Should You Upgrade Your PS4 With an SSD? 

Tom needs some sunlight. Richard, let him out of the basement.

0:07 Rich is like: "Dude this was my part!"

0:25 What's behind the camera?? John looks so disgusted! Edit: John? Who the fuck is John? I meant Rich...

1:25, what was that? Was that 'The Wichard 3'?

ps4 pro supports sata 3, you guys need to do a new stock HDD vs SSHD vs SSD video

wait the base drive is 5400rpm? wtf sony

I have a Samsung 850 EVO 1Tb inside my PS4, and as you guys allready pointed out, the difference varies a lot. Still in many games, installation of games, applying updates and overall OS functionality it's a big difference. Not worth the price of a top of the line SSD, but had a few extra drives lying around, so definitely worth it.

For Bloodborne the best way to reduce the amount of time you spend looking at loading screens is to just get better at the game :D

SSD won't reach full potential at 3Gb/s sata speeds, it could easily pull an extra 200MB/s if it were sata 6Gb/s easily.

I want to upgrade the PS4 GPU...

0:14 Richard looks really impatient like he's just waiting for Tom's lines to be over so he can speak

Been using an SSD in PS4 for a few months now. Difference is very significant, even when just navigating the interface, looking at screenshots... etc. I would recommend it. Anyway, thanks DF for yet another informative and well put together video.

Will you test the PS4PRO HDD vs. SSD?

I choose the Hybrid so I can store more games, but the SSD is a beast

SSDs are the best for speed. HDDs are the best for storage. SSHDs are the great combo of both.

Great and bold idea to put an SSD on a PS4 I always like the dedication you put in your videos Don't you think it would be fun and interesting what happens if you put an external SSD on a Wii U?

the problem I have with all this is that as far as I'm aware, the ps4 doesn't support trim which to me defeats the purpose of putting in a ssd besides the price factor.

Watching this nearly 5 years later. 😁 5 years of SSD price droping😃

Anyone else notice that stare Richard gave Tom @0:08?! LMAO!

Why don't they speak about the SATA II installed on the PS4? That's the main reason the SSD can't read & write at full speed.

I don't think you guys understand how the SSHD works. It takes often-used files and puts them on the SSD portion of the drive. In practice, this is USUALLY the OS loading. If you notice in some tests the loading times are about midway for the SSHD, and others are closer to the stock HDD. This is cause files need to be accessed enough times for the drive to realize it's a "frequent file" and slap it on the SSD portion. For frequently played games, the SSHD will help, along with loading in initially with the OS.

+DigitalFoundry Mind doing a load time test with the Nyko Data Bank seeing as it uses a 3.5" HDD for the PS4.

Awesome review! Here in the US, a 2TB SSD is somewhere between $700~$1,000us. I got a 2TB SSHD for $95us. I REALLY can't see the benefit of spending $600us more, for a couple less seconds of load times. Since upgrading I've notice a nice decrease in load times for Fallout 4. It would be nice to have the faster SSD, but I'm happy with the faster performance of the SSHD, and $600us in my pocket... Now when SSD's come down a little more, or I get some crazy money, all bets are off, LOL!

Could you please test the SSHD speed after several respawns of the same location/characters/assets? I assume the strength of SSHD is in re-accessing the same cached data repeatedly.

alot less than if they had sata3.

You need to update the video with games like Division 2 or Destiny 2.

Fallout 4 was killing me. I could go get a drink come back and it's still loading. Installed 512gb Samsung 850 pro about a month ago. Every game I've played since just feels more smooth and refined when loading.

I love these types of test

The bottleneck isn't the hard drive usually, the game engine and software is. The engines and programs have a limit to what it loads and most drives easily have higher read/ write speeds.

For the same storage capacity, SSD is 5 times the price of SSHD, but not 5 times the performance (on PS4 or PS4 Pro). I've been and got the T-Shirt, with a 1TB Crucial MX300 SSD drive on a PS4 Pro, and the speed increase is hardly life-changing. Rather than pay £512 for their 2TB model, I opted to pay £99 for the Seagate Firecuda and, honestly, unless I can be bothered to sit there with a stopwatch, timing loading screens, it doesn't seem like a downgrade. Several recent analyses have shown that, even with the PS4 Pro's SATA III interface, the bottlenecks in game performance, asset loading, level loading, etc. are not necessarily down to disk I/O. And, I hate to boast, but I *do* have money to burn compared to the average gamer... I have another 1TB Crucial SSD that I bought for (and still use in) the PS3 for the incredibly rare and trivial upgrade that that is (it solves asset streaming for Rage and a couple of other games). And I bought both 1TB SSD drives when they were around £400 mark. If you really do have money to burn, then by all means get the best possible drive for your PS4, but I honestly feel the SSHD drives give the best value in terms of storage and performance.

Really don't know why MS and Sony opted for SATA II. Was the cost of SATA III really that much more?

Really, just loading times?! I have more interest in small boosts in performance and pop-in reduction. I have a SSD on my PS3 and the texture and geormetry streaming are impressive in some games. I had a revelation when I upgraded in BF3 an 4, because you're always in movement, and I wasn't aware that the game that I was looking at, was always incomplet. With the SSD all assets with maximun quality, apeared on screen very fast... It was a real graphical upgrade.

I can make a tea when Witcher 3 loads...

Doing this in 2024. I recently picked up a used PS4 Slim for a very good price and condition. I do plan upgrading the 1TB HDD to a 2TB SSD. I’ll also do an internal clean, new thermal paste and thermal pads.

My PS4 slim had some issues with the HDD unfortunately I was not able to save my save data for all of my games and I didn't have PS+ so I said well bye bye HDD and purchase a Kingston A400 of 960gb and being honest it was a great decision everything is so smooth now from the menus to the games, installing, updating, playing, and also something really important noise and heat has been reduce a loot, so great deal for me and many many years to come on my PS4.

SSHD is the best choice because with an SSD you can only store a few games and it's expensive af. I definitely recommend the 2TB FireCuda

be carefull... thr hard drive is 5400rpm so with à 7200rpm it's faster and sometimes fault ssd

I have a question I cannot answer: Does a SSD make less noise than de standard HDD? (in my case, PS4 Pro).

Does the newest CUH-1200 PS4 model use that same weird internal SATA II to USB bridge? If not, would it benefit any more than the older models from an SSD?

Rich's stare makes me moist

I Would like to Know if an ssd boost your online experience. I mean did i See enemys faster or something like that.

Bought a 500 GB SSD for my PS4 Slim never regret it, as my game library are mostly Indie, Metroidvania and Roguelike

To be fair - that OCZ sucks. I've a Samsung SSD and the Witcher III loads in about 15 seconds. Of course Samsung SSDs are more expensive and I am on PC, but it still is some sort of reference, I suppose. EDIT: I just realized the PS4 has a SATA II controller, which will bottleneck any SSD. WTF Sony, do you even know what "next gen" is supposed to mean?

Apart from game loading times, how does SSD perform opening other apps and also turning the console on and off?

i cant hear you over the music

Putting an SSD in the PS3 is a good idea as it makes the OS run a lot smoother. PS4 needs more space and so it's just too pricey for me to upgrade.

Witcher 3 with a SSD 1 minute and 9 seconds? xD No thanks. I stick to my PC which needs only 10 seconds or so :P

Lol im playing The Witcher 3 on PC atm installed on my hdd coz my ssd is full with games I play more often and even the hdd loadtimes are faster than the ssd loading time on the PS4 like wtf..

Right now ssd upgrade might be needed more than ever... To load Cyberpunk textures faster...

Everybody acts like loading times on PS4 are TERRIBLE! Almost every game I've played loads way faster than last gen.

i love how the hybrid has absolutely no information about the actual drive performances printed on the drive. it doesn't show R/W times, it doesn't show transfer speeds. it doesn't even show how fast the spin is or how big the NAND cache is. now i know from them talking it is a 1TB 5400rpm with 8GB NAND cache. BUT my point is that it isn't fucking printed on the damn disk itself, which is a huge annoyance when you are dealing with client pc's, or just later reference when u forget. i have an issue with this, cause i HATE searching the model number and then spend an uncertain amount of time looking for a site that actually has those specs listed.

Of course you can upgrade your PlayStation 4 with a solid state drive. Even with a 1TB solid state drive.

only games that I have problems with the loading screens are just cause 3 and gta 5

Any difference in game play? When I play fifa 19 online then ever i have stutters. Can ssd help in this problem?

ssd not worth it. Not going to pay $100+ for 7 secs

I bet you a normal 1 TB drive would be the same as the hybrid. These loading times are straight streams of data and the cache cannot help much with this.

Time for a new test. Lets hope that it gets Bloodborne quicker to load. The problem always is that the console, might have upgraded its motherboard to handle faster speeds then before. But knowing sony it still has weird limitations. PS3 has Sata 1 meaning you could put any SSD in there as choosing a very speedy one has not gain anyway. The system was to slow to use it anyway. Yet an SSD in an PS3 did elevate some of the problems some games had. It definitely sped up loading times in GT5. And even Skyrims chests got a boost. If a chest in skyrim got to full and who isn't a hoarder! Then it would slow down on an HDD as it has to write down every time you take something out or put something in. With an SSD you still don't have enough memory on the PS3 for it all but at least the SSD is speedy enough to cut that little pause at least in half.

+DigitalFoundry what about TRIM? Is it enabled? Is it advisable to install SSD on PS4 without native TRIM support in Orbis?

I prefer the ssd's to hdd's. Depending on how much you want tio spend - can go from a entry level ssd like the OCZ trion that was used in this testing to a ssd that has higher storage and better performance. Maybe with the up-coming consoles like ps5 and the like - having the ability to use a M.2 ssd instead of the "Sata" drives that the current consoles are designed to use would allow for overall better performance.

Very good test, thank you very much. Have wanted to know how BloodBorne would benefit from an ssd, for quite a while.

I installed a 2TB 850 EVO SSD on my PS4 today. A worthwhile descision. This will go well for FFXV I bet.

Loading times is a good excuse for a few puffs on a spliff, lol.........

I'm not that familiar with the way PS4 records the screen, that is there a certain buffer somewhere, or (as I assume) it is saving the videofile straight to the HDD. If that is the case then I wonder how will the SSD comply in the long run, as in continuous writing wears it down in much higher scale compared to traditional HDD. I've actually installed SSD to my PS3 which improved the loading times clearly, but the thought of constant writing with the PS4 is a bit of a consern to me.

A lot of money just for better loading times in games... SSDs are worth it on PC because the OS is stored on them. A fast drive is necessary if you want a snappy system in this case. On PS4, the OS is stored on a ROM chip that can't be removed or upgraded in any way (this is why you don't have to "reinstall" the PS4's os when swapping drives, like you would on a PC), so your overall system responsiveness will not benefit from installing an SSD. Also, I assume most people don't spend much time moving huge files around on their PS4s, so the sequential R/W performance is wasted as well. Don't be a fool: spend your money on bigger storage for your console, not faster storage.

I can picture a console gamer being more than willing to pay for more storage on a HDD at current prices, however I think there may be two console gamers in America that would be willing to pay $150-$160 for a 480 gb - 500 gb SSD. If I were to ever upgrade my PS4 HDD to SSD it would have to be at least a 1 GB version which is over $300 and that costs as much or more than the console. I think most console gamers will go with a 7200 1 gb or 2gb HDD. I personally put a 1 gb hdd in my PS4 and I know the value of SSD's as I use a 1 GB 850 EVO and another 500 GB 850 EVO in my gaming PC.

My only question is if you put say a Samsung 860 EVO in your PS4 or PS4 Pro how can you update the firmware on the SSD as Samsung releases firmware periodically.

Only thing I can gripe on here is, they're not utilising the Hybrid drive correctly. The 8GB SSD attached to the mechanical drive, acts as a cache. Meaning repeatedly used slices of data, will load faster, with the slower mechanical drive, doing the rest. Doing a cold "first run" on it will only show a small increase overall, compared to mechanical.

My last ever Console was a N64, we had no loading times back then LOL But now I know why so many Games have tips and stuff in Loadingscreens, that you mostly never can read before the Loading is done on PC, poor Peasants!

Any opinions I this sshd Seagate Momentus XT 750 GB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s 32 MB Cache 2.5 Inch Solid State Hybrid Drive ST750LX003 ?

What about a 7200RPM drive? The SSHD is 5400 too, so there is potential for the 7200 rpm drive.

I dont think the guys at digital foundry even know how the hybrid drive even works it only has a small 8GB SSD built in that caches the most commonly used files like OS boot files you would have to be playing a game a lot for it to be significantly faster as 99% of the time it will not even be using the SSD part of the drive.

If you are getting a PS5 then there is no reason to buy an SSD for the PS4, since the PS5 is gonna have an SSD, and it will be backwards compatible so you can play your PS4 games on it.

so call me stupid ...but what is the most important spec of an when choosing an upgrade SSD other than storage capacity ? I'm guessing Read and write speed .... and i guess while I'm at it what PS4 upgrade SSD is fastest/best bang for buck now that its 2/14/2017

To my understanding a ps4 doesnt even use the ssd speed fully. From what ive read the ps4 uses Sata II speeds which between a sshd and ssd isn't that much. If the ps4 used Sata III the SSD would be even faster by a couple secs at least. Almost every ssd will max out the 300MB/s of SATA II. The Sata III at 600MB/s is a different ballgame.

newer ssd sata 3 crucial mx500 or Samsung 860 evo, are night and day respect stock hd or OLD weak OCZ trion 100... you must retest new ssd on the ps4pro with latest os 7.02 or better

Holy shit even with an SSD the loading is still slow, 50 seconds to load Crookback Bog? That shit takes like 10 seconds for me on PC, I don't understand how this is acceptable for next gen (well now current gen).

I have Fallout 4 on Intel 910 400GB PCI-E SSD and as I progress in the game the loading times are getting worse and worse. There's definitely something wrong with that game, it has by far the longest loading times of any game I have played in recent memory.

amazing video, brazil thanks you

It sucks when you're on a hard boss battle on witcher 3 and have to redo it over and over again. The loading times suck. Bloodborne at least fixed their loading times,

There should also have been a 2 tb hdd as well since 2tb discs have higher density and faster performance even at 5400rpm. And ps4 runs at sata 2 speeds anyways... Why sata 2?! Dammit sony and Microsoft!

No tests on a 7200RPM drive like a WD Black? If anyone has some experience/stats on this I would be massively appreciative.

Geez. Console manufacturers can start selling memory upgrade packs that users can plugin to reduce load time -_- swapping to SSD drives still doesn't produce good load times. I think game developers need to aim for 10 second load times.

Trying the to find a true SSD 1TB on Internets really highest I found was 480 Was here I don't mind paying the money just link me lol

What about Trim support? SSD performance will degrade quickly without it.

Still the difference is in seconds not in minutes. Too much to buy SSD for PS4. I did buy my upgrade 500gb -> 2tb. It is good to have empty space.

Goddamn it people, be patient and get good. All these people whining about load times is ridiculous. Witcher 3 has a HUGE open world, is the loading time long? Yes, I usually just get a snack while it loads, it doesn't stop you from enjoying the damn game now does it.

lol, so PS4 finally gets SATA3, and the system pretty much does fk all to take advantage of it on SATA 3 SSDs... Yep, that sounds like Sony alright.

*disclaimer* not my right but the video maker's *right*... Yeah, bet your confused now...

Love my SSHD.

Holy Fuck wtf are this loading times on consoles??? even with a SSD BTW good job guys! love your videos

Why is Witcher 3 loading so slow on the PS4? My PC has an SSD and loads Novigrad in like 20 seconds. And my respawns are almost instant.

I just got a 7200rpm hdd since the hybrid drives are 5400rpm and are only faster when using frequently used apps since the ssd portion is very small

I just got a 2tb firecuda sshd for my PS4 it has more memory and my PS4 has been loading a lot faster during boot. I’m moving games from my 1tb external drive to my sshd and it’ll be about 3 more hours till all of my games are put on it.

Would like to see 7200rpm SSHD compared to that 5400rpm SSHD.

This video was so awkward for some reason.

Why the console developers didn't use PCIe SSD? Or SSD in a RAID 0 setup?

The OCZ Trion 100 is junk, why not use a samsung or cruical? you'd getter better times

i wonder why on pc with an intel ssd the loading time for the witvher 3 is only about 10 to 15 seconds...

The Hybrid Drive is the best deal for the size and speed. And it has learning, so over time it gets faster each time you use a particular file/game

Why the hell didnt' you test the 7200rpm HGST 1 terabyte drive?