue of "how to exit the game using PS4 controller" because then you can use your TV remote as the "PS button"

Anyway, I can't imagine being forced to operate bedtime Movian or Netflix with a gamepad controller

You can buy a remote control for Phat

 

[Vinicius GP]

Summarising:

-Don't care about aesthetics or backwards compatibility with ps2: Slim 21xx/25xx;

-Want backwards compatibility with ps2: Cecha/Cechb/Ceche/CechC Frankstein mod (rsx and nectokins replaced), the originals are unreliable;

-Don't need backwards compatibility but want aesthetics: CechL/CechP (buy with replaced nectokins) CechJ/CechK(I prefer L/P, but they are also reliable with token exchange);

-Don't buy because they're neither reliable nor backwards compatible: CechG/CechH/CechQ/CechM.

 

[Joe Robertson]

reliability = 0, it will go bad. Not worth it, unless some sort of limited edition console. Better import CECHA.

I'd argue the CECHJ/K/L/P fats are the 2nd most reliable PS3's, just behind the 2000-2100 slims. Backwards compatibility is neat but doesnt really matter if you want to use the PS3 as a PS3, telling someone to import an expensive and defective CECHA just for PS2 games and a card slot is stupid since its already knocking on deaths door thanks to 17 years of running the syscon fan curve

65nm fats are a good buy imo. They're cheap, relatively plentiful and its only real problems are the tokins and the occasional bad BD which every PS3 is susceptible to afaik. A far better buy than a Super Slim or 3000 Slim thanks to their defective Wifi/BT modules

 

[Dandroid]

I have a CECHL US version that originally came with MGS4. Been using this thing since 2008, no issues. Although I should probably get around to replacing the thermal paste if I want to keep it that way.