Die shot reveals new PS5 model moves to new 6nm "Oberon Plus" chip

[Daniel Sims]

In a nutshell: Since the PlayStation 5's launch, Sony has tried to mitigate its supply issues with slight revisions to shave off grams of weight and production costs. A new die shot reveals the console has received its first die shrink, which should help Sony reduce its energy consumption and improve its profit margin.

An analysis of the die within the PS5's latest revision from Angstronomics reveals that it uses TSMC's 6nm N6 EUV process, transitioning from the launch console's N7. The change in the PS5 model CFI-1202 accompanies other alterations to the motherboard and cooling system.

The 6nm chip – codenamed Oberon Plus – has a 15 percent smaller die than the original Oberon. Moving from about 300 sq. mm to 260 sq. mm should allow Sony to manufacture about 20 percent more chips at the same cost. The N6 chip also consumes less energy than the N7, possibly lowering how much the console adds to energy bills.

Last year, the PS5's first revision (CFI-1100) tried to save money by slimming down, which led to compromises in the cooling system, causing it to run a bit hotter than the launch model. Earlier this month, model CFI-1200 hit retail, and breakdowns showed that it cut hundreds of grams off the launch console with a redesigned motherboard, a new heatsink, and a smaller cooler. The die shrink in 1202 should also decrease power consumption by about 10 percent.

The current console generation has faced unprecedented manufacturing challenges, mainly stemming from the pandemic's effects on supply chains and consumer demand. The PS5 remains somewhat challenging to purchase as it approaches its second birthday.

Last year, Sony said the disc drive-equipped PS5 model had become profitable, but the digital-only version was still selling at a loss. However, Sony raised the price for all models last month in every region except North America, likely due to production cost increases, something Microsoft and Nintendo have so far avoided with their consoles. Hardware revisions like CFI-1202 may help Sony maintain profitability and eventually pass savings onto consumers.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/96109-die-shot-reveals-new-ps5-model-moves-new.html

 

[ZackL04]

“Pass savings onto consumers”

LOL

 

[rmcrys]

ZackL04, I came to say the same lolol

“Pass savings onto consumers” : as long as the demand is much higher than the offer, those advantages will only bring more units to sell. The only advantages to the consumer will be less waiting and less power consumption.

As an info,
- in Europe there are available units on most countries
- even so, despite the MSRP is 549€ (increased from 499€ due to "inflation" but no change in the US... no inflation? Yes, about the same as in Europe, but there, there was no price increase. Only Europe gets, as usual, whipped...as usual... and the European pays), I find absolutely no units selling for less than 850€ and most of them are above 950€ (almost twice the MSRP).

All in all: I invite all people to let those units in the store. It is outrageous that a console has price increases and sells for almost double from the MSRP. Perhaps that helps people go to streaming options I tested most my games on Nvidia service and some games on Stadia and I am pleased.

 

[dangh]

ZackL04, I came to say the same lolol

“Pass savings onto consumers” : as long as the demand is much higher than the offer, those advantages will only bring more units to sell. The only advantages to the consumer will be less waiting and less power consumption.

As an info,
- in Europe there are available units on most countries
- even so, despite the MSRP is 549€ (increased from 499€ due to "inflation" but no change in the US... no inflation? Yes, about the same as in Europe, but there, there was no price increase.

Surprisingly, you don't care about taxes at all, are you?
Price in USD do not have VAT included. So that is 499USD net, and then VAT is on top of that.
Price in EUR do have VAT included. So, 549EUR with 20% VAT means net price is 459EUR.
Net price of ps5 is (with current USD - EUR parity) lower by ~40 USD in Europe.

Sony still sells PS5 lower in Europe than in US, but they have to add VAT on top of the price and if you have complains about that, sorry, vote for different government. Or better not, just pay taxes, because ps5 in US with tax added will be around USD 550 total anyway in most of the states.

And scalpers are totally different topic there. I bought 3 ps5 for myself and friends just by following twitter and order them whenever they become available, you dont have to buy from scalpers.

 

[Puiu]

Surprisingly, you don't care about taxes at all, are you?
Price in USD do not have VAT included. So that is 499USD net, and then VAT is on top of that.
Price in EUR do have VAT included. So, 549EUR with 20% VAT means net price is 459EUR.
Net price of ps5 is (with current USD - EUR parity) lower by ~40 USD in Europe.

Sony still sells PS5 lower in Europe than in US, but they have to add VAT on top of the price and if you have complains about that, sorry, vote for different government. Or better not, just pay taxes, because ps5 in US with tax added will be around USD 550 total anyway in most of the states.

And scalpers are totally different topic there. I bought 3 ps5 for myself and friends just by following twitter and order them whenever they become available, you dont have to buy from scalpers.

I can't seem to find any PS5 (disc version) under 600 euro in Europe. And in my country it's over 850 euro. (the reason why I never bought one)

 

[dangh]

I can't seem to find any PS5 (disc version) under 600 euro in Europe. And in my country it's over 850 euro. (the reason why I never bought one)

In an official store? No idea what's your country, but if this is france, germany, ireland, italy, spain you can buy them for msrp if you order it the moment they are restocked.
And what do you mean 'find'? Product is not on the shelves for obvious reasons, which are as well listed in above article, but I can 'find' and buy a PS5 for msrp price if I have a few weeks to follow restock alerts. Try check restock Twitter accounts in your country, this is very easy way to buy consoles and as restock happens in different shops every 3-5 weeks you could get it by average in 2 weeks time.
Just checked, Smyths Ireland have it listed for 549, restock in this month, so creating account -> setting alert on Twitter and you will have it in a 5 days. Same with Mediamarkt Germany, Saturn, Gamestop. Little effort and it's done. That's how I got a few of them to help family and friends last year, this year I know it is even easier.

 

[Puiu]

In an official store? No idea what's your country, but if this is france, germany, ireland, italy, spain you can buy them for msrp if you order it the moment they are restocked.
And what do you mean 'find'? Product is not on the shelves for obvious reasons, which are as well listed in above article, but I can 'find' and buy a PS5 for msrp price if I have a few weeks to follow restock alerts. Try check restock Twitter accounts in your country, this is very easy way to buy consoles and as restock happens in different shops every 3-5 weeks you could get it by average in 2 weeks time.
Just checked, Smyths Ireland have it listed for 549, restock in this month, so creating account -> setting alert on Twitter and you will have it in a 5 days. Same with Mediamarkt Germany, Saturn, Gamestop. Little effort and it's done. That's how I got a few of them to help family and friends last year, this year I know it is even easier.

The usual large online stores from France, Germany and Italy.

I never take into account stores that do not have it in stock. The prices almost always change once the console is available or the number which they sell is really small and I have no patience to wait for them to "grant" me a console.

If it's not available now at MSRP then it's not selling at MSRP. Mediamarkt not having it in stock is a pretty big indicator of this. Cdiscount in France has it for 950 euro, more in line with the prices where I live in Romania.

PS: I don't check all stores, just the big ones (in the top 5).

 

[dangh]

The usual large online stores from France, Germany and Italy.

I never take into account stores that do not have it in stock. The prices almost always change once the console is available or the number which they sell is really small and I have no patience to wait for them to "grant" me a console.

If it's not available now at MSRP then it's not selling at MSRP.

those large shops have agreement with Sony official distributor and those shops can't change selling price. Therefore, price there is _always_ msrp.
Smaller shops getting shipment from third-party will have different prices, but amount of those is really small.
If you don't want to put any effort to buy a console in MSRP then you'll have to wait until everyone who know how to use twitter buy their unit and and product will be widely available. Have you ever heard about supply chain issues and impact on semiconductor industry?

Anyway you said you can't find a console in MSRP, and I was able to find a number of them. As in any other part of life, what you get is result of your skills and effort.

 

[Lounds]

I just want a slim model packaged with the PSVR2.

 

[Puiu]

those large shops have agreement with Sony official distributor and those shops can't change selling price. Therefore, price there is _always_ msrp.
Smaller shops getting shipment from third-party will have different prices, but amount of those is really small.
If you don't want to put any effort to buy a console in MSRP then you'll have to wait until everyone who know how to use twitter buy their unit and and product will be widely available. Have you ever heard about supply chain issues and impact on semiconductor industry?

Anyway you said you can't find a console in MSRP, and I was able to find a number of them. As in any other part of life, what you get is result of your skills and effort.

Skill and effort has nothing to do with this. There is no "skill" or "effort" in waiting weeks or months for something that sells in less than a day. For example, it took me months to find a decent laptop.

It's not selling at MSRP in the majority of shops, it's actually selling at very inflated prices. This is our current reality. Just because a random shop in Europe has a handful in stock at MSRP (which is doubtful) doesn't make it the rule, it's the exception. With winter coming this situation will be even worse.

You mentioned Mediamarkt (which I addressed in the comment edit I did). Is it in stock there? Just give me a yes or no answer.

 

[dangh]

Skill and effort has nothing to do with this. There is no "skill" or "effort" in waiting weeks or months for something that sells in less than a day. For example, it took me months to find a decent laptop.

It's not selling at MSRP in the majority of shops, it's actually selling at very inflated prices. This is our current reality. Just because a random shop in Europe has a handful in stock at MSRP (which is doubtful) doesn't make it the rule, it's the exception. With winter coming this situation will be even worse.

You mentioned Mediamarkt (which I addressed in the comment edit I did). Is it in stock there? Just give me a yes or no answer.

Skill and effort have everything to do with this. And you kinda contradict yourself - it is fine if took a month to find a laptop, but it is not good to wait a week to get a console. That is only your choice.

Ps5 and XSX selling in msrp in majority of shops, just because Sony distrbutes only to those shops who sells at msrp, very simple.

And I have no idea if Mediamarkt have ps5 at stock right now. I don't know if they have Sapphire 3090ti either. I do not shopping for those right now, but what I know is that WHEN I was shopping for those I was able to buy them easily in msrp (and IF I was shopping for those again I would be able to do it easily, in fact just did a quick check and I can get a ps5 at my doors in 4 days in msrp price).

And the fact you can't buy them means that either you don't want to buy it, or you have no skills or you don't want to use smallest effort to do so, hence you're not interested in this product in the first place.

 

[bviktor]

Surprisingly, you don't care about taxes at all, are you?
Price in USD do not have VAT included. So that is 499USD net, and then VAT is on top of that.
Price in EUR do have VAT included. So, 549EUR with 20% VAT means net price is 459EUR.
Net price of ps5 is (with current USD - EUR parity) lower by ~40 USD in Europe.

Sony still sells PS5 lower in Europe than in US, but they have to add VAT on top of the price and if you have complains about that, sorry, vote for different government. Or better not, just pay taxes, because ps5 in US with tax added will be around USD 550 total anyway in most of the states.

You wanted to be very clever, didn't you? The PS blogpost you're referring to (I assume) was bogus to begin with, since

1) it doesn't explain whether the prices are net or gross
2) it refers to EU as a single territory, while it's dozens of countries with VAT ranging between 17% and 27%, furthermore there's like a dozen different currencies involved, so it makes no sense whatsoever in any shape or form

Now, if you're interested in *reality*, lowest German price (21% VAT) for the PS5 is 650 EUR gross, which is net 546 EUR which is 525 USD.

If you compare that to US prices - the US sales tax ranges from 0% (yes) to 7.25% in California, which would equal to 500 USD in the best and 536 USD in the WORST case scenario. Not "550 in most states".

 

[Sir Sparkles]

2 years later and I still don't feel compelled to buy one of these machines... no FOMO at all.

 

[rmcrys]

In an official store? No idea what's your country, but if this is france, germany, ireland, italy, spain you can buy them for msrp if you order it the moment they are restocked.
.... Same with Mediamarkt Germany, Saturn, Gamestop. Little effort and it's done.

Wrong. I work and live jumping between some of those countries and I'm talking about stores like MM, Saturn, Fnac, Gamestop.

what happens?
- when they have NO stock: MSRP price (because you won't be able to buy)

- when they HAVE stock, they cost almost double as much

The "scalpers" are all stores. I just checked now in Spain and Germany and the story is repeatedly the same.


Price: even when Euro is much stronger than the US dollar, the prices are much higher on almost all products when compared. As most prices are managed by companies set in the US, they set for the EU, higher prices.

Just see how much an iPhone 14 Pro Max 256 GB costs in the US (product made entirely on an Asian country) with the highest VAT then compare with EU's lowest price (in Europe VAT is always included).

But you're right, the EU governments are too soft and allow that the US companies move as they want, even if it's unfair (tech companies mainly that avoid taxes in the EU)

 

[Puiu]

Skill and effort have everything to do with this. And you kinda contradict yourself - it is fine if took a month to find a laptop, but it is not good to wait a week to get a console. That is only your choice.

Ps5 and XSX selling in msrp in majority of shops, just because Sony distrbutes only to those shops who sells at msrp, very simple.

And I have no idea if Mediamarkt have ps5 at stock right now. I don't know if they have Sapphire 3090ti either. I do not shopping for those right now, but what I know is that WHEN I was shopping for those I was able to buy them easily in msrp (and IF I was shopping for those again I would be able to do it easily, in fact just did a quick check and I can get a ps5 at my doors in 4 days in msrp price).

And the fact you can't buy them means that either you don't want to buy it, or you have no skills or you don't want to use smallest effort to do so, hence you're not interested in this product in the first place.

"Ps5 and XSX selling in msrp in majority of shops, just because Sony distrbutes only to those shops who sells at msrp, very simple."

I'm the one giving PS5 prices in major shops not you. I have no idea why you believe that the PS5 is selling at MSRP when it's clearly not.