By now, we know what the inside of the PS5 looks like. We also know what the expansion slot for the SSD storage looks like. But which SSDs actually fit in there?
Sony had shown fans what the inside of the PS5 looks like. Some interesting details about cooling and the SSD were also presented. We now know that the SSD is soldered directly to the motherboard and cannot be replaced.
What does the PS5 rely on? With the PS5, Sony is relying on an expansion slot for m2 SSDs. However, we still lack important information. It is not known which SSDs are actually supported. How the competition is handling this is now known: With the Xbox Series X, you have to buy a storage expansion that costs around 240 Euros.
Is there an official statement from Sony? No, not yet. Sony has not yet said which SSDs will be officially supported. The PS5’s storage is 825 GB large and is soldered in place. If you install all the games from the PS Plus Collection at launch, the PS5 SSD quickly reaches its capacity limit.
Anyone who wants to expand their PlayStation 5’s hard drive will need to use an expansion card. Below, we explain what we already know.
Update: 11/6/2020: We now know that there will be no SSDs available at the PS5 launch. Sony has now stated that the slot for the storage expansion in the PS5 will likely be disabled at launch. So you won’t be able to use it.
PS5 SSD Expansion – What We Know
By now, we at least know which SSDs can fit into the PlayStation 5. This includes the type of SSD and the size of the storage card.
What SSDs does the PS5 rely on? It is now clear that the PS5 supports PCIe 4.0 M.2 NVMe SSDs. NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express) is a protocol that connects a drive (in this case, an SSD) via PCIe. The advantage is that it does not require any drivers from the manufacturer (via Storage-Insider.de).
What size can the SSD be? A Twitter post has pointed out that you can see in the video which m2 SSDs fit into the PlayStation 5.
According to the post, the points of the screws especially show which SSDs fit into the console, and the following sizes are currently relevant:
- 2230
- 2242
- 2260
- 2280
What do the numbers mean? The numbers explain the size of the expansion cards. The first two digits represent the width of the cards, which for most PCs and the PS5 is 22 millimeters. The last two digits explain the length of the storage card, which varies between 30 and 80 millimeters depending on the design.
PS5 SSD Slot: Which SSDs fit into the PS5? mSATA vs PCIe 4.0
The second important piece of information was already explained by Sony in the PS5 teardown video: Sony had explained in the video that there is an M.2 interface with PCIe 4.0 support for expanding storage. Can m2-SATAs be excluded from this?
What is the difference between mSATA and PCIe 4.0? The most important difference here is primarily the connection. There are, in fact, two different variants of M.2 SSDs that are important for modern computer hardware:
- M.2 SSDs with a single notch are called M-Key and only use PCIe.
- M.2 SSDs with two notches are called B+M and offer both PCIe and SATA as connections.
- For completeness, there are also A, E, A+E, and B, but these are not relevant here.
According to Sony, the PS5 only offers an M.2 interface with PCIe 4.0 support.
The most important difference is a single notch: The SSD with SATA support has two notches, while the SSD that is relevant to us has only one notch (via Hardware-Helden.de). The picture in the video also shows that only one notch is present. The expansion cards do not necessarily have to fit into the PS5. We are still missing a hint from Sony itself.
Does the difference matter? What matters here is that four lanes are supported. PCIe lanes are used for data transmission. The more lanes, the faster the transfer. While it is true that B+M Key cards generally fit into both slots, only memory cards with M-Key support four lanes of PCIe 4.0.
It is therefore quite possible that Sony will officially exclude a whole range of expansion cards (including those with two pins).
PS5 SSD – Why You Should (Still) Wait to Buy
We now know that the PS5 definitely supports M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSDs, but we still lack information on which SSDs will be officially certified by Sony or what the minimum requirements are.
Because it is likely that Sony will ultimately exclude devices that do not deliver the desired performance.
If you are still looking for fast storage for your PlayStation 4, here we show you the 4 best SSDs for the PS4.
