ps4 2tb ssd hard drive

In this era where speed is an essential factor for the ease of life, and time becomes more precious than gold, the mechanical hard drive (HDD) doesn't seem to adapt well to the extreme demands of video gamers who don't have enough patience to wait for their favorite games a minute or so to load in order to enjoy playing it later. Such a situation gets on the nerves of PS4 PRO hardcore fanboys who wish their game console is much faster than what it is on now. Here comes to the surface the viable alternative to the regular Hard Disk Drive (HDD)—Solid State Drive (SSD).

Our Top SSD recommendations for PS4 PRO

Here's a list where we layout our best recommendations of SSDs for PS4 PRO storage upgrade, based on special criteria to ensure these SSDs are the best match for this game console.

The criteria consist of the following standards:

The compatibility with the standards of PS4 PRO storage upgrade. We make sure the SSD is a SATA-based drive (only SATA III are picked) and not thicker than 9.5mm (as the PS4 PRO drive bay doesn't accept bigger ones).
The SSD manufacturer must be highly reputable in the industry. We only listed the trusted SSD brands in the market to reassure the quality of the drive.
Reasonable price below $300. PS4 PRO console costs currently almost $400, and it doesn't seem reasonable to many that an SSD is at a closer price tag than the console itself. Therefore we tried our best to select the cheapest SSDs without compromising the quality.
The item's model is not more than 3 years old. This to ensure that the SSD is meeting the latest performance specifications.
Not less than 1TB of storage capacity. It doesn't make since if the drive is less than that whereas the factory hard drive of PS4 PRO is already 1TB.
Not less than 3-year limited warranty. This is to guarantee the peace of mind of the user, bearing in consideration that the standard life of a game console is 3-4 years only.

So we can boil down the SSD brands we recommend for PS4 PRO in the below table:

↓↓ Brand Name ↓↓	Model #	Capacity	Warranty
SanDisk Ultra II	SDSSDHII-960G-G25	960 GB	3 Years
Crucial MX300	CT1050MX300SSD1	1 TB	3 Years
ADATA Premier SP550	ASP550SS3-960GM-C	960 GB	3 Years
Mushkin Reactor	MKNSSDRE1TB	1 TB	3 Years
Crucial MX300	CT2050MX300SSD1	2 TB	3 Years
Samsung 850 EVO	MZ-75E2T0B/AM	2 TB	5 Years

These drives are considered the best value SSDs as well. We tried our best to gather them all into one list.

Why do you need an SSD for PS4 PRO

SSDs are continuously dropping in price, and the Samsung 850 Evo not a new SSD to the market, but with falling prices now competes with some of the budget drives out there. When using an SSD with PS4 PRO instead of the regular mechanical hard drive, you'll notice a remarkable increase of speed that enhances the overall performance of PS4 PRO. Samsung hasn't stopped impressing me in the SSD space. Samsung is a market leaders when it comes to SSD performance, and its flagship 850 Pro ratcheted the bar even higher. The MX300 is the second solid-state drive to use 3D flash memory, as opposed to the traditional, planar 2D flash memory. Usually when you want to take advantage of the speeds that solid state drives provide you have to make a compromise when it comes to storage space, as SSDs usually come in smaller capacities than regular hard drives.

PS4 PRO game console

Using a mechanical hard drive for upgrading PS4 PRO storage

With the PlayStation 4 Pro, Sony looks to step into new territory by offering a mid-cycle, higher-power version of its successful PlayStation 4. For the overwhelming of PS4 PRO users, we recommend upgrading the internal hard drive of their game console to 2tb hard drive. Whether it's embracing VR wholeheartedly or challenging the established console generation cycle, you've got to hand it to Sony – this company knows how to take risks. As Samsung make most of the chips within the market, it's interesting to see how it compares with its competition, while still being aimed at those who want good performance at an affordable price. Replacing PS4 PRO hard drive with a larger hard drive seems to be the first step to bear in mind if you're going in this route. The early Samsung SSDs weren't very good, but ever since the introduction of the SSD 830 Samsung has been doing a brilliant job and has been setting the bar for performance, cost and reliability. It offered stonking speed, and provided ample evidence that controlling the research, development and production of a drive provides the best results.

PS4 PRO SSD Authorized Specifications
Capacity	120GB	250GB	500GB	1TB
Controller	Samsung MGX			Samsung MEX
NAND	Samsung 128Gbit 40nm TLC V-NAND
DRAM (LPDDR2)	256MB	512MB		1GB
Sequential Read	540MB/s	540MB/s	540MB/s	540MB/s
Sequential Write	520MB/s	520MB/s	520MB/s	520MB/s
4KB Random Read	94K IOPS	97K IOPS	98K IOPS	98K IOPS
4KB Random Write	88K IOPS	88K IOPS	90K IOPS	90K IOPS
DevSleep Power Consumption	2mW	2mW	2mW	4mW
Slumber Power Consumption	50mW
Active Power Consumption (Read/Write)	Max 3.7W / 4.4W
Encryption	AES-256, TCG Opal 2.0, IEEE-1667 (eDrive)
Endurance	75TB (41GB/day)		150TB (82GB/day)
Warranty	Five years

If you think of each memory cell as a person, then 3D is to 2D flash memory as high rises are to single-family homes. You can also go with a 4tb hard drive for PS4 PRO if you feel that an SSD doesn't offer enough storage capacity for your ambition. Thankfully there are an increasing number of high capacity SSDs being released, such as the Crucial MX300, which we review here. On paper, the PS4 Pro certainly has the credentials to significantly enhance some existing and future PlayStation 4 games, but in practice, the results range from good to underwhelming depending on what game you're playing and what kind of screen you're playing on. They don't get much bigger than PlayStation 4 Pro, a release that doesn't just ask you to upgrade your console, but your display too. Now at a cheaper price, does the 850 Evo still hold its own?

upgrading PS4 PRO storage device with an SSD

Storing PS4 PRO on the new SSD

The SSD 840 specifically showed what properly executed vertical integration can really do as Samsung was the first manufacturer to utilize TLC NAND in a client SSD. PS4 PRO has lots of games that come with huge file size, and to store all these games on the new replacement SSD, you need at least 2tb of SSD storage capacity, which seems to be too expensive for average users. The 850 Evo isn't a flagship drive, but it's just as intriguing as the Pro version. You can house a lot more people with the former, on the same patch of land. This drive is available in 525GB, 750GB, 1050GB and 2TB capacities (we've got the 1050GB version in for review), which means if you want a fast SSD to act not only as a boot drive for your operating system, but also to store your files and folders, you can have the best of both worlds. Physically, the PS4 Pro packs a lot of potential in a relatively efficient space.

Dynamic Write Acceleration
Redundant Array of Independent NAND (RAIN)
Multistep Data Integrity Algorithm
Adaptive Thermal Protection
Active Garbage Collection
TRIM Support
Self-Monitoring and Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T)
Error Correction Code (ECC)
Device Sleep Support (DEVSLP)

Built primarily for the new wave of ultra HD 4K screens, the Pro offers both CPU and GPU upgrades over the current PS4. Read on to find out. It took a whopping two years before the rest of the industry was able to follow Samsung's footsteps and even today SanDisk is still the only other vendor with a TLC SSD.

Better Performance than regular hard drive

For starters, it uses the innovative 3D V-NAND that made its debut in the Pro and, despite the high-end technology on show, it's much cheaper. The Crucial drive is quite different from Samsung's, however.
Price is still an issue when you go for large capacity SSDs, with the price per GB being a lot higher than standard hard drives. An SSD offers a way better performance than regular hard drive that's incorporated inside PS4 PRO body. The additional 1GB of DRAM, the second GPU, and the extra power required to feed it don't add as much bulk as you'd imagine, or from how it looks in pictures.

Most SSD manufacturers use non-volatile NAND flash memory in the construction of their SSDs because of the lower cost compared with DRAM and the ability to retain the data without a constant power supply, ensuring data persistence through sudden power outages. Flash memory SSDs are slower than DRAM solutions, and some early designs were even slower than HDDs after continued use. This problem was resolved by controllers that came out in 2009 and later.

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How to upgrade PS4 PRO storage with an SSD

At its best, it offers stunning visual improvements over the same games running on base hardware, but even the more modestly boosted titles show clear improvements. Upgrading PS4 PRO storage device with an SSD is just the same as what you have to do with replacing the PS4 PRO internal hard drive with a new one. The 850 Evo can be found in various different capacity, including 120, 250, 500GB and huge 1, 2TB storage options – no matter your preference, Samsung has you covered. While getting an early lead on TLC NAND was a major win for Samsung and a showcase of its engineering talent, the real bombshell was dropped a year later at Flash Memory Summit 2013. Samsung's 3D V-NAND marks a sea-change in SSD construction. For one thing, the MX300 is available in fewer capacities — 275GB, 525GB, 750GB, 1TB and 2TB — whereas the 850 Evo can be had from 120GB all the way up to 4TB. (Originally, when first released, the MX300 was available in a single capacity of 750GB.) You will need at least 2tb of hard drive capacity to make sure your PS4 PRO can handle the heaps of games you desire to play. Ironically, the Crucial drive is also missing a few crucial features, most notably the ability to customize overprovisioning (a predetermined amount of storage space that's put aside to better the drive's efficiency) and to boost speed by using a host computer's system memory as cache. However, prices of SSDs are dropping, though there are occasional NAND shortages that can up the prices, and hopefully we'll continue to see price drops in the future. At 11.6 inches wide, 2.2 inches high, and 12.9 inches long, it can fit into practically all the same spaces your launch PS4 can, unless it was a really snug fit already. Bearing in mind the entirely reasonable price-point, it's a highly compelling piece of hardware.

Sequential reads/writes up to 530 / 510 MB/s on all file types
Random reads/writes up to 92k / 83k on all file types
Over 90x more energy efficient than a typical hard drive
Accelerated by Micron 3D NAND technology
Dynamic Write Acceleration delivers faster saves and file transfers
More durable than a hard drive – no small moving parts that are prone to failure
Best-in-class hardware encryption keeps data safe and secure
Exclusive Data Defense guards against data corruption
Adaptive Thermal Protection allows for adaptive cooling
Power Loss Protection completes write commands even if power is lost
Includes free Acronis True Image HD software for easy data migration
Compatible with the Crucial Storage Executive tool for easy drive maintenance
3 year limited warranty

In our case, we were sent the 500GB version from Ebuyer that can be found for £125.99 ($149.99 in the US).The various different versions can also be found on Amazon, from £50.90 for the 120GB variant to £492.62 for the massive 2TB option.

Choosing the right SSD for your PS4 PRO console

For years it had been known that traditional NAND scaling would soon come to an end and that there is an alternate way of scaling in the horizon. There are many SSD brands in the market to choose one for your PS4 PRO, and most of them seem good enough for the purpose, but you need to bear in mind that what a computer system needs isn't necessarily needed by PS4 PRO. Previous drives have crammed ever-smaller transistors into horizontal layers in an effort to improve capacities, but now Samsung has stacked its transistors vertically, too. Both perks are available on the Samsung. At £229 ($249, around AU$390), this isn't too high of a price for 1TB of SSD storage compared to its competitors, though it's still a high price tag compared to traditional hard drives of that capacity.

choosing the right SSD for PS4 PRO

It is significantly heavier though, by around 30%.In terms of inputs and outputs, the PS4 Pro sports two USB ports close together in the front and one more on the back. With choosing the best SSD for PS4 PRO, you make sure your game console is running at its utmost level of performance to enhance your gaming experience like never before. However, for those familiar with PlayStation 4, initially it may all seem to be perhaps too familiar. The Samsung Evo 850 uses a SATA III 6GB/s interface. As the first manufacturer in the world, Samsung announced that it had begun the mass production of its 128Gbit 24-layer 3D V-NAND. Some PS4 PRO fanboys would like to swap their game console's internal hard drive with a new 4tb hard drive, which is capacious enough for almost all their gaming needs. That means Samsung can fit the same number of transistors into its drives without the pressure to make them smaller – a move that means a huge reduction into the electricity leaks and performance inefficiencies that arrived when tiny transistors were squeezed into traditional horizontal designs.

If you picked up a PS4 Pro at launch, what's your experience been so far? In the short term, I'm planning on sticking with my current 1080p HDTV — I'll still benefit from supersampling, which cleans up the presentation in Pro-supported games.

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SSD or another HDD?

For this reason, in testing, the MX300, though faster than many budget SSDs and significantly faster than any hard drive, was clearly slower than the SSD 850 Evo. The first thing that may jump out at you when you consider buying the Crucial MX300 SSD 1050GB is that the '1050GB' capacity seems like an odd amount when most hard drive manufacturers would round up to 1TB. Picking an SSD for PS4 PRO will significantly boost the performance and speed to levels you never imagined unless you already tried an SSD before with a computer system. That third one in the rear is great for PSVR owners, since it allows them to hook it up to the PS4 Pro without using up a front facing USB. The console itself uses the same design language as the recently released CUH-2000 PS4 Slim, and booting up the console and navigating the menu systems produces an uncannily similar experience. The SSD has a few interesting features, such as RAPID mode which significantly increases read/write speeds by leveraging system resources within the CPU and DRAM installed on your computer.

PS4 PRO is interfaced with SATA III

1TB or 2TB SSD for PS4 PRO

It took another year before V-NAND found its way into a retail product, but it acquitted all of its promises when it finally did. Upgrading PS4 PRO storage device with 1TB SSD is recommended to the overwhelming majority of users, because we believe that amount of storage space is pretty enough for their needs, unless this game console is shared by other people (such as family members in one house), then the situation is different. It also means that this drive uses a 40nm manufacturing process – much larger than the 20nm or less used on other SSDs, and an illustration about the lack of pressure now being put on transistor size. To make up for that fact, the MX300 is cheaper, with suggested prices of $70 or £63 for 275GB (around AU$95, converted), $130 or £117 for 525GB (AU$175), $190, £164 or AU$300 for 750GB, $260 or £164 for 1TB (AU$345) and $550 (£410, AU$717) for 2TB. You can go with 2tb hard drive for PS4 PRO, but before that, think about adding an external hard drive as a storage support to PS4 PRO before considering large capacities. The fact that Crucial is making a fuss over the additional 50GB is clear when you factor in that a 1TB hard drive doesn't offer 1000GB of storage dude to conflicting decimal and binary measurements of storage space. This both prevents you from having an unsightly cord constantly sticking out the front of your entertainment center, and keeps the front USB slots free for hooking up controllers or other peripherals.

Conclusion

There's no acknowledgement of any kind of upgrade at all, aside from the addition of 2160p support in the video output menus, along with a new information screen that scans your display and lets you know whether HDR is supported, and what content DRM systems are supported. An SSD offers a promising future for PS4 PRO in terms of speed and reliability, but the main drawback with it remains the high price tag that will repel many users from getting one until the price goes down to their budget level. The mode has to be enabled through the Samsung's Magician software which is free to download. The SSD 850 Pro is hands down the fastest SATA SSD on the market and it's also backed up by an industry-leading warranty and endurance rating – all which is thanks to V-NAND. The 850 Evo has a lower price because it's built with TLC rather than MLC memory chips. That works out at about 25 cents per gigabyte.