Many of us have been there before. You are getting tired of trying to decide which games to delete from your hard drive in order to make room for something new. You have come to the conclusion that you need to install a new hard drive in your PlayStation 4. However, you aren't entirely sure whether you should get a solid state drive or a mechanical drive. Have no fear! We are here to give you some insight in order to make an informed decision.
Move your PS4 to a solid state?
In general, an SSD (or solid state drive) is a faster animal. Mechanical drives have moving parts whereas an SSD does not. The easiest way to think of it is that an SSD is like a larger memory stick. In recent years SSD's have become far more affordable than they have been in the past. That being said, they are still pricier than their mechanical counterparts.
But is an SSD worth buying and installing in your PS4? In general terms, no. Unfortunately, the hardware of the PS4 is not capable of taking advantage of the superior speeds of an SSD. Even on the PlayStation Pro, the SATA interface just does not provide the speed which would make the purchase of an SSD worthwhile. You may see some slightly faster load times on some games, but you are only going to be looking at an improvement measured in one or two seconds. In my opinion, it's just not worth the premium you would pay for an SSD.
Maybe a hard drive that's mechanically inclined.
As it stands right now, the best bang for your buck when it comes to expanding the storage space on your PS4, still lies with a mechanical drive. While they still aren't quite as fast as an SSD on paper, the difference you will see on your PS4 is negligible. The difference you will see is in your pocketbook. Mechanical drives still offer marked savings as compared to solid state. In addition, now that the PS4 offers support of external drives you don't have to crack your case open in order to expand your storage.
When it comes right down to it the benefits of an SSD on your PS4 just aren't worth the money. My best suggestion would be to pick up the fastest and most reasonably priced mechanical external drive you can find. You will get all the extra space you desire and you will see a bump in load times as compared to the stock PS4 drive.
Check out our favorite external hard drives for more storage in your console!
Have you expanded the storage on your PS4?
Have you slapped a new drive in your PlayStation 4? I would love to hear about your experiences, both good and bad.
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