Sony's next-generation gaming console, the PlayStation 4 is about to hit the markets next week, at least in some regions. As we get closer to the release, Sony is offering more details related to the console. It has now even done a teardown video of the PlayStation 4 revealing the console's internals.
Sony's Yasuhiro Ootori (Director, Engineering Department) offered a complete teardown of the PS4,
courtesy Wired.
After unboxing the console, Ootori informs that the console doesn't have any visible screws at the front and even the ones at the back are hidden beneath seals, which are present to discourage users from opening the console, and built in a way that Sony will get to know if a user attempts to dismantle the PS4.
After removing four screws, Ootori takes out the lower outer cover of the console to reveal the fan, the optical disc drive that plays both DVD and Blu-ray disks, and the power supply unit, which has been incorporated into the PlayStation 4's body.
He also shows the Bluetooth antenna and the 500GB hard disk drive on the PS4, and after removing all these components, unscrews the to cover to reveal the mainframe. He removes the shield plate to show the motherboard of the console that neatly houses the x86 CPU core, similar to a standard PC. The integrated CPU-GPU design is also showcased along with the GDDR5 memory in 8 slots adding up to 8GB. Ootori mentions that Sony chose GDDR5 RAM modules as the GPU needs lot of bandwidth.
Ootori also details the PS4's secondary processor that does the network processing tasks in standby mode, in order to optimise power consumption. The Wi-Fi antenna is located on the motherboard along with the USB 3.0 port, the AUX connector for the PlayStation camera, the gigabit Ethernet port, the HDMI connector and the optical audio output to connect audio components and amplifiers.
He then removes the other shield plate with which the heat sink is attached. Two heat pipes are used for the heat sink. The centrifugal fan that cools the PS 4 has an 85mm diameter and generates optimum amount of air and pressure.
All the components look to be neatly stacked together, giving the impression the PlayStation 4 is indeed a well-engineered device.
Sony said in August that it had received 1 million preorders for the PS4, which
will be on sale from November 15 in North America and in other regions including Europe, Australia and South America from November 29, in time for the busy pre-Christmas season. The console will be released in select Asian markets including Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Taiwan and South Korea, in December.