Let’s face it – both the Playstation 3 and XBOX 360 are pretty complicated when it comes to differentiating between all the models and revisions that have been released over the past 2 years. This is especially the case with the PS3, as revisions don’t necessarily mean improved features – newer models have supplanted older ones that had better backwards compatibility, more USB ports, and larger hard drives for instance.
In an attempt to make sense of all the models, we have put together this handy chart for your reference. It applies mainly to the North American versions of the consoles. This guide should be a quick way to see which features are supported by which consoles. Curious if your unit is backwards compatible with Playstation 2 games in hardware mode, or if it’s emulated, or if it will play them at all? Get your model # and refer to the chart below:
| 160 GB CECHP01 |
80 GB CECHK01 CECHL014 |
40 GB CECHG012 CECHH01 |
80 GB CECHE01 |
60 GB CECHA01 |
20 GB CECB01 |
|
| Release Date | 11/2008 | 09/2008 | 11/2007 | 08/2007 | 11/2006 | 11/ 2006 |
| In Stores 11/2008 | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Launch Price | $499 | $399 | $399 | $599 | $599 | $499 |
| Hardware | ||||||
| Cell Fab Process | 65nm | 65nm | 65nm3 | 90nm | 90nm | 90nm |
| GPU Fab Process | 65nm | 65nm | 90nm | 90nm | 90nm | 90nm |
| USB Ports | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Flash Card Reader | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| WiFi | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Bundled Accessories | ||||||
| Ethernet Cable | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Video Cable | Composite | Composite | Composite | Composite | Composite | Composite |
| Gamepad | DualShock 3 | DualShock 3 | SixAxis | SixAxis1 | SixAxis | SixAxis |
| Compatibility | ||||||
| SACD | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Playstation 2 | No | No | No | Software | Yes | Yes |
| Playstation 1 | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 1 The 80GB Metal Gear Solid 4 bundle is a CECHE01 console bundled with a DualShock 3 controller
2 CECHGxx is the first 40GB model, which was released in Europe in 10/2007 with PAL/NTSC hardware. It was introduced in North America a month later, and then replaced by new hardware in 03/2008 (CECHHxx) that was 3identical except for a 65nm Core CPU 4CECHL01 was just introduced this month, and there are no details on it. It is identical to CECHK01 in features, so it’s most likely a minor board revision |
||||||
Now, to make sense of it all. As you can see, there are only two models currently under production; the new 80GB with 65nm CPU and GPU, and the 160GB that comes bundled with Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and Pain. For a $100 difference, you basically get twice the storage capacity, and a decent game (as well as a crappy one). And that’s it – both consoles suffer from having no PS2 backwards compatibility at all, no flash card reader, no SACD support, and only 2 USB ports. Whether any of this stuff is important to you is up to you to decide. Personally, in the 2 years I’ve owned my PS3, I haven’t used any of those features besides the PS2 support (there were many PS2-era titles I missed, including God of War which I am playing through now)
It should be noted that a 320GB laptop hard drive is no more than $80 these days, and is very easy to install. So if you are tempted by the larger capacity, that $100 would be much better spent going towards a drive with 4 times the capacity, rather than twice the capacity. So really, the 160GB version makes for a poor purchase.
As far as the older models go, you can see how they have changed over the last 2 years going from right to left on this chart. It’s clear that the sole purpose of these revisions is to make the console cheaper and more profitable. The CPU and GPU dies have shrunk from 90nm to 65nm (and there are rumors of a 45nm die shrink next year) which saves Sony a significant amount of money on each console made (and should also lower power consumption significantly. Which is a good thing; the original PS3 is a real power hog).
To save more money, they are removing more and more hardware from the console with each revision; first to go was the Playstation 2 CPU on the first 80GB model. They left the PS2 GPU on there to maintain some level of backwards compatibility, which is a highly sought after feature that Sony pushed heavily when the Playstation 3 was first announced. Unfortunately, it proved to be difficult to get the Playstation 3 to properly emulate the PS2 CPU, as compatibility on that model was extremely poor. On all later revisions, PS2 support was dropped completely, and Sony changed their tune to express that today’s gamers want to play next-gen games, and if they want to play older games they can keep their PS2 or buy a new one which can still be found in stores. Other hardware followed suit, as Sony continued to trim down the extra features that very few people actually used – does anyone actually buy SACD’s anymore? Or regular CD’s for that matter?
As far as how the bundles accessories have changed, it’s good to see that they are including the DualShock 3 now, without increasing the price of the console. However, I have no idea why they haven’t yet started to bundle an HDMI cables or even component cables with what is supposed to be a next-generation video device…
What’s interesting to me is that the original 20GB and 60GB versions may retain their value on the used market better than subsequent models. Those are the only ones with proper backwards compatibility, and drive size is not an issue since it is easy to install a hard drive yourself.
80GB backward compatibility for PS2 games is extremely good. The link provided in this article is from more than an year ago, and there were major updates to BC in firmware 2.10 and beyond (early this year)
MGS, FF, Xenosaga, Ico, GoW, GoW2, Shadow of Colossus, Dragon Quest etc and pretty much all other PS2 classics you can think of run without any issues on the old 80GB PS3.
who needs hd cables? only consoles like the crapbox 360 include hd cables. sony knows what i need, and i dont need hd cables. suck it ms.
Is there any easy way to look at a PS3 box and figure out if it is the 80 gig model with PS2 compatibility?
It should have the model # on the box. Just look for CECHE01, or look at how many USB ports it has. If it has 4, it has software backwards compatibility. If it has 2, it’s the new one without any backwards compatibility at all.
So the new PS3s play all PSX games fine or do I need to look out for bad models with this issue also?
Yeah, PS1 games play on all models.
[...] Model Guide | HCW Tech Blog on XBOX 360 Elite – The new “Retard Edition”Carl Nelson on Playstation 3 Model GuidePotato on Playstation 3 Model GuideCarl Nelson on Playstation 3 Model GuideDimReturns on Playstation [...]
There is at least 1 model missing from this chart.
I purchased the 80gb PS3 with a Dual Shock 3 controller and while I don’t have 90 PS2 games my son has collected quite a number of them as they are often in the $20 range rather than the $60 of the PS3 games. Even less if you can find them used at EB or GameStop.
In this current economic climate you would think Sony would offer a Trade Up plan to some kind of Ultimate platform that has all the bits for full compatiability and something crazy large like a terrabyte drive.
Face it Sony really makes their money on the software and not the hardware so why not make the platform expandable ?
My new brand new PS3 80g CECHKO1 is going bye bye…Back to Target, and when I want to buy the next generation of games, they won’t be Playstation. I mean how much programming space do you need to keep PS2 onboard? Not to mention, IT’S THE BIGGEST PART OF YOUR GAMING HISTORY TO DATE.
Your marketing people are just plain stupid for eliminating the PS2 format. What’s up with PS1 playing but not PS2? So no thanks. I’ll continue playing my PS2 and just buy a better flatscreen, and upgrade with something else later.
Adios dummies.
what’s up with compatibility with ps1 games and not ps2? they don’t even make ps1 games any more, you can’t get them in stores, not even gamestop. I think sony made a big mistake here. now gotta pay probably twice as much for a refurbished model and then upgrade the hard drive just so I can buy and play both ps3 and ps2 games.
I cannot imagine the reason why Sony took out the ability to play PS2 games. The PS3 is already losing the console battle, especially in the game department. This, to me, is probably going to be remembered as the worst video game decision in history. I was interested in the PS3 to play some PS2 games, as well as maybe 1 or two PS3 games, and watch blu-ray. Now I can buy a blu-ray player for way under $399. So, good job Sony, you lost another customer.
[...] in the past year as well, especially in the case of the PS3. We have been tracking their changes here and here, so you should go there to see what the latest features are. This is especially important [...]
the newest playstation all come with 2usb port, so can someone tell me how do you play rock bacn or guitar hero world tour with the compelte band( drum, vocal, guitar/bass) if you only have 2 USB port when it takes at least 3? Is sony so stupid to make a game you can play only on some ps3?
Buy a USB expander…just like you’d get for your computer….works just fine. Turn one port into four
I bought an 80GB PS3 last xmas as an upgrade for their PS2s so they could play all their games and upgrade to PS3 games later but alas it doesnt work with PS2 games. I ended up spending £400 on an 80GB thats just collecting dust. The Wii they got is constantly on but the PS3 is binned. THANKS Sony I ended up buying a BD player for BDs I dont have and not much of a games console. I use an HDMI lead to connect to my sons HDTV and the results in games is nothing worthy of note. I am tempted to eBay the thing and buy an old 80GB UK one. Problem is everyone has caught on and these are more expensive than the new ones. If Sony catches on they might sneak in a few of the old ones and make a mint, more than the new console is doing.
i’d like to say i bought the new ps3 and im not entirely satisfied like. i’m hoping they might bring out a revised model sometime this year with ps2 compatability. Im thinking of buying one for my nephew, should i buy or wait? nice one lads.
im so glad i bought the last 60 gig ps3 in town (bought it right out from under this kids nose) and have any of you noticed that the 80 gigs dont have the shiny “chrome” on it just the gray looking trim i know its kinda pointless but its just something my friend pointed out because he has the 80 gig and it looks cheaper so to say
Ok, i was pissed about the backwards compadibility issue mainly becuase i have been waiting to buy this damn console since it came out. I STILL WENT OUT TO BEST BUY AND BOUGHT A 80 GIG PS3 6-30-09, The best point made was, IF YOU WANT TO PLAY PS2 GAMES USE A PS2. I considered buying a used ps3 that did have backwards compadibility and the extra usb ports, But im not spending that much money and not getting some kind of warranty. 360’s break just the same as PS3’s. Just google it. PS3 is just so much better than a 360. wi-fi, free online, Better hardware, BLU-RAY, if you hooked a 360 up to do the same things it would end up costing you more, ALOT MORE. So yah the backwards compadibility sucks but hey, guess what, PS2 is then. PS3 is the now. live in the now.