Joseph Kaminski Senior Associate Technology Editor / Reviews
When not juggling the dual demands of parenthood and playing basketball, Joseph is a life-long Manhattanite who can be found testing the latest tech in the CNET Labs and developing new benchmarks and testing methodologies.
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Sony unlocked the PS5’s extra internal storage drive in 2021, a year after the console launched. This means you can dig into that extra space to level up your console’s storage capacity. All you need to do is grab the best M.2 SSD to bulk up your storage and speed to get the most out of your gaming experience. Whether you intend to keep a collection of useful saves or install new games, plenty of M.2 SSD Playstation 5 storage options can give you that extra storage boost.
It can be a challenge to find a superfast M.2 drive, specifically one with an integrated heatsink. That’s an essential component for your operating environment if you want to stave off overheating. If your solid-state drive doesn’t have one, you’ll have to add it manually. We’ve made some suggestions below to help with that process.
If you’re ready to expand your game library, keep reading. We’ve tested several drives, including the 4TB Seagate FireCuda 530, which we installed in this how-to feature, and you can find those transfer time results below.
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Samsung’s high-end M.2 drive was a logical first choice for a lot of PS5 modders, but the original version didn’t include a built-in heatsink — which is required for operation. You could buy a separate one and attach it, but that’s a few extra steps.
Conveniently, this excellent Samsung 980 Pro SSD is now available with a heatsink, which makes it an all-in-one package. There are two current configurations, a 1TB model and a 2TB model, with the price roughly doubling for the larger model.
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The big 4TB Seagate FireCuda 530 includes a built-in heatsink, which is a requirement for an internal PS5 drive. There are 1TB, 2TB and 4TB models.
After I installed and set up the drive, I tried transferring a few games from the default drive to my new SSD. Call of Duty, which is nearly 200GB, transferred in about 2 minutes, 30 seconds. Returnal — around 50GB — transferred in about 40 seconds.
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Slot your drive in here, then replace the metal plate.
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Slot your drive in here, then replace the metal plate.
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Corsair’s PS5-compatible M.2 drive comes with a heat sync. We tested the 2TB version, but there’s also a 1TB version.
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Normally I’d stick with M.2 drives with built-in heat sinks, so make the entire upgrade process easier, but I’ll make an exception for this PNY XLR8 drive because PNY also makes a separate PS5 SSD cover panel for $20, complete with a built-in heat sink.
Just slot the slim M.2 drive in the slot, screw the new cover panel over it and you’re all set. We’ve tested the drive and added its transfer time scores to the chart below.
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Seagate FireCuda 530 (4TB) 1:05 6:00Samsung 980 Pro (1TB) 1:08 5:56Corsair MP600 Pro LPX (2TB) 1:04 5:54PNY XLR8 CS3140 (1TB) 1:16 6:11Samsung 990 Pro with heatsink 1:02 5:54
- Console main storage to M.2 (in minute:seconds)
- M.2 to Console main storage (in minute:seconds)
Seagate FireCuda 530 (4TB) 0:33 2:57Samsung 980 Pro (1TB) 0:31 2:53Corsair MP600 Pro LPX (2TB) 0:33 2:54PNY XLR8 CS3140 (1TB) 0:40 2:53Samsung 990 Pro with heatsink 0.29 2.54
- Console main storage to M.2 (in minute:seconds)
- M.2 to Console main storage (in minute:seconds)
Besides the Samsung and Seagate versions, this Western Digital drive is probably the most popular M.2 choice for the PS5. It also includes the needed heatsink built in, which I recommend as a much easier way to get your console storage upgraded.
The WD Black comes in 500GB, 1TB and 2TB sizes, although I can’t see going through all the effort required to open the PS5 and install these for a mere 500GB of extra space, especially with some games getting close to 100GB in size. 1TB seems like the best value for your money.
