Ive searched everywhere trying to find a teardown and re-assemble guide,and apparently one doesnt exist.Hasnt anyone done any internal modifications(fans,water cooling..ect..ect)?Im considering doing a teardown and re-assemble documentation with some in depth Hi-Rez images,but im lacking information on the reassembly areas.Mainly the heatsink compound application.Ive found pictures of all the components and from the looks of it they used your standard white heatsink compound,and applied it over the entire heatspreaders.Im thinking of going with AS5 as it should do better at heat dissipation,but AS5 is supposed to be applied differently then normal hsc.Suggesting small dabs where the chips are located under the heatspreaders and letting the tension of the heatsink spread the compound.Here is a picture i found showing the chips under the heatspreader on the RSX.I couldnt find a picture of the heatspreader removed from the CELL so im not sure the best way to apply AS5 to it.



What you see in the image is the RSX heatspreader flipped over.Im wondering if it would be best to apply 5 dabs of AS5 in the same locations with the center having a slightly larger dab applied.

I'm no expert on cooling, but that sounds right to me. You would have to be sure to get the right amount on there though, an overheating PS3 could be very bad.

I have never seen a picture of the actual Cell, but I assume you could do the same thing to it. Also, just out of curiosity, why are you making a teardown guide? Someone will eventually come up with one, but the PS3 doesn't seem to have a need for additional cooling.

I figure about rice and a half size in the center and half rice size on all four corners.
As for the cell, im not sure if its a single core or dual.And if its dual im not sure if its a single chip or two chips.

If everyone had the attitude that someone will eventually do something,things would never get done.

Here is a video I found of someone (from Sony, I
assume) taking a PS3 apart. It shows the heatsinks on top of the IC's, and other things like that.

I don't know what the chips themselves look like, but it appears that Sony has not cut any corners with the cooling on the PS3, but I guess it never hurts to try making it better.

You are probably right about that second point, but I would rather not be the person playing around inside of a $500 electronic device with little knowledge of what is in there. But, someone has to be the first to do this.

I doubt thats sony taking a ps3 apart in that video.If it is,then no wonder the ps3 cost so much.

But anyway, Ive found a bunch of videos and tutorials/pictures, but there all just taking it apart, none showing how they put it back together and how they applied hsc.Maybe they couldnt figure out how to put it back together.

That could be a problem...

I guess that guy isn't from Sony, he just seemed to know more about what he was doing than the other videos I have seen.

After seeing those videos of people struggling to remove the top case,its no wonder why there isnt a video or a tutorial of them putting it back together.I did some extensive searching last night reading every data sheet i could dig up on the cell.Ive found images of the die (theres 234 million transistors) but i just can't find a picture with the heatspreader removed.All i really need to know is if its a single chip in the center of the carrier,and if so,how is it posistioned.Is it square,or rectangular.I wish i had access to an x-ray machine.I'll keep searching for another day,if no luck,I'll just wing it and hope for the best.Im thinking i might beable to use an external cpu temp sensor and get a reading through a pc before and after as5 applied.Atleast i'll get a round about temp before and after.

Your obviously the only person showing intrest,so thanks man.

That is interesting, Core 2 chips have some 291 million transistors, and the PS3 has a different setup with more processing ability.

I guess one thing you could do is find a broken PS3 cheap (ebay?) to pull apart, that will give an idea of what the chip looks like.

Here is a picture of IBM's Cell, but I doubt it is the same thing that is in the PS3 (Maybe one of the awesome processors for the Blade servers?).

I would assume they both have the same size/shape chip on the carrier.Just not sure which position it is in on the ps3.Its rectangular so position is important.Atleast if it was square it wouldnt really matter.Damn these heatspreaders.

Even a broken ps3 isnt cheap to buy,especially to just tear off a heatspreader.I'll probably end up hooking up a external cpu temp sensor and monitor it through a pc,and just wing it and hope for the best optimal heat dissipation.

Nice find man.

Yeah, I guess so. The computer temp sensor would probably be the easiest idea. Maybe get a few readings from different locations on the same chip for comparison and better accuracy (see if that heat spreader is doing its job).

I think i have a 3-in-1 cpu,hdd,ram lcd temp sensor in an old computer case i can hook them all up to the cell.Im pretty sure all 3 sensors are the same thing just labeled different on the display.I know there not as accurate as an internal temp sensor like mobo's have, but if i can take a few readings before and after i can get a general estimate if it improves or gets worse.

Yeah, that should give an accurate enough temperature reading. I would be interested to see how much difference the AS5 makes.

I doubt it will make much difference,at best a few degrees.Its not so much about hoping it lowers temps,its more hoping it doesnt raise temps.If i really wanted to lower temps drasticly i would go liquid cooling.Its just i want to do some case moding and need to remove everything,and to the best of my knowledge the heatsink must be removed.So why not improve a few things and document it in the process.

Looks like you have already got a head start. Regarding that i will be watercooling my PS3 soon. AS5 is a good choice but i have something better, something that is way way better than AS5.
Well I will definitely post screenies of my watercooled PS3 and how everything went. Well then. Let me know if you are interested.

Yeah im interested.How do you plan to mount the waterblock/s ?