PS5 External SSD Testing: SATA vs NVMe vs Hard Drive - Back-Compat Titles + Read/Write Speed Tests!

[TheVoice]

It's about storage, sony really should have had a 2TB drive min in these PS5's

buying many large ssds or nvme is just way too expensive right now.

Imagine how much a 2TB PS5 would've cost.

It's just annoying and seems they have zero reasons now not to enable it as nvme drives are now above the spec they said the ps5 needs

They evidently do have reasons, probably related to compatibility with the console and the OS and ensuring the feature is robust enough to have games running directly from them.

it's just a way to make people buy another ps5 so people can store their games, some now have the disc and digital version just because of the storage issues.

That sounds like nonsense, nobody is buying another console just to store extra games and it's certainly not part of Sony's strategy.

I'd sell the PS4 and put the money towards more storage, myself.

 

[stoofa]

It's about storage, sony really should have had a 2TB drive min in these PS5's ( even some ps4 pros came with 2TB HDDs and all came with a min of 1TB, storage has gone two steps forward this time and 5 steps back, yes it's faster but the clue is in the name storage, people need more not less), games are huge now and will only get larger. Also not sure why sony still hasn't enabled the m.2 slot to allow people to add extra storage. It's just annoying and seems they have zero reasons now not to enable it as nvme drives are now above the spec they said the ps5 needs, it's just a way to make people buy another ps5 so people can store their games, some now have the disc and digital version just because of the storage issues.

There is good reason why the slot has yet to be activated.
To begin with, there are only around 4 drives that are likely to be fast enough. What this add-in drive cannot do is offer any performance level below the built-in solution.
The specification of the onboard solution is "what the PS runs at" and almost certainly some designers will want all of that available bandwidth. Ratchet & Clank from everything we've seen about it so far is going to be extremely demanding on that SSD.
Having an add-in drive that isn't up to spec, causing any kind of stutter or issue with the game is not acceptable and it'll be Sony who will have to sort this issue out.

The drives need to be tested empty, half-full and full to se if performance changes. The drives will need to be tested at low temperatures, normal temperatures and high temperatures - to see if that makes a difference to transfer rates.
They will need to simulate months an potentially years of operations to ensure the drives are reliable.

Although Sony are not the ones makes the drives, at the end of the day, as soon as Sony "put their name" to a drive, which they are doing be adding it to any officially compatible list, they have to be sure their name is not damaged.

 

[ic1male]

There is good reason why the slot has yet to be activated.
To begin with, there are only around 4 drives that are likely to be fast enough. What this add-in drive cannot do is offer any performance level below the built-in solution.
The specification of the onboard solution is "what the PS runs at" and almost certainly some designers will want all of that available bandwidth. Ratchet & Clank from everything we've seen about it so far is going to be extremely demanding on that SSD.
Having an add-in drive that isn't up to spec, causing any kind of stutter or issue with the game is not acceptable and it'll be Sony who will have to sort this issue out.

The drives need to be tested empty, half-full and full to se if performance changes. The drives will need to be tested at low temperatures, normal temperatures and high temperatures - to see if that makes a difference to transfer rates.
They will need to simulate months an potentially years of operations to ensure the drives are reliable.

Although Sony are not the ones makes the drives, at the end of the day, as soon as Sony "put their name" to a drive, which they are doing be adding it to any officially compatible list, they have to be sure their name is not damaged.

This is a good post. But it also makes you think - what the devil were Sony thinking at the time if no commercial drive is currently up to spec, how do they know that ANY NVMe drive is ever going to work, even future ones not designed yet. And if they had test ones custom made, why not make them on a commercial scale for people to buy already?

 

[andshrew]

This is a good post. But it also makes you think - what the devil were Sony thinking at the time if no commercial drive is currently up to spec, how do they know that ANY NVMe drive is ever going to work, even future ones not designed yet. And if they had test ones custom made, why not make them on a commercial scale for people to buy already?

They know the throughput specifications for PCI Express 4, and they know the internal storage performance they were able to design probably some 12-18 months ago. Things are always moving forward so it is inevitable that storage vendors will release NVME drives which can take advantage of this and they will become increasingly cheaper as they become more common place over the next few years.

Whether or not this will be worth the risk over going with the "slower" more commonplace NVME drives available now remains to be seen, but when you have something which you expect to be in service for 5-10 years it is sometimes worth taking that risk and being on the cutting edge of a technology.

In the OPs circumstance of trying to keep absolutely every game installed on their system at all time, unfortunately I think those days are long over unless you have a small fortune to invest in external storage.

 

[MOOGLEYS]

The SSD bay is not very well cooled and these Gen 4 drives get stupidly hot so will be interesting how they get around thermal throttling. MS had a drive available at launch it wouldn’t have taken much for Sony to have had something available too.

 

[stoofa]

The SSD bay is not very well cooled and these Gen 4 drives get stupidly hot so will be interesting how they get around thermal throttling. MS had a drive available at launch it wouldn’t have taken much for Sony to have had something available too.

I literally spent 10 minutes yesterday writing exactly why "it wouldn't have taken much for Sony to have something available too" is incorrect.
MS are not using cutting-edge SSD technology, Sony are. When you're dealing with an emerging technology, where at the time of the PS5's launch there was only one drive on the market considered "potentially fast enough" - of course it was not going to be available in November and of course there is going to be a delay - if you're going to out your name to something then you want to make sure that item is going to work as advertised and isn't going to fail a few months down the line.

 

[MOOGLEYS]

I literally spent 10 minutes yesterday writing exactly why "it wouldn't have taken much for Sony to have something available too" is incorrect.
MS are not using cutting-edge SSD technology, Sony are. When you're dealing with an emerging technology, where at the time of the PS5's launch there was only one drive on the market considered "potentially fast enough" - of course it was not going to be available in November and of course there is going to be a delay - if you're going to out your name to something then you want to make sure that item is going to work as advertised and isn't going to fail a few months down the line.

It wouldn’t have taken much for Sony to take the components of the internal drive and mount it on an M.2 interface. I have read that one of the biggest issues Sony are facing is cooling as the drive bay is not very well cooled.

 

[TheVoice]

It wouldn’t have taken much for Sony to take the components of the internal drive and mount it on an M.2 interface. I have read that one of the biggest issues Sony are facing is cooling as the drive bay is not very well cooled.

It's designed completely differently from commercially available NVMe M.2 drives.

 

[CHokKA]

It's designed completely differently from commercially available NVMe M.2 drives.

They should have put more thought into it rather than launching the console and expecting people to just "make do" from launch to over six months later.

For all the flak MS get for the cost of their expansion solution, at least they had the foresight to have something ready for those that wanted it at launch. It's rubbish for PS5 owners that they're still waiting on an official working solution this far from launch, and how wishy-washy external drives have been on the PS5. Especially given that the PS5 already had less storage to begin with.

What with all the rumours of the cooling being an issue for the delays, I'd be very concerned if I owned a PS5. Regardless of COVID, unless there's something major holding things back, I cannot imagine it wouldn't have been possible to figure out how to get an M.2 standard storage solution to work with their existing NVMe technology by creating their own drives or partnering with others to do so like MS. There is probably something else going on here.

 

[TheVoice]

What with all the rumours of the cooling being an issue for the delays, I'd be very concerned if I owned a PS5. Regardless of COVID, unless there's something major holding things back, I cannot imagine it wouldn't have been possible to figure out how to get an M.2 standard storage solution to work with their existing NVMe technology by creating their own drives or partnering with others to do so like MS. There is probably something else going on here.

I own a PS5 and don't currently see anything to be "very concerned" about. They told us well in advance that suitable drives wouldn't be available in time to have the feature ready at launch and that it would come later down the line. Granted, I'd have perhaps expected it to be in place by now but I can also imagine these things take a bit of time. Archiving PS5 games to external storage should have been available at launch though and is arguably far more useful to far more people so it's good that's now in place.

MS had the benefit of using off-the-shelf components for their storage system, Sony went for something high-performance and bespoke so it's no surprise it's been more complicated.

 

[CHokKA]

I own a PS5 and don't currently see anything to be "very concerned" about. They told us well in advance that suitable drives wouldn't be available in time to have the feature ready at launch and that it would come later down the line. Granted, I'd have perhaps expected it to be in place by now but I can also imagine these things take a bit of time. Archiving PS5 games to external storage should have been available at launch though and is arguably far more useful to far more people so it's good that's now in place.

MS had the benefit of using off-the-shelf components for their storage system, Sony went for something high-performance and bespoke so it's no surprise it's been more complicated.

I get that. The length of time with forewarning might be alright, but we're six months into the launch and there's still absolutely no indication of what's happening. Not even so much as a whisper. It's all been so very quiet and that's what I meant was concerning because surely if everything was going according to plan, there'd be some transparency?

 

[ic1male]

I get that. The length of time with forewarning might be alright, but we're six months into the launch and there's still absolutely no indication of what's happening. Not even so much as a whisper. It's all been so very quiet and that's what I meant was concerning because surely if everything was going according to plan, there'd be some transparency?

There's never any openness from Sony until they absolutely have to. Marked contrast to Xbox.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

I'm in the middle of a large city, not out in the sticks yet...

You do know you can use mobile broadband?

You have a mobile phone yes?

Well you can get an unlimited 5G SIM for £9 a month.

Then either get a cheap 5G phone and use it as a hotspot or spend £200-£300 on a 5G WiFi router that's dedicated.

 

[Malevolence]

You do know you can use mobile broadband?

You have a mobile phone yes?

Well you can get an unlimited 5G SIM for £9 a month.

Then either get a cheap 5G phone and use it as a hotspot or spend £200-£300 on a 5G WiFi router that's dedicated.

You assume 5G is easily available here. It isn't. Even the companies that do have the infrastructure only offer, and I quote, "Patchy outdoor coverage". My Sister has a 5G phone, she can't get a signal when she visits.

 

[Psycho Sonny]

You assume 5G is easily available here. It isn't. Even the companies that do have the infrastructure only offer, and I quote, "Patchy outdoor coverage". My Sister has a 5G phone, she can't get a signal when she visits.

You can't be in the middle of a large city then.

 

[Malevolence]

You can't be in the middle of a large city then.

And yet here I am, sat in my house in the middle of a large city.

 

[rchads89]

Think ive just about got my head around this rather messed up situation with the HDD and the ps5...

So the external SSD I can play the PS4 titles on this but not the PS5 titles I can only store?

The NVME slot is not working yet needs to be "unlocked" which seems rather odd and they is a lot of speculation about this eeekk

 

[TheVoice]

Think ive just about got my head around this rather messed up situation with the HDD and the ps5...

So the external SSD I can play the PS4 titles on this but not the PS5 titles I can only store?

Correct.

 

[jrwagh333]

You can't be in the middle of a large city then.

 

[rchads89]

Correct.

what a mess lol they really need to unlock that nvme slot strange that they havent something must really not be right!