Ever since the PS4 came out, many players have been asking when the time will come for them to be able to add external memory to the mix. The PS4 only has 500GB internal memory by default, which may be too little for some. Majority of PS4 games are about 40GB-50GB in size. This means that most players can only download about 10-12 games before running out of valuable space.
Just last year, Sony announced something that everyone’s been waiting for: the addition of external hard drives for the PlayStation 4, which can add up to roughly 8TB of extra storage.
With this new, much-awaited announcement, pretty much everyone who owned a PS4 or was thinking of buying one, was thrilled. After all, this meant that players could finally get the option to store more games than ever, all thanks to these hard drives for PS4. More storage, more games. More chances to play newer releases without having to delete old ones.
The only problem? Despite this exciting news, sadly, the PS4 only offers an external HDD storage option. That’s right. For those of you out there who enjoy SSDs (Solid State Drives), you’re out of luck. Looks like you’re stuck with an external HDD storage for now.
Fret not though, because there’s another solution if you really want to get your SSD into the picture. Although the external storage only accepts HDD for now, the PS4’s native internal storage accepts both hard disk drives and SSDs.
And now, one question remains: should you use HDD or SSD for your PS4?
Hard Disk Drive
Before anything else, it might be best to first discuss what a hard disk drive is, anyway and why they’re still the main mode of storage for systems like the PS4. To explain it simply, a hard drive is what one would call a storage space for a computer system. Think of it as a container for all your important and not so important things.
Why is it called a hard drive? Simply put, this was a term coined in order to distinguish them from soft, floppy disks ‘diskettes’ that people used to store data, albeit in fewer amounts than a hard disk drive. HDDs aren’t just used for computers, at least not the traditional kind. As mentioned earlier, even your gaming console has its own hard drive where all your data and information are stored. Your own PS4 has its hard drive 500GB when you first get it, in fact.
So is the better choice HDD or SSD for your PS4? For most people, HDDs offer the most bang for the buck. Over time, as you fill it with games, the free space will get smaller and smaller until you’ll have no choice but to delete some data in order to make space for new ones.
What’s the advantage of using a hard drive? One, it offers good storage for cheap. You can buy good 1TB drives for less than $50. Sure, they may not be as fast as the typical SSD, but they’re okay. If you want fast, there are speedier options though, like 7,200 RPM drives.
Solid State Drive
Just like HDDs, SSDs are also used to store data. Their biggest difference with hard drives lies in their physical makeup. Unlike the HDDs though, SSDs have no moving parts, which makes them less likely to have mechanical breakdowns.
Other than that, there’s another huge difference between the two, specifically when it comes to their performance. Solid state drives are said to be the faster one of the two, with speeds going up to over 10x that of the hard drive. Solid state drives are also said to have a lower latency than hard drives, which means information and data can be quickly summoned from a solid state drive with no problem at all.
Majority of people, including gamers, still use HDDs instead of SSDs, but nowadays, more and more people are starting to see the benefits of using SSDs. Perhaps this answers the question whether the best choice is HDD or SSD for your PS4. It’s good that SSDs are slowly becoming prevalent though, at least when it comes to laptops.
HDD or SSD for your PS4?
That said, which one should you pick for your PS4’s internal storage, HDD or SSD?
The advantage to using an SSD is endless– it’s faster, it has lower latency, it has faster boot times. The only real disadvantage of using an SSD is the cost since they can be quite expensive.
However, these reasons mainly only have something to do with HDD and SSD when used on a computer, since computers do a lot of daily computing work. For a PS4 though, the change is hardly noticeable. Upgrading to an SSD may make the system a bit faster when booting up new games and loading from saved filed, but that’s all there is to it.
So what really is the best choice, HDD or SSD for your PS4? If you think you’re already fine with your current 500GB HDD, then don’t rush to get that prized SSD. At least, for now. There’s no need to get the first SSD that you find, since the change is barely noticeable, anyway. For more storage, you can always upgrade your internal HDD with another cheaper, same-performance HDD. Or you add an external HDD to the mix. Options!
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