Once you manage to crochet your own Playstation 5, which was particularly elusive, you probably can’t wait to try out as many next-gen games as possible. And no one wants to be stuck choosing which paltry few games to fit on the limited storage space built into the PS5 pre-built. Now you don’t have to – Sony has unlocked the PS5’s extra internal storage drive, which wasn’t available at launch. With that extra space, you can increase your console’s current storage capacity. Just grab the best M.2 SSD for your gaming needs. As long as you have a compatible drive, you’ll experience the benefits of that extra storage boost.

Before the mass availability of solid state drives and before the beta, you could still add: an external drive for PS4 games, but only play PS4 games from it. You could store PS5 games on a portable SSD, but you wouldn’t be able to play them.

Read more: PS5 Review: Exclusive Games Power Sony’s Sky-High Space Age Console

However, it can be difficult to find a super-fast M.2 drive right now, especially one with a built-in heat sink. That’s an essential feature to prevent overheating, so if your SSD drive doesn’t have one, you’ll need to add it manually. We’ve put together some suggestions below to help you through that process.

We tested several drives, including the 4TB Seagate FireCuda 530, which we installed in this tutorialfunctie and you can find those transfer time results below.


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Install an M.2 SSD in your PS5 with a heatsink upgrade



8:56

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Samsung’s high-end M.2 drive was a logical first choice for many PS5 mods… but the original version didn’t include a built-in heat sink, which is necessary for use. Sure, you can buy a separate one and attach it, but that’s a few extra steps.

Handy, this excellent Samsung 980 Pro SSD is now available of a heat sink, making it an all-in-one package. There are two current configurations, a 1TB model and a 2TB model, with the price roughly doubling for the larger model.

Dan Ackerman/CNET

I recently got my hands on a large 4TB Seagate FireCuda 530, which includes a built-in heat sink, a requirement for an internal PS5 drive. The 1TB version usually costs around $250, while the 4TB version costs upwards of $900. Note that due to its popularity, this particular Seagate FireCuda drive is often out of stock, so grab one when you can.

After installing and setting up the drive, I tried to transfer a few games from the basic drive to my new SSD. Call of Duty, which is almost 200 GB, transfers in about 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Return, about 50 GB, transferred in about 40 seconds.

Scott Stein

Corsair recently announced this PS5-compatible M.2 drive. This particular SSD comes with a heat sync. We are currently testing the 2TB version and will update it shortly with more details from our hands-on testing. A 1TB drive costs $145, while the 2TB is $290.

Dan Ackerman/CNET

Normally, I’d stick with M.2 drives with built-in heat sinks, so make the whole upgrade process easier. But for this PNY XLR8 drive I make an exception, because PNY also makes a separate PS5 SSD cover, complete with built-in headsink.

Simply insert the slim M.2 drive into the slot, screw on the new cover panel and you’re all set. The 1TB drive now costs about $140, and the sleeve costs an extra $20. We tested the drive and added the transfer time scores to the chart below.

PNY m2 cover for PS5

This is the combination of PNY heatsink and cover, making it easy to install an M.2 drive that doesn’t have its own heatsink.


Dan Ackerman/CNET

The above drives have all been tested and you will see that there is not much difference in performance between them. Most notably, writing to the M.2 drive is a lot faster than writing back to the internal PS5 drive.

PS5 M.2 file transfer time (min:sec)

Console to M.2

M.2 to console
FFVII (81GB)

Seagate FireCuda 530 (4TB)

1:05

6:00 am

Samsung 980 Pro (1TB)

1:08

5:56

Corsair MP600 Pro LPX (2TB)

1:04

5:54

PNY XLR8 CS3140 (1TB)

1:16

6:11
Spider-Man: Miles Morales (39GB)

Seagate FireCuda 530

0:33

2:57

Samsung 980 Pro

0:31

2:53

Corsair MP600 Pro LPX

0:33

2:54

PNY XLR8 CS3140 (1TB)

0:40

2:53

Below are some additional drives and accessories that we haven’t tested yet, but should all work fine.

Amazon

Next to the Samsung and Seagate versions, this Western Digital drive is probably the most popular M.2 choice for the PS5. It also includes the necessary built-in heatsink, which I honestly recommend as a much easier way to get your console storage upgraded.

The WD Black comes in 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB sizes, although I can’t go through all the trouble of opening the PS5 and installing it for just 500GB of extra space, especially as some games get close to 100GB in size. 1TB seems like the best bang for your buck, as the 2TB drive costs more than the PS5 itself.

Samsung

This is the original Samsung 980 Pro 1TB drive that requires a separate heat sink. If you have one and can attach it, it’s a cheaper option and easy to find. In fact, the price of this model has even dropped by a few dollars.

The advantage of adding an internal M.2 drive to your PS5 is that you can store and play PS5 native games on it. Ordinary external hard drives can store PS5 games, but not play them. (Save and play both PS4 games.)

Amazon

If you go the add-your-own-heatsink route, this is one of the most popular parts for PS5 owners. Gamers have reported that it fits perfectly with the PS5’s M.2 slot, especially when paired with the Samsung 980 SSD.

To attach such a heatsink, you usually need some thermal tape to connect the heatsink to the drive. In this case, there is an included thermal pad that sticks the two parts together. That’s important, because without the right kind of thermal management, the M.2 drive can get too hot in the PS5’s narrowly narrowed internal drive slot.

We update this list regularly and below are answers to some of the most common PS5 M.2 SSD questions.

Does my M.2 drive need a heat sink?

Yes. Sony needs a heat sink (actually a piece of metal) to dissipate the heat and prevent the drive from overheating. Some M.2 drives have a built-in heat sink, others must be attached manually via tape or glue.

What games run from a PS5 M.2 drive?

Unlike an external drive connected via USB-C, an internal M.2 drive can store and run both PS5 and PS4/PS Plus games. An external drive can store both, but only play PS4/older games.

How we test PS5 M.2 drives

To test these M.2 SSD drives for the very specific purpose of storing and playing PS5 games, our first concern is data transfer speed. All discs compatible with the PS5 can play and load games seamlessly. The only time you’re likely to see the drive in action is when you’re transferring entire games to or from the drive.

To test the speed of these drives, we downloaded specific games to the PS5’s internal drive and then transferred those games to the newly installed M.2 drive. Then we restored the same games to the internal SSD. The games we’ll be using for this test are Final Fantasy VII Remake, at 81 GB; and Spider-Man: Miles Morales, with 39GB. We used a stopwatch to time the transfers and listed each result in the chart above.