Best PS5 SSDs of 2026

Samsung knows a lot about SSDs, which shows in the 980 Pro, a simple but effective SSD that does a great job of adding more space to your PS5. The drive is an M.2 2280 drive that supports PCIe 4x4 and comes with a 5-year, 600TB TBW (Total Bytes Written, a way the manufacturers measure how heavily the drives have been used) warranty.

This SSD comes with an attached heatsink and an aluminum fin that covers the SSD drive's top, so you won’t see any chips on the board. This fits into the SSD drive bay neatly but still leaves some space above the drive. You can replace the cover that fits over the drive bay or leave it open for ventilation. You don’t need that much ventilation, though; the drive reached a maximum of 6.9°C (44.5°F) in use, which should not be a problem.

Installing the drive is simple: remove the PS5 bay cover, snap it into the slot, and use the screw to hold it down; that leaves about a third of the bay empty.

However, be warned that users absolutely need to update this drive’s firmware before they use it or it has a chance of failing. This can’t be done if it’s installed in a PS5, so buyers will have to do it on the PC, instead. And once it fails, it can’t be recovered, so this is an absolutely crucial step to prevent that.

The Western Digital Black SD850 is the only SSD we tested that offers a feature dominant in the world of PC gaming components: a blinky LED light. For this drive, a small LED under the heatsink blinks slowly when the drive is in use. (Whether that appeals to you, especially when hidden under the PS5 cover, is another matter.) This SSD performs well, copying games and other data at a decent speed and without getting too hot. The temperature never rose above a very reasonable 3.9°C (39°F).

The SD850 has a heatsink attached to the drive, which covers all the data chips. This is a bit larger than the heatsink on the Samsung and leaves less room above for airflow, but the heatsink is not solid; there are channels in the body for air to pass through. This heatsink performed fairly well.

Again, the installation was simple. After removing the PS5 drive bay cover, the SD850 snaps into the M.2 slot, and a single screw holds it tightly. Depending on your taste for blinking lights, you can put the cover back over the drive bay or leave it off.

The Seagate Gaming FireCuda 530 has a fancy name, but it’s a standard SSD with a built-in heatsink. It’s the only SSD with a metal heatsink that completely covers the drive, wrapping all of it (except the end that fits into the M.2 socket) in a metal frame.

You might assume this would keep it cooler than the rest, but surprisingly that isn’t the case. It isn’t a big problem, since it did a good job keeping the drive cool, but it was a little bit warmer than some others, hitting a maximum of about 41°F (5°C).

The FireCuda 530 was as fast as the other drives and easy to install. Once you have removed the drive bay cover, you snap the drive into place and install the single screw that holds it there. This is a little awkward because of the larger heatsink: I had to find a screwdriver with a longer, thinner shaft to fit than the one I usually use.

The Aorus Gen 4 7000s wins the prize for the fanciest-looking drive; the heatsink that covers the drive has chrome and anodized metal highlights that make it look like a racing car. Whether you need this in a drive that will be hidden most of the time is a good question, but it is certainly nice looking.

The heatsink fulfills its purpose: the raised ridges and grooves provide plenty of surface area for dissipating heat, but most of the heat seems to radiate from the exposed ridges at one end. That’s odd, but it doesn’t seem harmful. The drive worked without problems and didn’t overheat.

Stock has been low as of late, but the 2TB model is consistently available.

The Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus is a two-part package: the Rocket 4 Plus SSD, plus the PS5 heatsink. (Make sure that you get the right package which includes the heatsink because the drive won’t perform well without it.) The SSD is a standard M.2 PCIe 4x4 drive with a 5-year warranty, but don’t forget to register the drive with Sabrent. The warranty only runs for two years if you don’t.

The heatsink has an interesting design, with a black anodized heat spreader on top and a large aluminum heat block that fits on top of the drive. Like the PNY drive, this is designed to replace the PS5 drive bay cover, sealing the bay from dust and dirt while still conducting heat away from the drive. It’s a nice design, down to the Sabrent logo swoosh on the top in shiny metal.

Sabrent also included a small screwdriver, which is useful if you don’t already have one. It is also pretty simple to install: snap the drive into place, remove the cover from the thermal pad, and put the heatsink in place so it sits on top of the drive. Those who like logos will also be pleased to see that it uses the original PS5 screw to hold the heatsink in place, so you can still see the PS5 icons on the screw head.

Kingston’s Fury Renegade SSD is advertised as working with the PlayStation 5 but has no real heatsink. Instead, a heat spreader on the drive tries to vent the heat to the surrounding air, but it doesn’t do a great job.

The SSD gets up to a toasty 60°C (140°F). That was on the end of the drive near the M.2 connector, right over the controller chip that does the hard work of moving data around on the drive.

To be fair, the SSD's temperature didn’t seem to affect its performance. It worked as well as the other drives, and read and writes data without issues. However, this is a bit warmer than SSDs should generally be, and the way that heat is concentrated in one area could adversely affect the drive's lifespan. Kingston offers the same 5-year warranty as the others, though, and you can get this drive with a heatsink if you’re worried about the temperatures.