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PS4 Hard Drive Upgrade opinions

S

SoraanTribal

Member
I recently got a PS4 over the holidays and the hard drive space is already a concern for me with how large game installs are and how slow my internet is where I live (6Mbps). If I had faster internet, I would just delete game installs, but since updates are tied to them, I have to redownload everything if I want to replay a game later which is annoying.

Anyways, I was looking for new hard drives and am not sure which one to get for the best performance and space. Having 2TB would be great, but most of the ones I saw were 5400 RPM, and I was really wanting either a SSD Hybrid or a 7200 RPM one. I actually don't know much about SSD Hybrids - are they better/faster than a regular 7200 RPM one? Or comparable?

I was looking at getting one of these:

HGST Travelstar H2IK10003272SN (0S03563) 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 2.5"

or

Seagate 1TB Solid State Hybrid Drive SATA 6Gbps 64MB Cache 2.5-Inch ST1000LM014

Which one of those would be the most reliable and fastest? Or if you have any other recommendations, feel free to include that as well (preferably less than $100, but maybe I can go a little over that if it's definitely worth it).

Thanks for any help anyone can provide! :)
 
Not exactly what you're asking but I think it's silly to go from 500GB to 1TB. By the time you actually go over 500GB the 2TB drives on the market will cost what you'd be spending now.
 
7200RPM is a more reliable speedup than the hybrid part, too bad you can't get both like with the 500MB hybrid.
 
I purchased the seagate hybrid and it works like a charm. It continues to perform flawlessly.

dGjPB3X.jpg

Ca8MD3w.jpg
 
Is there going to be a 3TB HDD coming out within a year? I want to future proof my ps4 and never worry about it again
 
Don't Seagate HDDs have like a 20% failure rate while WD and Hitachi have like 2%? I wouldn't go with Seagate :lol
 
I bought the HGST 1TB. Its not bad but your only going to get 860.3 GB of total space. I think in the long run a bigger hard drive would be better.
 
Massa said:
Not exactly what you're asking but I think it's silly to go from 500GB to 1TB. By the time you actually go over 500GB the 2TB drives on the market will cost what you'd be spending now.
Click to expand...

You're probably right, but I figured upgrading sooner would be better than later after I have tons of saves and games already on the system.

AgentP said:
7200RPM is a more reliable speedup than the hybrid part, too bad you can't get both like with the 500MB hybrid.
Click to expand...

Oh okay, that makes sense.

henhowc said:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2014-ps4-hard-drive-upgrade-guide
Click to expand...

Thanks!

Hoho for breakfast said:
I think I used a Seagate Backup Plus 2TB. Should be able to find one for under $100.
Click to expand...

Hmm, I'll look into that. I assume you just take the hard drive out of the enclosure and pop it in the PS4?

Flandy said:
Don't Seagate HDDs have like a 20% failure rate while WD and Hitachi have like 2%? I wouldn't go with Seagate :lol
Click to expand...

They used to be notorious for failures, but has that changed? I don't know.

Mass One said:
I bought the HGST 1TB. Its not bad but your only going to get 860.3 GB of total space. I think in the long run a bigger hard drive would be better.
Click to expand...

I would definitely prefer 2TB, but I also want a faster drive than the stock one. A lot the 2TB ones were slower like the default hdd.
 
I have a WD 1TB (WD10SPCX) and it's great, but only 5400rpm and it makes this chirp noise every now and then.

Will probably upgrade to a 2TB once they're cheap and efficient enough.
 
Bro you need to get an SSHD.

Shit is perfect for a console, as you're constantly loading in games meaning the cache is going to keep the most commonly used files for the SSD portion, making faster saves than a normal HDD.
 
Are there articles for the cost vs benefit of 7200 or SSD drives vs a 5400rpm drive? I wouldn't recommend it based on the small performance gains if I remember right. It's just not worth it unless you have money to burn. Just make sure to look into the cost vs benefit before buying something other than a 5400 RPM hard drive for a console.
 
ArrrrghX said:
I actually just upgraded mine today.

After doing a lot of research on GAF and other resources, I went with:

Seagate Expansion STBX2000401 2TB 2.5-Inch USB 3.0 Portable External Hard Drive

For a couple of reasons - size, speed comparable if not better in some cases to stock hdd, AND - the icing on thr cake, I was able to reuse my old ps4 hdd into a external
Xbone hdd.

Was SUPER easy - would highly recommend it.
Click to expand...

Yup, I went for this one aswell. Haven't noticed any real speed changes in terms of loading, but it was fairly cheap, and reusing the PS4 stock HDD was a positive. A very easy process to remove from the enclosure.
 
ArrrrghX said:
I actually just upgraded mine today.

After doing a lot of research on GAF and other resources, I went with:

Seagate Expansion STBX2000401 2TB 2.5-Inch USB 3.0 Portable External Hard Drive

For a couple of reasons - size, speed comparable if not better in some cases to stock hdd, AND - the icing on thr cake, I was able to reuse my old ps4 hdd into a external
Xbone hdd.

Ended up with and

Was SUPER easy - would highly recommend it.
Click to expand...

That's what I did. Good choice. Super easy install.
 
ArrrrghX said:
I actually just upgraded mine today.

After doing a lot of research on GAF and other resources, I went with:

Seagate Expansion STBX2000401 2TB 2.5-Inch USB 3.0 Portable External Hard Drive

For a couple of reasons - size, speed comparable if not better in some cases to stock hdd, AND - the icing on thr cake, I was able to reuse my old ps4 hdd into a external
Xbone hdd.

Ended up with and

Was SUPER easy - would highly recommend it.
Click to expand...

I've been looking at both the Seagate expansion and the Backup Plus as recommended in the thread. I assume those are both 5400 RPM drives? I would prefer to gain some performance boosts with a hybrid or 7200 RPM drive, but I'm not sure if the few seconds you save on loading would make up for losing out on almost a TB of space. I can't imagine the loading times would be THAT different anyways, right?

Hoho for breakfast said:
Are there articles for the cost vs benefit of 7200 or SSD drives vs a 5400rpm drive? I wouldn't recommend it based on the small performance gains if I remember right. It's just not worth it unless you have money to burn. Just make sure to look into the cost vs benefit before buying something other than a 5400 RPM hard drive for a console.
Click to expand...

Yeah see, that's my thing. Would a hybrid of 7200 RPM drive really help THAT much that it'd be worth giving up all the extra space? Of course, I have to ask myself if I will be using up 1.77TB+ of space or would it just be wasted. I buy mostly physical games (although I DO have PS Plus lol), but games require installs now (sometimes quite large ones), so .. yeah.
 
Hoho for breakfast said:
Are there articles for the cost vs benefit of 7200 or SSD drives vs a 5400rpm drive? I wouldn't recommend it based on the small performance gains if I remember right. It's just not worth it unless you have money to burn. Just make sure to look into the cost vs benefit before buying something other than a 5400 RPM hard drive for a console.
Click to expand...

Digital Foundry did the test with a youtube video available.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2014-ps4-hard-drive-upgrade-guide

There can be big load difference with the SSD, but the cost doesn't justify the time difference as you would with a Windows bootup.
 
Been meaning to get a 1 or 2tb hybrid before I start using the 20th anniversary ps4. I have a1tb in the ps3 works great

Flandy said:
Don't Seagate HDDs have like a 20% failure rate while WD and Hitachi have like 2%? I wouldn't go with Seagate :lol
Click to expand...
Seagate seems to have improved recently especially the high capacity ones. Dunno stats though
 
Question about upgrading.

When you upgrade, can you manage to get all your stuff onto the new HDD? Saves, DLC, themes, media, etc?

Will anything be lost in the process? Or not be able to be transferred?
 
DragoonKain said:
Question about upgrading.

When you upgrade, can you manage to get all your stuff onto the new HDD? Saves, DLC, themes, media, etc?

Will anything be lost in the process? Or not be able to be transferred?
Click to expand...
They will have a backup tool later but for now you can only copy saves and capture gallery
. the library makes re downloading easy though, and patches/owned dlc should come automatically. Insert each physical disk to install.
 
Live Free or Die said:
Get the hybrid. That's what I gotta. Love it.
Click to expand...

Unknown Soldier said:
I upgraded to one of these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145875

These are the fastest non-SSD, non-SSHD notebook hard drives money can buy. They are also Hitachi and so not prone to self-destructing like Seagate drives.

The only issue I have is I wonder if only 1 TB is going to bite me in the ass after just a year because goddamn these PS4 games are fucking huge.
Click to expand...

Ah gosh, so many conflicting thoughts... the Hybrid seems to be decently fast, but will 1 TB really be enough after a couple years? I guess I could just delete old games I don't think I'll play that often. And I know, PS4 games are so fucking huge... It's a little annoying because the updates are not separate files, so I can't even delete the installs separately. My internet speed sucks and I live in a very rural area, so not a lot of options for internet either.

DragoonKain said:
Question about upgrading.

When you upgrade, can you manage to get all your stuff onto the new HDD? Saves, DLC, themes, media, etc?

Will anything be lost in the process? Or not be able to be transferred?
Click to expand...

As far as I know, you have to redownload all your games/DLC/themes/etc. You have to upload your saves to the cloud or USB. I don't think they have a transfer app or whatever.
 
Went with a 2TB Seagate for like 80 bucks. Based on the benchmarks over a DF I'm confident in saying don't waste money on an SSD or hybrid when you can get more capacity. Even 2TB is gonna be pretty slim if this gen lasts for 5+ years. I used a caddy and hooked up the old PS4 drive as an external for my Bone too. The WiiU got the short end of the stick with a 128gb flashdrive.
 
I say go for the 2 TB via the Seagate external. Even if it is 5400 RPM, it will be faster than the stock drive as there is a higher GB density per platter (meaning one rotation has access to more data). In the long run, I think it is the more worthwhile investment.
 
Also, is there a difference between the Seagate Backup Plus and the Expansion? Both are 2TB and I think 5400 RPM. Is one better than the other? The Expansion is a little cheaper.

(although I'm still looking at the Hybrid drive and wondering if that'd be enough lol)

Oublieux said:
I say go for the 2 TB via the Seagate external. Even if it is 5400 RPM, it will be faster than the stock drive as there is a higher GB density per platter (meaning one rotation has access to more data). In the long run, I think it is the more worthwhile investment.
Click to expand...

That's what I'm currently leaning toward.
 
I chose a 1TB hybrid SSHD as I valued speed over space. 850GB free space equals 17 50GB big AAA games. Most AAA games today don't even come close to that, though. They might in the future but in any case, I usually play, finish and then delete games from the HDD once I don't plan on playing them again.

Ultimately, it's highly dependent on your use case. Do you buy mostly digital games, have a slow connection and use the Share button often? Get a drive as big as possible. If you're like me who mostly buys AAA singleplayer-centric games on disc, completes the campaign/story and then resells them and doesn't use the Share button often, a hybrid drive with faster loading times might be the better option.
 
SoraanTribal said:
Also, is there a difference between the Seagate Backup Plus and the Expansion? Both are 2TB and I think 5400 RPM. Is one better than the other? The Expansion is a little cheaper.

(although I'm still looking at the Hybrid drive and wondering if that'd be enough lol)
Click to expand...
IMO get a 1tb hybrid and wait to replace with a 3 or 4tb down the line, if I get as many ps4 games as ps3 I'll need bigger than is available either way, but 1tb should hold another year or two. Assume you need retail games x50gb to plan
 
chadskin said:
I chose a 1TB hybrid SSHD as I valued speed over space. 850GB free space equals 17 50GB big AAA games. Most AAA games today don't even come close to that, though. They might in the future but in any case, I usually play, finish and then delete games from the HDD once I don't plan on playing them again.

Ultimately, it's highly dependent on your use case. Do you buy mostly digital games, have a slow connection and use the Share button often? Get a drive as big as possible. If you're like me who mostly buys AAA singleplayer-centric games on disc, completes the campaign/story and then resells them and doesn't use the Share button often, a hybrid drive with faster loading times might be the better option.
Click to expand...

I don't buy mostly digital games (although with PS Plus, I have been downloading a lot more recently - not just the free ones, but also some good sales recently), but I DO have a slow-ish connection which is really why I'm even thinking about upgrading the hard drive at all. I don't typically resell that many games, but I probably should since most of them collect dust and I haven't played them in a long time.

Sir TapTap said:
IMO get a 1tb hybrid and wait to replace with a 3 or 4tb down the line, if I get as many ps4 games as ps3 I'll need bigger than is available either way, but 1tb should hold another year or two. Assume you need retail games x50gb to plan
Click to expand...

That's definitely an option, too...
 
SoraanTribal said:
Also, is there a difference between the Seagate Backup Plus and the Expansion? Both are 2TB and I think 5400 RPM. Is one better than the other? The Expansion is a little cheaper.

(although I'm still looking at the Hybrid drive and wondering if that'd be enough lol)



That's what I'm currently leaning toward.
Click to expand...

Not sure what the differences are - they look comparable on paper - the expansion is a plastic shell and probably just has less 'style'

If you do go down this road:

Follow these directions for maximum ease
 
I'm wary of buying external (2.5") HDDs and ripping them out to use them somewhere else. I think I read somewhere that Seagate or some other vendor was intentionally crippling the firmware such that if the drive was taken out of it's oem enclosure, the performance would be crippled and the drive had high chances of failures due to the constant parking of the head.

I think I'll either get a Hitachi or an SSD for my PS4. For my Xbox One, I'll probably go with the external (desktop) WD.
 
SoraanTribal said:
Also, is there a difference between the Seagate Backup Plus and the Expansion? Both are 2TB and I think 5400 RPM. Is one better than the other? The Expansion is a little cheaper.

(although I'm still looking at the Hybrid drive and wondering if that'd be enough lol)

That's what I'm currently leaning toward.
Click to expand...

I think they're actually the same HDD underneath. I was trying to find the Seagate Expansion for the longest time, but it was actually called Backup Plus in my area.

All you need to look out for is whiever has the Samsung Seagate Spinpoint M9T.
 
ArrrrghX said:
Not sure what the differences are - they look comparable on paper - the expansion is a plastic shell and probably just has less 'style'

If you do go down this road:

Follow these directions for maximum ease
Click to expand...

Oh that's a useful link, thanks!

wachie said:
I'm wary of buying external (2.5") HDDs and ripping them out to use them somewhere else. I think I read somewhere that Seagate or some other vendor was intentionally crippling the firmware such that if the drive was taken out of it's oem enclosure, the performance would be crippled and the drive had high chances of failures due to the constant parking of the head.

I think I'll either get a Hitachi or an SSD for my PS4. For my Xbox One, I'll probably go with the external (desktop) WD.
Click to expand...

Whaa, really? It seems very unlikely to me that they would create firmware that would somehow affect the drive if it was out the case (in fact, is that even possible?). I just don't see why they would do that unless they hate money/sales.

Shining Sunshine said:
I think they're actually the same HDD underneath. I was trying to find the Seagate Expansion for the longest time, but it was actually called Backup Plus in my area.

All you need to look out for is whiever has the Samsung Seagate Spinpoint M9T.
Click to expand...

Ah okay, I figured they would either be the same drive or similar at least.
 
Shining Sunshine said:
I think they're actually the same HDD underneath. I was trying to find the Seagate Expansion for the longest time, but it was actually called Backup Plus in my area.

All you need to look out for is whiever has the Samsung Seagate Spinpoint M9T.
Click to expand...
Why do we need to look out for that if you dont mind me asking?
 
ArrrrghX said:
I actually just upgraded mine today.

After doing a lot of research on GAF and other resources, I went with:

Seagate Expansion STBX2000401 2TB 2.5-Inch USB 3.0 Portable External Hard Drive

For a couple of reasons - size, speed comparable if not better in some cases to stock hdd, AND - the icing on thr cake, I was able to reuse my old ps4 hdd into a external
Xbone hdd.

Ended up with and

Was SUPER easy - would highly recommend it.
Click to expand...
Does it also need to be installed into the PS4? Reading the description, it seems to point out that all you need to do is plug it in the USB, yet Sony made it clear a while ago that external HDD's wern't compatible.
 
SoraanTribal said:
Whaa, really? It seems very unlikely to me that they would create firmware that would somehow affect the drive if it was out the case (in fact, is that even possible?). I just don't see why they would do that unless they hate money/sales.
Click to expand...
Just googled around and found it.

This review is from: Seagate Expansion 5TB USB 3.0 Desktop External Hard Drive STBV5000100

Pros: Price

Cons: Constant "scratching" head park noises
Fast for burst transfers
Crippled firmware
Does not work internally
Runs extremely hot after transferring just a few GB
Aggressive power-saving, spin-down, and head parking cause system to hang while waiting for spin-up every few minutes.

Other Thoughts: Because of the terrible overall performance and consistency of data transfers in the external enclosure, I decided to pull the drive out and use it internally.

Obviously, as others have stated, that does not work. This drive has a crippled CC41 firmware that has an APM value of 64 (250 or higher is ideal for performance) causing constant head parking and spindown, both wearing out the drive. Since it has a 1 year warranty, I think this, in addition to the non-existent cooling of the enclosure, is obviously intentional on Seagate's part.

The firmware is also apparently crippled to not run AHCI in an again obvious attempt to prevent people from getting the "cheaper" external USB drives that carry a weak warranty, in order to push them toward more expensive internal retail drives.

Seagate, you're bean counters just lost you a lifetime customer.

It isn't as if there isn't other competitors that DON'T do this to chose from. I pulled a 4TB drive out of a Hitachi enclosure and had no problems. This drive is a 200 door stop. I wouldn't trust my data on it if it was free.
Click to expand...
More discussion - http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=34052.0

Please note that even though Seagate may have not yet done it with their 2.5" line, I'm just wary of such practices.
 
Baldwin_the_First said:
Does it also need to be installed into the PS4? Reading the description, it seems to point out that all you need to do is plug it in the USB, yet Sony made it clear a while ago that external HDD's wern't compatible.
Click to expand...

Yes - you need to install it into the ps4 but the shell/usb/old ps4 hdd can be plugged right into an xbone or WiiU. Here are the directions i followed again:

http://imgur.com/a/JF5jA
 
Baldwin_the_First said:
Does it also need to be installed into the PS4? Reading the description, it seems to point out that all you need to do is plug it in the USB, yet Sony made it clear a while ago that external HDD's wern't compatible.
Click to expand...
No, you crack open that enclosure and take out the hard drive and then swap. You don't plug it in via the USB, that doesn't work.

It is really easy.
 
SoraanTribal said:
I don't buy mostly digital games (although with PS Plus, I have been downloading a lot more recently - not just the free ones, but also some good sales recently), but I DO have a slow-ish connection which is really why I'm even thinking about upgrading the hard drive at all. I don't typically resell that many games, but I probably should since most of them collect dust and I haven't played them in a long time.
Click to expand...

I have TLoU Remastered, Driveclub, Trials Fusion, Resogun, Valiant Hearts, Injustice, Secret Ponchos, Hohokum, Resogun, Sportsfriends and a few other indie games (mostly from PS+) installed and still have around 600GB of free space left. Gonna be a while until I fill this up and by then I can always delete a couple of games I'm just hoarding and have no real desire to play (anymore).

I like Sir TrapTraps recommendation to get a hybrid drive and see how far you can get with the 1TB before you really need to upgrade to a larger drive.
 
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