The SanDisk Optimus Collection finally launched on June 16, 2026, with the debut Optimus GX PRO 850P, a line of officially licensed PS5 drives. With the SSD prices continuing to rise, I typically fall back on recommending these kinds of SSDs to those in need of giving their Sony pixel-pusher a little boost, so I was eager to see this new line finally hit the online shelves. That was, until I caught a glimpse of the price for the 8TB model - it's $2,959.99.
Not only is this new PS5 SSD $2,959.99 (SanDisk), but the official SanDisk product page states that this is actually reduced from its $3,699.99 MSRP. Brand new drives typically have an introductory price that shaves some dollars off to make it more appealing to consumers, but I don't think almost $3K on a single SSD is going to be appealing to anyone, especially given it's more than the cost of three post-price-hike PS5 Pro consoles combined.
An 8TB SSD wasn't going to be cheap, whether we were living during a time with unprecedented and escalating SSD prices or not. However, if you take the 8TB WD Black SN850X SSD, it was sitting at around $543.99 in October 2025. It's still more than I spent on my PS5 at launch, but it's far easier to stomach than $2,959.99.
The drive has since risen to $1,309.72 (Amazon), but that's still far less than this new 8TB SSD. Not to mention, the specs are also pretty similar, so you aren't even getting faster speeds with this new extortionately priced drive. The 8TB WD Black SN850X boasts sequential write speeds from 7,000MB/s to 7,300MB/s, and read speeds from 5,300MB/s to 6,300MB/s. Meanwhile, this new Optimus GX PRO 850P SSD boasts it can achieve read and write speeds of 7,200MB/s and 6,600MB/s.
If you were on the market for a new 8TB drive, I'd be sooner to recommend you try and find the 8TB WD Black SN850X SSD as close to its launch price as humanely possible, than this new drive. However, the arrival of the SanDisk Optimus range could affect stock even further than the RAM Storage Crisis has so far.
The new range isn't just a new batch of products, but a rebranding of the pre-existing WD Black and WD Blue drives. With that in mind, once stock of the older WD Black and WD Blues is gone, it's likely you won't see them again outside of the SanDisk Optimus, SanDisk Optimus GX, and SanDisk Optimus GX Pro packaging, alongside these new eye-watering prices.
Remember, you at least don't have to grab an 8TB model. I have a 4TB SSD in my console's M.2 slot, and I struggle to fill it up even halfway, and I've got a PS Plus Premium subscription. Not to mention, the new Optimus GX PRO 850P NVMe SSD range is available in capacities including 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB, starting from $379.99 (SanDisk), which is a lot more reasonable. It's still higher than these capacities were priced at before AI data centers started doing their worst, but at least you wouldn't have to fork out more than your PS5 in order to get more storage for your PS5 games.
At least the Prime Day PS5 deals are incoming, which could help drop older SSDs closer to their original prices. I wouldn't keep my hopes up to see the best bargains on storage, but there should hopefully be prices more realistically in line with your budget than this SanDisk Optimus GX PRO 850P NVMe SSD.
- View all PS5 SSD deals at Amazon
For more storage options, check out our guides to the best Nintendo Switch 2 microSD Express Cards, the best Xbox Series X hard drives, and the best SSDs for gaming.
