In selecting the drives featured above, the main requirement—other than proving their overall mettle as solid gaming SSDs in our benchmarking—was that they meet Sony’s official criteria for use with a PS5. The majority of our options, though not all of them, are advertised as PS5-compatible by their manufacturers.

However, several M.2 solid-state drives, some of which are marketed as PS5-compatible, fail to meet one criterion: Their throughput or data transfer speed rating falls short of the suggested 5,500 MBps. This is the sole specification that Sony gives some leeway for. Since many of these drives also lack a dynamic random access memory cache (DRAM) and instead use a portion of your computer’s system memory as a cache, we still do not advise those that operate below the 5,500Mbps speed requirement. This type of scheme is not supported by the PlayStation 5, which may cause the drive to perform worse under stress.

PS5 Drive Size: How Tall and Long Can a PS5 SSD Be?

The physical height of an SSD is a crucial determinant of its PS5 compatibility, for apparent reasons. “Height,” in this instance, refers to its thickness. Any SSD for the PS5 should contain a heat dissipation device, such as a heatsink or heat spreader, according to Sony, which will increase the size of the device. There is a limit to how large it can be and yet fit.

The M.2 bay of the PlayStation must accommodate the secondary drive, allowing for a total thickness of 11.5 mm (up to 2.5 mm from below and up to 8 mm from above the board). Most drives with finned, nonremovable heatsinks are therefore eliminated; however, some manufacturers are creating thin heat spreaders and tiny heatsinks for use in tight areas.

The PS5 can accommodate drives that range in length from 30 to 110 mm. In actuality, all of our recommendations—as well as the majority of consumer M.2 SSDs—are Type-2280, or 80mm, long.

The Upgrade: How to Install an SSD in Your PS5

It’s easy to install a second SSD in your PlayStation 5. A tiny (#1) Philips screwdriver and maybe some tweezers for handling screws are the only equipment you’ll need.

Doing a system update is the first thing you should do. After that, you disconnect the console, remove the PS5’s side panel, and, if one isn’t already there, install a heatsink or spreader to the SSD. (That can be accomplished without the use of tools, but it might take some effort and caution.)

After removing the M.2 screw and the expansion slot cover, place the new SSD in the expansion slot, use the spacer as directed, and screw the drive into position. The PS5 is then closed and the new drive is formatted, and you are ready to go.

Many fast, reasonably priced M.2 PCI Express 4.0 solid-state drives can fit in the secondary slot of your PS5, regardless of whether you were able to purchase it at almost its full list price of $499.99 or paid a hefty premium during the pandemic. If you haven’t purchased a PS5 yet, you will have the option to select from a variety of more suitable SSDs when your system arrives.

So, Which PS5 SSD Upgrade Should You Buy?

When it comes to specifications, our primary metric is to use the current sale price to determine the cost per gigabyte of any drive you are considering. Prices for SSDs fluctuate, and if you look around, you can frequently find more capacity than you might anticipate. Comparing the relative values of two drives with different capacities can be simple with a little math if you look at the cost per gigabyte.

667GB of the 825GB capacity of the PlayStation 5’s built-in SSD is free right out of the box. Today’s games typically require 50GB to 60GB of storage, though some are far larger. In general, you should be able to store nine or ten AAA games on the disk. Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, for instance, pushes the franchise’s tendency toward ever-increasing file sizes to a new level by using up about 220GB, so you might run out of accessible space sooner than you think. Thankfully, supplementary drives with capacities ranging from 250GB to an incredible 4TB are supported by the PS5.

Here, we’ve broken down the specifications of our top-rated, tested solid-state drives that work with the PlayStation 5. You might as well make use of that open M.2 slot on your console. Even though SSDs are currently reasonably priced, it’s a good idea to prepare your PS5 for the future by purchasing the largest capacity drive you can afford and packing it full of your preferred games. Cheers to fragging!

Our key measure, all else being equal on the spec front, is to look at the cost per gigabyte for any drive you are looking at, using the current sale price. SSD prices tend to rise and fall, and it’s often possible to score more capacity than you might think if you shop around. If you look at the cost per gigabyte, a little math can make it easy to compare the relative value of two drives of different capacities.