PS4 SSD Upgrade, is it worth it?

21st October 2021

If you’re considering upgrading your PS4 or PS4 Pro with an SSD Upgrade, then this is the article to read.

In today’s article, we will write about the advantages, disadvantages and our final conclusion on if you should upgrade.

We will also include a link taking you to an iFixit webpage showing you a step-by-step comprehensive guide to replacing the HDD in your computer with an SSD.

How-to replace your PS4 HDD with an SSD

Click here to go to iFixit for the full guide on replacing a PS4 HDD with an SSD

Advantages

You will see a noticeable boost in performance, this is because the built-in HDDs have a read and write speed of roughly 100MB/s. By using an SSD it will jump this speed fivefold and above (500MB/s).
SSDs have zero moving parts and are less susceptible to physical trauma (knocking it, dropping it on the floor etc.). This means your PS4 will be protected from sudden storage failure, for a further 5 years.
Sony added a new feature to the PS4 software called Boost mode (PS4 Pro version only) which allows for better frame rates in PS4 games that were released before the release of the PS4 Pro. So this in conjunction with an SSD can see even greater performance.
The PS4 system supports up to 8TB of internal storage, meaning that if we go by an average of 40GB per game install, minus the storage already taken by the system firmware, you’re looking at a rough maximum of ~192 titles.
If you buy an SSD from a renowned brand, you’ll be covered by a 5-year standard warranty, the sheer length of this warranty shows just how reliable these storage mediums are.

Disadvantages

They say “keep your expectations low, and you’ll never be disappointed”, in this case, it is especially true. Installing an SSD in your PS4 won’t be as effective as installing an SSD in your PC/Laptop, this is because put it simply, it isn’t a PC/Laptop.
Cost can be an issue depending on the size of SSD you purchase. For example, a 1TB HDD would cost you less than £40 which is very cheap for a storage medium. However, this is reflected upon performance and reliability as this pales in comparison to an SSD. A 1TB SSD would cost you upwards of £100, which is 2.5X the cost of a standard HDD, and if you were to upgrade to a 4TB SSD (3.84TB usable) it would cost you over £400. Compared to years ago, the cost of SSDs has certainly dropped, but it is still high compared to a HDD.
Your PS4 will not turn into a high-end gaming machine. A PS5 comes pre-built with an NVMe SSD (nonvolatile memory express) drive with 825GB of storage with an additional slot (that’s been recently unlocked in an update by Sony) which allows you to bump up the overall capacity of the system. With a PC/Laptop, if it is using Windows 7 or later it has both a 2TB and a 16TB limit which we will discuss in another article.

Conclusion

After reviewing the advantages and disadvantages, we can safely say that replacing your old HDD with a new SSD is a great way to go, you will see a performance boost, your drive will last longer and your games will load faster. The PS4 slightly bottlenecks the potential of the SSD and the cost of some larger drives may be daunting, but this doesn’t mean there aren’t benefits.

We are going to conclude this article by saying that it is entirely up to you whether you upgrade your PS4. If you want a slightly faster PS4 without paying for a brand new PS5 or gaming PC, then it is definitely the way to go!

Bonus tip – PS5 SSD Upgrade!

In a recent update, Sony unlocked the internal expansion slot in the new PS5 console where you can add your own M.2 SSD (M.2 SSDs are similar in performance to standard SSDs, but with a smaller form factor). Please watch the embedded YouTube video below from Sony to see how to install an M.2 SSD in your PS5: