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[Dynamic3]

In preparation for switching to the PS4, I want to upgrade my PS3 Slim's HDD so I can download all of my digital content. Is this a good replacement option?

Also, what are the dimensions of the 120GB HDD I will be removing? I figure I'll throw it in an external USB enclosure. On that note, is it worth going with USB 3.0 for the enclosure?

Thanks.

 

[Zumblakladla]

I would go with 750gb, belive me 500gb is not that big. I have 320gb and its already full.

I would go with even bigger but i heard that 1tb and above can't fit PS3 Slim. Maybe i read wrong...

 

[wizzbang]

PS3s stock disk is a regular 2.5" laptop drive. I don't believe it's a particularly thicker than usual model.

I just dropped a 256gb Plextor M5S (nice and cheap) SSD in my PS3, GT5 load tiimes have finally gone from "utterly fucking unacceptable, fuck this game" to "well hey, I just realised I don't entirely hate this game"

By far the biggest impact (game wise) for adding an SSD
The 120gb disk, by todays standards is old and small - any old ebay 10$ USB enclosure would suit it, USB3 would be quicker of course but it's not exactly a high performance disk either.

 

[Valnen]

1TB or bust.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0053YLTBC/?tag=neogaf0e-20

 

[zakislam]

Go with a bigger hard drive. The amount of space my 160 GB has taken due to the game installations...

 

[HardRojo]

1TB or bust.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0053YLTBC/?tag=neogaf0e-20

I might be getting this one, was comtemplating a 750GB one but the HDD you linked is cheaper and holds up to 1TB, thanks for the heads up.

 

[Dynamic3]

PS3s stock disk is a regular 2.5" laptop drive. I don't believe it's a particularly thicker than usual model.

I just dropped a 256gb Plextor M5S (nice and cheap) SSD in my PS3, GT5 load tiimes have finally gone from "utterly fucking unacceptable, fuck this game" to "well hey, I just realised I don't entirely hate this game"

By far the biggest impact (game wise) for adding an SSD
The 120gb disk, by todays standards is old and small - any old ebay 10$ USB enclosure would suit it, USB3 would be quicker of course but it's not exactly a high performance disk either.

Not sure I want to go full SSD as I want at least 500GB, and an SSD of that size isn't economical. The drive I posted is a hybrid "SSHD".

 

[wizzbang]

Not sure I want to go full SSD as I want at least 500GB, and an SSD of that size isn't economical. The drive I posted is a hybrid "SSHD".

Never been a hybrid fan, all of one, or the other.
480gb Sandisks fairly cheap on newegg if you like the SSD option (no moving parts to die)
Do consider ensuring latest F/W before installing of course.

 

[Tizoc]

OP, first make sure you delete ALL game data from your PS3 with it's old HDD.
Then delete all games you've downloaded from PSN, you can opt to keep games you dled/got via game sharing.

Once you've done that, consider backing up your save data on a seperate drive/USB stick.

Finally do the back up, replace HDDs, and enjoy your big extra space~

 

[Vorundor]

WD released a 7mm 1TB HDD so itll fit the PS3 nicely

 

[Dynamic3]

OP, first make sure you delete ALL game data from your PS3 with it's old HDD.
Then delete all games you've downloaded from PSN, you can opt to keep games you dled/got via game sharing.

Once you've done that, consider backing up your save data on a seperate drive/USB stick.

Finally do the back up, replace HDDs, and enjoy your big extra space~

Do I need to deactivate my system or anything like that?

I'm not going to back up my OG drive as I'm just going to wipe it anyway, and the only thing I have on the drive atm is Dark Arisen. All my saves are in the cloud as well.

 

[AuthenticM]

What PS3 do you have ? The Phat can't read SATA-III (6.0Gb/s); so for it, you have to buy a drive that can be forced into SATA-II with a jumper. That's what I had to do on my 60GB launch model. However, I have heard that the slim (and possibly the super slim) accept drives with SATA-III 6.0Gb/s, so you don't have to use jumpers at all.

That being said, people have been clamoring how the Seagate Momentus XT was the best drive to put into the PS3. I don't know if it's true, but it definitely looks like a solid drive.

Check it out here on NCIX.

Oh, and before you format and take out your current drive, do not forget to synchronize your trophies with Sony's servers, or you could lose some of them.

edit:

Do I need to deactivate my system or anything like that?

I'm not going to back up my OG drive as I'm just going to wipe it anyway, and the only thing I have on the drive atm is Dark Arisen. All my saves are in the cloud as well.

You do not need to deactivate your system, as you're only changing its hard drive and not the system itself.

 

[hodgy100]

1TB or bust.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0053YLTBC/?tag=neogaf0e-20

just stuck one of these babies in my PS3 yesterday

 

[artorias the abysswalker]

1TB or bust.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0053YLTBC/?tag=neogaf0e-20

I'm in love. my sister and I are always neededing more space in our 2 ps3's, this maybe what gets thrown in now. my 250gb is finally full, TT

 

[brandonh83]

1TB or bust.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0053YLTBC/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Holy shit that's cheap. I think. I don't have too much experience with this stuff but I was expecting well over $100. I think I'll order this today. Thanks!

Going to this from my 120GB will feel awesome.

 

[Dynamic3]

just stuck one of these babies in my PS3 yesterday

I have a slim.

The drive I posted (the Seagate SSHD) has replaced the XT. It's only 5400rpm, but has double the SS capacity and is cheaper.

 

[zerokoolpsx]

So what's good for a launch phat model?

 

[Bronetta]

Don't be surprised if the backup utility does not work for you. It kept giving me errors every time so I had to download all my games and DLC again on the new HDD.

Also, I wouldn't recommend a SSD for PS3. The few seconds of faster loading are simply not worth it, economically speaking.

 

[jimbor]

So what's good for a launch phat model?

I'd love to know this too. I've been looking at this http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004I9J5OG/ but haven't pulled the trigger yet.

 

[jimbor]

So what's good for a launch phat model?

Did you manage to find a decent one? Thanks.

 

[borghe]

Do I need to deactivate my system or anything like that?

Nope that's not what he's recommending. The Sony backup and restore process is painful (but hey at least THEY have one!!) The less data you have to move the better.

If you have a PS+ subscription as long as you verified all of your saves were cloud backed up, you could almost just drop the new drive in naked. Besides that... PS2 and PSOne saves? Both of which can go to USB stick. I think that might be it.

 

[glaurung]

Has anyone stuffed a HDD of more than 1TB into a PS3?

I recall the older systems had a restriction of only allowing up to 500GB disks.

Does anyone have first hand experience?

 

[borghe]

Has anyone stuffed a HDD of more than 1TB into a PS3?

I recall the older systems had a restriction of only allowing up to 500GB disks.

Does anyone have first hand experience?

Current journal FS really doesn't have any problems. At this point it's simply a tight fit issue.

 

[hodgy100]

I have a slim.

The drive I posted (the Seagate SSHD) has replaced the XT. It's only 5400rpm, but has double the SS capacity and is cheaper.

I'm uk so newegg isnt an option for me

 

[Sickbean]

For anyone considering smallish SSD versus big HDD - I've got 2 PS3 super slims: one with a 60GB corsair SSD and one 500GB HDD.

There must be a bottleneck somewhere else as the SSD system isn't really that much faster (not compared to the difference it makes to a PC anyway).

Go for a big traditional drive.

 

[Noisepurge]

so 1TB disks work nowadays? might as well upgrade too!

 

[Erasus]

Before saying anything about performance read these!

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-ps3-hard-drive-upgrade-guide
7200RPM makes it a tiny bit faster

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-can-ssd-upgrades-boost-ps3-performance
SSD is not worth it.
Well maybe if you only play GT5

I swapped my 320GB to a 750GB.

I bought this
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004I9J5OG/?tag=neogaf0e-20

7200RPM and more cache makes the system a bit faster, but if its space you need get the 1TB. That was not avilable when I got mine.

Also its not 1TB its 900GB something due to how its calculated and the PS3 OS is going to reserve a certain ammount of space.
For excample my 750GB drive had 600-ishGB space left when booting up for the first time.

1. Delete all game/install data, you can install it again later
2. Run backup utility, took a few hours for me, saves almost everything, even Users and PSN logins
3. Insert new HDD, just find guides on youtube for the type of PS3 you have. It can be a bit tricky I thought and Im used to hardware
4. Get a USB stick with the latest FW update. Folders PS3 -> UPDATE
http://us.playstation.com/support/systemupdates/ps3/pc_update/index.htm
5. Plug in USB, turn on system, follow instructions
6. Run backuputility
7. Install the games again

Enjoy!

 

[Dave1988]

so 1TB disks work nowadays? might as well upgrade too!

Yup, I swapped out my 500 GB HDD for a 1 TB HDD in my old fat PS3 (non-BC model) a few months ago and it works like a charm.

 

[pottuvoi]

Has anyone stuffed a HDD of more than 1TB into a PS3?

I recall the older systems had a restriction of only allowing up to 500GB disks.

Does anyone have first hand experience?

I have 750GB HDD my ps3 and there's forums where people use 2TB drives.
I'm pretty sure that you can use as large HDD or raid pack as you like, the size limit is ridiculously large. (Ps3 apparently uses something like UFS2 file system, so it is in Zettabytes..)

 

[reektann]

I'm still repping my OG 60gb... but PSN+ freebies are starting to cause a space issue.

 

[Erasus]

I'm still repping my OG 60gb... but PSN+ freebies are starting to cause a space issue.

Ouch, I dont have PSN+ and I did not keep my 60GB for long. I want everything installed and ready to go. No reason not to upgrade now that prices are good.

If you want a faster drive get the Seagate Momentus XT or the WD Black. (750GB versions)
If you want more space get the Seagate Spinpoint 1TB, seems to be a good drive.
These should all be 2.5" 9mm drives so they fit.

Its so nice to go into your donwload list and just hit download on every game you bought!

 

[reektann]

Ouch, I dont have PSN+ and I did not keep my 60GB for long. I want everything installed and ready to go. No reason not to upgrade now that prices are good.

If you want a faster drive get the Seagate Momentus XT or the WD Black. (750GB versions)
If you want more space get the Seagate Spinpoint 1TB, seems to be a good drive.
These should all be 2.5" 9mm drives so they fit.

Its so nice to go into your donwload list and just hit download on every game you bought!

I've been looking about recently at what drives might be good..especially after I bought Ni No Kuni then realised I couldn't even unpack it once it had downloaded :| I'll check those out.

 

[Bauer91]

I'm still repping my OG 60gb... but PSN+ freebies are starting to cause a space issue.

Same. I don't really need 20 games at once but it sucks that I can't have two or three of the bigger ones at the same time due to the fact that you need double the space for installs.

And yeah, Ni No Kuni specifically will most likely need to wait for a bigger HDD.

 

[jimbor]

Before saying anything about performance read these!

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-ps3-hard-drive-upgrade-guide
7200RPM makes it a tiny bit faster

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-can-ssd-upgrades-boost-ps3-performance
SSD is not worth it.
Well maybe if you only play GT5

I swapped my 320GB to a 750GB.

I bought this
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004I9J5OG/?tag=neogaf0e-20

7200RPM and more cache makes the system a bit faster, but if its space you need get the 1TB. That was not avilable when I got mine.

Also its not 1TB its 900GB something due to how its calculated and the PS3 OS is going to reserve a certain ammount of space.
For excample my 750GB drive had 600-ishGB space left when booting up for the first time.

1. Delete all game/install data, you can install it again later
2. Run backup utility, took a few hours for me, saves almost everything, even Users and PSN logins
3. Insert new HDD, just find guides on youtube for the type of PS3 you have. It can be a bit tricky I thought and Im used to hardware
4. Get a USB stick with the latest FW update. Folders PS3 -> UPDATE
http://us.playstation.com/support/systemupdates/ps3/pc_update/index.htm
5. Plug in USB, turn on system, follow instructions
6. Run backuputility
7. Install the games again

Enjoy!

Thanks, think I'm going to go for the 750gb, 7200rpm Western Digital I was originally looking at, despite the Samsung 1TB being marginally cheaper. Have you filled up your drive yet?

 

[Erasus]

Thanks, think I'm going to go for the 750gb, 7200rpm Western Digital I was originally looking at, despite the Samsung 1TB being marginally cheaper. Have you filled up your drive yet?

Oh no, 400GB left

That said, I have noticed some stuttering with the drive. In the youtube app mainly, someone else had issues with the BBC iPlayer that I cant test.

In the 2009 HDD upgrade thread
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=348232

Its because even thogh it is a Black, it parks the heads when there is no activity.
But I have not noticed anything from videos playing from HDD, or stuttering in games.


The WD Blue drives are even worse, do not get those.

 

[HigXx]

So this would be okay to go into my PS3 Slim?

Amazon Link

 

[Rashid]

Just make sure it's a 2.5inch 7200rpm drive, hardly any games bar gt5 benefit from an SSD so it's a useless expense. I'm fairly sure digital foundry did an article on what different types if hard drives did to games like skyrim and rage, with an SSD having the marginally best results

So this would be okay to go into my PS3 Slim?

Amazon Link

Yes

 

[Erasus]

So this would be okay to go into my PS3 Slim?

Amazon Link

Uh, isnt that the same one that Valnen posted?

People are saying it works so yea.

Just make sure it's a 2.5inch 7200rpm drive, hardly any games bar gt5 benefit from an SSD so it's a useless expense. I'm fairly sure digital foundry did an article on what different types if hard drives did to games like skyrim and rage, with an SSD having the marginally best results

Yes, I posted it here.

 

[HigXx]

Uh, isnt that the same one that Valnen posted?

Yeh sorry I didn't realise! Definitely need to think about getting one of these for the long term!

 

[Lateralus1082]

Before saying anything about performance read these!

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-ps3-hard-drive-upgrade-guide
7200RPM makes it a tiny bit faster

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-can-ssd-upgrades-boost-ps3-performance
SSD is not worth it.
Well maybe if you only play GT5

I swapped my 320GB to a 750GB.

I bought this
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004I9J5OG/?tag=neogaf0e-20

7200RPM and more cache makes the system a bit faster, but if its space you need get the 1TB. That was not avilable when I got mine.

Also its not 1TB its 900GB something due to how its calculated and the PS3 OS is going to reserve a certain ammount of space.
For excample my 750GB drive had 600-ishGB space left when booting up for the first time.

1. Delete all game/install data, you can install it again later
2. Run backup utility, took a few hours for me, saves almost everything, even Users and PSN logins
3. Insert new HDD, just find guides on youtube for the type of PS3 you have. It can be a bit tricky I thought and Im used to hardware
4. Get a USB stick with the latest FW update. Folders PS3 -> UPDATE
http://us.playstation.com/support/systemupdates/ps3/pc_update/index.htm
5. Plug in USB, turn on system, follow instructions
6. Run backuputility
7. Install the games again

Enjoy!

How long did it take to restore everything from your external? I have a 250 that I want to replace and it's full. I'm considering wiping the whole thing and downloading all my games since I've heard that it can take up to 18 hours to fully restore.

 

[jimbor]

Oh no, 400GB left

That said, I have noticed some stuttering with the drive. In the youtube app mainly, someone else had issues with the BBC iPlayer that I cant test.

In the 2009 HDD upgrade thread
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=348232

Its because even thogh it is a Black, it parks the heads when there is no activity.
But I have not noticed anything from videos playing from HDD, or stuttering in games.


The WD Blue drives are even worse, do not get those.

Oh yeah, I remember reading about the iPlayer issues a while back. Are there any drives that don't park the heads or at least let you disable that feature? Thanks.

 

[Erasus]

Yeh sorry I didn't realise! Definitely need to think about getting one of these for the long term!

Do eet, even if you dont have + its nice not having to worry about space ever again.

How long did it take to restore everything from your external? I have a 250 that I want to replace and it's full. I'm considering wiping the whole thing and downloading all my games since I've heard that it can take up to 18 hours to fully restore.

It was not that long. 2h maybe but cant be sure. I deleted all my installed games and all the game data. All I left was some videos and all the saved games.

I went into the download list and downloaded everything again, just leaving it on no trouble. Installs everything automatically and shuts off.

Turned it on again and went and installed some heavy games from disc again. Takes an afternoon atleast though depending on how fast you net is and how many games you want to install right away. But still faster than the backuputility for me.

Installing GT5 again is fun!

Oh yeah, I remember reading about the iPlayer issues a while back. Are there any drives that don't park the heads or at least let you disable that feature? Thanks.

I dont know if Seagate drives do it, Im not too sure. Its either WD or Seagate now btu I only looked at the WD Black drive.

 

[aristotle]

How long did it take to restore everything from your external? I have a 250 that I want to replace and it's full. I'm considering wiping the whole thing and downloading all my games since I've heard that it can take up to 18 hours to fully restore.

I just did my upgrade the last weekend. I went from a 320 to a 750. It took about 8 hrs to back up to USB then 8hrs to transfer to the new drive. It's slow and it sucks, but it literally backs up everything. For me, since I have several different region accounts and my speed is slow, it was worth the wait to make sure I don't have to redownload everything again. Plus going back through you download list is a PITA since there is no search function. I have over 2000 items in my list so it will sometimes not even load correctly, even on the website. Take that into account as well when deciding which way you will backup your HD.

 

[Dynamic3]

Went with the 500GB hybrid drive, is normal after initial setup that I was left with only ~410GB available out of ~465GB usable? Is 10% reserved for the system or something along those lines? The PS3 software itself is less than 200MB.

 

[jimbor]

Do eet, even if you dont have + its nice not having to worry about space ever again.



It was not that long. 2h maybe but cant be sure. I deleted all my installed games and all the game data. All I left was some videos and all the saved games.

I went into the download list and downloaded everything again, just leaving it on no trouble. Installs everything automatically and shuts off.

Turned it on again and went and installed some heavy games from disc again. Takes an afternoon atleast though depending on how fast you net is and how many games you want to install right away. But still faster than the backuputility for me.

Installing GT5 again is fun!



I dont know if Seagate drives do it, Im not too sure. Its either WD or Seagate now btu I only looked at the WD Black drive.

Plumped for this one in the end: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B007NVGWV0/

I'll let people know how it is once I've got it.

 

[PaulLFC]

Sorry for the bump, finally decided it's time to upgrade my 250GB Slim's drive as PS+, brilliant as it is, has left me with no HDD space.

So I just wanted to check, if I buy this drive (same one as posted a couple of times above, the 1TB 5400rpm Samsung), and I'm fine with redownloading everything from PSN onto the new drive, is it literally as simple as

- Turn off PS3
- Remove 250GB drive
- Insert 1TB drive
- Turn on PS3
- Download everything from PSN

Are there any steps I'm missing out, any deactivation I have to do before I replace the drive or anything like that?

 

[Qwell]

Nope you have the steps correct, no need to de-activate anything, I've done 3 different upgrades on my PS3's over the years, its always a simple process. I used the backup-restore once, but this last time (went up to a 750gb myself) I just decided to redownload it all since I can just leave it on after queuing up a bunch of stuff and it will get done eventually.

 

[Zoe]

I just did my upgrade the last weekend. I went from a 320 to a 750. It took about 8 hrs to back up to USB then 8hrs to transfer to the new drive. It's slow and it sucks, but it literally backs up everything. For me, since I have several different region accounts and my speed is slow, it was worth the wait to make sure I don't have to redownload everything again. Plus going back through you download list is a PITA since there is no search function. I have over 2000 items in my list so it will sometimes not even load correctly, even on the website. Take that into account as well when deciding which way you will backup your HD.

It must have gotten faster. Transferring 300GB from my phat to my slim took over a day

 

[PaulLFC]

Nope you have the steps correct, no need to de-activate anything, I've done 3 different upgrades on my PS3's over the years, its always a simple process. I used the backup-restore once, but this last time (went up to a 750gb myself) I just decided to redownload it all since I can just leave it on after queuing up a bunch of stuff and it will get done eventually.

Cheers! Sounds simple enough, time to order the new HDD I think.

 

[KojiKnight]

PS3s stock disk is a regular 2.5" laptop drive. I don't believe it's a particularly thicker than usual model.

I just dropped a 256gb Plextor M5S (nice and cheap) SSD in my PS3, GT5 load tiimes have finally gone from "utterly fucking unacceptable, fuck this game" to "well hey, I just realised I don't entirely hate this game"

By far the biggest impact (game wise) for adding an SSD
The 120gb disk, by todays standards is old and small - any old ebay 10$ USB enclosure would suit it, USB3 would be quicker of course but it's not exactly a high performance disk either.

Before investing in an SSD for PS3, this is a good article to read http://www.gamespot.com/features/playstation-3-solid-state-drive-upgrade-report-updated-6192258/

Don't expect miracles, the PS3 is limited to sub SATA2 speeds, so a fast mechanical drive is going to be on par in most instances with a lot more storage.