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Upgrading the PS3 HD is like console sex

androvsky

Member
CrushDance said:
The only cap I believe is 2GB for videos, due to piracy. I have a 60GB drive but I'm trying to save up and get a 500GB one. Allowing end users to buy any drive from any manufacturer is probably the best decision Sony made hardware wise.

The 2GB limit is actually on avi files, and it's NOT due to piracy. It's actually because the format is ancient and crappy, and the PS3 hasn't implemented the hacks needed to make 2GB+ avi files work yet.
 

PistolGrip

sex vacation in Guam
Kagari said:
How did you get the screws out of the old HDD without stripping them? I found this extremely hard while trying to upgrade my friend's 20GB.
Depends on your screw driver. I had a similar issue on one of the screws since I used the long tip screw driver.
 
Ptaaty said:
I have a 20GB PS3, like my 20GB 360 I find no need to upgrade to larger HDDs as I have a central computer acting as a media server.

I don't know I just find no appeal to having tons of storage on the machine...I keep all my stuff on one place on my PC and grab it from there.

What is the point of all that local storage? (buying tons of games that require 5GB installs not withstanding...)

In addition to the games aspect, (never really having to worry about install sizes or how any demos you've saved,) if you use Remote Play a lot like I do, having as much as possible on the internal is better because you don't have to worry about remembering to leave and external drive or media streaming PC on. You wake up your PS3 via Remote Play, and everything you want is right there. Plus, the performance is better that way that via streaming from a PC, if your PC is streaming over wi-fi.
 

J-Rzez

Member
Argyle said:
Account info and passwords are stored to flash in the console, not the hard drive, so if you are restoring the backup to the same console, everything should be as it was.

All my Rock Band DLC and my save game copied over fine.

Yup, I put a Hitachi travelstar 16MB 200 GB 7200 RPM drive in my PS3 last summer and it's been great. DMC4 install took 17 minutes.

Excellent. Time to check out newegg to find something nice :D
 

YYZ

Junior Member
PirateSean said:
If I were to upgrade my PS3 HDD, would I be able to use the one already in the PS3 in my PC?
yea just keep in mind that a regular PC SATA HDD is 3.5" and the PS3 uses 2.5" (laptop size). I think the SATA plug is the same but it won't fit in a typical HDD slot in a regular PC case.
 

industrian

will gently cradle you as time slowly ticks away.
Kagari said:
How did you get the screws out of the old HDD without stripping them? I found this extremely hard while trying to upgrade my friend's 20GB.

This.

I upgraded to a 250GB drive yesterday and stripped three of the four screws. Then my Glasgow mentality surfaced and I brute-forced the bastards out. I had to cut around one screw though as it was damaged beyond retrieval. So only three screws are holding it in place now.

And yeah, i was impressed by it backing up everything, including the half-downloaded demos. I've got 160GB left, which should last me until the PS4 is released. <Insert your own Capcom joke here.>
 

Lord Error

Insane For Sony
DO NOT use mini phillips! That's where I think many people screwed things up, as you instinctively think small screws + delicate electronics = small screwdriver. However, with a small screwdriver you don't have nearly as much grip, so you push into the screw a lot more while trying to unscrew it, which is not a good idea for tight screws.

I used a pretty normal sized phillips screwdriver actually, with a pretty large handle and had absolutely no problems unscrewing those screws.

I used something that looks almost exactly like this:

TB32716.jpg


For firmly screwed in screws it's important that the tip of the screwdriver fits in as tightly as possible.

Holy shit I used word screw proably 50 times in this post...
 

Fatghost

Gas Guzzler
biggersmaller said:
Does a 8mb cache suffice with the 250? Change the performance?


8 MB cache should be fine. The stock 60, 80 and 40 GB PS3s all have 8MB caches. The 20 GB has a 2MB cache I believe.

upgrading to 16MB cache does make an improvement in load times for most games though, and upgrading from 5400 rpm to 7200 rpm doesn't make a difference for games, but does speed up installs and loading in the XMB.
 

Fatghost

Gas Guzzler
MadOdorMachine said:
Does anyone know if it matters if the replacement HDD is SATA-150 or SATA-300?


Doesn't matter. I think PS3 is just SATA-150, but a SATA-300 HDD would work, it would just run at SATA-150 speed.
 

thetrin

Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
Segata Sanshiro said:
Yes, now it's official. You need to put down the keyboard and the controller, go out to the real world and get some fucking perspective.

You wouldn't cry over wasted money?
 

DeadGzuz

Banned
Marconelly said:
DO NOT use mini phillips!

I kind of said the same thing in the OP. I used a normal sized screwdriver. Do not use a head that looks the same size! It only matters that the tip fits in.
 

mollipen

Member
Exact screwdriver that I used for everything was a "1pt" Philips. I'd also advise against the mini screwdrivers, because of the reasons Marconelly pointed out.

I finally just said "screw it," and went after the one screw that I stripped with a pair of needle-nose pliers. Got it out, and for the time being, am running my new drive with only three screws. With as secure as it fits in there, I think it's fine for now, but I'm going to still try to get a replacement screw.
 

sun-drop

Member
whats the best 250GB drive out there for ps3?

what size cache?

and i'm looking for something whisper quiet , and that wont heat up more than the standard 60GB i have in there.. ?
 

Zoe

Member
Can somebody explain exactly how to use the pliers to get the screws out? It keeps slipping, and when I do get a grip, the screws won't budge :(

I managed to only get one screw out without stripping it... the second one I was somehow able to jam the screwdriver in there and get it to catch.
 

Zoe

Member
I FINALLY got the other two screws out... but there's no way in hell I'm gonna use those again.

Anybody know what kind of replacement screws to get and where to find them? I walked around Fry's a bit yesterday and didn't see any.
 

YYZ

Junior Member
Kagari said:
How did you get the screws out of the old HDD without stripping them? I found this extremely hard while trying to upgrade my friend's 20GB.
I found that pushing in hard with the screwdriver works. Make sure you have approximately a proper-sized screwdriver, then push in so that the tip pokes the metal a little bit and then start unscrewing. If you did it correctly then the unscrewed screw should stick to the screwdriver when it's fully unscrewed. I had trouble with the first one, but figured it out afterward.


Oh and about the screwdriver, I remember reading that the proper one to use is JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) screwdrivers, but using a Phillips while following my advice should work fine. Make sure you use the largest head possible that will fit, don't start with tiny heads.

023-900.jpg


* Designed for fasteners in Japanese electronics

If your Phillips screwdrivers do not fit, you probably need JIS (Japanese Industry Standard) screwdrivers. Slightly larger than American counterparts and more blunt in the larger sizes. Available in #00, #0, #1, #2 sizes. An extra long (12") #2 is provided for those hard to reach screws found in many copy machines. (Japan)
 
DeadGzuz said:
So I scored a 120GB 2.5" drive from BB for $23 (yes, that hurts to read as a 360 owner). Now I have parity. 120GB 360 & 120GB PS3. :D

Congratulations. Each system now has 240 times the storage capacity of the Wii.
 

Zoe

Member
Actually, I don't know how tight the bay is. Is it really necessary to get the screws all the way in there, or is a little bit of leeway okay?
 

lupinko

Member
B-Ri said:
id do this, but the rock band save wont copy over :'(

It should, Golf has a similar restriction, and when I did the full backup, the save was restored with no problems on my new 250GB drive.
 

pr0cs

Member
I thought about upgrading the HDD but didn't see much point when most of my content is already on my network anyway.
I did copy my photos over but it only too 4GB, the only reason why I bothered to copy them over is because the photo viewer fucks up the datestamp when streamed in via Tversity, etc... otherwise there is little/no reason to burn disk space on personal content.
 

Tiduz

Eurogaime
pr0cs said:
I thought about upgrading the HDD but didn't see much point when most of my content is already on my network anyway.
I did copy my photos over but it only too 4GB, the only reason why I bothered to copy them over is because the photo viewer fucks up the datestamp when streamed in via Tversity, etc... otherwise there is little/no reason to burn disk space on personal content.

Try to stream a 1080P movie.
 

Chiggs

Member
Except it's not. Upgrading my 40GB to a 160GB was fairly obnoxious, thanks to the retarded screw size on the front, and then the ones that secure it to the hard drive cage are annoying, too. And THEN you have to load your system profile or run the stupid format/update utility from a flash drive.
 

borsdy

Banned
Just upgraded my 40GB model to 100GB, very easy took only a few minutes. So 7200RPM shouldn't be a bother, right?
 

lsslave

Jew Gamer
borsdy said:
Just upgraded my 40GB model to 100GB, very easy took only a few minutes. So 7200RPM shouldn't be a bother, right?

Nah, just use the same speed as the built in one, no need for more since thats what the system is set to use, waste of extra money

But I will say I have never seen something so easy, although damn its easy to have complications (one screw got stripped, it seems to be the standard though)

Still, its cheap (120 gig in my system now for less than a 20 gig 360 HDD) and fast and easy to do, hell its WAY easier than a computer one and it doesn't even void the warranty, err... I guess I should say I agree with the OP, its sex ^^
 

Chris R

Member
When I can get a 300gb+ 7200rpm 16/8mb cache drive for cheap I'll dive. Until then I'm not hurting that badly for space on my 60gb drive. It was going to be bad, but I stream all my movies and stuff now from a laptop instead of having them on the PS3.
 

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
M3Freak said:
They removed that cap with a subsequent FW update - not sure which one though.
I assumed the "cap" they were talking about was that 250GB is the largest 2.5" HDD you can buy rather than talking about some other cap in the software. Perhaps I'm wrong though.
 

minus_273

Banned
DeadGzuz said:
So I scored a 120GB 2.5" drive from BB for $23 (yes, that hurts to read as a 360 owner).

1. Plugged in a 40GB USB drive (my friend's old PS3 HD), ran the backup utility (30GB ~1hr). Played co-op EDF.

2. Swapped the drives, literally 3 minutes of work.

3. Booted PS3 which prompted for a format (15-20 secs).

4. Ran restore utility (~1hr). Watched TV.

Rebooted and my PS3 was in the same state as pre-upgrade. Everything. Games, saves, themes, bookmarks, config, etc. Get this, my "The Club" demo was still DLing at 46%. It backed up my background DL mid-stream.

Standard OTS HD upgrade was a very nice touch Sony, thank you. Now to buy a 2.5" external USB case for my old 60GB.

Now I have parity. 120GB 360 & 120GB PS3. :D


how on earth does one process here relate to the other thing in your title?
 
Full Recovery said:
I upgraded to a 200gb 7,200 rpm 16mb cache and I felt so so very dirty.

(FYI 7,200 rpm does make an Installation improvement, and does not overheat my console)

So if you want to shave a few minutes off of that Capcom install, get a 7,200 rpm HDD.
Newer 7200rpm drives run cooler than 5400 drives.
 

Zoe

Member
rhfb said:
When I can get a 300gb+ 7200rpm 16/8mb cache drive for cheap I'll dive. Until then I'm not hurting that badly for space on my 60gb drive. It was going to be bad, but I stream all my movies and stuff now from a laptop instead of having them on the PS3.

You can get a 5400 320GB off of Newegg between $110 and $130 (the one I got was $100 after MIR, but it's no longer listed). If you want 7200, the only one is $180.
 
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