Motherboards

Most motherboards have several sub-revisions which are also listed here for every revision. On fat motherboards, the subrevision is denoted by the number after the last hyphen in the item No. On slim motherboards, it is written after the board number (e.g. GH-032-11). For PSX (DESR) motherboards, see PSX motherboards. For arcade systems, see Arcade Boards.

Playstation 2 Fat Motherboard Models

GH-00X

GH-001

• Year 2000
• Models SCPH-10000
• Chassis A
• Japanese launch revision
• Always has a green solder mask, unlike later boards, which mostly have blue solder masks
• This board (together with GH-003) takes just 8.5 V as input voltage. NEVER install a 12 V power supply in these consoles!
• Incomplete BIOS (no DVD player); DVD player can be installed onto a memory card using an update disc
• Buggy DVD player (version 1.00) that allows region free (but 60 Hz only) playback using some trick as well as RGB-output during DVD-playback, which was disabled on later versions
• Later production models might come with an updated BIOS that blocks installation and startup of DVD player 1.00, as well as with an updated MechaCon (or updated calibration data in EEPROM, e.g. for speedier tray loading), just like GH-003 does
• On the CDVD Drive daughter board, GH-001 boards only support the Sony CXA2605R RF-Amp (daughter board GM-038)
• Known sub-revisions: 1-677-377-xx
  • -12

GH-003

• Year 2000
• Models SCPH-15000 (mislabeled as SCPH-10000 in version information), SCPH-18000 (besides GH-008)
• Chassis A (in SCPH-15000), A+ (in SCPH-18000)
• First board to use a blue solder mask, as do most later boards (with some exceptions)
• This board (together with GH-001) takes just 8.5 V as input voltage. NEVER install a 12 V power supply in these consoles!
• Some small component changes (resistor packs instead of discrete resistors between EE and GS and some other places, some other small SMD components changed around GS and near the drive connector etc)
• In SCPH-15000, DVD player still needs to be installed first (in a newer, partially fixed version (v 1.01), that seemingly can also be used on SCPH-10000), but BIOS disallows use of the buggy version 1.00
• In SCPH-18000, DVD player is preinstalled (version 2.00)
• In SCPH-18000, it has a different boot-ROM installed on a daughter board on the bottom, while the normal bootrom pads are left unpopulated
• Updated MechaCon for speedier tray opening/closing
• Depending on which components are installed on this board at certain positions, GH-003 boards support either the Sony RF-Amp CXA2605R (daughter board GM-038) or the Texas Instruments SP3727A RF-Amp (daughter board GM-042)
  • on -21, a jumper labeled "TI" next to MechaCon identifies which RF-amp is supported; the jumper is just a marking and does not change anything electrically, while the actual differences are some other component changes
• Known sub-revisions: 1-679-266-xx
  • -11
  • -21

GH-004 + GD-011

• Year 2000
• Models SCPH-30001
• Chassis B
• US launch revision (together with GH-005)
• This board and all later fat PS2 boards take 12 V as input voltage
• Has DVD-player preinstalled, just like every later board
• Has alternate solder pads for either 2 separate ROMs for BIOS and DVD-player (informally known as no-gap-BIOS) or a single ROM containing both (informally known as gap-BIOS)
• Has a daughterboard (GD-011, not the same as GD-012 with GH-005) containing voltage regulators, Syscon, EEPROM, RTC (with battery) and CR2032 coin cell
  • The large 4-pin connection between the motherboard and the daughterboard is sometimes or always soldered and needs to be desoldered to take them apart; some consoles might have a different connector that can be disconnected, though
  • This connection carries high-current supply voltages for EE and GS; other voltages are supplied through the other connector
  • With GH-004/GD-011, these voltages are two separate rails of 1.5V, one for EE, one for GS, which is different from GH-005/GD-012
• Known sub-revisions: 1-680-109-xx
  • -12

GH-005 + GD-012

• Year 2000
• Models SCPH-30001
• Chassis B'
• US launch revision (together with GH-004)
• Has DVD-player preinstalled, just like every later board
• Probably exists to make use of remaining first revision GS (CXD2934GB) stock, otherwise mostly identical to GH-004
• Has alternate solder pads for either 2 separate ROMs for BIOS and DVD-player (informally known as no-gap-BIOS) or a single ROM containing both (informally known as gap-BIOS)
• Has a daughterboard (GD-012, not the same as GD-011 with GH-004) containing voltage regulators, Syscon, EEPROM, RTC (with battery) and CR2032 coin cell
  • The large 4-pin connection between the motherboard and the daughterboard is sometimes or always soldered and needs to be desoldered to take them apart; some consoles might have a different connector that can be disconnected, though
  • This connection carries high-current supply voltages for EE and GS; other voltages are supplied through the other connector
  • With GH-005/GD-012, these voltages are one rail of 1.5V for EE and one rail of 2.5V for GS, which is different from GH-004/GD-011
• Known sub-revisions: 1-680-607-xx
  • -11

GH-006 + GD-013

• Year 2000-2001
• Models SCPH-30001, SCPH-30003, SCPH-30004
• Chassis C
• European launch revision (together with GH-007)
• Has a daughterboard (GD-013, same as with GH-007) containing voltage regulators, Syscon, EEPROM, RTC (with battery) and CR2032 coin cell
  • High-current voltage regulation for EE and GS has moved back to the motherboard. Since the high-current supply voltage for GS was the difference between the daughter boards of GH-004 and GH-005, this change allowed both, GH-006 and GH-007, to use the same daughter board GD-013.
• Known sub-revisions: 1-680-685-xx
  • -11 Has solder pads for 2 separate ROMs for BIOS and DVD-player (informally known as no-gap-BIOS)
  • -12 Has solder pads for 2 separate ROMs for BIOS and DVD-player (informally known as no-gap-BIOS)
  • -21 Has solder pads for a single ROM containing both, BIOS and DVD-player (informally known as gap-BIOS)

GH-007 + GD-013

• Year 2000-2001
• Models SCPH-30001, SCPH-30003, SCPH-30004
• Chassis C'
• European launch revision (together with GH-006)
• Probably exists to make use of remaining first revision GS (CXD2934GB) stock together with the necessary differences of the voltage generation circuit, otherwise mostly identical to GH-006
• Has a daughterboard (GD-013, same as with GH-006) containing voltage regulators, Syscon, EEPROM, RTC (with battery) and CR2032 coin cell
  • High-current voltage regulation for EE and GS has moved back to the motherboard. Since the high-current supply voltage for GS was the difference between the daughter boards of GH-004 and GH-005, this change allowed both, GH-006 and GH-007, to use the same daughter board GD-013.
• Known sub-revisions: 1-680-710-xx
  • -11 Has solder pads for 2 separate ROMs for BIOS and DVD-player (informally known as no-gap-BIOS)
  • -21 Has solder pads for a single ROM containing both, BIOS and DVD-player (informally known as gap-BIOS)

GH-008

• Year 2000-2001
• Models SCPH-18000
• Chassis AB
• First japanese version with built-in DVD player (besides later GH-003 boards that were also used in SCPH-18000 consoles at the same time)
• Has alternate solder pads for either 2 separate ROMs for BIOS and DVD-player (informally known as no-gap-BIOS) or a single ROM containing both (informally known as gap-BIOS)
• Uses (mostly) B-chassis components (e.g. EE and GS) in an A/A+-chassis form factor, hence the name
• Known sub-revisions: 1-681-225-xx
  • -11

GH-01X

GH-010

• Year 2001
• Models SCPH-30003, SCPH-30004
• Chassis D
• Completely redesigned
• All drive electronics and all voltage regulation now on motherboard
• Known sub-revisions: 1-681-693-xx
  • -11
  • -12

GH-012

• Year 2001
• Models SCPH-30003, SCPH-35003GT, SCPH-35004GT
• Chassis D'
• All drive electronics and all voltage regulation now on motherboard
• Probably exists to make use of remaining first revision GS (CXD2934GB) stock together with the necessary differences of the voltage generation circuit, otherwise mostly identical to GH-010
• Known sub-revisions: 1-682-236-xx
  • -11

GH-013

• Year 2001
• Models SCPH-30001R, SCPH-30003, SCPH-30003R, SCPH-30004R, SCPH-35001GT
• Chassis D
• Only some minor component/layout changes compared to GH-010/GH-012/GH-014, e.g. different resistor networks
• Known sub-revisions: 1-682-770-xx
  • -11
  • -21
  • -31
  • -41
  • -51

GH-014

• Year 2001
• Models SCPH-30000, SCPH-35003GT
• Chassis D'
• Seems to be based on an older design than GH-013, as it's mostly identical to GH-012 except for very few component changes around the gamepad/memory-card connector (also has a lower part number than GH-013)
• Probably exists to make use of remaining first revision GS (CXD2934GB) stock together with the necessary differences of the voltage generation circuit, otherwise mostly identical to GH-010/GH-012 besides the aforementioned component change
• Known sub-revisions: 1-682-717-xx
  • -11

GH-015

• Year 2001-2002
• Models SCPH-30000, SCPH-30001R, SCPH-30002R, SCPH-30003R, SCPH-30004R, SCPH-30005R, SCPH-30006R, SCPH-30007R
• Chassis F
• Many layout/component changes, different shape
• New MechaCon-revision in BGA case (this is NOT the "Dragon" MechaCon used from GH-023 onwards)
• Battery holder moved back to motherboard
• EEPROM + RTC integrated into single chip on some subrevisions of this board
• Some sub-revisions have a reversed Power/Eject connector, which is only used in F-chassis
  • These sub-revisions also require a switch-board with a reversed connector! (Else, even if you twist the cable so that the contact surfaces touch, the pinout would be mirrored)
• The last retail board (together with GH-016) to use the old DSP (CXD1886Q)
• Known sub-revisions: 1-683-434-xx
  • -11
  • -12
  • -21
  • -22
  • -31
  • -41
  • -51

GH-016

• Year 2001-2002
• Models SCPH-30000
• Chassis D' (despite this being a D'-chassis board, it was designed after the F-chassis/GH-015 board)
• Probably only used in Japanese consoles; thus rarely seen in the West
• The last retail board to use the old GS (CXD2934GB)
• The last retail board (together with GH-015) to use the old DSP (CXD1886Q)
• Mostly similar to GH-014, but incorporating some component changes of GH-013 like the different resistor networks, and the same thermal sensor as GH-015
• Uses a simplified voltage generation circuit, somewhat similar to that of GH-015, but with some necessary changes for the old GS
• Known sub-revisions: 1-683-683-xx
  • -11

GH-017

• Year 2002
• Models SCPH-39001
• Chassis G
• SPU2's RAM is integrated into the SPU2 chip itself
• Has a revised A/V output circuit built around the CXM4000R IC, which is used up to including GH-029 fat PS2s from here on
• Introduces the CXD3098Q DSP, which is used up to including GH-061 slim PS2s from here on
• Known sub-revisions: 1-685-425-xx
  • -11
  • -21

GH-018

• Year 2002
• Models SCPH-39003
• Chassis G
• Simplified voltage regulation section (the voltage regulation circuit of GH-017 was mostly identical to that of GH-015)
• Known sub-revisions: 1-685-573-xx
  • -11

GH-019

• Year 2002
• Models SCPH-37000, SCPH-39001, SCPH-39003, SCPH-39004
• Chassis G
• Small component/layout changes in voltage regulation
• Known sub-revisions: 1-685-775-xx
  • -11
  • -21
  • -31
  • -41
  • -51

GH-02X

GH-022

• Year 2002-2003
• Models SCPH-39000, SCPH-39001, SCPH-39003, SCPH-39004, SCPH-39010
• Chassis G
• Smaller package for IOP RAM
• Some minor component changes (e.g. fan driver circuit)
• The last retail board to include the iLink port
• Known sub-revisions: 1-686-786-xx
  • -11
  • -21
  • -31
  • -41
  • -51
  • -61

GH-023

• Year 2003-2004 (copyright date of 2002 is written on this motherboard)
• Models SCPH-50000, SCPH-50001, SCPH-50002, SCPH-50003, SCPH-50004, SCPH-50005, SCPH-50006, SCPH-50007, SCPH-50008, SCPH-50009, SCPH-50010, SCPH-55000, SCPH-55005, SCPH-55006, SCPH-55007
• Chassis H
• This board and every later board comes with the newer ARM-based "Dragon" MechaCon, which also takes over the functions of SysCon as well as EEPROM and RTC
• This board and every later fat board uses different driver ICs (LA6508 and LB11971) for the drive electronics
• New RF-amp/front-end-processor in drive electronics: Texas Instruments SP3727D (but also still support the older SP3727B RF-amp in early GH-023 boards)
• No iLink-port anymore
• Added IR-receiver electronics, e.g. IC307 (some gate array) (the actual IR sensor is located on the Power/Eject button board)
• Known sub-revisions: 1-688-757-xx
  • -11
  • -21
  • -31
  • -41
  • -51

GH-026

• Year 2003-2004
• Models SCPH-50000, SCPH-50001, SCPH-50002, SCPH-50003, SCPH-50004, SCPH-50011, SCPH-55000
• Chassis I
• SPU2 + SSBUS-Controller combined into single chip (CXD2955R)
• No dedicated IR receiver gate array IC (functionality likely integrated into new IOP revision)
• Many component and board layout changes
• Known sub-revisions: Sony part no. 1-861-432-xx, also 500-000043-0023 (different part number format)
  • -12
  • -13
  • -22
  • -23
  • -32
  • -33
  • 500-000043-0023
    • It is unknown where these boards fit within the other GH-026 sub-revisions; probably equivalent to -43 or identical to -23?

GH-027

• Year 2004?
• Models SCPH-5X0XX?
• Chassis ?
• Existence of this board is unconfirmed, it is mentioned in some places on the internet (probably due to a mistake which has been copied afterwards). Likely does not exist at all.
• Known sub-revisions:

GH-029

• Year 2004
• Models SCPH-50000MB/NH, SCPH-50000NB, SCPH-50004SS
• Chassis J
• Uses SP3751A RF-amp/front-end-processor for the optical pickup in the drive electronics, just like every slim PS2 until including GH-052 does, probably to support the PVR-702W pickup that is exclusively used in J-chassis consoles
• Uses a 24-pin connector instead of 30-pin for the pickup cable, to support the PVR-702W optical pickup
• Known sub-revisions: 1-862-116-xx
  • -11
  • -21

Playstation 2 Slim Motherboard Models

GH-03X

GH-032

• Year 2004-2005
• Models SCPH-700XX
• Chassis K
• Variant of K-chassis with separate EE and GS (requires different heatsink than GH-035!)
• Has a revised A/V output circuit built around the CXM4015R IC, which is used up to including GH-061 slim PS2s from here on
• Some sub-revisions employ a factory fix for the infamous "laser"-killing glitch (which actually burns the focus and tracking coils in the optical pickup and sometimes also destroys the driver IC)
• Known sub-revisions:
  • -11 Does NOT have factory laser fix
  • -12 Does NOT have factory laser fix
  • -13 DOES have factory laser fix (bottom side of motherboard)
  • -21 Does NOT have factory laser fix
  • -22 Does NOT have factory laser fix
  • -24 DOES have factory laser fix (bottom side of motherboard)
  • -31 Does NOT have factory laser fix
  • -32 DOES have factory laser fix (either bottom or top side of motherboard)
    • There are actually (at least) 2 variants of this sub-revision. Why they weren't designated as different sub-revisions is not known.
  • -34 DOES have factory laser fix (top side of motherboard)
  • -44 DOES have factory laser fix (bottom side of motherboard)
  • -53 DOES have factory laser fix (bottom side of motherboard)
  • -54 DOES have factory laser fix (bottom side of motherboard)
  • -64 DOES have factory laser fix (bottom side of motherboard)

GH-035

• Year 2004-2005
• Models SCPH-700XX
• Chassis K
• Variant of K-chassis with combined EE+GS (requires different heatsink than GH-032!)
• Has a revised A/V output circuit built around the CXM4015R IC, which is used up to including GH-061 slim PS2s from here on
• Some sub-revisions employ a factory fix for the infamous "laser"-killing glitch (which actually burns the focus and tracking coils in the optical pickup and sometimes also destroys the driver IC)
• Known sub-revisions:
  • -11 Does NOT have factory laser fix
  • -21 Does NOT have factory laser fix
  • -22 Does NOT have factory laser fix
  • -23 DOES have factory laser fix (bottom side of motherboard)
  • -24 DOES have factory laser fix (bottom side of motherboard)
  • -31 Does NOT have factory laser fix
  • -32 Does NOT have factory laser fix
  • -41 Does NOT have factory laser fix
  • -42 DOES have factory laser fix (top side of motherboard)
  • -43 DOES have factory laser fix (top side of motherboard)
  • -51 Does NOT have factory laser fix
  • -61 Does NOT have factory laser fix
  • -62
  • -63 DOES have factory laser fix (top side of motherboard)
  • -71 Does NOT have factory laser fix
  • -72 Does NOT have factory laser fix

GH-036

• Year 2005-2006
• Models SCPH-750XX
• Chassis L
• Variant of L-chassis with combined EE+GS
• Introduces new PPC 405 based IOP with external 4MB DDR-SDRAM, which emulates functions of the old MIPS-based IOP as well as SPEED; has some compatibility issues
• As the functions of SPEED were integrated into the IOP, having an SSBUS-controller became obsolete, thus the combined SSBUS-Controller + SPU2 chip (CXD2955R) that was introduced with GH-026 got "downgraded" to the older SPU2 (+SPU2 RAM) chip (CXD2947R), that was introduced way back with GH-017
• Known sub-revisions:
  • -51

GH-037

• Year 2005-2006
• Models SCPH-750XX
• Chassis L
• Variant of L-chassis with separate EE and GS
• Known sub-revisions:
  • -01
  • -02
  • -11
  • -12
  • -22
  • -31
  • -32

GH-04X

GH-040

• Year 2005-2006
• Models SCPH-750XX
• Chassis L
• Variant of L-chassis with combined EE+GS
  • Compared to GH-036 (which is also a L-chassis board with combined EE+GS), there have been a few layout changes, e.g. the Ethernet controller has been moved to the top side
• Known sub-revisions:
  • -02
  • -12
  • -51
  • -52
  • -72

GH-041

• Year 2005-2006
• Models SCPH-750XX
• Chassis L
• Variant of L-chassis with separate EE and GS
  • Compared to GH-037 (which is also a L-chassis board with separate EE and GS), there have been a few layout changes, e.g. the Ethernet controller has been moved to the top side and the Ethernet transformer has been moved closer to the port
• Known sub-revisions:
  • -03
  • -04
  • -13
  • -14
  • -33
  • -34

GH-05X

GH-051

• Year 2006-2007
• Models SCPH-770XX
• Chassis M
• Fixed some compatibility issues of L-chassis consoles
• Known sub-revisions:
  • -02
  • -12
  • -32
  • -51 has either the CXD9796GP or the CXD9209GP "Deckard" IOP

GH-052

• Year 2006-2007
• Models SCPH-770XX
• Chassis M
• Fixed some compatibility issues of L-chassis consoles
• This board uses either the old (CXD3098Q) or the new (CXD3098AQ) DSP, depending on the subrevision/datecode
• This board uses either the old (CXM4015R) or the new (CXM4015AR) A/V output circuit IC, depending on the subrevision/datecode
• Known sub-revisions:
  • -12
  • -32
  • -42
  • -51 has either the CXD3098Q or the CXD3098AQ DSP and either the old (CXM4015R) or the new (CXM4015AR) A/V output circuit IC

GH-06X

GH-061

• Year 2007
• Models SCPH-790XX
• Chassis N
• This board uses either the old (CXD3098Q) or the new (CXD3098AQ) DSP
• Has either the old (CXM4015R) or the new (CXM4015AR) A/V output circuit IC
• Known sub-revisions:
  • -12 Has either the CXD3098Q or the CXD3098AQ DSP and either the old (CXM4015R) or the new (CXM4015AR) A/V output circuit IC
  • -22
  • -42
  • -51 Has an external Ethernet isolation transformer, while the other sub-revisions have it integrated into the Ethernet-connector

GH-062

• Year 2007
• Models SCPH-790XX
• Chassis N
• On this board (and all boards of P and R chassis), the secondary drive door safety switch has been removed, leaving the switch on the power/LED board as the only safety switch
• Ethernet port has an internal isolation transformer instead of the transformer being a dedicated component on the board
• The PCB area has been reduced in some places
• Known sub-revisions:
  • -02
  • -12

GH-07X

GH-070

• Year 2007-2008
• Models SCPH-900XX
• Chassis P
• Known sub-revisions:
  • -12
  • -31
  • -32
  • -42

GH-071

• Year 2008
• Models SCPH-900XX
• Chassis R
• Patches FMCB, depending on the subrevision/datecode
• Changes to the EMI shielding. No aluminium CPU heatsink anymore.
• Known sub-revisions:
  • -32
  • -42

GH-072

• Year 2008-2013
• Models SCPH-900XX, BRAVIA KDL-22PX300 (with different ROM, otherwise identical)
• Chassis R
• Some changes to make the smaller EMI shield fit
• Known sub-revisions:
  • -42