Eurogamer’s Digital Foundry has, through the help of a rather busy console repair shop, examined the failures that have plagued Microsoft’s Xbox 360, and more recently, Sony’s PlayStation 3. While the internet as a whole is well aware of the 360’s hardware problems, people are becoming increasingly aware of hardware reliability issues with the PS3. According to the repair outlet’s engineer, of every 20 dead consoles brought in, 12 of them are Xboxes, while 8 of them are PS3s – an alarming 40%.
The problem with both consoles, it seems – is one of heat. With both machines being ridiculously powerful, they generate a heck of a lot of heat; and this heat, crammed in to such a small area causes – and I’m loathe to propagate an internet meme – much fail.
The problems seem to be cumulative, perhaps explaining why we haven’t heard that much about PS3 failure – yet. A Google search for PS3 YLOD – while nowhere near the scale of a similar RROD search – does indicate an increasingly alarming problem. The YLOD, contrary to popular belief, isn’t necessarily Blu-Ray drive failure – it’s the same thing that afflicts the 360; excessive heat causes the solder holding the GPU in place to flow, breaking its connection to the board. One of the leading factors in this is the lead-free solder that companies are now legally required to use in electronics manufacture. If there’s anyone to be blamed for your console failing, blame a hippy.
Furthermore, those backyard mechanic X-clamp fixes are essentially useless, and the real fix comes from reflowing the solder, and then improving the cooling. Hopefully the perpetuation of smaller and cooler running 45nm and 65nm chips means that these hardware issues should become less significant. The PS3 slim though is packing some pretty powerful hardware in to an even smaller package and – coupled with the hardware issues prevalent in the original PS2 slim – leaves me wondering if it’s worthwhile purchasing right now, or waiting until there’s a revision.
Please read the full 3-page article over at Eurogamer; it’s an enlightening read.
Last Updated: September 1, 2009
janrik
September 1, 2009 at 15:53
Again those damn hippies!
Line the damn stuff with Asbestos I say!
ewie
September 1, 2009 at 15:53
Wait for it.
easy
September 1, 2009 at 16:06
HAL is way scarier than any console failure
Fox1
September 1, 2009 at 16:10
Did the hippies not introduce the manufactures to those neon coloured PC case fans while they were at it? :tongue:
And theres no point in having a fan extracting if there is no fan sucking cool air in :dizzy:
darthdad
September 1, 2009 at 16:15
They should put a cigarette lighter on the side of the PS and Xbox. It might help in redirecting the heat away from the areas of concern, as well as being beneficial to all those smokers out there.
Ruslan
September 1, 2009 at 16:25
Having read this article last week the 60/40 ratio was a guess made by the guys who fix things. Although the truth is that one year warranty for the PS3 line of consoles is simply not enough.
neoassasin
September 1, 2009 at 16:34
YLOD is real crap. My 60G suffered it on Friday 13th in February. Being out of warranty I ended up buying a new 80G. The other day I saw a way to fix it by using a hairdryer and blowing in the vents at the back for 5 minutes per vent and its working again.
Roland Browning
September 1, 2009 at 17:47
LOL….you can fix a broken PS3 with a hairdryer!!…WOW! :face:
Brett Samuel
September 1, 2009 at 23:21
If 40% of console failures are PS3, and in my, educated opinion 100% of pre Falcon XBOXs will fail, then due to its limited install base I would expect the failure rate of PS3’s be right up there with XBOX.
In my anecdotal experience this is not true. My XBOX died twice my PS3 lives on. This is consistent with other published statistics. Admittedly I hardly ever use the PS3 except for software updates and PSP game downloads buts its still a more reliable piece of hardware.
I call B.S. on the source. All hardware fails the XBOX was shipped with a design flaw, the PS3 not.
The last thing we need is this kind of press scaring more people from investing in gaming systems. Instead reasonable game prices please.
Brett
Nick de Bruyne
September 2, 2009 at 01:45
At the same time you don’t want people rushing out to buy a console that may not be as reliable as they think. At the moment I am not so sure if the PS3’s are really as bad as is being said, but if they are then surely people need to know. I know of a few people who were casual gamers that didn’t buy Xbox 360’s purely because they had heard that they have problems.
Just out of interest, I would like to know what the average use in hours of the consoles are before they give issues.
WitWolfyZA
September 2, 2009 at 08:42
heat gun really lol
janrik
September 2, 2009 at 09:35
I RROD every 20 000 GS or so. Or used to. New model Arcade seems to be more durable.
Ozzy
September 2, 2009 at 09:55
“12 of them are Xboxes, while 8 of them are PS3s”
here is a more accurate statement of the above, “12 of them are Xboxes less than 6 months old, while 8 of them are 60gig launch PS3s”
articles like this and others can try their best to make as if the 2 console are similar. they are not.
ps3 suffers from normal defects with a few exceptions. the notorious crapbox suffers from many exceptions and only a few normal defects. this is due to m$ trying to be clever and beat sony to the market. and they certainly did but at the same time created the worst manufactuing bungle in recent history of production. well done to them and to the brainless fans that keep them in business. :devil:
SlippyMadFrog
September 2, 2009 at 11:17
“12 of them are Xboxes less than 6 months old, while 8 of them are 60gig launch PS3sâ€
Lol, c’mon ozzy, surely you can do better than this. I mean, did the Xboxes older than 6 moths all of a sudden started to work flawlessly? :getlost:
If the PS3 is soooo perfect, why are you here doing damage control? I want to get myself a PS3 slim but Ozzy’s insecurity in his console is giving doubt.
Ozzy
September 2, 2009 at 12:04
i dont understand what you mean. but i am trying to say that of all the repairs, the ps3 ones are only braking down after a much longer period than the 360s. not sure how much clearer my point can be?
you twist my words and intentions froggy boy. i am not here to do damage control for the ps3, i am here to kick the 360 and its creator (m$) in the nuts for all the stress they have caused me over the past 2 to 3 years and i will tell everybody what i think because ive had it up to here. :getlost: and yes in comparison to the crapbox, the ps3 is perfect. :kissing:
Ozzy
September 2, 2009 at 12:30
i replied but it magically dissappeared.
no froggy boy, you twist my intentions. i am not here to damage control the ps3, they dont need it. i am here to kick m$ and the crapbox in the nuts for the last 2 to 3 years of frustration they put me through. and yes compared to the 360, the ps3 is definitely perfect :silly:
SlippyMadFrog
September 2, 2009 at 13:34
“i am not here to damage control the ps3” says the guy doing damage control. I think you are rather kicking gaming in the nuts with your ignorance. Nice going.
Ozzy
September 2, 2009 at 14:25
“I want to get myself a PS3 slim”
says the lieing xbot who is giving everybody the impression that ozzy mucked it up for him when in actual fact he has zero intention of getting one anyway and only used that line as a ploy. nice going.
SlippyMadFrog
September 2, 2009 at 14:39
lol. Ever heard of sarcasm. You really think a forum trol is going to influence anything I do. You may want to sit down when reading this -> I like the PS3, you don’t need to be an “Xbot” to hate retards like yourself. Anyway, nice talking to you, bye!
Ozzy
September 2, 2009 at 14:55
its not a forum, its a blog einstein so you might wanna rethink who the real retard is here.
and there is no need for me to sit, because while i am dumping all over your comments, i only need to squat.
glad to see i got under your skin but until i have cleansed myself of all things xbox, you will see me around, speaking the unspoken truths, and educating the uneducated on the real deal about the crapbox.
janrik
September 2, 2009 at 15:29
Dude, the best part about the xbox is: RROD.
You get a new one every few months!!!!
If my PS3 dies after 13 months… I have to pay to repair it.
My 360 can go 36 months before it will cost me anything!
I think that is awesome! :ninja:
Where else will you get that deal?
darthdad
September 2, 2009 at 15:33
Yea! What he said. :silly:
Ozzy
September 2, 2009 at 15:47
point taken. although rrod is partly the reason i wanna blow my top and made me the way i am today. :cwy:
but you must also consider that sony will give you a refurb with a guarantee even if your broken machine is 5 years old. before you right off my comment, put things into perspective: sony make quality products so the reliability is generally better. however they also say that if your ps3 breaks you pay in a nominal fee and get one back. something that no other company does as far as im aware.
again, putting things into perspective if your dvd player or tv or any other electrical goody breaks, the shop you bought it from or the manufacturer will tell you to get lost and that you must buy another one. but sony doesnt say that. in fact for half price you can get another ps3.
so if mine breaks after 3 years, then i think it is an excellent deal to take my broken one back and get another one under a new guarantee for more than half price. again, no other company offers such a service.
so m$ may offer a good deal but it is only in response to their mess up and it was done after the complaints were received. the question is, do you think m$ would have offered the same service that they do now if their machines had actually been quality? i think not.
so all im saying is that both companies are offering a decent service 🙂
Fox1
September 2, 2009 at 15:54
Also, most PC components come with a 3 year warranty nowdays 🙂
easy
September 2, 2009 at 16:01
i beg to differ, both companies are going out of their collective ways to screw us out of hard earned money (thanks mom and dad).
ms only have an extended warranty because it would work out cheaper than going through a class action lawsuit.
sony only do the bare minimum because there’s no threat of a class action case (just yet).
nintendo don’t do anything because no one really cares if their wii breaks… in fact most see it as a blessing 😉
Ozzy
September 2, 2009 at 16:48
i dont agree. maybe in the case of m$ to an extent if they had a lawsuit pending which threatened them but the same cannot be said for sony.
dispite my stance against m$, i like the fact that they both sony and m$ have a system in place to ensure you sorted one way or the other. the flipside is them shrugging their shoulders and expecting you to buy a new full price one if your warranty expires.
Nick
September 2, 2009 at 17:19
As someone who has experienced RROD 5 times and owns 20 Xbox 360 disc games i call bullshit on this article.
Still have my Launch PS3 with a game collection nearing around 70 disc games and 10 PSN games with Zero problems.
Still have my Wii with around 15 games since launch.
Still have my launch PSP with about 20 games.
Only console ive had a problem with other than the 360 was PS2 going through one fatty and 2 slims during its lifetime up to now going on a game collection of about a 100 games.
Trying to couple PS3 or any console for that matter together with the piece of shit hardware design that is the 360 is a joke frankly and an insult to the intelligence of gamers.
On the other hand i hope this rumour spreads and Sony gives us a 3 year warranty. It wont help my fat PS3 which is getting old now but will definately help my Slim purchase 🙂
Nick
September 2, 2009 at 18:15
Just a follow up on my post. This is a proper article on failure rates for all 3 consoles from SquareTrade, which claims to be the largest independent warranty provider in the world.
http://www.joystiq.com/2009/09/02/study-xbox-360-rrod-on-the-decline/
First they say that thankfully the Jasper models are performing better and RROD is on the decline in those models which is good news.
Secondly they say that the Wii was nine times more reliable than the 360 and four times more reliable than the PS3. This means that the PS3 is still more reliable than the Jaspers which are seeing a decline in RROD. Make sense? Seems this is better proof than the 20 console case from one repair company Richard Ledbetter from Digital Foundry used to declare the PS3 is as unreliable as the 360.
Hopefully Lazygamer hasnt put off to many gamers from purchasing a PS3 by cutting and pasting a heavily unresearched piece from Digital Foundry. Nuff said :whistle:
Fudzy
September 3, 2009 at 00:32
While it suffers from some issues, I would say that the PS3’s hardware quality is UNDENIABLY better than the Xboxes.
Geoff
September 3, 2009 at 08:51
I’d be inclined to agree :happy:
Afrostalinist
September 3, 2009 at 10:34
This article sounds like anti-PS3 propaganda, created from the minds of xbots or even Microshaft itself.