When the original 500GB PS4 Slim launched in late 2013, it was quickly made clear that the hard drive would not be big enough for hardcore gamers.
While the situation has improved with the launch of the 1TB PS4 Slim and PS4 Pro, Sony still allows for you to go bigger and better.
But which hard drive is the best for your PlayStation? Does going for an SSD make any difference?
Eurogamer’s Digital Foundry recently took a look at possible hard drive combinations, and the results are surprising.
| PS4 Hard Drive testing | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Loading Time (Seconds) | PS4 500GB Stock Drive | PS4 OCZ Trion 100 SSD | PS4 Pro 1TB Stock Drive | PS4 Pro OCZ Trion 100 SSD |
| Witcher 3: Novigrad City (Initial Load) | 92.5 | 69.2 | 78.1 | 67.5 |
| Witcher 3: Woesong Bridge Fast Travel | 46.8 | 35.5 | 44.5 | 34.1 |
| Fallout 4: Concord Town (Initial Load) | 55.5 | 29.1 | 48.9 | 26.6 |
| Fallout 4: Exiting Vault 101 | 25.7 | 17.2 | 24.2 | 15.9 |
| Just Cause 3: New Game | 69.9 | 43.8 | 76.6 | 42.4 |
| Just Cause 3: Mission Respawn | 28.9 | 21.1 | 33.4 | 17.8 |
| Project Cars: Azure Coast (31 Cars) | 50.5 | 40.4 | 43.9 | 41.0 |
| Project Cars: Quit To Menu | 21.4 | 20.5 | 21.6 | 20.5 |
The first noteworthy finding is that the Pro’s 1TB stock drive loads in Novigrad City faster than the standard PS4’s 500GB stock drive.
Secondly, it’s worth noting that an SSD makes a noticeable improvement over a mechanical hard drive, as expected.
Still the best combination is that of a PS4 Pro and an SSD, but in truth this yields very little improvement over the stock Ps4 and an SSD.
As a result, when buying a new hard drive for your PS4 you should primarily be focused on size rather than speed as bigger drives will provide the most benefit on the hardware.
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