How to Find the Best M.2 SSD for Expanding PS5 Storage – CNET [CNET]

After scouring the web to get your hands on a PlayStation 5, you’re probably eager to try out as many next-gen games as you can. And the last thing you want is to be forced to pick and choose which games you have room for on the PS5’s limited built-in storage. Now, you don’t have to anymore. Not available at launch, Sony unlocked the PS5’s extra internal storage drive slot last year, allowing you to bump up your console’s storage capacity and experience the benefits of an M.2 SSD, as long as you have a compatible drive. 

Before the mass availability of the solid-state drives, and before the beta, you could still add an external drive for PS4 games, but only play PS4 games from it. You could store PS5 games on a portable SSD, but you could not play them. 

Read more: PS5 Review: Exclusive Games Power Sony’s Sky-High Space-Age Console

However, it’s pretty hard to find super-fast M.2 drives right now, especially the best M.2 SSDs, with a built-in heatsink. That’s an essential feature required to prevent overheating, so if your solid-state drive doesn’t have one, you’ll have to add it manually. We’ve made some suggestions below to help with that process.

Sony has listed some specific guidelines as to what types of drives the PS5 will support, but not specific model recommendations. Based on the published specs, however, the SSD options listed below should all do the job. We’re currently in the process of testing some of them, including the 4TB Seagate FireCuda 530, which we installed in this how-to feature. So, as you search for the best M.2 SSD for your PS5, you’ll want to keep in mind technology is constantly shifting and we will update this list periodically. Check back for our updates and reviews as different technology emerges and performance continues to improve.