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Almost two years into the PS4's lifecycle, Sony has updated the console with a substantial revision that is not only cheaper to produce, but is also quieter and considerably more power-efficient. The new CUH-1200 revision is currently available only in Japan so unfortunately we can't test it directly, but much of the analysis we'd like to carry out has already been done by the Pocket News blog, and the results are fascinating.Let's talk about the physical make-up of the machine first. The changes extend way beyond the removal of the glossy plastics and a re-arrangement of the existing rear ports on the unit's exterior. On the inside, there's a new, smaller motherboard with a series of changes. Taking centre-stage is a reconfiguration of the GDDR5 memory set-up. Earlier incarnations of the PS4 used a considerable 16 memory modules to provide the 8GB complement - the new CUH-1200 makes use of double-density Samsung modules to halve that to just eight, which should reduce energy consumption significantly.
The main processor within PS4 has received a new designation, perhaps suggesting some kind of change to its design, but its physical dimensions remain the same, confirming that it is still a 28nm chip. There remains the possibility that Sony may have moved onto a more efficient iteration of the 28nm process, but our gut feeling is that it's still the same chip at its core.
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