80GB Core model draws less energy than 40GB

by Andrew Yoon { Aug 25th 2008 at 7:11PM }

Looks like the 80GB Core PS3 may be more energy efficient than ever. A user at the Slickdeals forum connected his brand new 80GB Core system to a Kill-a-watt and discovered a slight energy savings. For example, the 40GB model used 155.2 watts when playing MGS4 -- the 80GB model used only 130 watts. The 40GB used 125.8 watts when idle on the XMB, while the 80GB used 111.9 watts. The popular theory is that Sony has secretly switched to new 65nm RSX chips: these are cheaper to manufacture, and are considered more reliable. Sony has not yet responded to these claims, but we wouldn't be surprised if each new SKU introduces new savings for the costly PS3 manufacturing process.

[Via Joystiq]

Tags: 65nm, ps3, rsx

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Arnon @ Aug 25th 2008 7:28PM

Rofl O_o.. Isn't that the Xenos GPU in the 360?

kevin @ Aug 25th 2008 8:18PM

its all a subliminal message. you found out.
too bad you cant handle the truth.
KILL HIM

Devin @ Aug 25th 2008 8:58PM

@Arnon

No. Xenos was created by ATi and RSX was created by Nvidia, so it couldn't be. If that is what you were rofl-ing about.....

I don't see what's so funny about this...

Arnon @ Aug 25th 2008 9:27PM

Oh god I know.. the humor just cant be taken.. It meant nothing towards anything.. but yes, that is the Xenos GPU inside of the 360. It says Microsoft right on there =P

and um.. "OH GOD" *shoots himself*

Devin @ Aug 26th 2008 9:38AM

Holy crap. That IS the Xenos chip. D*mn it! You should've said more man. Sorry. *floats away*

Xtechnolgy @ Aug 25th 2008 7:51PM

first....anyway im glad to hear sony are using more energy efficient hardware =D

iamkid @ Aug 25th 2008 7:56PM

you have failed. who firsts on ps3 fanboy? thats still pretty cool that they secretly slip in energy saving parts, that are also cheaper to make :O

GENTLEMEN @ Aug 25th 2008 8:10PM

This thing has made a lot of revisions in the almost two years it's been out. Then again, so did the PSX and PS2.

ryan @ Aug 25th 2008 8:16PM

that's money towards an extra candy bar a month for sure. :P

Devin @ Aug 25th 2008 9:00PM

Depends on how much you use your PS3 actually....which could mean a candy bar or a noticeable decrease in your power bill each month/year....

Devin @ Aug 25th 2008 9:05PM

I wish I had known about this before I bought my 80GB MGS4. I wanted a more power efficient verson since (had it not) I should've just got the 40GB last Xmas. Oh well, I love being able to play PS2 games in HD, or I'll just sell it to a friend who may want one later on and I may get a slim version down the line.

Biomech @ Aug 26th 2008 8:57AM

How is the power usage of a PS3 compared to other household items? I've always wanted to know but I'm pretty sure it's not as high as stuff like a fridge, but is it less than a TV or things like that?

PSN: Puselva @ Aug 26th 2008 4:33PM

I think I read somewhere that it (at least the 60 GB ones) uses A LOT more power than most other things, including TVs.

farfisa @ Sep 9th 2008 3:38PM

Funny you used fridge as an example:
"Our tests also found that leaving a PlayStation 3 on while not in use would cost almost $250 a year in electricity bills (charged at 15c per kWh). This alone is around five times more than it would take to run a refrigerator for the same yearly period."
quoted from here:
http://www.choice.com.au/viewArticle.aspx?id=106346&catId=100245&tid=100008&p=4&title=Computers'+energy+costs

On the following page it has charts for other stuff too--the power usage is about 5 times that of a 29" CRT TV and just a bit more than a 42" plasma.

don_sf @ Aug 26th 2008 11:06AM

its not really suprising at all. the company's management look for every single possible way to cut down costs, and i would have thought internal hardware improvements would be the easiest way to tackle it.

the thing is, they would naturally continue doing this. so further down the line the will release a another console which uses a far more smaller and efficient chipset, produces less heat, uses less energy.

i use an original 60gb console, as this meets my needs the most. i do not have the space or the time to have a ps2 and ps3 together, so my ps3 plays all ps1, ps2 and ps3 games. i play alot of games on ps2 still, especially with the friends who still have ps2 e.g. gran turismo 4 (very competitive with my friends grr).

i do still personally feel that sony went about their hard drive section completely wrong. i would have liked to see ps3's come with a basic amount of storage as standard but their should have been a product line of official sony (internal) hard drives on the market. 80gb, 160gb, 320gb, 500gb etc. similar to psp and the memory stick duo, which worked very well.

upgrading is all about the right time. i will buy my next ps3 when a system with ps2 backwards compatibility comes out because my launch ps3, although i love it and think its billiant, is not efficient.