A simple guide to upgrading your PS4's HDD

STN:

Upgrading your PS4's hard drive is a fairly simple task and if that still doesn't fill you with confidence then today I'm going to show you how.

So how is it done? Simply that's how.

[HanzoHattori]

Why would anyone go through the trouble of removing a HDD from an external HDD casing when a reliable 2TB HDD can be purchased for under $120.00? There is one very simple reason that you shouldn't do this, HDD components are very fragile. It doesn't take much to damage them and making contact with the HDD itself with a metal object could damage the drive and shorten it's useful life span.

Here are two alternatives to Seagate which are known to have issues when heat builds up inside the PS4.

Western Digital WD20NPVT

Toshiba MQ01ABB200

I'm currently using the Toshiba HDD. Once it boots up, it's very quiet and it doesn't have the constant "clicking" noises when the drive is in READ/Write mode.

[hkgamer]

ok. not going to compare prices with usd cos price conversions doesnt translate so well.

anyway, the article mentions that if you choose to buy the hdd itself then it cost £85. but if you buy the ex ternal hdd then it cost £60 saving you £25. doing this will mean that your old ps4 hdd can now be used as an external and doesnt get wasted.

it was also said as a cheap way to upgrade. so apart from storage it didnt really haveany performance upgrades.

update:

ooops. read the wrong article. actually read a very similar article on df and thought it was this. cant open this site so not sure what this one talks about. but maybe its the same article since they both uk sites.

[HanzoHattori]

So what happens if the screwdriver slips and damages the HDD? Then you're SOL. In the US 114 dollars to actually buy a 2TB HDD as opposed to spending 99 to 105 dollars for an external drive, then spending an extra 15 to 20 minutes removing a HDD from an external HDD casing with a metal screw driver? (Static electricity and HDD don't go well together) It's kind of like driving 30 miles to save 5 dollars on gas.

[ABizzel1]

@hkgamer

It's based of the DF article, so your comment still stands.

@HanzoHattori

The solution is quite simple. If you don't know what you're doing or don't want to risk any damage then simply don't do this. A HDD isn't a fragile as you make it out to be, but if you don't want to risk it you can always buy a standard 2.5" and call it a day.

As @hkgamer said the benefit of this is that it allows you to upgrade your PS4 to 2TB, and have a backup 500GB external, which could be used for Wii U or XBO storage at no extra cost to you. (Wii U, would be better since games have smaller file sizes, making 500GB more than enough)

[NexGen]

Ummm Hanzo...hard drives aren't nearly as fragile as you make them out to be. The fragile parts are inside the metal casing - those hard drives inside external enclosures are still within their protective metal casing.

They are all hermetically sealed considering dust would lead to massive issues when the magnetic heads are reading sectors.

Literally, you can sleep on your hard drive, put it in your underpants, sit on it for five days straight and nothing will happen to it. The only thing that will kill a hard drive is water, dropping it, dust inside the seal, or things of that nature.

[HanzoHattori]

If you say so...

I'll spend the extra 7 dollars and be worry free if you don't mind...

[NexGen]

Lol, that's fine if you want to :) I've just handled many many hard drives over the past 25 years :)

[hkgamer]

like many have said below me, its not that hard.

not saying you are not wrong, i mean pay a little extra and not get hdd damaged. definite safer option.

i just want to say that this is a very easy solution, may seem tricky since you may have never done it before, but you'll be surprised.
if you ever get an opportunity then go for this option, save money, gain confidence in opening up more devices get an extra external so your old hdd wont have to go in the bin.

[NobleRed]

Samsung is already selling the Samsung Spinpoint M9T without the external cage. So you don't need to buy the seagate external hdd.

SO you have still the warranty.

[mdfk79]

yup, bought that one myself a few weeks ago for just under £100 with postage, had 180gb left on the stock one, and now 1551gb left after redownloading all the same stuff again. Really easy/straight forward to do too, bought a £10 caddy from amazon and now use the 500gb one as an external drive for laptop.

[wotta]

It's very easy to open the casing on this drive without causing any damage. the price difference is around £30 and it has a samsung TB drive within the casing. I know a lot of people who have done this and it works well.

[DualWielding]

Sony really needs to add External HD support, its pathetic that they don't have it yet, Nintendo had it since day one and Microsoft have had it for while

[ShowGun901]

i perfer the internal swap... did it last gen, doing it this gen. a 2tb in my ps4 would hold me over all gen! not letting you upgrade your own internal drive seems pathetic to me, but its a pretty subjective thing... both have advantages. wheres our console with BOTH options? that would be ideal!

[hkgamer]

external hdd has a very big chance of failijg due to people pulling it in and out of usb ports. with that said. it would be very convinient if sony allowwed external hdd so that people can carry there digital games around and just log into their psn on other consoles to activate and play those games without having to download.

does ms or nintendo allow that?

[chuck826]

So does this make yo ps4 loading faster