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[NX Gamer] PS5 SSD Expansion - Beta 2.0 M2 In-Depth Technical Review

Lunatic_Gamer

Gold Member



From NX Gamer:
All good things come to those who wait, but now the PS5 internal M.2 NVME slot has been opened up via the 2.0 Beta release. Thanks to Sony for giving me access to this, I can test all drives I could get my hands on.
From how to fit your Heatsink to an SSD, how fast they load, does it affect performance and even how hot do they get. Click in and take a "load" off.

0:00 intro
1:05 How to install Heatsink to SSD & into PS5
4:53 Non Spec Drive options inc Gen3
6:33 Game copy tests & bandwidth
8:50 PS5 game tests including Series X
10:52 Rift Apart multi performance test
12:04 PS5 title and drive summary
13:14 PS4 game tests
15:30 Heat, performance & lifespan tests
17:12 Roundup and final thoughts

Follow on twitter :- https://twitter.com/N_X_G
 

ethomaz

Banned
Like previous tests showed there is little to no gain with faster SSDs like 980Pro at 6900GB/s showed a increase of avg. performance in 1%… the biggest gain is indeed in copying speeds.

With slower SSDs like MP600 at 4950GB/s showed an avg. drop in performance of 3%.

While the drop is not that big it make me question the use of even slower SSDs on the system.
 
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iHaunter

Member
Like previous tests showed there is little to no gain with faster SSDs like 980Pro (+1%) except for writing speeds.

With slower SSDs like MP600 at 4950GB/s showed an avg. drop in performance of 3%.

While the drop is not that big it make me question the use of even slower SSDs on the system.
I feel like these tests are still a bit moot because we still haven't seen the FULL use of the SSD yet no? At least not when it comes to game streaming. I wonder if that'll affect anything in the future or firmware updates can optimize it more.
 

ethomaz

Banned
I feel like these tests are still a bit moot because we still haven't seen the FULL use of the SSD yet no? At least not when it comes to game streaming. I wonder if that'll affect anything in the future or firmware updates can optimize it more.
Yeap but even with a not too slower SSDs you already start to see the performance getting a hit.

That means future games that stress the 5.5GB/s of the internal SSD will have even a hard time in slower SSDs.
 
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bender

What time is it?
Using a wooly blanket as your workbench doesn't seem like the best of ideas.

aw_yeah_baby_futurama.gif
 

iHaunter

Member
Yeap but even with a not too slower SSDs you already start to see the performance getting a hit.

That means future games that stress the 5.5GB/s of the internal SSD will have even a hard time in slower SSDs.
Yeah, I suppose not surprising to see, but good it's getting confirmation.
 

Great Hair

Banned
200.gif


The idea of the expansion port is to off-load, to install native PS5 games and not to be constantly copying back and forth to the internal SSD. Who´s copying games from the external nvme to the internal all the time? Why would you in the first place? Those benchmarks are useless.


Thanks for the vid.
 

ethomaz

Banned
200.gif


The idea of the expansion port is to off-load, to install native PS5 games and not to be constantly copying back and forth to the internal SSD. Who´s copying games from the external nvme to the internal all the time? Why would you in the first place? Those benchmarks are useless.


Thanks for the vid.
I agree.
Nobody will copy the data between internal and extension unless the game installed have some issue with the extension SSD… so you transfer it to internal to play fine.
 
Quality analysis with some really good data as well. I personally would aim for the recommended specs just to be on the safe side. But I've seen some really good prices for those slower drives so I can understand why it might be worth it. Also in a couple of years these drives are going to be a lot cheaper so it wouldn't be expensive to upgrade to a faster drive if you really need one.

Approved GIF by memecandy
 
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Corndog

Banned
I feel like these tests are still a bit moot because we still haven't seen the FULL use of the SSD yet no? At least not when it comes to game streaming. I wonder if that'll affect anything in the future or firmware updates can optimize it more.
I would assume most games will be built with slower storage in mind. I doubt Sony would allow slow drives that would cause major problems.
 
I would assume most games will be built with slower storage in mind. I doubt Sony would allow slow drives that would cause major problems.

That's true to an extent. But every PS5 has a 5.5GB/s drive. That's what developers have to make sure works first before doing anything else.

If you ever run into a game that actually requires those speeds it's easy to just install it to the soldered drive.

When it comes to multiplats RE8 is probably the worst case scenario. Basically having a loading screen on own version and eliminating it for the other. I don't believe multiplats will go further than that.
 
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ethomaz

Banned
Quality analysis with some really good data as well. I personally would aim for the recommended specs just to be on the safe side. But I've seen some really good prices for those slower drives so I can understand why it might be worth it. Also in a couple of years these drives are going to be a lot cheaper so it wouldn't be expensive to upgrade to a faster drive if you really need one.

Approved GIF by memecandy
There are 1TB drives that fits the PS5 specs at $150-160 already… you just need a $10 heatsink and deal.
 

01011001

Banned
If I was MS I would bring new manufacturers in after a year. That way you have competition and drive down the cost.

pretty sure they worded it something like "Seagate is out first partner" during the reveal, if I remember correctly. so most likely it will be opened up to other manufacturers.

another idea would be to sell an adapter card in which you can insert any Gen 4 m.2 SSD you want. other SSD brands could also sell their SSDs with these adaptors as a bundle and stuff like that.

I hope they do either, or better even, both.
 
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So this is another indication that Sony could have saved some fabrication costs if they have gone with a lower spec internal storage? I wonder why Sony decided on that. Perhaps left overs from another product they were developing?
 

GHG

Gold Member
So this is another indication that Sony could have saved some fabrication costs if they have gone with a lower spec internal storage? I wonder why Sony decided on that. Perhaps left overs from another product they were developing?

2 things:

  • You need overhead. When these drives get hammered they get hot and the speed drops off a tad. There needs to be a margin of error even if it's minimal in the grand scheme of things.
  • We are still early in the gen and there's not a single game that has come close to maxing out the I/O capabilities yet, insomniac have confirmed this. Hardware capability is a tool and its up to developers to utilise it however they wish. On a hardware level it's always better to have the capability than it is to not.
 
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sinnergy

Member
2 things:

  • You need overhead. When these drives get hammered they get hot and the speed drops off a tad. There needs to be a margin of error even if it's minimal in the grand scheme of things.
  • We are still early in the gen and there's not a single game that has come close to maxing out the I/O capabilities yet, insomniac have confirmed this. Hardware capability is a tool and its up to developers to utilise it however they wish. On a hardware level it's always better to have the capability than it is to not.
Yes max speed is only for bursts . Maybe it’s 2000 - 3000 region that’s a save bet . That’s probably why ps5 loads faster in its loading . In actual game play it could be closer , series has a sustained speed of 2400.
 
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Yes max speed is only for bursts . Maybe it’s 2000 - 3000 region that’s a save bet . That’s probably why ps5 loads faster in its loading . In actual game play it could be closer , series has a sustained speed of 2400.

He said a tad not a lot. It wouldn't drop to speeds close to the Series X drive for example. The only way that happens is due to really bad throttling due to heat and the PS5 SSD doesn't have that issue.
 
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