Tagging on here: Both the first model PS3 and Xbox 360 were hot boxes with insufficient cooling. Both suffered from getting too hot too fast for their cooling solutions to keep up. Resulting in hardware stress that caused the chips solder points to weaken until they eventually cracked.
It got very hot and eventually stopped working. It was under warranty and I got an 80gb replacement for $200 cheaper, but lost out on backwards compatibility which really sucked because I sold my PS2 to get a PS3.
AFAIK the cooling was faulty or insufficient which burned the chips out.
Tagging on here: Both the first model PS3 and Xbox 360 were hot boxes with insufficient cooling. Both suffered from getting too hot too fast for their cooling solutions to keep up. Resulting in hardware stress that caused the chips solder points to weaken until they eventually cracked.
Owner of original 60gb PS3 here.
It got very hot and eventually stopped working. It was under warranty and I got an 80gb replacement for $200 cheaper, but lost out on backwards compatibility which really sucked because I sold my PS2 to get a PS3.