Expanding Your PS5 Storage: Internal M.2 SSD vs. External Hard Drive

More room for games on your brand new PlayStation 5 or PS5 Slim? So add an internal NVMe SSD or an external SSD drive to never have to delete titles again.

The PlayStation 5 boasts impressive performance and a library of visually stunning games, but its internal storage fills up quickly. Expanding your storage is a crucial step for many players, leading you to the question: Internal M.2 SSD or external hard drive? Both options offer additional space, but understanding their distinct advantages and limitations is key to making the best choice for your specific needs.

Before buying consider these:

Internal M.2 SSD: Blazing-Fast Performance

An internal M.2 SSD (Solid State Drive) seamlessly integrates into the PS5's dedicated slot, offering significant advantages:

• Unmatched Speed: M.2 SSDs boast significantly faster read/write speeds compared to traditional hard drives, significantly reducing loading times in both PS5 and PS4 games. Imagine jumping into the action almost instantly without lengthy loading screens.

• Improved Game Performance: The faster data transfer speeds can also lead to smoother gameplay, especially in open-world games where the console constantly loads new areas. Say goodbye to stuttering and enjoy a seamless gaming experience.

• Direct PS5 Game Play: Only internal M.2 SSDs allow you to play PS5 games directly from the drive. External hard drives, regardless of their speed, are incompatible for playing PS5 titles.

However, some limitations exist:

• Cost: M.2 SSDs are generally more expensive per gigabyte compared to external hard drives. This means adding significant storage space can be a costly investment.

• Installation: While not overly complex, installing an M.2 SSD requires opening your PS5 and potentially purchasing a separate heatsink to manage the drive's heat generation. This might be daunting for users unfamiliar with hardware tinkering.

• Limited Capacity: While capacities are increasing, M.2 SSDs currently offer a smaller maximum storage capacity compared to external hard drives.

External Hard Drive: Affordable Expansion

External hard drives provide a simpler and more budget-friendly storage solution:

• Cost-Effective: External hard drives offer significantly more storage space for your money compared to M.2 SSDs. This makes them ideal for players who need to store a large library of games without breaking the bank.

• Plug-and-Play Simplicity: External hard drives connect via USB, allowing for easy setup and connection. No internal modifications are necessary, making it ideal for users less comfortable with hardware installation.

• Large Capacities: External hard drives boast much larger capacities than M.2 SSDs, reaching up to several terabytes, allowing you to store a vast collection of games.

However, drawbacks exist:

• Slower Speeds: Compared to M.2 SSDs, external hard drives offer significantly slower data transfer speeds. This translates to longer loading times for both PS5 and PS4 games and can potentially impact gameplay performance, especially in demanding titles.

• PS5 Game Limitations: External hard drives cannot directly play PS5 games. While you can store PS5 games on them, you'll need to transfer them back to the internal storage or an M.2 SSD to play them.

Making the Right Choice: Consider Your Needs

Ultimately, the best choice depends on your individual needs and priorities:

• Focus on performance and fast loading times? Prioritize an internal M.2 SSD.

• Need the most affordable option for maximum storage? Choose an external hard drive.

• Value both affordability and some performance improvement? Consider a smaller internal M.2 SSD for essential PS5 games and an external hard drive for the bulk of your library.

Additional Considerations:

• Future-Proofing: If you anticipate having a large library of PS5 games in the future, a larger internal M.2 SSD or a combination of both might be wise.

• Heat Management: Ensure your chosen M.2 SSD is compatible with the PS5 and comes with a suitable heatsink to avoid overheating.

Sony's PlayStation 5 is a great console, but it suffers from one flaw: it only has 667 GB of actual internal storage (825 GB base). This may seem like a lot, but at a time when most AAA titles easily exceed 100 GB, it is therefore difficult to have more than 4 or 5 games on your console.

Juggling setups can get tiring quickly, especially if your internet connection isn't great. Note, however, that Sony is making efforts since the new PlayStation 5 Slim, replacing the base model, includes 1 TB of storage, so around 825 GB really available. It's already better! To find out which PS5 model to choose, click here.

The solution to this problem is therefore to increase the storage space yourself. It is possible to install an internal NVMe SSD yourself or to simply connect an external SSD.

Please note that while the internal SSD can play all games, an external drive can only play PS4 titles and store PS5 games.

To install an SSD in your PS5, you must respect certain conditions for optimal operation:

• PCIe Gen4 4x NVMe SSD

• Capacity between 250 GB and 4 TB

• Minimum 5500 MB/s sequential reading

• Mandatory heatsink with a maximum height of 8 mm

In practice, slower Gen4 drives work on current games, but nothing is guaranteed for upcoming titles that will fully exploit the console's capabilities. This is why we only recommend discs following official specifications.

Internal NVMe SSDs

Samsung 980 Pro: the reliable reference

The Samsung 980 Pro is one of our favorite SSDs for PCs and it is no surprise that it takes its place in this selection. Not only is it extremely fast, but it also offers one of the best prices per gigabyte on the market.

We also appreciate the 5-year warranty, even if you are unlikely to use it as Samsung SSDs are renowned for their reliability. The 980 Pro with heatsink is offered at a very attractive price, still below 170 euros, but regularly cheaper.

Adata XPG Gammix S70 Blade 1 TB: the SSD with a standard radiator

You don't want to mount the heatsink on your SSD yourself? Many models with a radiator exist, but most of them are either too tall or way too expensive. Adata's Gammix S70 Blade is one of the rare exceptions to the rule.

Its flow rates are solid and its very thin heatsink will pose no problem for installation in the console. On the other hand, it is more expensive than a model without a heatsink. If the difference is around ten euros for the 1 TB model, it rises to 50 euros for the 2 TB model. Please note: a version without a heatsink is also sold under the same name.

MSI Spatium M480 Play: the fastest SSD

Still among the NVMe SSDs, we highly recommend the MSI Spatium M480 Play (with heatsink) if you manage to find it at an attractive price. It's quite simply the fastest internal SSD on the market, with 7,372 MB/s sequential reading and 5,960 MB/s writing. A real racing beast! Unfortunately, it can sometimes suffer from availability (and pricing) issues, but stay tuned if you see it available. MSI's SSD is available from 500 GB to 4 TB of storage.

Lexar NM790: simple and effective

Another alternative, another brand, the recent NM790 from Lexar. This model is available from 1 TB, with or without heatsink. In use, read and write speeds are excellent. On PS5, the console gave us a reading speed of 6549 MB/s, more than enough for a smooth experience. As a reminder, Sony recommends a minimum sequential read speed of 5,500 MB/s for optimal performance.

External SSDs

Samsung T7: the good compromise in external SSD

The T7 is one of our favorite external SSDs for general use and its qualities make it a good option for use with a PS5. Its first strong point is its extremely compact format which allows it to be easily forgotten.

Its raw performance is not monstrous (1000 MB/s in reading and writing), but it is more than sufficient for the use we make of it, particularly given its price. 1 TB of storage generally sells for around 120 euros, which makes this option more economical than an NVMe drive.

Samsung 870 QVo: an in-house external SSD

Although classic external SSDs are interesting, with their particularly compact format, they are however much more expensive than their desktop cousins ​​of equal capacity. However, external enclosures allow you to simply transform a 2.5” disk into a USB disk.

For those wondering: we have deliberately excluded the use of an NVMe drive. Faster on paper, the latter in practice bring almost nothing to use and are much more expensive for equal capacity.

For this specific case, we chose a 2 TB Samsung 870 QVO with a USB box from Ugreen. The result is an external drive that is certainly a little bulkier than a Samsung T5, but just as efficient and almost 20% less expensive. Don't hesitate to use another SSD model if you want even more space or if you find an interesting promotion. The performance will remain unchanged.

Toshiba Canvio Basics: for small budgets

If you don't have a lot of money to spend and especially if you don't plan to play PS4 games directly on the external drive, there's no need to break the bank. A classic platter hard drive will do the job.

This Canvio Basics from Toshiba is a safe bet in this area, with good build quality and a reasonable cost per GB. Only small complaint: it uses a micro-USB 3.0 socket that is less practical than USB-C.

Understanding everything about PS5 SSD storage

Which internal SSDs are compatible with the PS5?

Sony has published a series of criteria for compatible SSDs. Here is a summary.

• Interface: M.2 NVMe PCIe Gen4 x4 SSD.

• Capacity : 250 GB to 4 TB.

• Cooling structure: the SSD must be equipped with a heatsink, whether original or not.

• Sequential read speed: 5.5 GB/s minimum

• Module width: 22 mm

• Format: 2230, 2242, 2260, 2280 and 22 110 (M.2 type)

• Total dimensions with heatsink: in millimeters: less than 110 mm (length) x 25 mm (width) x 11.25 mm (height).

What can be stored on an external PS5 drive?

External media come with constraints on the PS5. Indeed, certain game features are dependent on the console's ultra-fast storage. It is therefore impossible to play directly on a PS5 game installed on an external hard drive. You will therefore have to copy it to the internal disk before playing.

PS4 titles, on the other hand, will be playable directly from an external disk, a particularly interesting point since the catalog of the previous generation represents a huge part of the games available at the moment.

Is there any performance loss when playing on an external drive?

The answer to this question will depend on the type of disk used. In practice, however, loading times are almost unchanged if you use an external SSD. On a platter hard drive, however, loading times explode, increasing by 20 to 100% depending on the titles.

Should you choose an SSD or a disk on a platter?

From a pure performance point of view, SSDs are superior to traditional drives, whether for copy times (for PS5 games) or loading times (for PS5 games too). Their cost per gigabyte, however, is much higher.

What disks are supported?

In theory, all external USB drives are supported as long as they meet the connectivity and capacity criteria:

• support for USB 5 Gbps (USB 3.0/USB 3.1 Gen1/USB 3.2 Gen1)

• minimum capacity of 250 GB and maximum of 8 TB