PS3 has 256mb of flash memory?

[edepot]

PSP only has 32MB of flash memory and has already touched the upper ceiling of this limit already (now that they added the ps1 emulator).

Is it true the PS3 has 256MB (8 times more than PSP) of flash memory? The latest firmware is only around 105MB to download, so there is a possibility of that 128MB is the upper limit.

The Wii has 512MB of flash memory.

Also, 64MB of main memory is reserved for the Kernel?

[mc]

The Wii has 512MB of flash memory.

Keep in mind that the Wii uses this for savegames and downloads as well, as it doesn't have a harddrive.

[ralferoo]

Is it true the PS3 has 256MB (8 times more than PSP) of flash memory? The latest firmware is only around 105MB to download, so there is a possibility of that 128MB is the upper limit.

Quite possibly 256MB as the Linux otheros.self is pretty big too, although that seems to have disappeared since 1.60 as it's integrated with the main OS. In addition, the other OS' bootloader (otheros.bld) is also stored in the flash. Not sure how big it is, since most Linux kernels aren't much more than 1MB.

[moonlight]

I read somewhere it had two flashes of 128 MB each one. Why it has two flashes instead of one of 256 MB remains a mistery, although one can think of possibilities (recovery?)

[edepot]

Yes you are right about the two 128MB flash memory chips (K9F1G08U0A). Original PS3 motherboard (1-871-868-32) had one flash chip on the front of the motherboard (near upper center) and another one on the back of the motherboard (near upper center). The newer pal ps3 motherboard (1-873-513-21) has both of the flash chips on the front of the motherboard (both on the upper right). If they did not break up the 256MB into two chips to save costs (smaller capacity chips are cheaper), then maybe that other flash chip could be a backup, because the current firmwares are nowhere near the size of 256MG and can all fit into 128MB.

Old motherboard:
http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2006/1111/ps3_32.jpg
[img]http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2006/1111/ps3_33.jpg[/img]
http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2006/1111/ps3_32.jpg
[img]http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2006/1111/ps3_33.jpg[/img]

New motherboard:
http://media.ps3scene.com/images/PS3-mo ... oard_7.JPG
[img]http://media.ps3scene.com/images/PS3-mo ... oard_8.JPG[/img]
http://media.ps3scene.com/images/PS3-mo ... oard_7.JPG
[img]http://media.ps3scene.com/images/PS3-mo ... oard_8.JPG[/img]

They consolidated about 4 large chips (EE+GS included) to one large chip in the new motherboard too. It seems the left side of the motherboard is purely for PS2 and PS1. The bottom is dedicated to power regulation for both CELL and RSX. That last chip there is where you can modify the region of your PS3.

[edepot]

Hmm... duplicated the front image... here is the backside of the motherboard.

Old motherboard (backside):
http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2006/1111/ps3_33.jpg
Pal motherboard (frontside):
http://media.ps3scene.com/images/PS3-mo ... oard_8.JPG

I figured out how to add line breaks now in PS3 browser. [alt-enter]

[avalonakira]

So...Is the old motherboard better or the new motherborad?!

[edepot]

You are kidding right? You want to know which motherboard is better?
Well, the short answer is:

If you want to have better compatibility for ps2 and ps1 games, then
the original motherboard.

If you want to have more chips to play with, then the original motherboard.

For the PS2 the reason people got the newer ones was because it was
cheaper and sleeker (slimmer and smaller). But the newer PS3 seems
to be more expensive and the same size and less compatible with older
games.

I think the question you should be asking is.. is the original motherboard compatible with the dvd or games in your region. If yes, get the original ps3, if not and dvds and older games are important to you, then you have no choice but get the newer ps3.

as a recap:

Japan PS3:
NTSC DVD region 2
NTSC-J PS2 games

US PS3:
NTSC DVD region 1
NTSC PS2 games

HongKong PS3:
NTSC and PAL region 2
NTSC-J PS2 games


Someone should fill out the european PS3 compatibility for DVD and PS3 games. I think they play both NTSC and PAL DVDs as long as they are the same region (or no region code). And I think they play NTSC or PAL ps2 games (as long as they are in the same region).

As for PS3 games, I think any PAL and NTSC games play on any NTSC or PAL PS3. But I still have no idea how they do that. It would seem if you put in a UK game into the original PS3, the game is played at 50hz, and if you put a NTSC PS3 game into the UK PS3, the game is played at 60hz.

[digihoe]

Isn't HongKong region 3?

[edepot]

Yes. Region 3 for HK dvd. Also forgot to mention for the PS2 games above, NTSC and NTSC-J are different the J is Japan region. So the US PS3 can't play NTSC-J games and likewise Japan and HK PS3 can't play NTSC (USA) ps2 games.

[avalonakira]

.....