PS3 Slim Slower and Faster Than Old, Fat PS3

News
By published

Youth vs. experience. Which one will win?

The new PS3 Slim certainly is thinner and lighter than the outgoing original launch form factor PS3, but has the new packaged gained any athleticism thanks to its new build?

If the results from a user-performed test are to believed, the PS3 Slim is slower than the old model when it comes to system boot times and loading of Blu-ray Disc movies, but the newer console comes out ahead when it's time to game.

A limited edition Metal Gear Solid 4 80 GB PlayStation 3 was pitted against one of the new 120 GB PS3 Slims. The older PS3 held a significant 7 second lead in terms of Blu-ray movie loading, while the new PS3 Slim loaded Batman: Arkham Asylum just a couple seconds quicker.

The conductor of the test says that both consoles ran the same speed hard drives, but there are various factors at play here, such as Blu-ray Disc drive speed and the large differences in hardware – even if functionality is identical.

From this test, however, it seems that unless you plan to be using a PlayStation 3 as just a Blu-ray Disc player, the new one is a more efficient gaming machine.

Marcus Yam

Marcus Yam is a technology evangelist for Intel Corporation, the latest in a long line of tech-focused roles spanning a more than 20-year career in the industry. As Executive Editor, News on Tom's Guide and Tom's Hardware, Marcus was responsible for shaping the sites' news output, and he also spent a period as Editor of Outdoors & Sports at Digital Trends.

42 Comments Comment from the forums
  • now you have 2 reasons for not buying a PS3!! (no pun intended)
    Reply
  • harlequin6791
    Curious does the slim have the PS3 logo on the XMB screen when bootup. Or is that an addition to the new firmware? I ask because the PS3 fat didn't have it and I was wondering if they had the same updates installed.
    Reply
  • ssalim
    You wait 7 more seconds to watch blu-ray but it's faster on loading games. I'd take it. 7 seconds are nothing.
    Reply
  • claudeb
    wolkok232now you have 2 reasons for not buying a PS3!! (no pun intended)i dont see any pun...
    Reply
  • tayb
    Faster on loading games by what, one second? I also wonder if this is a speed gain across the board or if certain games/movies will act differently. Need more info!
    Reply
  • dman3k
    now if we can get hulu.com to work...
    Reply
  • Spanky Deluxe
    ...unless you plan to be using a PlayStation 3 as just a Blu-ray Disc player...

    That'll be me then. :)
    Reply
  • AdamB5000
    Any idea if there is any overall performance decrease in Bluray playback, or is this purely load times?

    I'm thinking of getting one in the future for a gamer/bluray player.
    Reply
  • MGDJoker
    I think my i7 wins.
    Reply
  • SVoyager
    I think that the speed gained by loading a game seems to be the fact that the ps3 slim doesn't show the playstation logo when starting up the game vs the old ps3. The old ps3 has about a 1.5 - 2 seconds time on the playstation logo and assuming that the old ps3 doesn't load the game when the logo is displayed, then the time gained would be null as the difference between both ps3's seems to be that exact 1.5 - 2 seconds.
    Reply