PS3 Reverse-Frankie: installing a 90nm RSX into a PS3 Slim

Cheshire UK

Member
TL;DR:
I put a 90nm RSX into a CECH-2003 Slim - DYN-001 motherboard.
It obviously works ... but don't do this

Alright, sharing a mildly cursed mad scientist experiment I finally decided to document share this one.


The "crazyness"


Reverse-Frankie: installing a 90nm RSX into a Slim (CECH-2003, DYN-001 board).
Yes — the exact opposite of what I/we normally try to achieve in putting a 65nm or even better a 40nm to replace a 90nm

Why though?
  • Because I can :-D :-D :-D
  • I've got a stack of Slim boards (20xx / 21xx / 25xx) where the original 40nm RSX has already been "relocated" into proper Frankie builds on COK-00x boards
  • I'm waiting on more 40nm chips to finish a queue of boards to do … and patience is not my strong suit, I was bored
  • This is not my first time doing it, just the first time I thought "fine, I'll post it"

Disclaimer (important one)
  • This is NOT a recommendation
  • This is NOT a proper project
  • This is basically: "I had parts, tools, and poor decision-making alignment"
  • I'm not selling this, not even reassembling it nicely
  • Longevity expectations = somewhere between "meh" and "don't ask" or even "don't care"

Bonus chaos factor

The board itself (DYN-001) is full of oxidation.

Honestly, I had very low expectations:
  • Board: questionable
  • RSX choice: questionable (nah, lets be honest, mad stuff - AGAIN!)
  • Outcome: … working
At this point I'm not sure if I repaired it or accidentally performed a ritual


Result
  • It boots
  • It runs
  • It behaves… normally
Which is probably the most concerning part.

Reality check

Let's be honest:
  • Thermals → not bad
  • Reliability → not ideal

If anyone else has done similar "reverse" nonsense for fun, I'd love to hear how long yours survived.

And yes, you're absolutely allowed to say this is a terrible idea —
I'm just ahead of you :-D

I forgotten to add that indeed that BD drive is not one from a 20xx model but from a CECH-L03 (if you ever wondered if it works, yeah it works fine).


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Last edited:
hi would you happen to have a superslim 4200x board that you can take cell and rsx off to show bga layout motherboard side
 
ahh nice the forum is back online! :love heart:

@Fallen777 I am afraid I dont get such model (super slim) because they dont have the processor I am looking for, hence not a single board on my "scrap yard"

Cheers

M.
 
ahh nice the forum is back online! :love heart:

@Fallen777 I am afraid I dont get such model (super slim) because they dont have the processor I am looking for, hence not a single board on my "scrap yard"

Cheers

M.
but can you get someone to send photos of late superslim perrefereablely pqx-001 board I need that to design board for a portable
 
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