In case your PlayStation 5’s inner storage is beginning to really feel a little bit cramped, you’re not alone. With recreation installs commonly taking on over 100GB, increasing your storage is among the best methods to get extra out of your console. One of the best SSD for PS5 is not going to solely provide you with further area on your recreation library, but it surely must also meet Sony’s velocity necessities so your video games load simply as quick as they might on the built-in drive.
There’s a variety of SSDs to select from, whether or not you need a easy plug-and-play choice with a heatsink or a budget-friendly decide the place you add your personal. Some provide higher cooling, others include software program instruments for managing efficiency — however all of the drives we’ve included listed below are appropriate, quick and dependable. Right here’s what to look out for when upgrading your PS5 storage, and our high picks that can assist you get began.
Learn extra: These are the best SSDs in 2025
Desk of contents
Finest SSDs for PS5 in 2025
Capability: As much as 8TB | Sequential learn efficiency: 7,100MB/s | Sequential write efficiency: 6,800MB/s | Connection: M.2
The Corsair MP600 Pro LPX makes it to the highest of our listing for the very best PS5 SSD for being the entire package deal. It’s quick, gives wonderful efficiency and browse speeds of as much as 7,100MB/s. It additionally comes with a pre-installed heatsink and a five-year guarantee.
Better of all, the MP600 is reasonably priced. After launching at $190, you possibly can routinely discover the 1TB variant on sale for as little as $80, whereas the 2TB mannequin fluctuates in worth between $110 and $150. The 4TB and 8TB fashions are much less of a discount. The MP600 can be not the quickest NVMe on this listing. Nonetheless, so far as no-fuss choices go, it’s onerous to beat.
- Constructed-in heatsink
- Reasonably priced
- Not the quickest Gen4 mannequin
Essential
Capability: As much as 4TB | Learn efficiency: 7,300MB/s | Write efficiency: 6,800 MB/s | Connection: M.2
If you wish to save a bit of cash by putting in your personal heatsink, the Crucial T500 is a good choice. With learn speeds of as much as 7,300MB/s, it surpasses Sony’s technical necessities, and you’ll ceaselessly discover the 1TB mannequin on sale for as little as $60. Essential additionally gives a model with a heatsink, so it’s price including each the Corsair MP600 and Essential T500 to a worth watch listing and shopping for whichever mannequin is cheaper whenever you’re able to improve your PS5.
- Quick
- Obtainable with or with out heatsink
SABRENT
Capability: As much as 8TB | Sequential learn efficiency: 7,000MB/s | Sequential write efficiency: 6,600MB/s | Connection: M.2
Of all of the SSDs on this listing, the Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus is essentially the most attention-grabbing. It comes with a novel heatsink that you just set up instead of the storage growth slot’s steel cowl. Sabrent claims this design improves cooling efficiency. In consequence, count on to pay greater than you’d for a mannequin with a generic heatsink, with the 1TB variant coming in at round $110 and the 2TB mannequin costing between $220 and $280.
- PS5-specific heatsink design
- Not as quick as different choices
- Costly relative to different drives
SAMSUNG
Capability: As much as 4TB | Learn efficiency: 1,050MB/s | Write efficiency: 1,000MB/s | Connection: USB 3.0
As I clarify under, you possibly can’t run PS5 video games from an exterior drive — however you should utilize one to retailer any video games you aren’t enjoying in the intervening time, together with older PS4 video games.
Certainly one of my favourite transportable drives is the Samsung T7. It may possibly write recordsdata at a speedy 1,000 MB/s. If you happen to plan to make use of the drive completely for at-home use, it can save you cash by shopping for the common mannequin as an alternative of the ruggedized Protect variant. I’ve been utilizing T7 drives to retailer my images, music and video games for years, and so they have but to fail me. The most recent mannequin, the Samsung T9, boasts learn/write speeds of as much as 2,000MB/s.
- Reasonably priced
- Dependable
- Rugged variant obtainable
- Can’t play PS5 video games from exterior drive
How we check PS5 SSDs
I’ve examined a lot of the SSDs advisable on this listing, both for PS5 or pc use. I additionally purchased and used our high decide in my very own PS5.
PS5 SSD FAQs
How a lot PS5 storage do I want?
The PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Pro can settle for inner drives with between 250GB and 8TB of storage capability. If you happen to already personal a PS5, likelihood is you’ve got an affordable concept of how a lot storage you want on your recreation library. If you happen to’re shopping for an SSD with a brand new PS5 or PS5 Professional, or shopping for for another person, it’s harder to inform what you would possibly want for a high-performance expertise.
PS5 video games are smaller on common than their PS4 equivalents, sometimes taking on between 30GB and 100GB, with some notable (and very fashionable) exceptions. If you happen to’re a fan of the Name of Obligation sequence, putting in Black Ops 6 and Warzone 2.0 can eat as much as 240GB. In different phrases, a full Name of Obligation set up will take up greater than one-third of the PS5’s inner storage. If you happen to’re not a CoD fan, although, likelihood is you’ll be good to retailer between six to 10 video games on an everyday PS5 internally earlier than working into issues.
You additionally want to contemplate your web velocity. If you happen to dwell in an space with gradual broadband, the “you possibly can simply obtain it once more” rationale doesn’t actually work. At my previous dwelling, a 100GB obtain took me round eight hours, throughout which period it was troublesome to concurrently watch Twitch or, say, publish articles about upgrading PS5 SSDs. Protecting video games round on the off-chance you’ll need to play them sooner or later is sensible.
Off the bat, there’s principally no level in going for a 250GB PS5 SSD. Economically, 250GB drives aren’t that less expensive than 500GB ones — and virtually, that basically isn’t a variety of area for contemporary video games to dwell on. 500GB drives generally is a first rate choice, however after years of declining costs, I believe the candy spot for most individuals is to go for a high-capacity 1TB or 2TB drive, which ought to run you at most $200. The latter will greater than double the PS5 Professional’s storage with out breaking the financial institution.
Until you’re rolling in money and need to flex, 4TB and 8TB fashions ought to largely be averted, as you’ll find yourself paying extra per gigabyte than you’d with a 1TB or 2TB drive.
Whereas the 825GB PS5 solely supplies 667GB of storage, that’s largely on account of storage being reserved for the working system and caching. If you happen to set up a 1TB PS5 SSD, you may have, inside a margin of error, 1TB of storage obtainable for video games. Out of the field, the PS5 Professional gives 1.86TB of storage for video games, although you possibly can eke out extra for those who delete the pre-installed Astro’s Playroom (gasp).
Since neither the PS5 Slim nor PS5 Professional function up to date CPU structure, all of our suggestions will work with no matter PS5 mannequin you personal.
Are you able to play PS5 video games on an exterior SSD?
Exterior onerous drives are likely to value lower than inner SSD counterparts (and there’s probability you would possibly personal one already). Sadly, there are restrictions on what you are able to do with them. An exterior SSD connects to your PS5 by way of USB, and is simply appropriate for enjoying PlayStation 4 video games, or storing PS5 titles. That’s helpful when you have something however the very best high-speed web — it’s quicker to maneuver a PS5 recreation out of “chilly storage” on an exterior drive than it’s to re-download it — or need to hold your PS4 library readily available.
Because of the limitations right here, you don’t want the highest-performing mannequin, though you must go for SSDs over HDDs for improved switch speeds and cargo instances. Any primary transportable drive from a good model will do, with the Essential X9 Professional and Samsung T7 being choices we’ve tried and may suggest.
Which SSD playing cards are appropriate with the PS5?
The official answer to this query is an “M.2 Socket 3 (Key M) Gen4 x4 NVME SSD.” However even inside that seemingly particular description, there are further elements to contemplate. The principle necessities Sony has laid out for compatibility come down to hurry, cooling and bodily dimensions.
For velocity, Sony says drives ought to be capable to deal with sequential reads at 5,500MB/s. Early testing confirmed that the PS5 would settle for drives as gradual as 4,800MB/s, and that video games that faucet into the SSD commonly — akin to Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart — would trigger no points. Just about the one factor the PS5 will outright reject is one that does not match the Gen4 x4 spec.
In our opinion, although, utilizing a drive slower than the specification is a threat that, for those who don’t have already got that drive mendacity round, just isn’t price taking. Simply because we haven’t discovered points but doesn’t imply there received’t be video games that could possibly be problematic sooner or later. The worth distinction between these marginally slower Gen4 drives and those that meet Sony’s spec isn’t enormous, and also you would possibly as effectively cowl all of your bases.
Barely extra sophisticated than velocity is cooling and measurement. Most new SSDs are going to be simply tremendous; the PS5 can match 22mm-wide SSDs of nearly any size (30mm, 40mm, 60mm, 80mm or 110mm, to be exact). The overwhelming majority of drives you discover will probably be 22mm vast and 80mm lengthy, so no drawback there.
It ought to be famous that the system can match a 25mm-wide drive, however that width should embody the cooling answer. Talking of, Sony says SSDs require “efficient warmth dissipation with a cooling construction, akin to a heatsink.” The utmost top supported by Sony’s slot is 11.25mm, of which solely 2.45mm may be “under” the drive.
This beforehand meant a number of the hottest heatsinked Gen4 SSDs, together with Corsair’s MP600 Professional LP, wouldn’t match throughout the PS5’s storage growth slot. Since Engadget first printed this information in 2021, most NVMe makers, together with Samsung, have come out with PlayStation-specific fashions that meet these necessities. That stated, if you wish to avoid wasting cash, naked drives are sometimes cheaper and it’s trivial to discover a cooling answer that may work for the PS5.
The one part in an NVMe SSD that basically requires cooling is the controller, which and not using a heatsink will fortunately sear a (very small) steak. Most SSDs have chips on just one facet, however even on double-sided SSDs, the controller is more likely to be on high, as producers realize it must be positioned there to higher dissipate warmth.
So, head to your PC part vendor of selection and decide up principally something that meets the advisable dimensions. A superb search time period is “laptop computer NVME heatsink,” as these will probably be designed to slot in the confines of gaming laptops, that are much more restrictive than a PS5. They’re additionally sometimes cheaper than those labeled as “PS5 heatsinks.”
One suggestion is that this $6 copper heatsink, which attaches to the PS5 SSD with sticky thermal interface materials. It really works simply tremendous, and in performing stress exams on a PC, we couldn’t discover something steel that didn’t hold temperatures beneath management. Once you’re looking, simply be sure that the answer you go for measures not more than 25mm vast or 8mm tall (together with the thermal interface materials) and has a easy methodology of set up that’s not going to trigger any complications.
One final thing: When searching for a PS5 NVMe, there’s no purpose to purchase a Gen5 mannequin over a extra reasonably priced Gen4 mannequin. As issues stand, Sony’s console can’t make the most of the brand new normal, and although Gen5 drives are backward appropriate, they’re costlier than their Gen4 counterparts. Simply purchase the quickest and highest-capacity Gen4 mannequin you possibly can afford.
The way to set up an SSD into your PS5
If you happen to want steerage on how to install your new NVMe into your PS5 or PS5 Professional, we have now a separate information detailing all of the steps right here. Set up is fairly easy, however our how-to might help you for those who’re caught. Simply make word: Earlier than making an attempt so as to add extra storage by way of a PS5 SSD, guarantee that you’ve Sony’s latest software installed.
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