Sony recently did a soft refresh of its PS5 console with a new variant known as the CFI-1202 that offers lower temps & power input. The new console is lighter, runs cooler, and consumes lower power & this is all thanks to the refreshed AMD Obreon Plus SOC hailing the TSMC 6nm process node.
Sony’s PS5 “CFI-1202” Console Variant Features Enhanced 6nm AMD Oberon Plus SOC: Reduced Die Size, Lower Power & Cooler Operation
In a recent teardown video published by Austin Evans, the Techtuber noticed that the Sony PS5 console was shipping in a new variant that is lighter, cooler, & less power hungry. This new PS5 variant is labeled as the “CFI-1202” and we can now get to the bottom of why it is so better than Sony’s original PS5 variants (CFI-1000 / CFI-1001).
Tech outlet, Angstronomics, has confirmed in their exclusive that the Sony PS5 (CFI-1202) comes with an enhanced AMD Oberon SOC known as Oberon Plus which utilizes the TSMC N6 process (6nm). TSMC has made it so that their 7nm (N7) process node is design rule compatible with the 6nm EUV (N6) node. This allows TSMC partners to easily port existing 7nm chips to the 6nm node without running into major complexities. The N6 process node offers an 18.8% transistor density increase and also reduces power consumption which in return reduces temperatures.
This is why the new Sony PS5 consoles are lighter and feature a smaller heatsink compared to the launch variants. But that’s not all, we also get to see a brand new chip shot of the AMD Oberon Plus SOC sitting next to the 7nm Oberon SOC. The new die measures around 260mm2 which is a 15% reduction in die size compared to the 7nm Oberon SOC (~300mm2). There’s another advantage of moving to 6nm and that’s the number of chips that can be produced on a single wafer. The outlet reports that each Oberon Plus SOC wafer can produce around 20% more chips at the same cost.
What this means is that without affecting their cost, Sony can offer more Oberon Plus chips to be used in PS5 and that can further reduce shortages in the market that the current-gen consoles have faced since their launch. It is also reported that TSMC will phase out 7nm Oberon SOCs in the future and move entirely to 6nm Oberon Plus SOC which will result in 50% more chips to be made per wafer. Microsoft is also expected to utilize the 6nm process node for its refreshed Arden SOC in the future for its Xbox Series X consoles.
News Source: Angstronomics
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