GTA 6 preload is officially underway, and in just a few hours your PS5 or Xbox Series X will know all of Vice City's secrets (it just can't tell you them until November 19). With a whopping 212GB file size, the latest instalment in Rockstar's blockbuster series is its heaviest yet, and that could spell disaster for your existing game library.
If you managed to upgrade your PS5 SSD ahead of 2026's price inflation, I tip my hat. If not, you've got some difficult decisions to make around which games to keep on your system to make way for that hefty GTA 6 preload. It's tempting to bite the bullet, pay for the storage upgrade, and keep all your favorites close by. If your library consists of a mixture of PS5 and PS4 titles, though, I'd urge you to consider another option instead.
Even on sale, fan-favorite PS5 SSDs can still run you $399.99 (that's a Samsung 9100 Pro down from a whopping $679.99 at Newegg) in 2TB configurations. If you split your library between old and new classics, though, the best PS5 external hard drives aren't seeing the same kind of price inflations.
That's where something like the Seagate Portable 2TB external hard drive comes in. I've got my entire PS4 collection stowed away on this thing, ready to play whenever I like without taking up space on my main drive. Considering that only PS5 games can truly take advantage of those SSD speeds, there's no point in making room for older releases on either the internal drive or my 1TB SSD expansion.
The PS5 can run PS4 games directly from external hard drives like Seagate's, but it can only store PS5 games on them. That's not the end of the world though. Waited hours for that Call of Duty download and don't want to go through it again next time you feel the itch to play? It takes far less time to transfer your data between storage systems than it does to redownload and install everything all over again.
Right now, the average price for a 2TB SSD at Newegg (taken from the first ten results) sits at around $316. With the prices the way they are, I recommend anyone who needs to upgrade right now aims for a $250 - $300 price point for 2TB. That's a big emphasis on need, though. If there's any way to get around swapping out that drive to accommodate your GTA 6 preload, take it.
That means external hard drive prices are dramatically reduced by comparison, saving you roughly $200 on your storage upgrade. Waiting while your games transfer or keeping your PS4 library separate is a small price to pay for that kind of cash.
- See all external hard drives at Amazon
We're also rounding up all the best PS5 accessories to see you through the console generation, as well as the best PS5 controllers and best PS5 headsets for this holiday season.
