PS3: Is RAM upgradable?

Taoism · Nov 21, 2006

Hi All,

I read somewhere that the PS3 has 256MB of RAM to start. Given that Sony has engineered the console to allow the HDD to be upgraded, I am wondering if anyone knows if the same is true for the RAM...

So, anyone know if the RAM can be easily upgraded in the PS3?

Cheers,
Keith.

Shell · Nov 21, 2006

The RAM to the PS3 is the same as every other console, firmly soldered onto the main PCB.
The PS3 has 256mb of GDDR3 and 256Mb of some form of DDR.

The 360 has 512mb of unified GDDR3 for both the CPU and GPU, and the GPU has a 10mb framebuffer.
The 10mb framebuffer is extremely useful and the 360's OS takes up about 22mb, vs the PS3's 90+mb OS.

The only console I know of that has expandable RAM is the N64...

n0aH · Nov 21, 2006

Shell said:
The RAM to the PS3 is the same as every other console, firmly soldered onto the main PCB.
The PS3 has 256mb of GDDR3 and 256Mb of some form of DDR.

The 360 has 512mb of unified GDDR3 for both the CPU and GPU, and the GPU has a 10mb framebuffer.
The 10mb framebuffer is extremely useful and the 360's OS takes up about 22mb, vs the PS3's 90+mb OS.

The only console I know of that has expandable RAM is the N64...

you can expand ram with the n64?? Or was that just with that "expansion pack" thing that was loaded on the front? And no Taoism, its really not feasible to upgrade ram on any newer consoles

wa77ss · Nov 21, 2006

you could solder ram onto the orignial xbox, but you needed illegal software to take advantage of it

hUMANbEATbOX · Nov 21, 2006

n0aH said:
you can expand ram with the n64?? Or was that just with that "expansion pack" thing that was loaded on the front? And no Taoism, its really not feasible to upgrade ram on any newer consoles

that expansion pack was the ram upgrade. it came with a game only i think...but what game was it....i can't remember. perfect dark? all i know is that i noticed almost no improvement on my n64.

n0aH · Nov 21, 2006

hUMANbEATbOX said:
that expansion pack was the ram upgrade. it came with a game only i think...but what game was it....i can't remember. perfect dark? all i know is that i noticed almost no improvement on my n64.

naw i dont think it came with a game..it was just supposed to improved frame rates and graphics, and it was 60 bucks...never did notice a difference at all with mine...

hUMANbEATbOX · Nov 21, 2006

n0aH said:
naw i dont think it came with a game..it was just supposed to improved frame rates and graphics, and it was 60 bucks...never did notice a difference at all with mine...

actually i just checked it out. it originally came out in a bundle with DonkeyKong64, but i never had that game. i'm almost positive now that i got it with perfect dark. as per this article, most of that game was unaccesable without the ram expansion: http://www.answers.com/topic/expansion-pak

blueswitch · Nov 21, 2006

n0aH said:
naw i dont think it came with a game..it was just supposed to improved frame rates and graphics, and it was 60 bucks...never did notice a difference at all with mine...

I bought a 3rd party RAM upgrade for N64 and I noticed it...only certain games used it though...I know the one Turok game and Rogue Squadron I could run both at a higher resolution option.

OC/ingmaddog · Nov 21, 2006

hUMANbEATbOX said:
actually i just checked it out. it originally came out in a bundle with DonkeyKong64, but i never had that game. i'm almost positive now that i got it with perfect dark. as per this article, most of that game was unaccesable without the ram expansion: http://www.answers.com/topic/expansion-pak

You also had to buy it for Majora's Mask. It was required before you would be able to play it. I think Donkey Kong and Majora's Maks were the only ones that required it.

TollhouseFrank · Nov 21, 2006

blueswitch said:
I bought a 3rd party RAM upgrade for N64 and I noticed it...only certain games used it though...I know the one Turok game and Rogue Squadron I could run both at a higher resolution option.

rogue squadron without the memory expansion looked HORRIBLE.

Also, Perfect Dark without the expansion besides looking horrible, also had 80% of the game blocked out.

Niku-Sama · Nov 22, 2006

Turok 2 and 3 are expansion compatable, i just checked the boxes

Oni · Nov 22, 2006

I thought Perfect Dark required the N64 RAM expansion to run correctly. That's why it was bundled with the game.

I never got it. Never saw a reason to.

Falcon-K · Nov 22, 2006

hUMANbEATbOX said:
that expansion pack was the ram upgrade. it came with a game only i think...but what game was it....i can't remember. perfect dark? all i know is that i noticed almost no improvement on my n64.

I believe the first game to use it was Rogue Sqaudron, it was sold as an accessory and not with the game. Perfect Dark didnt require it so it didnt come with it. It just had the box with it labeld as an expansion game.

hUMANbEATbOX · Nov 22, 2006

Falcon-K said:
I believe the first game to use it was Rogue Sqaudron, it was sold as an accessory and not with the game. Perfect Dark didnt require it so it didnt come with it. It just had the box with it labeld as an expansion game.

if you read the link in post #7, you'll find that (according to that source anyways) Donkey Kong 64 was the first game to bundle it.

Perfect Dark was available with and without the ram expansion. That is where i got mine. i had my little brother dig the box outta storage at my mother home.

while perfect dark didn't "require" it, like said before, 80% of the game was unavailable without it. sure you could fire up perfect dark without it, but you would be missing out on 80% of the game.

Antillian · Nov 22, 2006

Falcon-K said:
I believe the first game to use it was Rogue Sqaudron, it was sold as an accessory and not with the game. Perfect Dark didnt require it so it didnt come with it. It just had the box with it labeld as an expansion game.

No. I had RS way before I had an expansion pack. I later bought it to play Perfect Dark, which I'm almost positive required it.

squads · Nov 22, 2006

yeah DK64 also required it, that's why it was included with certain games. Perfect Dark was well worth the extra 10 or 20 bucks to get the expansion pack with it.

Falcon-K · Nov 22, 2006

hUMANbEATbOX said:
if you read the link in post #7, you'll find that (according to that source anyways) Donkey Kong 64 was the first game to bundle it.

Perfect Dark was available with and without the ram expansion. That is where i got mine. i had my little brother dig the box outta storage at my mother home.

while perfect dark didn't "require" it, like said before, 80% of the game was unavailable without it. sure you could fire up perfect dark without it, but you would be missing out on 80% of the game.

I didnt say Rogue Sqaudron was bundled with it, it was just the first game I remember seeing that used it and according to your link it was the 3rd game. Who really remembers Quarterback club games

I dont remember seeing Perfect Dark ever bundled with the expansion and even checked some reviews and all complained that it didnt come with one since only 35% fo the game was accessible without it but I guess it could have been bundled with it.

http://perfectdark.3dactionplanet.gamespy.com/faq/faq-pd-expak.jpg

gixxer420 · Nov 22, 2006

Think the 1st post was wanting info on the ps3 not n64

Super Nade · Nov 22, 2006

gixxer420 said:
Think the 1st post was wanting info on the ps3 not n64

Just as he said. Let's keep this on topic guys.

Shell · Nov 22, 2006

Super Nade said:
Just as he said. Let's keep this on topic guys.

LOL! My first post derailed the whole thread... :shrug:

Whoops?

But I honestly wish the PS3 had more V-RAM... 256mb is not enough for 1900x1080... then again, almost every PS3 games is 720p and 1080i so it should not be a huge problem unless the game has a huge drawdistance... it's just a BI-otch to develop games that look good and take up soo little RAM... oh wait... that's slightly impossible with how much space big textures and engines take up.

And the N64 RAM addon did help a bit graphically... and levels seemed to load a bit faster ingame... 4mb was a very big boost in ram in that console generation.

Falcon-K said:
well.. we answered his question

You mean I did.

PS3: Is RAM upgradable?

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