PS3 Superslim 12GB @ $20?

[faulty_it]

Good day,

I want to buy a brand new out of the box PS3 for $20.00 with 12GB Storage space. I have however read a bunch of forums and blogs advising against this model due to it's low HD space. But also noted you could upgrade it later with a bigger HD. Is this a reliable version of the PS3 - the Superslim?(Thinking about the product's life)

Thinking of upgrading it with a SSD 240GB some time later.

I was hoping for some feedback?

Kind Regards

 

[Its_Byte_00]

As long as it is in a good spot that is decently clean and has good airflow to it, i wouldn't suggest upstairs in a hot area but maybe a basement as the thing has little cooling. you could always take it apart and add a copper heatsink or use a AIO Water cooler on it. the SSD would be a good choice and i would recommend nothing less then the Samsung 840 EVO 250gb. 20$ is a bit on the cheap side, you should have the person your buying it from show proof its working with you in person if your getting it from craigslist.but please always beware of ebay and amazon scams, it happens less on amazon but craigslist and ebay are often fair game.

 

[faulty_it]

Thanks for replying

My apologies meant $200 the conversion is R10 per $1.

I will be buying from a Vendor much like Wallmart called Hi-Fi corporation in my country of South Africa. It's great will be kept in a pretty cool place. Don't think I trust my technical skills enough to open her up and make adjustments to the heatsink etc. but definitely can do the HD upgrade by following Youtube instructional vids.

I will definitely take that Hardrive suggestion on board , "SATA Samsung 840 Evo 250GB 2.5' SSD" ? I can pick one up for another $200 seems like it.

Yeah that's what I will go and do today purchase the console haha

RE: do you think the 12GB model has a HD bay in i.e. the metal that comes out of the PS3 that holds a HD?

 

[Its_Byte_00]

Thanks for replying

My apologies meant $200 the conversion is R10 per $1.

I will be buying from a Vendor much like Wallmart called Hi-Fi corporation in my country of South Africa. It's great will be kept in a pretty cool place. Don't think I trust my technical skills enough to open her up and make adjustments to the heatsink etc. but definitely can do the HD upgrade by following Youtube instructional vids.

I will definitely take that Hardrive suggestion on board , "SATA Samsung 840 Evo 250GB 2.5' SSD" ? I can pick one up for another $200 seems like it.

Yeah that's what I will go and do today purchase the console haha

RE: do you think the 12GB model has a HD bay in i.e. the metal that comes out of the PS3 that holds a HD?

I am pretty sure it is changed by removing the ethernet/wireless block in the back of the system then removing the HD Cover, replacing the HDD with the SSD and screwing it back together. that's what i did with my PS2 to run linux.

 

[ssddx]

i dont have the 12gb version of the superslim but the one which comes with a hard drive.

its okay but it makes quite alot of noise when reading disks. the older fat ps3 were much quieter. i would also be worried about the ps3 overheating as it doesnt seem to have the same cooling capacity as the older ones did. the quality level is certainly down from what the older fat versions were like. i really need to get my old gen2 repaired and back on my desk.

buying a ssd for a ps3 is a waste of money. get yourself a decent 7200 rpm laptop drive. while installs may be completed in a few minutes you are only looking at a few seconds difference for in game loading screens. seeing as how you can get a scorpio for $50 and the 840 for $140 is it really worth the extra $90? nope.

 

[Its_Byte_00]

i dont have the 12gb version of the superslim but the one which comes with a hard drive.

its okay but it makes quite alot of noise when reading disks. the older fat ps3 were much quieter. i would also be worried about the ps3 overheating as it doesnt seem to have the same cooling capacity as the older ones did. the quality level is certainly down from what the older fat versions were like. i really need to get my old gen2 repaired and back on my desk.

buying a ssd for a ps3 is a waste of money. get yourself a decent 7200 rpm laptop drive. while installs may be completed in a few minutes you are only looking at a few seconds difference for in game loading screens. seeing as how you can get a scorpio for $50 and the 840 for $140 is it really worth the extra $90? nope.

you mean a thin 3.5 or a 2.5" drive? Scorpio is definitely not worth the money.

Did you look at his post? Hes coming from south Africa. i bet you that if you where to launch bf4 on your ps3 with a lappy drive vs a ssd, you would see a lot more of a difference, not to mention how much faster you would be to the ps3 home screen and into games.

 

[ssddx]

the ps3 takes a laptop sized hdd which is the 2.5" standard.

ANY brand hard drive can be used however i would stick with samsung ,seagate or western digital. you seem to be forgetting that scorpio is just what wd calls their laptop drives (like how they call the 3.5" drives caviar) and that it comes in both blue (cheaper) and black (expensive) models. while prices can certainly vary from country to country its still going to be 1/3 of the cost of the ssd.

Now on to my results.
Boot Times - Video

HDD - 10.2 seconds
SSD - 9.6 seconds
5% faster load time

Not much of an increase on this one. I was kind of expecting more since the firmware is now kept on the drive for the Slims. Sony seems to have a done a good job optimising it for fast startup.
Demo Installation - Video
Batman demo used

HDD - 129.6 seconds
SSD - 99 seconds
24% faster times

This is quite a bit of improvement. Definitly a heavier improvement then what my old 7200rpm drive could do.
GT5 loading - Startup Video, Track Loading Video

Startup
HDD - 25.9 seconds
SSD - 22.9 seconds
10% decrease in load times

Track Load
HDD - 14.1 seconds
SSD - 11.6 seconds
18% decrease in load times

Not bad. Definitly seeing some better times then on the 7200rpm drive.
Wipeout HD - Startup Video, Track 1 Load Video, Track 2 Load Video

Startup
HDD - 44.1 seconds
SSD - 24 seconds
45% faster startup (Impressive).

Track 1
HDD - 14.2 seconds
SSD - 9.9 seconds
30% faster load

Track 2
HDD - 13.3 seconds
SSD - 8.8 seconds
33% decrease in load times

boot up times are negligible. in game loading screens are a slight decrease but nothing spectacular. games do install a fair bit faster but nothing worth getting excited about. game loading speeds are also an increas but again nothing to get excited about.

the only thing which a ssd would be worthwhile for is if you have many games locally installed which run 100% off the drive (and dont need the dvd) such as items you buy on the store. if this is how the majority of the games on the system are to be played than it definitely makes sense to look into a ssd if its within budget. if this is not how most games will be played and if many are on disk format then it does not make sense to spend $100 extra for the drive.

i considered a ssd myself and went over this very same data. it makes sense if you buy on the store (which is normally overpriced) but not if you buy physical media.