Do you want to install an SSD in your SONY PS4 console? these are the best.

Although the PlayStation 5 is the console that is designed to make use of NVMe SSD technology, we can actually use solid state technology to improve our previous generation PlayStation, and whether we have a PS4 in either of its two versions or In the Pro variant of the console we can install a SATA SSD replacing the standard hard drive that comes with the console.

Index

Do you want to install an SSD in your SONY PS4 console?  these are the best

The main reason for doing so is that you are going to want the console to last several years and since hard drives tend to break down over time, then a solid state drive is preferable to keep our games safe and not get scared with the time when we want to play again with our favorite console.

Why install an SSD for your PS4 and PS4 Pro?

In any case, do not expect the speed of the new generation console, since all PS4 variants were not designed for the SSD and make use of a SATA interface that actually becomes a USB 3.0 when communicating with the system, so the maximum bandwidth is 5 Gbit per second and therefore 625 MB/s. Which puts it far from the speed of the PS5 drive, but it’s still fast enough to support most SATA SSDs on the market without issue.

Do you want to install an SSD in your SONY PS4 console?  these are the best

However, the hard drive that comes standard with the console is not of high quality and does not even go as far as saturating the bandwidth of a SATA connection. So using an SSD is important to speed up load times. Which are a sequential data load from the storage unit to RAM.

Although where it is best noticed is in random loads, in the middle of a game, when we see the occasional sudden drop in the smoothness of the game. The lower latency of the SSD and its speed in searching for data will make these situations less common.

Examples of gaming performance when using an SSD on PS4

What’s more, the PlayStation 4 disk drive reaches 300 MB/s in the best of cases, so technically what we have discussed in the previous section translates into doubling the bandwidth between the storage unit and the console, but this does not mean doubling the loading speed. In any case, we give you some information so that you have an idea of ​​the improvement:

Do you want to install an SSD in your SONY PS4 console?  these are the best
  • The Witcher 3 using SSD takes 45 seconds to load, if we use a hard disk then the load takes 20 seconds more.
  • In Just Cause 4 if we have a solid state drive it takes 21 seconds to load the game menu, while with a hard drive it takes 34 seconds.
  • In Crysis Remaster it takes 70 seconds to load a level if we use the SSD, on the other hand, if we use the unit that comes standard with the console, the loading times go to an additional 20 seconds.

So, as you can see, the load times get better, but since the games are not intended to make use of the solid state drive and given the limitations of the SATA interface compared to an NVMe the difference is not. so much. In any case, PS4 lacks an interface to install an M.2 and we are limited to 2.5-inch SSDs.

The best SSDs for your PS4 console

After the introduction, we are going to present a series of 2.5-inch SATA SSD models that we believe are the ideal candidates to replace the hard drive of your PS4 Pro consoles, by the way, remember that these recommendations also work for the standard PS4, since either the original model or the Slim that came out several years later and is still on sale today.

Samsung SSD 870 EVO

We start with the Samsung drive, which comes in 1, 2, 4, and 8TB versions. It is a unit with a long life, supporting up to 2880 TBW of writing throughout its useful life, so if you are one of those who has a huge collection of games purchased on the PSN, you can download and install them to enjoy them for many years.

Bandwidth-wise, Samsung’s 870 EVO can perform sequential reads and writes of up to 560MB/s and 530MB/s respectively, which is to be expected for a drive of this type. If we already talked about its performance when accessing random data, reading goes to 98,000 IOPS and writing to 88,000.

Do you want to install an SSD in your SONY PS4 console?  these are the best

It is the best unit in the comparison, with good performance and we do not see any failure to replace the disk drive of the fourth generation PlayStation.

Crucial MX500

The second SSD for PS4 that we bring you is the Crucial MX 500, with very close specifications, since it also has a sequential read speed of 560 MB/s, but it is somewhat worse in sequential writes than the Samsung model when working. at 510MB/s. As for its performance in random reading, this is 95,000 IOPS, but in writing it is 90,000.

To all this, we have to clarify about this last fact that it is not very relevant for a video game console, since it will rarely do random writes because it only accesses the storage unit to make automatic saves or to install the game. In any case, it is a good option if you want to replace the HDD of your PS4 with an SSD.

Do you want to install an SSD in your SONY PS4 console?  these are the best

WD Blue 3D and SanDisk Ultra 3D SSDs

No, we have not made a mistake and we are not telling you to buy and install both SATA SSDs in your PS4, but if we have put them together it is because it is the same hardware, although under a different brand and, therefore, from Same specifications and features. Its sequential read speed is 560 MB/s, which is standard in all these types of drives. As for the sequential writing speed, it remains at 530 MB/s, which is why it matches the Samsung model.

If we go to random performance, this solid-state drive reaches 95,000 IOPS in readings and 84,000 IOPS in writing, so in performance both hard drives take the silver medal, but because we have to choose one of the two for price we stay with the WD Blue that usually costs a little less.

ADATA SU800r

The last one on the list is the ADATA SU800, we won’t say its reading speed since it is the same as the rest, but its reading speed is 520 MB/s, its IOPS performance is 95,000 for reading and 84,000 for writing, both obviously sequential.

His best asset? The fact of having a dynamic SLC cache and a RAID Engine, which means that its performance remains stable and does not decline. Which is ideal in very large gaming facilities.

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