60GB FAT, Two Months to Failure

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A YLOD failure, before the holidays, meant drastic measures were required. I found ifixit in my research, and took the plunge. I had torn down PS2s before, but this would be my first tear down of a PS3 (the most I'd done was to upgrade the HD to a WD 320GB). BF3 was on my gift list, and I was determined not to have a YLOD prevent me from playing BF3.

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I was very meticulous, took my time, and upgraded the 15-blade CPU fan to a 19-blade one. Wished the ifixit kit came with all the types of tape used within the PS3, as it can become unstuck or have lost its stickiness. This fix lasted a little over two months of heavy weekend use. It also allowed me to perform a complete backup to an external hard drive.

I will now restore my backup to a new PS3 Slim 320GB.

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If you still have a FAT 60GB PS3 that works, backup your drive right now, and get the YLOD ifixit kit. In my case it gave me a little over two months of additional use, and allowed me to perform my backup,

I have two working PS2s, so my PS2 library is still served. If you need a PS2, they are really cheap on eBay, and, I suspect, will last longer than a FAT PS3.

It is a shame that a Sony console fails to last more than five years.