[GameSpot] - Digital Foundry Tests Reveal That External SATA SSDs Are Best For PS5 Users

[343iBot]

The PlayStation 5's latest update added compatibility for external hard drives and SSDs. When presented with so many options, which can be costly, it's important to know which storage method is best for you. Thanks to Digital Foundry, we have a good idea of what storage solution you should use if you've filled up your PS5's measly 667 GB of internal storage.

Before we get into any numbers, it's important to note that all the games that Digital Foundry tested on the PlayStation 5 are PS4 games. While the PS5's latest firmware update lets users store and play games on external drives, you can only do so with PS4 titles. PS5 games still require the speed of the PS5's internal SSD to function properly. That being said, you can still store PS5 games on external drives, and moving them back onto the PS5's internal storage should be much faster than redownloading them or reinstalling them from a disk.

With that out of the way, it's easy to determine from Digital Foundry's analysis of PS5 load times that the best storage option available right now is by way of an external SATA SSD. Digital Foundry used a Samsung 870 QVO hooked up to the PS5 by a Sabrent USB to SATA adapter in its testing. That adapter plays a big role here, as it has a large enough bandwidth to let the PS5 perform at maximum capacity.

In tests across multiple games, load times on the external SATA SSD were almost always faster than any alternative, including in some cases the PS5's internal SSD and the external NVMe SSD Digital Foundry also tested with. However, there were times when the SATA SSD performed on par with the other SSD storage options.

In Cyberpunk 2077 for instance, which has a 102 GB file size, the internal SSD of the PS5 loaded into the mission The Pickup in 33 seconds. Both the external SATA and NVMe SSDs loaded in a bit faster, at 31 seconds.

Load times in Fallout 4 show just how much faster external storage options can be though. Loading into Diamond City takes the PS4's internal SSD around 17 seconds. However, the external SATA SSD took just 13 seconds to load the same area. The external NVMe SSD clocked in at around the same time.

As far as storing and playing games on an external HDD go, well, do it if you must. Not only is it slower to transfer data to and from an external hard drive, that performance also carries over to load times. In every single test conducted by Digital Foundry, the external HDD took markedly longer to load any game, with the most egregious time being for The Witcher 3's Novigrad. The PS5's internal SSD loads that area in around 47 seconds, as does the external SATA SSD. The NVMe SSD is a tad slower at 49 seconds. Loading this game off of an HDD will have you sitting around for over 10 more seconds though, with a load time near one full minute.

There is a clear oddity in the overall test results though. Using an external NVMe SSD, you won't find the load times you expect. These high-end drives can read and write data faster than your average SATA SSD, however, that kind of performance may be limited to PCs. The PS5 is a different case, as it apparently has some limit on how fast PS4 titles to load. In this scenario, using an external NVMe SSD would leave performance on the table, whereas using an external SATA SSD, you're getting pretty much the best bang for your buck.

It's especially not worth getting an NVMe SSD when you consider the price. If you were to get the same hardware Digital Foundry used in its testing, the Samsung 980 EVO and the ASUS ROG Strix Arion, you could spend up to $300 just on external storage. The Samsung 870 QVO SATA SSD and its adapter on the other hand would cost $150 at the very most.

View the full article