The PS4PRO’s ability to expand its disks has increased dramatically with the SATA3.0 interface, and the experience is exponentially improved when running some games. With the popularity of SSDs in the PC, many gamers have begun to consider replacing the PS4PRO’s own hard drive with an SSD.
Table of Contents
Why upgrade to a PS4 Pro SSD?
PS4PRO provides enough interface bandwidth for 2.5-inch SSD, PS4PRO comes with a mechanical hard drive, heat, and power consumption performance is not mentioned, for the time being, the actual performance of reading and writing is limited to 100MB/s, or even lower, of course, in the overall price and cost will also be more economical.
Also, PS4PRO is still compact design. Considering the internal Blu-ray drive and turbofan vibration, the mechanical drive is relatively more likely to be affected, as the internal mechanical structure is susceptible to vibration.
The PS4PRO’s internal heat generation is not to be underestimated, but it is a challenge to the mechanical hard drive, and in this case, the SSD has almost no need to worry about these problems during use.
PS4 Pro’s SSD advantages.
1、Light weight and small size
Solid-state drives are smaller in format and lighter in weight than mechanical discs. Typically, mechanical hard drives for desktops are 3.5 inches in size, while SSDs with SATA interfaces are only 2.5 inches in size.
2、Mute
Since the SSD has no mechanical motor, similar to a USB flash drive, the noise value is 0 decibels when working on the SSD, no noise.
3、Smooth game experience and reading and writing speed
SSDs act as storage media and are faster to read relative to mechanical drives. Hard disk reading speed limit is unable to exceed 200M per second, write speed is also challenging to break 100M per second; SSD hard disk in the transmission speed has a significant advantage, SATA3 interface solid-state hard disk is usually read and write 3-5 times mechanical hard drive, and M.2 NVME protocol solid-state hard disk is faster to a dozen times, or even higher.
4、Low heat/power consumption
Solid-state drives consume less power than mechanical drives and therefore generate less heat, which is more energy-efficient.
5、Shock and fall resistance
Since the SSD does not have any mechanical moving parts, it is not afraid of bumps, shocks, and vibrations and has excellent shock and fall resistance. When working with a hard drive, it is less likely to be damaged if it is tilted or accidentally dropped or collided with a hard object.
Best SSDs for PS4 Pro
Samsung 860 QVO 1TB Solid State Drive
Samsung has been in the SSD industry for a long time and is well known around the world. Samsung’s SSDs are also about 40% more expensive than other brands with the same capacity, which makes Samsung SSDs less expensive.
Intel SSD 545s Series
Intel has its R&D capabilities, and SSDs are quite expensive. Performance is mediocre, but consumers who focus on stability and after-sales service, and data security are more likely to choose Intel SSD products. Performance security is the main market for Intel products.
Plextor SSD
As one of the leading SSD manufacturers in the market, plextor’s products are highly recognized in the market. plextor has always had a very good reputation in the field of consumer-grade SSDs, but not at a cheap price point.
Toshiba OCZ TR200
Toshiba Flash shipments are quite high, and many brands of SSDs use Toshiba granules. And on Toshiba’s products, the quality difference is quite clear, with the high-end series topping both product quality and performance. However, on the low end of the Q300 and A100 series, there is a firmware drop problem, resulting in user data loss. So it’s recommended to buy a Toshiba SSD, or a high-end series.
SanDisk Ultra 3D SSD
SanDisk’s first 10-year warranty has become a model for high-end SSD service. SanDisk is better known for its performance and price. But since SanDisk was acquired, there have been no mid-to-high-end product sequels. Whether NVMe SSDs can be launched in the future depends on future arrangements.
Kingston UV400 SSD
The memory manufacturer, Kingston, still has a lot of customers in the solid-state drive industry. The product line is complete and inexpensive, becoming the Kingston SSD label.
The Kingston UV400 SSD with the new solution is much more stable and has excellent read and write speeds from the tests. The Kingston UV400 960GB SSD and PS4PRO’s SATA3.0 interface are perfectly matched to each other, whether it’s the large-capacity data copying of Blu-ray discs or the loading of large-scene map data in games, the PS4PRO game console will have a solid performance base after the disc change. After replacing the UV400 960GB SSD, the PS4PRO saw a noticeable improvement in running and level loading speeds for many games.
PS4 PRO Solid State Drive Replacement Tutorial
The PS4PRO is also designed with the user’s replacement drive in mind, so the tutorial for replacing the drive is much easier than the PS4. On the back of the mainframe is a baffle marked with a few lines of English, this is the PS4PRO’s hard drive bay baffle, which can be easily accessed by pressing your hand from the other end. It’s easy to remove the PS4PRO’s storage baffle. The drive bay only has one set screw, so you can remove the metal drive bay after unscrewing the screw.
PS4 PRO for Solid State Drive
When playing on PS4, some games can take too long to read and affect the game experience. The hit Monster Hunter World is a notable example of this, with tens of seconds of reading time often occurring when playing the game, whether it’s an initial entry, scene switching, or loading at the end of a mission. Monster Hunter World is a game that requires frequent reads, so too long a read time can quickly derail the gaming experience. By adding an SSD hard drive to the PS4, the game reading time can be significantly reduced.
It is not difficult to find that the time of reading, which initially required a long wait, was significantly reduced after replacing the SSD hard drive, both the game startup and the loading of the archive. At the same time, PS4PRO’s future gaming masterpieces may have a more extensive scene design, SATA3.0 interface and higher demand for disk performance, replacing the SSD can reduce the long waiting process for loading, but also bring a more smooth and consistent gaming experience.
PS4 external SSD drive
Although different versions of the PS4 have adopted the specifications of SATA2 and SATA3 respectively, either version of the PS4 is equipped with a USB3.0 USB port, which means that it offers a high-speed transfer with a maximum theoretical transfer speed of 5Gbps. Generally speaking, the 5Gbps transfer speed is enough to make use of the high-speed reading and writing capabilities of a regular SSD drive, and the external method also eliminates the hassle of disassembling the host computer, making it easier to operate.
So if you have a new PS4 or PS4 Slim, you can also consider using an external hard drive instead of replacing the internal hard drive, and if you have a PS4 Pro, of course, you can also use an external SSD drive.
Not only can you migrate your games to an SSD for high-speed reading and writing, but the built-in hard drive can also be used to save videos, screenshots, archives, and other system data.
Notes.
When adding an external hard drive to the PS4, the following conditions must be met.
1、SATA interface SSD with a hard disk capacity of 250GB or more
2、Buy a 2.5-inch hard drive case that supports USB3.0 and above
3、PS4 host version must be at least 4.50
Currently, the PS4 only supports hard drives over 250GB, and it is essential to note that there are some 240GB hard drives on the market, although these can be used on a computer, like an external hard drive in the PS4 will not be recognized.
Therefore, it is necessary to purchase an SSD with a SATA interface marked as 250GB or higher. Also, as a medium for external hard drives, players need to buy an additional USB3.0 interface or more upper SATA external hard drive cassette, these hard drive cassettes have a wide range of options, such as ORICO, BUFFALO and other costly product lines, prices are also relatively low, on-demand purchase.
Migrate PS4 native games to an external SSD
- Install the 2.5-inch SSD drive into the hard drive case and connect it to the PS4’s USB port.
- After starting PS4, you need to connect the hard disk formatting operation, the specific process is as follows: Go to [Settings] – [Peripheral Machines] – [USB Storage Device], select the external hard disk, select [Format for Extended Storage], click Next, select OK, wait a little while after you can complete the formatting operation. Note: After completion of formatting, any new games or software installed by future users will be stored on the external hard drive by default, while saved data and image/video capture will remain on the internal hard drive.
Finally, in the [Settings] – [Storage], select the original internal hard disk, and then in the game application sub-bar, select [Move to an external storage device] check the need to transfer the game and applications, and click [Move], waiting for the progress bar can be completed.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q: Can I plug the original PS4 hard drive directly into the PS4 Pro?
The PS4’s hard drive can be plugged into the PS4 Pro, but not directly, requiring reinstalling the system and formatting the original disc. After our test, the power on screen is black after plugging it indirectly, you must also plug in the USB flash drive with the system installation file.
Q: So, how do I put the data from the original hard drive on the new machine?
The quickest way to do this is to pass it over the net. After selecting Settings – System – Transfer data from another PS4, log in to your same PSN account, and follow the instructions step by step.
Q: Is the PS4 Pro’s SSD and SSHD hybrid SSD a significant improvement in reading speed?
Through testing, we have come to the conclusion that – replacing the SSD or SSHD will improve the read speed, especially in games with longer reads.
Q: Are the PS4 and PS4 Pro hard drives the same size and thin?
The same. Supports notebook hard drives up to 9.5mm thick.
Q: Can the PS4 grip be used on the Pro?
It can be, and vice versa.
Q: I have an account, can I authenticate both old PS4 and PS4 Pro at the same time?
No way.
Q: Does the PS4 Pro support 5G WiFi?
Support.
Q: Is the PS4 Pro running much louder than the PS4?
We used the noisy game Mystic Seas 4, and the background noise in the test environment was 33.8 decibels, and the PS4 Pro was slightly louder than the original PS4 when it entered the disc version. But the sound is much less than that of the original PS4 when reading and playing games, and is equivalent to mute when not reading the disc.
Q: Is the PS4 Pro a significant improvement in picture quality? How does it perform on a 4K TV? Is it necessary for me to get a PS4 Pro if I don’t have a 4K TV?
In the game with the PS4 Pro optimization patch, 4K TVs have more options, such as high frame rate, top picture quality, exceptional detail and so on options, especially the high frame rate is believed to be useful for many players. Still, overall the picture quality improvement is not much. On games that didn’t launch the PS4 Pro optimization patch, there was virtually no difference in picture quality or framerate.