Thermal Improvements

This page is a work in progress!

As PlayStation 3 consoles continue to age over the years, their thermal interface material continues to degrade overtime, and causes extremely loud fan noise as a result. Early PS3 models also have issues with premature failure caused by heating and cooling cycles, contributing to the Yellow Light of Death issue in many consoles (in addition to the RROD on the Xbox 360), as described by some of RIP-Felix's videos^[1][2].

Info on this page may also be similar to RIP-Felix's How to Fix | Episode 1: Overheating. How to Delid CPU/GPU and fix YLOD - BEWARE of BAD MODs! video^[3], which you could use to supplement this article.

Testing PS3 Thermals

If you want a way of testing the thermal performance of your PS3, it can be done with an app called Thermal Breach. It allows users to apply a consistent load to the CPU/GPU, show current temps during the test, and save the results of your run, so you can compare results of either different consoles, or the same console in different states (such as stock vs overclocked, stock paste vs new paste, etc.)

Demanding games like The Last of Us, Gran Turismo 6, and Crysis could also be used, but due to their inconsistent environments, they are suboptimal for good consistent results.

What are safe temperatures for my PS3?

Various technicians will have differing opinions on the answer to this question. Also, typical temperatures vary from model to model, due to different CPU/GPU revisions, differing heatsink revisions, & different fan speed configurations (either by the user changing the fan speeds themself, or with the Syscon's fan tables being different for each model).

Since the 45 nm CELL BE CPU on the Slim & Super Slim models can safely handle up to 85°C before the Syscon initiates a thermal protection shutdown, along with the 90/65 nm CELL on Fat models being able to reach 91°C before doing the same, the PS3's CELL on all models, along with the RSX on most models, typically operate in the 75-80°C range before major degradation occurs. The RSX GPU has an even higher thermal protection target, which is generally 100°C. However, they usually operate in the 60-70°C range, due to their TDP being much lower than the CELL.

Once the PS3's CELL is running hotter than the 80°C range, or the RSX is hotter than the 85°C range, the fan speed settings on the Syscon are much more aggressive, which allows the PS3 to automatically manage its thermals to standard safe levels. The same thing applies to the RSX. So, as long as your PS3 can keep the console at reasonable fan speeds (under 40%) on the stock Syscon fan settings, then your PS3 is doing performing as good as it needs to be.

However, this only applies to PS3s that don't have a 90 nm RSX GPU. The 90 nm RSX has a known flip chip manufacturing defect called "bumpgate", which essentially caused the RSX to prematurely fail due to not being strong enough to handle the heating and cooling cycles of typical consumer usage.^[4]

You will likely want to edit your PS3's fan speed to run the RSX at ~68°C or cooler if it has a 90 nm version. You don't need to worry about CELL temperatures on these models, as the CELL doesn't have the same defect, so you can follow the same 75-80°C threshold on your PS3's CELL.

Thermal Improvement Methods

Recommended

These methods can be universally applied to any applicable PS3 and are unlikely to have a realistic risk of damage, in addition to having objective thermal performance improvements.

Replacing Thermal Paste

This process involves opening your PS3, removing the motherboard from the heatsinks, removing the old thermal material, and applying a new pea-sized blob of thermal paste. It's often easiest to get the old thermal material off by swiping it off with a coffee filter, disposable towels (paper towel or shop towel), or Q-tips. Keep in mind that, unless your thermal paste is conductive, too much is better than too little paste. This is the primary modification you should consider, as it will bring your console back to manufacturer specifications without major risk of damaging the system.

Adding a CELL bracer

A CELL bracer is a small piece of plastic added underneeth a CELL CPU. Sony installed these on PS3s that were sent in to be fixed; they added this CELL bracer piece in order to restore even contact with the CELL's CPU die and IHS, which allowed for improved temperatures without delidding.

This tool allowed for Sony to fix the temperatures of an effected console's CELL for long enough to outlast the short warranty period. Microprocessors that have a built-in IHS are generally not designed to have the IHS removed, which is why Sony opted for this solution. It's also possible to 3D print the pieces yourself for a similar result, or buy them pre-printed from a seller.

It should be noted that if you do want to print them yourself, please make sure the thin section is exactly 1 mm thick! If the cell bracer is too thick, it's effectively just doing an eraser mod (explained in the not recommended section). Places to get a CELL bracer are listed below.

• STL Files (to 3D print them yourself; make sure they are exactly 1mm thick!)
• 90 nm CELL Bracer
• 65 nm CELL Bracer
• 45 nm CELL Bracer

Adjusting Fan Speed (90 nm RSX)

As mentioned in earlier sections of the page, you can potentially reduce the chance of 90 nm GPU failure by reducing its operating temperature. This can either be done with homebrew apps like webMAN MOD, Evilnat's xai_plugin menu options (which don't persist upon rebooting), or modifying the syscon's firmware itself.

Last Resort, or for Enthusiasts

These methods, while potentially having genuine thermal performance benefits, are either very easy for an inexperienced user to damage the system with, and/or may be unnessary to do in the first place.

Adjusting Fan Speed (65/40/28 nm RSX)

While not dangerous, this is unnecessary and only will make your console louder. This is only beneficial if you want to do overclocking.

All the same methods that are utilized to customize fan speeds on 90 nm RSX consoles also apply to any later console revision with reliable RSXes. This even applies to "Frankenstein" modded consoles, which is when a 65/40 nm RSX is retrofitted to an early model. However, since the newer GPUs don't have the bumpgate GPU defect, there is usually no need to change from the default Syscon fan speeds on these consoles.

Undervolting

TBW :)

A video example/explanation of undervolting can be found here^[5] for now.

Delidding

While this may lower temperatures, it's extremely easy to mess up the process and permanently damage your console. It is considered a last resort method if thermal paste does not bring your console back to normal temperatures.

Delidding is the process of detaching an integrated heat spreader (IHS) from a microprocessor. This has historically been done in PC enthusiast communities, in order to minmax the most cooling performance out of x86 CPUs, in order to get the highest possible overclocking speeds. While it is possible to attach IHSes with indium solder (which essentially has infinite longevity), many processors have used regular thermal paste instead, which can degrade overtime and cause an aged processor to be harder to keep at standard operating temperatures.

The PlayStation 3 CELL BE and RSX (aside from the ones on CECH-4XXX models) were also designed to use IHSes, and use thermal paste as the TIM for both dies. The CELL's IHS is attached to its substrate like most PC CPUs, where there is a silicone seal around the edges of the chip, with a small air gap on the bottom. On the RSX used on Fats and Slims, the IHS is adhered to the GPU's VRAM ICs with thermal plaster on each corner of the RSX (where each VRAM IC is) instead.

Since PS3 consoles are quite old now, the thermal paste on the processor dies themselves (usually just on the CELL) can be in a degraded state, resulting in the console being harder to keep cool, even after the thermal paste on the top of the IHS was changed. So, some enthusiasts have resorted to remove the heatspreader on the effected chip (or doing both anyway), in order to replace the degraded paste with new TIM (usually paste, but some of these enthusiasts also use alternatives like PTM).

Detailed delidding information can be found in the Delidding page.

Not Recommended

These methods are NOT recommended, either because they have been shown to cause damage to the console, offer drawbacks that are too drastic, or don't offer enough of a benefit to be worth recommending to end users.

Click "Expand" to accept the warning.

Chassis Modification

Some enthusiasts have modified the airflow of the PS3 case by drilling holes directly under where the system fan is located, giving the fan & heatsinks having more direct airflow, resulting in lower CPU/GPU temperatures.

While this may seem appealing on the surface, such modifications also alter the airflow pattern of the PS3 away from its intended static pressure optimized design, which will result in the motherboard's other components (such as the power delivery, power supply, Blu-Ray drive controller, and southbridge) to run hotter than what Sony intended.

"Eraser Mod"

This modification is strongly discouraged, as it has been shown this mod will cause uneven bending forces on the CPU substrate, in addition to adding too much pressure on the die and substrate, which can cause the BGA to break (requiring reballing to fix), or even the die itself to crack (which practically makes the PS3 a brick when the CELL is permanently broken, and isn't economical to repair, even if an easy CELL remarry method is possible); this is similar damaged caused by "bolt mods" on the Xbox 360.

The "eraser mod" is a "modification" done to a PlayStation 3, where a soft but stiff material is added underneeth the CELL BE CPU (either an eraser, like the name suggests, or a thermal pad), as a way to emulate the official plastic CELL bracer that Sony used on referbished consoles. This can brute force more heatsink pressure on the CELL CPU, which can potentially improve thermal performance due to forcing the CPU die to have flatter contact with the IHS and heatsink.

Thermal Interface Materials (Paste/Pads/PTM)

There are many TIM replacement options available to purchase. Generally, as a broad recommendation to most users, you will want viscous long-lasting thermal paste like Arctic Silver Ceramique 2 or Thermal Grizzly Duronaut. Arctic MX-7 will have good performance as well, but since it's a more recent release, its durability remains to be seen.

For mainly the IHS (not the CPU/GPU dies after delidding), more basic paste like Arctic MX-4 can work just fine. It can work for delidded chips as well, but due to its more liquidy consistancy, it is considered suboptimal for this usecase.

The option of phase change material (PTM) is also an option, especially after delidding. This type of paste is solid at room temperature, but turns into a liquid when heated up to CPU/GPU operating temperatures. Examples of performant PTM that can be readily purchased are Honeywell PTM7950, Thermalright Heilos V2 (resold PTM7950), and Thermal Grizzly Phasesheet.

Using any TIM that's conductive, such as any liquid metal or Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste, is not recommended unless you go through the effort of adequitely sealing the processors, as these can drip to other places and cause shorts, which can either damage the motherboard commponents, the CELL, or especially the RSX (due to its exposed capacitors).

For thermal pads, if you determined your console needs them (like if they are missing for some reason, or became damaged) check what your SKU model uses with the "Cooling Information for Each SKU Model" section on the page, and order a thermal pad sheet or two to match the thicknesses of what your console originally used. Ideally, try to use high performance pads for replacements.

Cooling Information for Each SKU Model

If you have some calipers and a PS3 with its original thermal pads, please feel free to verify of the pad thicknesses on this page are correct. Any thermal pad replacements should have a matched thickness with the original ones, as pads that are too thin simply won't make proper contact with the EMI shield, and pads that are too thick could potentially damage the component or motherboard.

Fat

The original PS3 models made between 2006—2009. Generally, all of these can "easily" have their CPU/GPU delidded.

CECHA/B/C/E Series

The original PS3 models that have hardware-based PS2 game compatability. These are the hottest and most inefficient PS3 models due to the 90 nm CELL BE & 90 nm RSX, but they also have the largest heatsink.

The thermal pads on this series consist of the following:

• Two large thermal pads (2.0mm thickness) for...
  • Southbridge IC (CXD2973GB/CXD2979GB)
  • Blu-Ray drive controller
• A large thermal pad (1.5mm thickness) for...
  • EE+GS IC (on CECHA/B) or Graphics Synthisizer IC (CECHC/E)
• Fourteen small thermal pads (1.5mm thickness) for...
  • Two inductors and four MOSFETs used by RSX GPU
  • Three inductors and six MOSFETs used by CELL BE CPU

CECHG Series

The next SKU model, which drastically simplified the PS3 design to make the price cheaper. CELL BE was die shunken to 65 nm, which increased the power efficiency by a large amount, but still has the defective 90 nm RSX. The heatsink is also much smaller than what was used on the previous models.

The thermal pads on this series consist of the following:

• A large thermal pad (2.0mm thickness) for...
  • Southbridge IC (CXD2984GB)
  • There are also two thermal pads visible on the Blu-Ray drive daughterboard when the drive's bottom cover is removed.
• Eight small thermal pads (1.5mm thickness) for...
  • Four MOSFETs used by RSX GPU
  • Four MOSFETs used by CELL BE

CECHH/M03/Q00 Series

The thermal pads on this series consist of the following:

• A large thermal pad (2.0mm thickness) for...
  • Southbridge IC (CXD2984GB)
  • There are also two thermal pads visible on the Blu-Ray drive daughterboard when the drive's bottom cover is removed.

• Four small thermal pads (1.5mm thickness) for...
  • Two MOSFETs used by RSX
  • Two MOSFETs used by CELL BE

CECHJ/K Series

Thermal pads are the same as the previous series. However, the RSX is now the 65 nm model, which no longer has the bumpgate defect, and may be a bit easier to cool.

CECHL/P Series

These models are the precursor to the first Slim series (CECH-20XX). Some of these models also got even cheaper heatsink revisions, which are basically just alumnium blocks instead of being fins on heatpipes.

The thermal pads on this series consist of the following:

• A small thermal pad (2.0mm thickness) for...
  • Southbridge IC (CXD2984AGB)
  • There are also two thermal pads visible on the Blu-Ray drive daughterboard when the drive's bottom cover is removed.

• Two small thermal pads (1.5mm thickness) for...
  • Two MOSFETs used by CELL BE

Slim

The matte finish slimline revisions that were made between 2009-2011. The overall cooling design of the slimline systems was futher simplified from the fat models, and is essentially designed like how the PS4 is.

CECH-20XX/21XX Series

The first Slim model, CECH-20XX series, was also the first to introduce the 45 nm CELL BE revision. The CECH-21XX series was also the first to use the 40 nm RSX, which has been notable in its overclocking abilities in certain communities, but is much harder to delid. The CELL on these models is also pretty easy to delid, as it uses a similar TIM to what the 90/65 nm Fat CELLs used.

The thermal pads used on this series are the same as the CECHL/P, which consist of the following:

• A small thermal pad (2.0mm thickness) for...
  • Southbridge IC (CXD2984AGB)
  • There are also two thermal pads visible on the Blu-Ray drive daughterboard when the drive's bottom cover is removed.

• Two small thermal pads (1.5mm thickness) for...
  • Two MOSFETs used by CELL BE

CECH-25XX/30XX Series

Third and fourth (last) Slim models. These are notable for their CELLs; the CECH-25XX starting to use much harder thermal paste on one of its CELL BE varient (CXD2992BGB), which makes this CELL extremely difficult to delid. Every CECH-30XX CELL is in a similar situation.

The thermal pads on this series consist of the following:

• Two small thermal pads (2mm thickness) for...
  • Two MOSFETs used by CELL BE

Super Slim

The even smaller PS3 revisions that were made from 2012 up to the PS3's discontinuation, 2016 (or in Japan, 2017).

It should be noted that the RSX on all of the 4XXX series no longer uses an IHS; only the CELL BE continues to use one. The RSX VRAM was also left to be passively cooled on these models; its GPU die is only cooled with a single copper heatpipe with a tiny coldplate.

CELL BE IHS on all of these models is also adhered to the CPU die with thermal plaster, just like the 30XX.

CECH-40XX/42XX Series

No thermal pads are used on this series, only thermal paste for the CELL BE and RSX. This is because the motherboards on these models contain enough thermal mass to cool the CELL/RSX VRMs passively.

The CELL on these models is similar to the CECH-30XX, which also makes delidding not recommended.

CECH-43XX Series

The last Super Slim SKU model. Due to the PCBs of the motherboards on this model being thinner, thermal pads are now required again to cool the CELL BE's MOSFETs, just like on the Fat/Slim models.

The thermal pads on this series consist of the following:

• Four small thermal pads (1.5mm thickness) for...
  • Four MOSFETs for CELL BE

References