PS3 12GB hdd upgrade question

e36Adz

e36Adz

e36Adz

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I've not owned a PS3 in quite some time, my original 60GB 'fat' one died last year and I never bothered to buy a new one.

I've just seen quite a good offer online for a brand new super slim PS3 12GB with the new Fifa 14 for £134. I'm not a Fifa player so I will sell that straight away which makes the price of the console ~£100 which seems a bargain.

When I had my original 60GB PS3, I don't think I ever used even half of the hdd on that in the several years I owned it. I have a spare 500GB laptop hdd sat here which I can install in the super slim but it seems like it would be a huge waste of space as I don't think I'd ever use even 10% of that.

Can you use a 32GB/64GB usb pen drive and install games to that?
If so, which one should I order for the best possible performance?
Or how about if I purchased a small 60GB SSD drive for ~£30 from MM?
 
There is a little HDD caddy you may need its around £8, there maybe some way to get round not needing this as its only supports the HDD. I have a 500GB disk in my PS3 and its pretty full mostly down to the PSN+ goodies.
 
I didn't get a caddy, if the ps3 is not being moved you definetely dont need one.

If you move the ps3, hold it horizontally and you will be fine.
 
Once it's set up, it won't be moved at all.

Is it worth going for a 60GB SSD instead or pointless?
 
How many games are you guys installing that are taking near 500GB? I owned my original 60GB PS3 for a few years and never used 60GB in all that time.

With SSDs being so cheap these days, is it worth picking one up second hand? I am guessing loading times would be faster as well as it being much quieter and running less hot?

Can you install games in multiple places eg. the 12GB inbuilt memory plus an installed HDD plus an external USB drive?
 
I have just bought the same bundle as you and the first thing I looked for was a hard drive as 12GB is cutting it fine for GTA V.

Like you I was looking at picking up a cheap used SSD. Loading times would be improved as would noise levels. However, in the end I just went with this

YOUR BASKET
1 x Samsung SpinPoint M8 2.5" 320GB 5400RPM SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HN-M320MBB) £34.99
Total : £38.90 (includes shipping : £3.26).



3 Year warranty, free shipping and more space than I will ever need. I also had a 60GB fat before which I didn't get anywhere near filling. Mainly because 95% of my gaming is done on the PC. Granted, loading times will be a little longer than an SSD but I can live with that.

I also picked up a caddy for a £10 :)

Once you install a HDD you can no longer use the built in flash memory. Also, you can't use an external HDD to install games on, it has to be an internal one.
 
Brilliant post ^ lee1101, answered pretty much all my questions, thanks.

Like I said, I have a spare 500GB Samsung laptop hard drive here anyway so unless a seriously cheap SSD comes along I'll just stick to the 500GB. Just need to order a caddy now as I'd want it to be secure.

You planning on keeping Fifa or selling it?
 
No worries :)

Yeah I would get a caddy. I'm sure you can make do without but for peace of mind and £10 I would rather just get one.

No I am going to sell it. I basically only bought the bundle for GTA V as my old fat 60GB packed up. The £30-35 I get for FIFA will pay for the HDD I just ordered so it worked out quite well.
 
e36Adz said:
How many games are you guys installing that are taking near 500GB? I owned my original 60GB PS3 for a few years and never used 60GB in all that time.

?
Click to expand...

If you're on PSN+ you'll use it in no time. I downloaded about 80GB when I registered yesterday (XCOM, Far Cry 3, Jak and Daxter 1,2 &3, Dragons Dogma, Uncharted 3 etc.).
 
quite a few deals for a 500gb super slim + last of us + GTA 5 for £199 or a touch less.
 
Not really worth going for an SSD at this stage, I would consider a hybrid HDD though as you're at least getting some of the performance benefits without losing capacity.
 
I'd rather pay £30-£40 odd quid for a second hand SSD but only if you only plan having a few games installed at a time I think some ssd tend to slow down if you go over a certain capacity like best to leave 15% free space or something..

I'd say a 60gb minimum would be okay especially if you tend to stick to playing 1 or 2 games at a time again depends on the games some psn downloaded games do have a large footprint like tekken tag 2 is 18gb but I think thats way above the average size.

But those 5400 rpm install times and slow loads can get annoying I swear some installs take 20 minutes + on my samsung 5400 drive.

So worth bearing in mind what you lose on space, uninstalls and installs chopping changing the games you have installed and load times will be faster.
 
Last edited:
Raikiri said:
If you're on PSN+ you'll use it in no time. I downloaded about 80GB when I registered yesterday (XCOM, Far Cry 3, Jak and Daxter 1,2 &3, Dragons Dogma, Uncharted 3 etc.).
Click to expand...

Ah right, I wasn't on PSN+ previously.

mame said:
quite a few deals for a 500gb super slim + last of us + GTA 5 for £199 or a touch less.
Click to expand...

Yep I saw those offers, I weighed it up and went for the 12GB with Fifa 14 @ £134 instead as I'll be selling Fifa and I have a spare 500GB hdd anyway. Now I'll just wait until my brother buys GTA5 and I'll borrow his copy.. ;)

C64 said:
I'd rather pay £30-£40 odd quid for a second hand SSD but only if you only plan having a few games installed at a time I think some ssd tend to slow down if you go over a certain capacity like best to leave 15% free space or something..

I'd say a 60gb minimum would be okay especially if you tend to stick to playing 1 or 2 games at a time again depends on the games some psn downloaded games do have a large footprint like tekken tag 2 is 18gb but I think thats way above the average size.

But those 5400 rpm install times and slow loads can get annoying I swear some installs take 20 minutes + on my samsung 5400 drive.

So worth bearing in mind what you lose on space, uninstalls and installs chopping changing the games you have installed and load times will be faster.
Click to expand...

Faster load times and a much quieter PS3 does appeal to me, although I doubt the new super slim models are anywhere near as loud as my old 60GB was.
 
I bought the PS3 in a rush on Friday and paid 249€ for the 500GB ...

Feel like a fool now looking at those deals but they probably wouldn't have shipped to here anyway..


/keep telling yourself that John ;)
 
e36Adz said:
Ah right, I wasn't on PSN+ previously.



Yep I saw those offers, I weighed it up and went for the 12GB with Fifa 14 @ £134 instead as I'll be selling Fifa and I have a spare 500GB hdd anyway. Now I'll just wait until my brother buys GTA5 and I'll borrow his copy.. ;)



Faster load times and a much quieter PS3 does appeal to me, although I doubt the new super slim models are anywhere near as loud as my old 60GB was.
Click to expand...

the optical drives are quite loud :(
 
e36Adz said:
Faster load times and a much quieter PS3 does appeal to me, although I doubt the new super slim models are anywhere near as loud as my old 60GB was.
Click to expand...

It's mostly the optical drive you can hear in newer consoles, fan noise is fairly minimal and the HDDs aren't audible.
 
SSD is what I'd say as well. I had a spare 120GB which I used in my superslim, didn't need a cage either, I just used sticky back pads to cushion it:

ps3_ss_ssd2.jpg
 
You'll laugh when you get your official Sony caddy to see the size of the box it comes in and its 50 page "user guide" written in about 12 languages for what essentially is a bent piece of metal. :)
 
e36Adz said:
I've not owned a PS3 in quite some time, my original 60GB 'fat' one died last year and I never bothered to buy a new one.

I've just seen quite a good offer online for a brand new super slim PS3 12GB with the new Fifa 14 for £134. I'm not a Fifa player so I will sell that straight away which makes the price of the console ~£100 which seems a bargain.

When I had my original 60GB PS3, I don't think I ever used even half of the hdd on that in the several years I owned it. I have a spare 500GB laptop hdd sat here which I can install in the super slim but it seems like it would be a huge waste of space as I don't think I'd ever use even 10% of that.

Can you use a 32GB/64GB usb pen drive and install games to that?
If so, which one should I order for the best possible performance?
Or how about if I purchased a small 60GB SSD drive for ~£30 from MM?
Click to expand...

My ps3 just died also, are you able to tell me where you seen this deal? Best I have seen is 12GB slim at £140. Also, would my fat original 60 gb hdd fit in the slim?

cheers
 
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