Adding an extra PS5 SSD might result in even faster load times

Switching your PS5’s internal SSD to an M.2 NVMe SSD can potentially improve the load times of PS4 games, a new analysis suggests.

According to Digital Foundry (via VG C), by swapping your PS5’s internal SSD to an M.2 NVMe SSD - this example used a Samsung 980 Pro - you may be able to improve your console’s load and transfer times.

Thanks to the PS5’s Firmware Beta 2.0 update, those looking to upgrade their PS5 SSD can now do so, as the update unlocked the console’s M.2 expansion port. In its video, Digital Foundry explained that it chose to use the Samsung 980 Pro 500GB model of SSD, but that “results should apply to larger capacity 1TB and 2TB variants as well.”

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The team at Digital Foundry put the off-the-shelf SSD to the test with games such as Ratchet and Clank: A Rift Apart, The Witcher 3, and Fallout 4, and found that “The Samsung 980 Pro is fast enough to handle taxing PS5 exclusives like Ratchet and Clank and works just like PS5’s stock drive in its delivery of high-bandwidth scenes.” However, they also discovered that all three of the games tested “run with a marginal lead on the 980 Pro [and] have no loss in performance and only gain in overall storage.”

In terms of loading times, the tech channel says that it found the new Samsung 980 Pro did deliver faster load times when compared to the PS5’s internal SSD when playing PS4 titles. For this test, the team used Cyberpunk 2077 and found that the game loaded almost 3 seconds faster on the new SSD.

Now want to try this for yourself? Find out what SSD is best for you with our best PS5 SSD guide.

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training. My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.