In case your PlayStation 5’s inner storage is beginning to really feel slightly cramped, you’re not alone. With recreation installs commonly taking over over 100GB, increasing your storage is likely one of the best methods to get extra out of your console. The very best SSD for PS5 won’t solely provide you with further area in your recreation library, nevertheless it must also meet Sony’s pace necessities so your video games load simply as quick as they’d on the built-in drive.
There’s a variety of SSDs to select from, whether or not you need a easy plug-and-play possibility with a heatsink or a budget-friendly choose the place you add your individual. Some supply 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 prime picks that will help you get began.
Learn extra: These are the perfect SSDs in 2025
Desk of contents
Finest SSDs for PS5 in 2025
Corsair
Capability: As much as 8TB | Sequential learn efficiency: 7,100MB/s | Sequential write efficiency: 6,800MB/s | Connection: M.2
The Corsair MP600 Professional LPX makes it to the highest of our record for the perfect PS5 SSD for being the whole bundle. It’s quick, affords 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 may routinely discover the 1TB variant on sale for as little as $80, whereas the 2TB mannequin fluctuates in value 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 record. Nevertheless, so far as no-fuss choices go, it’s arduous to beat.
- Constructed-in heatsink
- Inexpensive
- Not the quickest Gen4 mannequin
$95 at Amazon
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 individual heatsink, the Essential T500 is a good possibility. With learn speeds of as much as 7,300MB/s, it surpasses Sony’s technical necessities, and you may regularly discover the 1TB mannequin on sale for as little as $60. Essential additionally affords a model with a heatsink, so it’s value including each the Corsair MP600 and Essential T500 to a value watch record and shopping for whichever mannequin is cheaper if you’re able to improve your PS5.
- Quick
- Obtainable with or with out heatsink
$75 at Amazon
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 record, the Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus is essentially the most attention-grabbing. It comes with a novel heatsink that you simply set up rather than the storage growth slot’s metallic cowl. Sabrent claims this design improves cooling efficiency. Because of this, 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
$130 at Amazon
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 may’t run PS5 video games from an exterior drive — however you should utilize one to retailer any video games you aren’t taking part in in the mean time, together with older PS4 video games.
Considered one of my favourite moveable drives is the Samsung T7. It will possibly write information 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 Defend variant. I’ve been utilizing T7 drives to retailer my pictures, music and video games for years, and so they have but to fail me. The newest mannequin, the Samsung T9, boasts learn/write speeds of as much as 2,000MB/s.
- Inexpensive
- Dependable
- Rugged variant obtainable
- Can’t play PS5 video games from exterior drive
$90 at Adorama
How we check PS5 SSDs
I’ve examined many of the SSDs really useful on this record, both for PS5 or pc use. I additionally purchased and used our prime choose in my very own PS5.
PS5 SSD FAQs
How a lot PS5 storage do I would like?
The PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Professional can settle for inner drives with between 250GB and 8TB of storage capability. If you happen to already personal a PS5, chances are high you might have an inexpensive thought of how a lot storage you want in 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 tougher to inform what you would possibly want for a high-performance expertise.
PS5 video games are smaller on common than their PS4 equivalents, usually taking over between 30GB and 100GB, with some notable (and highly regarded) exceptions. If you happen to’re a fan of the Name of Responsibility sequence, putting in Black Ops 6 and Warzone 2.0 can eat as much as 240GB. In different phrases, a full Name of Responsibility 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, chances are high you’ll be good to retailer between six to 10 video games on a daily PS5 internally earlier than operating into issues.
You additionally want to contemplate your web pace. If you happen to reside in an space with gradual broadband, the “you may simply obtain it once more” rationale doesn’t actually work. At my previous dwelling, a 100GB obtain took me round eight hours, throughout which era it was tough to concurrently watch Twitch or, say, publish articles about upgrading PS5 SSDs. Retaining video games round on the off-chance you’ll need to play them in some unspecified time in the future 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 actually isn’t plenty of area for contemporary video games to reside on. 500GB drives is usually a first rate possibility, however after years of declining costs, I feel 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.
Except 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 gives 667GB of storage, that’s largely resulting from 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 affords 1.86TB of storage for video games, although you may 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 arduous drives are likely to price lower than inner SSD counterparts (and there’s likelihood 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 through USB, and is simply appropriate for enjoying PlayStation 4 video games, or storing PS5 titles. That’s helpful you probably have something however the perfect 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 preserve your PS4 library readily available.
As a result of limitations right here, you don’t want the highest-performing mannequin, though it’s best to go for SSDs over HDDs for improved switch speeds and cargo occasions. Any primary moveable drive from a good model will do, with the Essential X9 Professional and Samsung T7 being choices we’ve tried and might suggest.
Which SSD playing cards are appropriate with the PS5?
The official reply 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 pace, Sony says drives ought to be capable of 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 — corresponding to Ratchet & Clank: Rift Aside — 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, will not be value taking. Simply because we haven’t discovered points but doesn’t imply there received’t be video games that may very well be problematic sooner or later. The value distinction between these marginally slower Gen4 drives and those that meet Sony’s spec isn’t enormous, and also you would possibly as properly cowl all of your bases.
Barely extra sophisticated than pace is cooling and measurement. Most new SSDs are going to be simply wonderful; 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 broad 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 embrace the cooling answer. Talking of, Sony says SSDs require “efficient warmth dissipation with a cooling construction, corresponding to a heatsink.” The utmost peak supported by Sony’s slot is 11.25mm, of which solely 2.45mm may be “under” the drive.
This beforehand meant a few 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 mentioned, 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 actually requires cooling is the controller, which with no 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 prime, as producers comprehend it must be positioned there to raised dissipate warmth.
So, head to your PC part vendor of selection and choose up principally something that meets the really useful dimensions. An excellent 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 usually 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 wonderful, and in performing stress assessments on a PC, we couldn’t discover something metallic that didn’t preserve temperatures beneath management. If you’re looking, simply make sure that the answer you go for measures not more than 25mm broad 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 looking 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 reap the benefits of the brand new commonplace, and although Gen5 drives are backward appropriate, they’re dearer than their Gen4 counterparts. Simply purchase the quickest and highest-capacity Gen4 mannequin you may afford.
How one can set up an SSD into your PS5
If you happen to want steering on the way to set up 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 may also help you for those who’re caught. Simply make notice: Earlier than trying so as to add extra storage through a PS5 SSD, guarantee that you’ve got Sony’s newest software program put in.
