If you’re looking for an SSD to boost your PS5’s storage, you can’t make better choices than Western Digital’s SN850. We don’t get paid to say that, I promise. Better yet, it is not even us who say it but Mark Cerny: the architect of the PS5 himself! Obviously, what works wonderfully on PS5 will also work perfectly on your desktop or laptop PC with an available M2 port.
While waiting for the massive arrival on the market of the new PCI Express 5.0 ports, the NVMe SSD of Gen 4 still represent the very high end. Western Digital’s SN850 is one of them. It will give a nice boost to an old PC and drastically improve the storage speeds of your PS5.
Normally offered at € 169.99 in its 500 GB version and € 299.99 in its 1 TB version, the NVMe WD_BLACK SN850 Heatsink SSD, with integrated heatsink, is now available at Amazon for € 119.99 or € 206.99.
First of all, let’s come back to the usefulness of an NVMe SSD. This storage technology is more compact, less fragile, less heating and above all much faster than an old hard drive. This speed is not negligible. Beyond greatly accelerating the transfer speed of your files, it especially allows you to considerably reduce the loading times of Windows and your games. No more long uncomfortable moments staring at your reflection on your TV or PC screen.
Note that if you place the SN850 from Western digital in your PS5, you will have an SSD even faster than the basic SSD present in the console. The one stuck in the PlayStation is going at 5500MB / s read. The SN850 goes up to 7000 MB / s (and 5300 MB / s in writing). Apart from the Firecuda 530, few models currently on the market exceed it. Happiness never comes alone, it is offered here in its “Heatsink” version, understand with integrated heat sink. It is therefore completely ready to use for the PS5. You just have to plug it in (if you don’t know how, we’ll explain that to you at the end of the article).
How to increase the storage space of the PS5?
There are two ways to increase the storage of your PS5, via an external hard drive (HDD) or via an SSD to insert into your console. However, it is only with an internal SSD that you will be able to launch the games.
How to install an internal SSD on the PS5?
To do this, you need a size 1 Phillips screwdriver. After making sure that the console is unplugged, lay it down and position it in front of you. Remove the cover and then unscrew the cover from the SSD expansion slot. Remove the screws, plug in the SSD and screw it in. All you have to do is close the cover of the space dedicated to the SSD and replace the outer cover. Plug the console back in and follow the instructions in the PS5 format utility so that you can use your new SSD.
Which internal SSDs are compatible with the PS5?
Currently, due to very strict rules for integrating an SSD, only a few PCIe 4.0 models may be suitable. With a heat sink, we will retain the SSD WD_Black SN850, and then, in the category without heat sink, you can count on the Sabrent 2Tb Rocket 4 Plus, the Samsung 980 Pro or the Crucial P5 Plus.
