Recently my PS3, which I bought in December of 2006, started going down the tube. My PS3 is a one of the original 60GB models, with the PS2 Emotion Engine chip in it for backwards compatibility. I'm pretty annoyed since the unit started going bad just after the warranty expired. I started this blog to help others who have trouble with their out-of-warranty PS3s.
My PS3 recently started having weird graphical glitches after it had been running for a while. It only happened in certain graphically-heavy games, especially in Unreal Tournament 3 and to a lesser extent Condemned 2: Bloodshot. Call of Duty 4 and Motorstorm both seem to work fine for the time being.
The graphical glitches are really strange. As the GPU heats up, it starts making mistakes; 3D models get corrupted and develop weird lines sticking out of them. Textures don't render properly and start blinking. The graphical corruption continues to get worse until the game locks up completely after about 20-30 minutes of play. The music continues in the background once the system locks up, suggesting that the Cell is still operating normally.
Since the problem is probably a failing fan on the GPU, I can do some repair work myself if I need to. I'm going to call Sony tech support today (1-800-345-7669) and see what my options are. I'll report the prices they tell me here. Additionally, I'll ask if I can order replacement cooling fans for the PS3.
If Sony doesn't offer reasonably-priced (a.k.a. cheap!) repair service for the PS3, I'll open the box up and try to fix it myself and I'll document the whole process here. I'll look for heavy dust buildup on the fan blades, and replace the fans with replacement or after-market fans if necessary. Does anyone know of any quiet (as quiet as the original fan) after-market fans available for the PS3?
I also want to mention that my friend's PS3 died last week. He bought his about the same time I did, maybe a week or two earlier. It was the same model as mine. Its failure appeared to be related to an overheating GPU too, with weird screen corruption. His system eventually burned out and got to the point where it would boot but not display anything. We didn't get the chance to dig too deep into his system though; he picked his up at Costco, and with their (now sadly discontinued) excellent return policy he was able to get a full refund for the system.
I'll post some videos of the graphical corruption soon so you can see what I'm talking about!
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