The perfect SSDs for PS5 in 2026

Storage fills up quick on a PS5, particularly when a single sport can take up as a lot area as a complete last-gen library. Including moreSSD area is the best method to cease taking part in Tetris together with your installs, and as soon as it’s arrange, your console hundreds video games simply as rapidly because it does from the built-in drive. It’s a small improve that makes an enormous distinction should you bounce between a number of titles without delay.

The tough half is realizing which SSDs really work with the PS5. You want a drive that meets Sony’s pace necessities and stays cool underneath lengthy play classes. Some fashions embody a heatsink, whereas others allow you to use your individual to save lots of a little bit cash. We examined the highest choices and picked the most effective SSDs for PS5 that can assist you improve with out problem.

Learn extra: These are the best SSDs in 2026

Desk of contents

Greatest SSDs for PS5 in 2026

Essential

Capability: As much as 4TB | Learn efficiency: 7,300MB/s | Write efficiency: 6,800 MB/s | Connection: M.2

If you wish to save a bit of cash by putting in your individual heatsink, the Crucial T500 is a superb possibility. With learn speeds of as much as 7,300MB/s, it surpasses Sony’s technical necessities, and you’ll steadily discover the 1TB mannequin on sale for as little as $60. Essential additionally gives a model with a heatsink, so it’s value including each the Corsair MP600 and Essential T500 to a value watch listing and shopping for whichever mannequin is cheaper while you’re able to improve your PS5.

Execs

• Quick
• Accessible with or with out heatsink

$148 at Amazon

SABRENT

Capability: As much as 8TB | Sequential learn efficiency: 7,000MB/s | Sequential write efficiency: 6,600MB/s | Connection: M.2

Of all of the SSDs on this listing, the Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus is essentially the most attention-grabbing. It comes with a novel heatsink that you just set up instead of the storage growth slot’s metallic cowl. Sabrent claims this design improves cooling efficiency. Consequently, anticipate to pay greater than you’d for a mannequin with a generic heatsink, with the 1TB variant coming in at round $110 and the 2TB mannequin costing between $220 and $280.

Execs

• PS5-specific heatsink design

Cons

• Not as quick as different choices
• Costly relative to different drives

$130 at Amazon

SAMSUNG

Capability: As much as 4TB | Learn efficiency: 1,050MB/s | Write efficiency: 1,000MB/s | Connection: USB 3.0

As I clarify beneath, you possibly can’t run PS5 video games from an exterior drive — however you should use one to retailer any video games you aren’t taking part in for the time being, together with older PS4 video games.

One in every of my favourite moveable drives is the Samsung T7. It will possibly write recordsdata at a speedy 1,000 MB/s. When you plan to make use of the drive solely for at-home use, it can save you cash by shopping for the common mannequin as an alternative of the ruggedized Defend variant. I’ve been utilizing T7 drives to retailer my pictures, music and video games for years, and so they have but to fail me. The newest mannequin, the Samsung T9, boasts learn/write speeds of as much as 2,000MB/s.

Execs

• Reasonably priced
• Dependable
• Rugged variant accessible

Cons

• Can’t play PS5 video games from exterior drive

$110 at Amazon

How we check PS5 SSDs

I’ve examined a lot of the SSDs really useful on this listing, both for PS5 or laptop use. I additionally purchased and used our prime decide in my very own PS5.

PS5 SSD FAQs

How a lot PS5 storage do I want?

The PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Pro can settle for inner drives with between 250GB and 8TB of storage capability. When you already personal a PS5, chances are high you’ve an affordable thought of how a lot storage you want ​​on your sport library. When you’re shopping for an SSD with a brand new PS5 or PS5 Professional, or shopping for for another person, it’s tougher to inform what you would possibly want for a high-performance expertise.

PS5 video games are smaller on common than their PS4 equivalents, usually taking on between 30GB and 100GB, with some notable (and highly regarded) exceptions. When you’re a fan of the Name of Obligation collection, putting in Black Ops 6 and Warzone 2.0 can eat as much as 240GB. In different phrases, a full Name of Obligation set up will take up greater than one-third of the PS5’s inner storage. When you’re not a CoD fan, although, chances are high you’ll be good to retailer between six to 10 video games on a daily PS5 internally earlier than working into issues.

You additionally want to think about your web pace. When you dwell in an space with gradual broadband, the “you possibly can simply obtain it once more” rationale doesn’t actually work. At my previous residence, a 100GB obtain took me round eight hours, throughout which period it was troublesome to concurrently watch Twitch or, say, publish articles about upgrading PS5 SSDs. Holding video games round on the off-chance you’ll need to play them sooner or later is sensible.

Off the bat, there’s principally no level in going for a 250GB PS5 SSD. Economically, 250GB drives aren’t that less expensive than 500GB ones — and virtually, that actually isn’t lots of area for contemporary video games to dwell on. 500GB drives generally is a first rate possibility, however after years of declining costs, I feel the candy spot for most individuals is to go for a high-capacity 1TB or 2TB drive, which ought to run you at most $200. The latter will greater than double the PS5 Professional’s storage with out breaking the financial institution.

Until you’re rolling in money and need to flex, 4TB and 8TB fashions ought to principally be averted, as you’ll find yourself paying extra per gigabyte than you’d with a 1TB or 2TB drive.

Whereas the 825GB PS5 solely gives 667GB of storage, that’s largely because of storage being reserved for the working system and caching. When you set up a 1TB PS5 SSD, you will have, inside a margin of error, 1TB of storage accessible for video games. Out of the field, the PS5 Professional gives 1.86TB of storage for video games, although you possibly can eke out extra should you delete the pre-installed Astro’s Playroom (gasp).

Since neither the PS5 Slim nor PS5 Professional characteristic up to date CPU structure, all of our suggestions will work with no matter PS5 mannequin you personal.

Are you able to play PS5 video games on an exterior SSD?

Exterior arduous drives are inclined to value lower than inner SSD counterparts (and there’s a superb probability you would possibly personal one already). Sadly, there are restrictions on what you are able to do with them. An exterior SSD connects to your PS5 through USB, and is barely appropriate for enjoying PlayStation 4 video games, or storing PS5 titles. That’s helpful if in case you have something however the most effective high-speed web — it’s sooner to maneuver a PS5 sport out of “chilly storage” on an exterior drive than it’s to re-download it — or need to hold your PS4 library readily available.

Because of the limitations right here, you don’t want the highest-performing mannequin, though you need to go for SSDs over HDDs for improved switch speeds and cargo occasions. Any primary moveable drive from a good model will do, with the Essential X9 Professional and Samsung T7 being choices we’ve tried and might advocate.

Which SSD playing cards are suitable with the PS5?

The official answer to this query is an “M.2 Socket 3 (Key M) Gen4 x4 NVME SSD.” However even inside that seemingly particular description, there are extra elements to think about. The primary necessities Sony has laid out for compatibility come down to hurry, cooling and bodily dimensions.

For pace, Sony says drives ought to be capable of deal with sequential reads at 5,500MB/s. Early testing confirmed that the PS5 would settle for drives as gradual as 4,800MB/s, and that video games that faucet into the SSD frequently — resembling Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart — would trigger no points. Just about the one factor the PS5 will outright reject is one that does not match the Gen4 x4 spec.

In our opinion, although, utilizing a drive slower than the specification is a threat that, should you don’t have already got that drive mendacity round, will not be value taking. Simply because we haven’t discovered points but doesn’t imply there gained’t be video games that could possibly be problematic sooner or later. The value distinction between these marginally slower Gen4 drives and those that meet Sony’s spec isn’t enormous, and also you would possibly as properly cowl all of your bases.

Barely extra difficult than pace is cooling and dimension. Most new SSDs are going to be simply wonderful; the PS5 can match 22mm-wide SSDs of nearly any size (30mm, 40mm, 60mm, 80mm or 110mm, to be exact). The overwhelming majority of drives you discover might be 22mm broad and 80mm lengthy, so no drawback there.

It ought to be famous that the system can match a 25mm-wide drive, however that width should embody the cooling answer. Talking of, Sony says SSDs require “efficient warmth dissipation with a cooling construction, resembling a heatsink.” The utmost top supported by Sony’s slot is 11.25mm, of which solely 2.45mm could be “beneath” the drive.

This beforehand meant a few of the hottest heatsinked Gen4 SSDs, together with Corsair’s MP600 Professional LP, wouldn’t match inside the PS5’s storage growth slot. Since Engadget first revealed this information in 2021, most NVMe makers, together with Samsung, have come out with PlayStation-specific fashions that meet these necessities. That stated, if you wish to avoid wasting cash, naked drives are sometimes cheaper and it’s trivial to discover a cooling answer that can work for the PS5.

The one part in an NVMe SSD that actually requires cooling is the controller, which and not using a heatsink will fortunately sear a (very small) steak. Most SSDs have chips on just one facet, however even on double-sided SSDs, the controller is more likely to be on prime, as producers realize it must be positioned there to raised dissipate warmth.

So, head to your PC part vendor of selection and decide up principally something that meets the really useful dimensions. search time period is “laptop computer NVME heatsink,” as these might be designed to slot in the confines of gaming laptops, that are much more restrictive than a PS5. They’re additionally usually cheaper than those labeled as “PS5 heatsinks.”

One suggestion is that this $6 copper heatsink, which attaches to the PS5 SSD with sticky thermal interface materials. It really works simply wonderful, and in performing stress exams on a PC, we couldn’t discover something metallic that didn’t hold temperatures underneath management. While you’re looking, simply be certain that the answer you go for measures not more than 25mm broad or 8mm tall (together with the thermal interface materials) and has a easy methodology of set up that’s not going to trigger any complications.

One last item: When looking for a PS5 NVMe, there’s no motive to purchase a Gen5 mannequin over a extra inexpensive Gen4 mannequin. As issues stand, Sony’s console can’t make the most of the brand new customary, and although Gen5 drives are backward suitable, they’re costlier than their Gen4 counterparts. Simply purchase the quickest and highest-capacity Gen4 mannequin you possibly can afford.

Tips on how to set up an SSD into your PS5

When you want steering on how to install your new NVMe into your PS5 or PS5 Professional, we’ve got a separate information detailing all of the steps right here. Set up is fairly easy, however our how-to may also help you should you’re caught. Simply make be aware: Earlier than trying so as to add extra storage through a PS5 SSD, guarantee that you’ve got Sony’s latest software installed.