Confirmed: Firmware 3.50 unlocks full 333MHz speed [Update]

by Jem Alexander { Jun 21st 2007 at 8:30AM }

According to QJ's "insider" at Sony, firmware version 3.50 allows UMD games to use the full 333MHz of the PSP. If true, this is great news but brings up a few questions. Using the total available processing power will potentially allow for smoother framerates and quicker load times. The problem, however, comes with the battery life. The reason games are locked to 266mhz (only one game has been allowed to use even that much - Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters) is due to the very limited battery life when the PSP runs at full speed.

This would coincide with Kotaku's PSP redesign rumours, which claim to have a much heftier battery life due to a much more economic screen. If this feature really is already in the current firmware update, does that mean we will be seeing a redesign much sooner than we expected?

[Update: Developers have confirmed that new 3.50 SDKs allow for full clock speed use.]

[Andrew's note: Older games will not run at the higher clock speed. However, any new games developed from this point onwards will be able to utilize the full clock speed of the PSP. This is intrinsic to firmware 3.50, and any new games that require 333MHz will need firmware 3.50 or above.]

Tags: 3.50, 333, 333mhz, firmware, rumor

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Calvin @ Jun 21st 2007 9:23AM

Since i'm usually around a power source i guess having smoother frame rates would be nice. Otherwise when i'm away from a source i'd like it to stay low. I hope they come out with slim soon if at all so no one has to choose between frames, and battery life.

Service_Games @ Jun 21st 2007 9:10AM

I think I'm really confused. Firmware version 3.50 for PSP was released on 5/31/2007.

lambpasty @ Jun 21st 2007 9:38AM

Confused as well, seeing as I'm currently using 3.50 ... did you mean 3.51 maybe? :/

Stef Geiger @ Jun 21st 2007 10:26AM

I think the problem we're having is that the title of the post is a little misleading. If it IS 3.50 that he's referring to, he shouldn't say "to unlock", since that implies the future tense.

Anyway, I'm one of those crazy people who practically NEVER uses his PSP outside of my home, so I really don't care about battery life, and frankly, even if I only got two hours of play out of it, I wouldn't complain at all. I think Sony should really go all-out and go to 333mhz since the performance boost would probably be very impressive to potential purchasers, and the battery life non-issue would slip through the cracks. Also, keep in mind that the CPU isn't the ONLY thing that kills the battery. The LCD probably sucks up at least 30 if not 40-50% of the power.

RadioScott @ Jun 21st 2007 10:45AM

I'm also confused. Why is rumor being spelled with a "u?" I thought this was an American site.

merc25 @ Jun 21st 2007 12:07PM

RadioScott, Jem Alexander is British.

I still doubt Kotaku's rumor. I checked out QJ and even they said 3.50. At least psp fanboy didn't misquote the article, but I think they meant to type something higher than 3.50.

Random @ Jun 21st 2007 12:22PM

plus things should be spelt with a u, like colour and neighbour :P im canadian

Stef Geiger @ Jun 21st 2007 12:51PM

Wooh! Go Canada! Not only should words like colour and honour be spelled with a U, but night and light should be spelled with a GHT, and through should be spelled with a OUGH. MAN I love my pretentious language.

GoBob @ Jun 21st 2007 12:56PM

I'm personally fond of cheque.

PSP-Rising @ Jun 21st 2007 2:15PM

They should make it to where the game selects the clock speed as needed, or make it a manual option. Game titles to this date seem to work fine at the lower clockspeed. I could see GOW playing better and benefitting from a faster clockspeed. If raising the clockspeed makes for shorter load times then would that not help the batterlife as well, the UMD not being spun up as long???

required @ Jun 21st 2007 2:37PM

I hope this is true because Tomb Raider: Legend is far from being playable and this might just fix that.

upz @ Jun 21st 2007 7:43PM

Forcing 333 using OE firmware is a pretty sweet option for games like Tomb Raider. Outrun plays like a dream at 333.

ONi @ Jun 22nd 2007 12:37AM

People: I think everyone reads right when it says 3.50, but this is the thing: this is information for developers, and by the means of Sony, the end-user shouldn't be thinking on what does it means to have 333 mhz processor power, so in that fashion, this information is published as rumor, because it isn't something official, there is no publication on the version's notes coz it's not for you. The same thing with the skype thing and the TV output, Sony it's not screaming "we add a few bytes, if the people who hack our software want to blog about it!". So if you suddenly play an upcomming game and your green light blinks in less than two hours of game play, then you have it, a game that use full processor power.

Nik @ Jun 22nd 2007 9:15AM

So basically, anyone who doesn't dish out for a redesigned PSP is gonna get screwed on battery life when games using 333mhz start popping up in 6 months or so. Niiiiiiice.

mac @ Jun 22nd 2007 3:56PM

Rumor verified as truth?
http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/47564

chad @ Jun 22nd 2007 6:02PM

8. Wooh! Go Canada! Not only should words like colour and honour be spelled with a U, but night and light should be spelled with a GHT, and through should be spelled with a OUGH. MAN I love my pretentious language.
---------------------------------

Not to get off topic, but the US spells it night, light, and through...

x3sphere @ Jun 22nd 2007 10:11PM

Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters does not run at 266 MHz, no game to my knowledge has. I was surprised when you reported this, since I contacted a developer who told me the SDK has always been limited to 222 MHz until now (confirming ShackNews report).

The 266 MHz rumor was just started up by a bunch of people with OE. The game has some odd problem with OE, and I'm not sure why. But if you run the game with DevHook - at default clock, 222, 266, and 333 it works fine.

Default clock is what the official PSP firmware is clocked at - and there was no difference between default and 222. So it's safe to say R & C does not run at 266.