If your PlayStation 5 library is starting to break out at stitching, upgrading with one of the best SSDs for your PlayStation 5 can make a huge difference. The modern PS5 games are massive, and although the internal storage of the console is fast, it fills quickly – especially if you juggle great titles like Call of Duty, Spider -Man 2 or Final Fantasy XVI. A compatible SSD gives you more space without sacrificing loading times or performance, so you can spend less time managing your library and more time.
Many SSDs are easy to install and perform as quickly as the integrated storage of the PS5. You will want to look for discs that meet Sony’s specifications, including Gen4 speeds and an integrated thermal dissipator (or the possibility of adding one). Whether you have tons of storage for your digital collection or just want to increase performance for new generation titles, we have gathered the best SSD options to meet all needs and budgets.
Find out more: These are the best SSDs in 2025
Table of contents
Best SSD for PS5 in 2025
How to test PS5 SSD
I tested most of the SSDs recommended on this list, either for PS5 or by computer. I also bought and used our first choice in my own PS5.
FAQ SSD PS5
How much ps5 storage do I need?
PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Pro can accept internal discs with between 250 GB and 8 TB of storage capacity. If you already have a PS5, it is likely that you have a reasonable idea of the quantity of storage you need for your game library. If you buy an SSD with a new PS5 or PS5 PRO, or buy for someone else, it is more difficult to say what you might need for a high performance experience.
PS5 games are smaller on average than their PS4 equivalents, generally taking between 30 GB and 100 GB, with notable (and very popular) exceptions. If you are a fan of the Call of Duty series, the installation Black ops 6 And Warzone 2.0 can eat up to 240 GB. In other words, a complete installation of Call of Duty will occupy more than third party storage of the PS5. If you are not a cod fan, however, it is likely that you are good to store between six and 10 games on an ordinary PS5 internally before encountering problems.
You should also consider your internet speed. If you live in a region with slow broadband, the justification “you can just download it” does not really work. In my old house, a 100 GB download took me about eight hours, during which it was difficult to watch Twitch simultaneously or, for example, to publish articles on the upgrade of PS5 SSDs. Keeping the games on the helmet, you will want to play them at some point is logical.
Aaron Souppouris / Engadget
During departure, it is quite unnecessary to opt for a 250 GB PS5 SSD. Economically, 250 GB readers are not much cheaper than 500 GB – and practically, it is really not a lot of space for modern games. The 500 GB records can be a decent option, but after years of lower prices, I think that the ideal point for most people is to opt for a reader of 1 TB or 2 TB with high capacity, which should cost you at most $ 200. The latter will be more than double the storage of the PS5 Pro without breaking the bank.
Unless you are rolling in cash and you want to bend, the 4 TB and 8 TO models should be mainly avoided, because you will end up paying more by GigaCtet than you would with a training of 1 TB or 2 TO.
While the 825 GB PS5 provides only 667 GB of storage, this is largely due to the storage reserved for the operating system and the chatting. If you install an SSD PS5 1 TB, you will have, in an error margin, 1 TB of storage available for games. Outside the box, the PS5 PRO offers 1.86 TB of storage for games, although you can do more if you delete the playroom (GASP) from the preinstalled Astro.
Since neither the PS5 Slim nor PS5 Pro functionality update CPU architecture, all of our recommendations will work with the PS5 model you have.
Can you play PS5 games on an external SSD?
The external hard drives tend to cost less than the internal SSD counterparts (and there is a good chance that you already have one). Unfortunately, there are restrictions on what you can do with it. An external SSD connects to your PS5 via USB and is only suitable to play PlayStation 4 Games or store PS5 titles. It is useful if you have something other than the best internet at high speed – it is faster to move a PS5 game from “cold storage” on an external reader than restart it – or want to keep your PS4 library at hand.
Due to the limitations here, you do not need the most efficient model, although you had to opt for SSDs on hard drives to improve transfer speeds and loading times. Any basic portable reader of a deemed brand will do the trick, with the X9 Pro and Samsung T7 crucial options that we have tried and that we can recommend.
What SSD cards are compatible with the PS5?
THE official response This question is a “M.2 Socket 3 (Key M) Gen4 X4 NVME SSD”. But even in this apparently specific description, there are additional factors to consider. The main requirements that Sony has presented for compatibility descends, cooling and physical dimensions.
For speed, Sony says that discs should be able to manage sequential readings at 5,500 MB. The first tests showed that the PS5 would accept discs as slow as 4,800 MB / s, and that the games that regularly exploit the SSD – such as Ratchet & Clank: Rift apart – would not cause any problem. About the only thing the PS5 will reject squarely is that which does not correspond to the Gen4 X4 specification.
In our opinion, however, using a slower reader than the specification is a risk that, if you do not already have this dragging reader, is not worth it. It is not because we have not yet found any problems that there will be no games that could be problematic in the future. The price difference between these slightly slower Gen4 discs and those who meet Sony’s specifications are not huge, and you might as well cover all your bases.
A little more complicated than speed is cooling and size. Most new SSDs will be very good; The PS5 can adapt to 22 mm wide SSDs by practically any length (30 mm, 40 mm, 60 mm, 80 mm or 110 mm, to be precise). The vast majority of discs you find will be 22 mm wide and 80 mm long, so no problem there.
It should be noted that the system can adapt to a 25 mm wide disc, but this width must include the cooling solution. Speaking, Sony says that SSDs require “effective heat dissipation with a cooling structure, such as a thermal dissipator”. The maximum height supported by the location of Sony is 11.25 mm, of which only 2.45 mm can be “below” from the reader.
Previously, this meant that some of the most popular SSD Gen4s, including MP600 Pro LP in Corsair, would not enter the PS5 storage expansion slot. Since then that Gadget has published this guide for the first time in 2021, most NVME manufacturers, including Samsung, have issued specific models that meet these requirements. That said, if you want to save money, naked readers are often cheaper and it is trivial to find a cooling solution that will work for the PS5.
The only component of a NVME SSD which really requires cooling is the controller, who without thermal pendulum will happily seize a (very small) steak. Most SSDs have chips on one side, but even on double -sided SSDs, the controller is likely to be in the lead, because manufacturers know that he must be positioned to better dispel heat.
So, go to the seller of PC components of choice and essentially take everything that meets the recommended dimensions. A good search term is the “NVME heat reducer for laptop”, because these will be designed to adapt to the limits of laptops of play, which are even more restrictive than PS5. They are also generally cheaper than those labeled as “PS5 thermal dissipations”.
A recommendation is this $ 6 of copper heat pendulumwhich attaches to the PS5 SSD with a sticky thermal interface material. It works very well, and by performing stress tests on a PC, we found nothing metal that did not keep the temperatures under control. When you are looking for, make sure that the solution you opt for measurements is not more than 25 mm wide or 8 mm (including the thermal interface material) and has a simple installation method that will not cause headache.
One last thing: when buying a NVME PS5, there is no reason to buy a Gen5 model on a more affordable Gen4 model. In the current state of things, the Sony console cannot benefit from the new standard, and although Gen5 training is compatible, they are more expensive than their counterparts from Gen4. Just buy the fastest and highest Gen4 model you can afford.
How to install an SSD in your PS5
If you need advice on how to install your new NVME in your PS5 or PS5 PRO, we have a separate guide detailing all the steps here. The installation is quite simple, but our user manual can help you if you are stuck. Just take note: before trying to add more storage via a PS5 SSD, make sure you have The latest Sony software installed.
This article originally appeared on engadget to
