Including the Top 5 M.2 SSD Choices for PlayStation 5.
Since the PS5 2.0 update, Sony had added the ability to expand the PS5’s storage by adding a blazing fast M.2 NVMe SSD. This guide aims to assist in the selection of which SSDs and heatsinks are best, as well as other common questions and important info.
Guide:
- Top 5 Recommended M.2 SSDs.
- Other Options.
- Do Lower Spec Drives Work?
- Preinstalled vs Aftermarket Heatsinks.
- Recommended Heatsinks:
- Sabrent Custom SSD Cover:
- What About Taller Heatsinks?
- Keep the Metal Cover On or Off?
- SSD Rated Speed/Performance Requirements.
- What is the Installation Process?
- Does Write Speed Matter?
- External USB Storage.
- PS5 SSD Expansion Compared to Xbox.
- SSD Firmware Updates.
Here are the Top 5 Recommended SSDs:
- Best Overall:
Western Digital Black SN850
One of the best performing drives on both PS5 and PC, even chosen by the lead PS5 designer Mark Cerny. The SN850 drive is from a very reputable company well known for taking data integrity seriously. In actual performance tests the WD scores very high, just edging out the Samsung 980 Pro and Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus in loading PS5 games. Being chosen by Mark Cerny means it’s unlikely to experience any compatibility issues later on this generation.
The WD Black features an optional heatsink model to prevent any throttling issues, which fits perfectly inside the PS5's drive slot. Considering how slim the heatsink is, it performs very well compared to bulkier aftermarket options. It’s air gaps in the design seem to allow for good heat dissipation.
The WD Black SN850 is available in 500GB, 1TB and 2TB.
Available on Amazon (US)
Heatsink model available on Amazon (US)
2. Best Performance:
Seagate FireCuda 530
The FireCuda uses the latest Phison controller and 176l NAND to offer the best performance. In benchmarks its overall performance tops all other drives and it also has the longest drive endurance, which can help prevent the drive from losing performance from NAND wear down the line. It is the most expensive drive on this list, which may not be worth it for the modest gain inside a PS5 console. Though if you’re an enthusiast and have to get the best available option, this drive is for you. Make sure you don’t purchase the older FireCuda 520 by mistake, since it’s read speed is rated below the PS5's recommended speed.
Seagate partnered with German company EKWB to design a heatsink version. Like the WD Black heatsink, it’s sleek and fits perfectly in the PS5 drive bay. Its micro pore aluminum design also allows for excellent heat dissipation despite being a flat surface and not having any visible fins.
The Seagate FireCuda is available in 500GB, 1TB, 2TB and 4TB.
Available on Amazon (US)
Heatsink model available on Amazon (US)
3. Best Value (Most recommended ONLY if you are able to update firmware):
ADATA XPG Gammix S70 Blade
ADATA advertises blazing fast 7.4GB/s sequential read speeds, and performs well in real world performance. The Gammix is only a touch behind the FireCuda overall, and competes well with this rest of the competition. Expect this to perform very well inside a PS5 console when running the latest firmware.
Just be aware that there are reasons why this drive usually is a lot cheaper than the rest. ADATA has a reputation of swapping out components for inferior versions throughout the products lifecycle (although most other brands have been caught doing this as well). But more importantly, many users have reported issues with older firmware versions related to performance and even bricking. The component swapping issue probably isn’t worth worrying about since ADATA seems to have caught on to the backlash. However, unless you have the ability to update the firmware on your PC to patch out any potential issues, it is recommended you avoid this drive.
There is also the original Gammix S70 that boasts a massive preinstalled heatsink.
ADATA advertises the exact same performance and drive endurance for both models, however reports online indicate that the Blade is slightly better performing. They feature the same Innogrit controller processor, however the blade features newer 176 layer NAND opposed to the originals 96 layer. In addition, the original’s heatsink will not allow you to close the drive bays metal cover. The top piece of the heatsink is removable, but the bottom tray part of the heatsink is very tightly bonded in place (do not try to remove this). It seems like this would pair well with the Sabrent heatsink cover if it manages to slot together (not confirmed if it will fit).
The Blade model comes with an optional 1mm stick on aluminum heat spreader and ADATA claims that the temperature is low enough for PS5 usage. But unless this is a magic heatsink, it’s probably a good idea to add something better, especially considering all capacities feature NAND on both sides of the drive.
The ADATA Gammix S70 Blade is available with 1TB or 2TB.
Original heatsink model available on Amazon (US)
4. Most Versatile:
Samsung 980 Pro
The 980 Pro was one of the first gen 4 SSDs to come out that was able to reach up to 7GB/s sequential read speeds. Samsung is also one of the most well-known brands in the world, and they previously dominated in performance with their PCIe gen 3 SSDs. Although in real world usage the 980 Pro appears to be overall slower than the competition, it still meets and exceeds the PS5's required specs. The Samsung does have a major advantage on its side, versatility.
In the future if you ever plan on repurposing the drive in a laptop, the Samsung is the best gen 4 SSD for laptop usage. Unlike the others, Samsung is using a more efficient 8nm production process for the processor combined with their own NAND. In terms of power consumption, it has a major advantage during both idle usage and heavier workloads. It also uses very low power LPDDR4 for the DRAM cache. Compared to the other drives, Samsung’s also performs the best in a heat constrained environment, the efficiency combined with Samsung’s intelligent thermal management makes it actually worth using over a slower gen 3 drive inside of a laptop. Intel’s 11th gen mobile CPUs already support gen 4 SSDs, and AMD is expected to implement gen 4 soon since their desktop Ryzen processors have already featured gen 4 PCIe for a while. Samsung also has great software tools since their drives take full advantage of Samsung Magician.
The Samsung 980 Pro is available with 250GB, 500GB, 1TB or 2TB.
Available on Amazon (US)
5. Solid Alternative
Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus
The Rocket 4 Plus exceeds the PS5's specifications and performs similarly to its competitors. A nice touch of the Sabrent is that the drive features a metallic heat spreader label sticker instead of a normal sticker. This should help with heat transfer compared to the standard sticker labels most other drives use. On a PC the Sabrent can outperform the Samsung 980 Pro, but falling slightly short overall compared to the Western Digital SN850. Although the 2TB and greater models have higher write speeds compared to those drives, it doesn’t help much with the PS5.
Overall performance when used inside a PS5 is similar to the Western Digital SN850 and 980 Pro, but usually is a hair slower than both those drives. While this is a great drive at a decent price point, the problem is Sabrent is a relatively newer company and far smaller. If you experience issues, their support can be less helpful compared to other companies. Though your experience can vary. Also make sure you don’t mistakenly get the standard non-plus variant Rocket 4, as it’s spec fall below the recommended minimum.
The Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus is available with 1TB, 2TB or 4TB.
Available on Amazon (US)
SSD with custom heatsink cover bundle available on Amazon (US)
Other options:
There are many other drives available that are also great for expanding PS5 game storage, the list focuses on the top 5. One great drive that was short of making the list is the Gigabyte Aorus Gen4 7000s. It also features fast performance and one of coolest looking heatsinks. Although it exceeds Sony’s 11.25mm height restriction, users have reported it fits just fine inside the PS5's drive bay.
Do lower spec drives work?
Remember, right now games are not even close to fully utilizing the PS5's internal SSD’s capabilities. This is why you can get away with lower spec drives than Sony’s recommendation, and witness almost no perceptual difference to the gaming performance. As cross-gen games fade out and games tap into the SSD more, this likely will change quick. Any gen 4 M.2 SSD will technically work right now since the PS5 only rejects gen 3 and SATA SSDs.
This is also why you may get away without using a heatsink for now, since losing performance from throttling won’t make a noticeable difference unless you’re writing a lot of data to the drive, which only happens when moving games. Depending on the drives throttling threshold, your PS5 can shut down if it doesn't think the SSD is operating at a safe temperature (or cause the fans to spin very loud). It’s also possible that prolonged usage without a heatsink can reduce the drives lifespan, since it can run above the manufacturers intended operating temperature (though SSDs have been operating in far worse thermal conditions inside laptops for years). It really isn’t worth the risk considering how cheap aftermarket heatsinks are.
Preinstalled vs Aftermarket Heatsinks:
The best low profile heatsink implementations are usually done by the SSD manufacturer, since they can target specific hot areas and feature a tighter design leading to better heat transfer. Though the difference is minimal at best. Right now any drive with a built in heatsink is massively overpriced, so financially it makes sense to add your own aftermarket heatsink.
Recommended heatsinks:
- Generic Double-sided Aluminum Heatsink being resold under many different brands: MHQJRH / QIVYNSRY / War Ship / Elutang …
This seems to be the best aftermarket heatsink option for PS5, as it does perform very well despite not using any copper. Sony even uses this heatsink in their official SSD upgrade video. Considering how cheap it is, it provides an impressive amount of heat transfer and dissipation.
Despite fitting perfectly in the drive bay, it’s not perfect in design. The heatsink does appear to block a large portion of the airflow slits in the drive bay, which could be improved upon by cutting out slits in the outer edges. Also because this design is being resold by so many aftermarket brands, it’s possible that the dimensions could vary due to factory error, which may be why some people have reported the fit to be very tight.
Another reason is that the brands are using different thermal pads. Most brands such as MHQJRH supply two thick ones, which may be a problem for double sided SSDs to fit inside the PS5 (since the bottom parts exceeds the dimensions for space under the SSD. Some brands such as War Ship do supply a thin thermal pad which should allow double sided drives to fit better.
Higher quality alternative:
Very similar to the generic aluminum heatsink. Double sides drives will work, but have a tight fit. Part of the airflow slits become blocked as well, unfortunately the cuts in the fins don’t align with them. Though cooling should still be excellent compared to most other heatsinks. If you can find this in stock, this is one of the best options. Keep in mind the MC1 Pro variant won’t fit with the metal cover on, so choose the standard MC1 model.
Unfortunately The MC1 is almost always sold out.
Other adequate options:
One of the most atheistically pleasing heatsink on this list, with dimensions similar to the generic double sided aluminum heatsink. The fins do align in the direction of the airflow slits which helps minimize blockage. Though many PC users report the effectiveness of this heatsink is not very good compared to the generic aluminum design. Also double sided drives may end up being too tight of a fit since no thin thermal pad is provided.
Jonsbo / XMSJSIY / Generic Tool-Free Low Profile Heatsink (may be sold under different names or no branding)
Comes with both thin and thick thermal pads allowing for both single sided and double sided drives to be used without issues. The heatsink is short enough that the airflow slits are not blocked whatsoever. The blade fins also are slanted in the direction of the airflow slits. This heatsink appears to be designed for good heat dissipation inside the drive bay, but likely absorbs heat worse since it does have a very cheap design.
Sabrent Custom PS5 Heatsink Cover (Warning)
Sabrent’s testing showed their heatsink cover was more effective than using the generic double sided aluminum heatsink with the stock cover installed. This is because it is a larger block of aluminum and also has a lot better heat dissipation since it’s directly in the PS5's air flow path (the low profile ridges don’t interfere with the airflow).
However, Sony did state that any heatsink should avoid contact with the metal plate, as it will cause it to heat up and the plastic surrounding it isn’t built to tolerate the heat. Sabrent claims this to not be an issue, so ultimately you will be taking a gamble with this heatsink cover (remember early Nintendo Switch models exhaust vents suffered from warped plastic issues), since it effectively utilizes the same concept that Sony said to avoid (the whole thing will heat up since it’s one piece of metal).
Also if your drive is double sided (most 2TB and greater SSDs) the bottom NAND won’t make contact with the heatsink. While the controller is located on top and is the most important part to need cooling, NAND still benefits from some sort of passive cooling. It is unknown if the bottom NAND will still be cooled properly though air dissipation alone. It likely won’t be an issue since excess heat should bleed through to the heatsink side.
What about taller heatsinks?
Many taller heatsink options are available, but they won’t fit under the metal cover. The best most effective heatsinks tend to use a combination of aluminum and copper heat pipes for optimal heat absorption and dissipation. Unfortunately, they don’t make low profile versions of these. On the standard model PS5, many of these taller heatsinks will fit only without using the drive bays metal cover. Some heatsinks may also be too thick under the drive and won’t fit unless the standoff spacer is removed (not a good idea).
There also doesn’t appear to be any double sided pure copper heatsinks available (copper is better for heat transfer), which makes aluminum heatsinks the preferred option. Single sided heat sinks with bands tend not to perform as well and run the risk of snapping after long term usage. When using heatsinks with screws, remember to squeeze the heatsink and drive together tightly before screwing to maximize heat transfer.
Should you keep the cover on or off?
The covers main purpose appears to be to prevent dust from caking your drive and possibly damaging the PS5 internals (we will have to wait and see if this ends up being an issue). It also allows the airflow path to function properly inside the PS5 system. Though in a normal environment this doesn’t seem to make much of a difference unless you use an extremely tall heatsink that may partially obstruct the airflow path. While leaving the cover off may actually help your drive run cooler, Sony clearly believes the negative pressure design of the cover is sufficient enough (the drive bay has 2 slits at the top which allows the fan to suck heat out). At the end of the day it’s your choice, but it’s probably not worth the risk of losing drive performance from dust build up (in the long term) or any other possible issues. If the heatsink allows for it than it’s probably best to use the metal cover.
SSD Rated Speed / Performance Requirements.
As you may have noticed, all drives mentioned feature an advertised sequential read speed of at least 7GB/s. This is to play it safe in terms of compatibility. One confusing thing about the required specs Sony released is that the M.2 SSD read speed has to ONLY match the 5.5GB/s read speed of the internal SSD. Last year in the Road to PS5 video, Mark Cerny said the PS5's custom architecture actually was superior than that of standard NVME drives. He claimed that NVME drives only support 2 true priority levels, whereas the PS5's drive supports 6. He said the I/O controller in the PS5 can arbitrate this difference, but requires the M.2 drive to be faster than the internals 5.5GB/s in order to make up for any lost performance caused from the compensation process. He specifically showed a slide hinting that a 7GB/s NVMe SSD would be required.
While it is unclear why the minimum spec has dropped, one explanation is that the internal SSD loses performance from background operations. It has to run the PS5's OS, write game save data and record 4k gameplay. Though considering a 150MB/s hard drive is capable of running a similar workload on a PC, it’s unclear if this is enough to bridge the performance gap between SSD architectures. For that reason, it’s recommended to get a drive that features at least 7 GB/s of throughput. It would be unfortunate if game developers intentionally avoid maxing out the PS5's internal drive in order to accommodate gamers using slower M.2 SSDs.
Another thing to avoid for high performance is QLC and DRAM less SSDs. QLC shares more data per cell, which cuts costs compared to the faster and longer lasting TLC NAND. DRAM less SSDs rely on using system memory on PCs for maximum performance, it’s called Host Memory Buffer (the PS5 doesn’t support this feature). These technologies can cause SSDs to have very inconsistent performance when used on PS5, so it’s best to avoid them. All the SSDs listed above feature a DRAM cache and TLC NAND.
What is the Installation Process?
The process is very simple, all you need is #1 Philips screw driver. It’s best to watch the official M.2 SSD Installation for PS5 Console video.
Installing a heatsink varies upon model, but usually requires sandwiching the SSD between 2 sticky thermal pads, and two pieces of metal. Screws are often used to secure in place and compress the pads into the SSD components.
- Take off the lower face plate (side without the PS logo) by pulling up gently on one corner (to release tension on plastic hooks), and than sliding the plate off. (Take stand off first using a coin to unscrew if necessary)
- Unscrew the SSD slot cover (it has the screw with the PlayStation symbols). Then remove the metal cover.
- Unscrew the screw in the 110mm hole, and take out the spacer (standoff). Move it to the hole that corresponds with the length of you SSD (most likely is 80mm).
- Insert the SDD at a 45 degree angle, make sure the board pins are aligned into the connector. Insert until you feel a click or until you are satisfied with the connection. Push the SSD down and screw into the spacer hole until it’s secure.
- Put the metal cover on and screw the PlayStation screw in place. Put the faceplate back on by lining up the plastic hooks and sliding back in place.
Does Write Speed of the M.2 SSD matter?
Not really. PS5 doesn’t allow any game save data or game captures to be written to the M.2 SSD, they can only be saved on the internal SSD. Not allowing the M.2 SSD to write any data during gameplay should allow for maximum read bandwidth and help minimize any potential throttling. The only time writing will occur to the M.2 SSD is when transferring games. The PS5 appears to cap transfers to the M.2 SSD at a rate of roughly 1GB/s (likely bottlenecked due to security operations and data optimization), only a fraction of the sequential write speed is actually utilized.
The PS5 internal SSD read speed is 5.5GB/s, which in theory is the fastest speed the M.2 SSD can transfer games. The SLC cache is relatively high on all the drives listed and performance will only drop once this cache is exhausted or if throttling occurs (transferring tons of games at once). The PS5 internal SSD write speed appears to be on the low side, since transferring games back to it takes multiple times longer.
What about external USB Storage?
PS5 supports external USB storage for playing PS4 games and storing PS5 games. Which means that PS5 games will need to be transferred back to the internal (or M2) in order to run them. In order for an external drive to be supported for PS4 games, the interface needs to be at least USB 3 (5gb/s), and sport a capacity from 250GB — 8TB. The drive also needs to be directly connected to one of the USB type A ports located on the rear of the console, or the type C port on the front of the console (the front type A USB 2.0 port is not supported). Drives connected through USB hubs are also not supported, which means external drives with a built in USB hub will not work. The fastest USB interface the PS5 supports is 10 gb/s (USB 3.1/3.2 gen 2 x 1) The 10gb/s speed is supported on the rear ports as well, there isn’t any speed advantage to using the type C port (when using the right cable). You can use external hard drives or SSDs.
A popular choice is using an external SSD such as the Samsung T5 (5gb/s) and T7 (10gb/s). However, these are often overpriced and it’s more cost effective to install a 2.5” SSD or M.2 SSD into a USB enclosure. M.2 NVMe SSDs require specific enclosures, and won’t work in SATA based ones (unless it had dual capabilities). Some examples of cost effective SATA SSDs include the Crucial MX500 and WD Blue SATA version (paired with a high quality 2.5” 5gb/s USB enclosure). Some examples of cost effective NVMe SSDs include the WD Blue SN550, ADATA XPG Gammix S11 Pro and SX8200 Pro (paired with a high quality M.2 10gb/s USB enclosure).
There isn’t any significant speed improvement to load times when using a NVMe SSD through a 10Gb/s interface when compared to a high quality SATA SSD connected through a 5Gb/s interface. When transferring games, the 10gb/s drives perform lot faster, but still isn’t being fully utilized (some sort of bottle neck in the transfer process).
Loading PS4 games from the internal SSD, M.2 SSD or high quality external SSD all have approximately the same load times (M.2 SSDs may have the tiniest advantage). You can set your console to automatically download/install PS5 games to the M.2 drive, and set PS4 games to go to the external drive. You can also transfer your PS4’s external drive with all its games to your PS5 without needing to re-download/install anything (unless bugs occur). You have to set your PS4 and PS5 as your primary console on your PSN account and keep a network connection to avoid issues. A PS Plus subscription helps avoid save file issues through cloud transfer.
How does the PS5 SSD upgradability compare to Xbox Series X?
Using universal M.2 SSDs for storage expansion has a massive advantage right now over the proprietary Seagate expansion card for the Xbox Series consoles. Right now the Xbox upgrade card only has a 1 TB storage option and available from only one manufacturer. On PS5 there are options ranging from 250GB to 4TB (possibly 8TB soon) from various manufacturers. The proprietary nature has caused the Seagate expansion card to be ridiculously overpriced. It has an MSRP of $220, which is completely insane for a dram less SSD that has virtually the same performance as the WD Blue SN550 (a budget PCIe gen 3 M2 SSD that can be found for less than half the price of the expansion card).
Shockingly it’s actually slightly cheaper to upgrade the PS5’s storage with a super high-end gen 4 NVME SSD than it is to upgrade the Xbox with it’s mediocre Expansion Card. In addition, the expansion card can’t be repurposed for use on other devices (such as in a PC or USB enclosure) like a M.2 SSD can. The main advantage the Xbox expansion card does have is simplicity, since it can plug into the back of the console very easily without requiring any sort of heatsink or screwdriver. It also has the ability to hot swap between multiple Xbox consoles and multiple cards with one console. Although these features still can’t justify the insane price point.
Remember to update you SSD’s firmware if you can!
No matter which SSD you choose, it’s likely to support firmware updates that can potentially improve drive performance and issues. Most SSDs except the ADATA do ship in a relatively good state, though if you purchased a WD Black SN850 or a Samsung 980 Pro from last year it is a good idea to upgrade the firmware, since a lot has changed for PCIe gen 4 drives performance since then. If you purchase one of those drives now, it will likely ship with the most recent firmware.
Unfortunately updating the firmware is out of reach for most people. It usually requires installing the SSD manufacturer’s update client on a Windows PC. Most drives also require to be directly connected in an M.2 NVME slot inside the PC, which means an external USB enclosure will not work. If you can’t update, dont worry about it, the drive will likely still have more than enough performance for PlayStation 5 gaming.
