Hardware | Everything you need to know about a PS5 SSD upgrade

With a new console generation we naturally expect a number of changes every time. Of course, there is a graphical upgrade involved, but it often doesn’t stop there. New technologies also provide other benefits.

With the introduction of the PlayStation 5, we finally say goodbye to long loading times. The brand new console from Sony does not house a slow and noisy HDD, but is finally switching to an SSD. And not just any SSD! The Japanese company has collaborated with Samsung to deliver a custom-made NVMe SSD. That drive is said to be faster than drives that consumers can buy on the market today.

Sony is thus setting high expectations for the PS5 and the hardware it contains. With the leaps we’ve seen in SSDs in recent years, there could certainly be some truth to it. For example, the recently released Gen 4 NVMe SSDs are almost ten times as fast compared to SATA SSDs as the popular Samsung EVO 860.

With such a fast SSD, the question quickly arises why on earth you would want to upgrade such a drive with another SSD next to it? The answer to that is quite simple: the initial size. Where Microsoft has opted for a 1TB NVMe SSD with the Xbox Series X, the PlayStation 5 contains ‘only’ an SSD of 825GB. Moreover, if we are to believe the rumors about the disk’s usable space – the space left over next to the operating system and other mandatory components – users can get started with only 664GB.

That’s still more than what the PlayStation 4 launched in 2013, but if we look at the size of games these days, the PS5 SSD won’t fit much. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare needs no less than 175GB of space and is certainly no exception. For example, if you want to get started with the new version of GTA V on the PlayStation 5, you also need almost 100GB of space. That way it becomes a matter of constantly uninstalling games if you want to install a new game.

Microsoft is clear if you want to upgrade the SSD in the Xbox Series X. The American company offers an official SSD expansion, with a 1TB drive from Seagate. That upgrade seems to be quite pricey, but at least players can rest assured that there is an easy way to upgrade if the need arises.

From Sony, it only remains silent when it comes to an upgrade. The Japanese company has only said that eventually more SSDs can be placed in it, but does not give specific examples and does not offer a larger option itself for the time being. Mark Cerny has said that the upgrade can be offered by third parties. For the time being, you are officially at the mercy of the built-in 825GB SSD.

Just because Sony hasn’t officially said anything about it yet, doesn’t mean there aren’t options for players looking for an expansion right now. Although Sony has put a custom drive in the console, the upgrade slot found in the PS5 is simply an M.2 NVMe slot, as seen in the recent PS5 teardown video. In addition, there is already a manufacturer that claims to have a fast SSD that is guaranteed to work on the PS5. According to Western Digital, the WD SN850 NVMe Gen. 4 SSD work effortlessly on the next-gen console.

Undoubtedly, Western Digital will not be the only manufacturer that will make SSDs for the PlayStation 5. We will therefore regularly update the overview of available SSD upgrade for the console with new options. So keep a close eye on the overview if you’re looking for more space for your PS5!

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