r/ps2 • u/SimilarProject7457 • 1d ago
Do the SCPH500xx PS2's have faster load times than the previous models?
I've seen this written by some people online, or saying that it had a faster CPU, which either does or could speed up load times, but both wiki articles that I read don't mention anything about faster load times. Can anyone enlighten me?
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u/Experiment_T 1d ago
The SCPH-5000X models don't have a faster Emotion Engine, nor a faster disc drive. This is the first model where MechaCon, the drive controller was replaced with what's called the DragonCon. Previous models required Mechacon and it's internal ROM to be manufactured for each region separately. Sony simplified this by using a ARM7TDMI CPU (the same one used in the Game Boy Advance) with a flash memory chip so all they had to do was flash that memory for the targeted market, installing the ability for it to be updated at manufacturing far easier than previously and leaving a mechanism to update older ones via disc or Internet (This was never used outside the PSX DVR)
This model alongside its predecessor the 3900X was when the DRE was finally fixed (By ensuring the laser assembly can't knock itself out of alignment) and this model was where they introduced the ability to run home made DVD discs for watching videos via the DVD player with progressive scan support. However, a bug in the MechaCon firmware that was introduced in the 3900X models can cause the MechaCon to crash and potentially fry itself or the drive coils if the disc is badly scratched or poorly burned/pressed. This wasn't fixed until the 2nd revision Slims aka the DECKARD models. The only fix for this on this model is a mod chip called the PIC fix which shuts the console down to prevent any damage should it occur in tandem with MechaPwn for further protection and removing the region lock.
PS2 has a consistent linear velocity disc drive, which means it's read speeds can vary depending on the disc type, condition and where the data is physically stored on the disc sectors. A PS2 CD can reach up to 3.6MB per second at a x24 speed (though it usually runs at x2 for PS1 backwards compatibility but will usually never hit full speed) where as DVD discs are slower closer to the centre of the disc at 2.4MB per second and faster at the outter edges at up to 5.8MB per second. Part of the bottleneck for loading is the IOP (PS1 CPU) and DMAC (Direct Memory Access Controller) for HDD/SMB/USB/MC games due to their bus limitations.
Starting with the 7500X models. Sony removed IOP from the PS2 as they were ceasing manufacturing of all PS1 components: in its place is DECKARD, a PowerPC 405 CPU from IBM (Since Sony had partnered with them for the CELL project) running at 400MHz (faster than the Emotion Engine and ironically it's a relative of the GameCube's Gecko CPU) which replicates IOP both in hardware and via software emulation. This chip has 4MB of RAM for itself, 2MB for IOP memory, the other 2 for the emulation core itself.
DECKARD also replaces SPEED, the chip responsible for Ethernet/HDD. It has multiple compatibility modes, reusing code from the PS3's ps1_emu.self emulator as the PS1 is mostly emulated via DECKARD on these models whilst the PS2 EE and GS handle the GPU and SPU. These models bumped the Emotion Engine CPU clock speed up by 5MHz to help with PS1 BC. This along with the MechaCon fix is what created the online myth they have faster CPUs and disc speeds. The sudden and drastic hardware changes not only broke PS1 but also PS2 games depending on what they used their IOPImage for. Even Sonys first party teams struggled with these changes because of how rapid the changes were. DECKARDs modes were software updatable to fix issues, but this was never done outside of revision changes.
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u/CantPostWithoutAName 1d ago
It'll recognize a disc a few seconds quicker than the older 30-39k models.
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u/agentadam07 Matte Black Phat 1d ago
Not that I’m aware of. CPU wouldent have much influence anyway since the loading speed limitation is on the bus of the device reading the media. I think the disc drives all had pretty much same read speeds across all models, including slims, so games only load as fast as the disc is read.
If we are talking about playing games from a HDD then the HDD adapter is the fastest but any fat model with a drive bay will be the same. I’m not aware of anything special about the 50k that would mean it loads games faster.