WD’s New PCIe 4.0 SSD Provides a Solution for PS5’s Expandable Storage

One of the most notable features of the PS5 is its lightning-fast SSD. Now only does it allow unreal load times, but is also significantly faster than the Xbox Series X SSD. Its write speed can go up to 5.5 GB/sec. No wonder PlayStation claims that its games will have virtually no load times.

Although. this SSD raises questions about the PlayStation’s 5 expandable storage option. Unlike an easy-to-use solution like the Xbox Series X and S, the PlayStation 5 has an internal expandable storage slot. This slot requires a PCIe 4.0 M2 NVMe SSD to function.

But PlayStation did not have a proprietary solution like Microsoft for this. Interestingly, the PS5 will support third-party SSDs which will be an interesting development.

The major question here was: will the existing SSDs be able to match the PS5 internal SSD to deliver the same performance? Thankfully, WD’s new PCIe 4.0 M2 NVMe SSD comes to the rescue.

WD Black SN850 is a perfect match for PS5

The latest WD Black SN850 has features that will put other SSDs to shame. The SN850 has read speeds up to 7000MB/s and write speeds up to 5300MB/s. This comes close to the PS5 SSD as it delivers almost the same performance.

In addition to this, the SN850s are also slightly faster in terms of write speed than the Samsung 980 Pro. Additionally, the SN850 comes with a sleek heatsink architecture that minimizes thermal throttling. Moreover, it also comes with an RGB feature that will surely attract the attention of gamers.

To sum it up, this is an exceptionally fast SSD that seems tailor-made for the PS5. Although, the price of this SSD puts a lot into perspective for future console users. There were a lot of questions raised about Xbox’s Custom 1TB expandable storage drives being priced at $220. This cost is almost as much as the Xbox Series S, which was surely baffling. But seeing that the SN850 is priced at $229, it has leveled the playing field. Moreover, the one with the heatsink costs even more, at $249.

Also Read: Storage, Not Games, to be the Most Expensive Part of Next-gen Gaming

With reports suggesting that the internal SSD of PS5 has even less space than advertised, an expandable storage option will become a necessity. This makes things clearer for fans who thought that the third-party options for PS5 would be cheap.

Sony still hasn’t a list of SSDs compatible with the PS5. More details will probably be announced closer to the launch date.