Topic: Options for fitting more games on stock HD

So as many of you may know I have the stock 500 gb harddrive PS4. With thee of my most played games Overwatch, CoD, Diablo 3 adding new stuff on a regular basis I have ran out of room pretty much on my hard drive. So I was wondering my options for upgrading it now I know two ways to go but really won't go those routes or can't which are.

1) Replace the hard drive — Won't do because I don't like the idea of opening it up myself, I am butterfingers when it comes to this stuff and really don't want to risk damaging it. Also no one I know has done this either so they can't help me.

2) Buy a PS4 with a bigger Hard Drive — Won't do that for a couple of reasons. First off I like the look of my launch PS4 I don't like the slim look and a pro would be a waste since I don't have a 4K TV and not planning on buying one any time soon. Also I don't have the extra cash for a new system at this point.

So other then that is there a way I am missing? Why won't Sony allow the use of an external hard drive or is there a way to do that just Sony won't tell us.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as this is a huge problem now for me.

Changing the hard drive on a PS4 really isn't something to be scared of. The PS4 has been designed to allow you to do this. Once you slide off that top panel, the hard drive is right there and only held inside the PS4 by one screw, I think. With the hard drive out of the PS4, you only then need to unscrew it from it's mounting tray/bracket and screw in the replacement.

If you're really unsure of all this, perhaps put a call out to our friendly Push Square community for assistance from somebody who is local to you in the USA to meet up with you to help.

I waited long for external HD support but I finally decided to upgrade the internal HD. There are only 4 screws between you and the hard disk support which is totally isolate from the rest of the console, so there's no way you can accidentally damage it.

There's really no reason to buy a 1TB console when you can buy a 1,5TB HHD for € 60.

But can I just buy any old harddrive (personally I would like a 2TB) or does it have to be a certain brand? What about all my save data do I lose it when I switch harddrives? Do I have to reinstall everthing.

That's stuff I just don't know.

@Tasuki Replacing the hard drive is very easy. It doesn't have to be any specific make at all but does need to be under a certain height. Its 2.5" or 9mm so any up to that will fit perfectly in the caddy. The caddy is held in place by one screw and the HDD has 4 screws holding it in place. I believe all HDD's are universal in that they all have 4 screw holes in exactly the same place - therefore any (as long as they are not too high) will fit. I have a Seagate Barracuda 2TB drive in my PS4 Pro which has the same size limitations as the PS4 & Slim

You will need a philips (X) screwdriver and USB flash drive to download the OS onto to upload onto the new HDD - that's it!

I don't know whether you can buy a HDD caddy (these are not expensive) that you can plug the old HDD into to transfer the Data across or whether you can move everything (games included) to an external HDD and then transfer to the new HDD (maybe someone else can answer). The PS4 does support external storage to some degree but whether that extends to games or not, I don't know. I know it can't run games from an external HDD but whether or not you could store them on one I don't know. If you can, an alternative to swapping the HDD would be to buy an external storage device, move the games you are not playing to this and when you want to play them, move the games from your hard drive to the external and the games you want to play to the HDD. Its a hassle I know but probably quicker than redownloading/reinstalling - especially games with a lot of DLC. I would hate to have to reinstall Destiny and download all those expansion packs and patches. Even a 2TB drive seems 'small' to me but a 500GB is ridiculous!

According to sales of consoles and Software, we all have nearly 8 games we have bought so 500GB I guess is adequate but I have bought that many a year - not including Season Passes and all the associated DLC too which increases game size or allowing for IGC games too.

Obviously it would so much easier if Sony caught up with the rest of the world and allowed full external HDD support!

@Tasuki Change it - the swapping data via an ethernet cable or alternate hdd doesn't need to be done either so don't let that put you off. I moved my saves to the cloud when upgrading to the pro and redownloaded them. If I swap this hdd for a 2tb in a year or so I will just move my saves to the cloud and pop in a new drive. Simple.

I was going to upgrade my hdd but for the £95 for the hdd I factored that in and bought a pro instead. But yes you do need a 4k tv really to enjoy that.

Think you asked this before and the answer was still change the HD lol. Man up, it's easy

@themcnoisy You need PS+ for cloud saves, right?

@Tasuki The HHD just have to be 2,5" to fit the original slot. If someone can borrow you a 500GB HDD you could back up the whole console content to that 500GB external HDD and then restore everything in the 2TB HDD you put in your PS4. I didn't have that luck so I had to do as described below:

1. I did a back up of Application Saved data, Capture Gallery and Themes on a USB pendrive (just check on your setting menu how many GB it will takes before choosing the pendrive size)
2. Then I simply put the new HDD in my PS4
3. I installed on my PS4 the latest firmware via the same USB pendrive (download and instructions here: https://www.playstation.com/en-us/support/system-updates/ps4/
4. I restored what I backed up earlier on the pendrive
5. I download again my digital games and the patches or dlcs of my retail games.

The last point is the most annoying but you don't have to do that all that work in a raw.

@Octane I believe so

@kyleforrester87 but not as easy as doing nothing!

@themcnoisy True, I took this route as I couldn't be bothered to change it myself, but I know the process is easy and straight forward - there are tons of Youtube guides etc. Sony actively encourage you to do it.

But everyone should be confident enough to do this kind of thing, the same with opening the console to clean dust out and changing worn analogue sticks. It's just a few screws but a lot of people don't even want to give it a crack. And afterwards you've learnt something and increased your confidence - winner.

@themcnoisy i was going to replace mine until i found out just how much trouble my mate has been having since he upgraded, game crashes, overheating or just plain game breaking bugs ON EVERY GAME HE HAS

he even went to a professional shop and had it done for him too because he wanted to make sure it was done right

i would rather keep deleting games and reinstalling than mess up the system and i really HOPE that Sony finally do what BOTH their competitors do and offer External HDD Support

@FullbringIchigo I have had NO such issue with mine! I can only assume that the HDD used was not that great - maybe even too fast to create additional heat - like a 7200rpm as opposed to the 5400rpm that Sony themselves use. I use a similar HDD in essence to the stock one - just larger in size and so far its not given me any problems whatsoever.

A HDD is nothing more than a storage device and assuming its identical - just high capacity, then it shouldn't cause any additional heat to be generated and certainly won't affect game bugs. To me it sounds like your friend opted for a higher speed HDD that generates more heat which in turn may be corrupting or affecting the data and games. Maybe the professional shop wasn't that professional and a trainee did the install - although even then its a simple procedure that they shouldn't struggle.

it may not be down to the HDD either but the console itself or its placement. I don't know which model your friend has but the original PS4 could run quite warm and if the circulation wasn't great, could easily over heat - especially if you replace the HDD with a higher speed HDD that generates more heat too.

@BAMozzy it probably was the HDD they installed but i want to make sure i have EVERYTHING right before i do it, i can't risk breaking the system as i can't afford to replace it

also i have a launch PS4 and the heating could be an issue with it, i even had that issue where it would eject the disc because it got so warm it made the eject button activate on it's own but i sorted that by putting my PS4 on legs so it gets plenty of air underneath

as for my mate he also has a launch model PS4 but i don't know what speed the HDD was they put in and i don't think he does either but i'll ask next time i see him

@Tasuki I bought a Seagate 2TB drive.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00ILALU9G/ref=oh_aui_sea...

Cost me £70 at the time. This is one that comes in a USB caddy, so I removed it from that.

Regarding game saves, if you're PS Plus then you can restore them from the cloud. If you're paranoid like me, then also back them up to a USB stick.

Regarding the game installs, I chose to reinstall and download everything. I do believe there is a proper backup/restore function but you'd need another large drive for that.

I put this in nearly two years ago and it's never given me any trouble, and I've never filled it up even though I like to download and keep all the free Plus games.

So, would this one work?

http://www.frys.com/search?search_type=regular&sqxts=1&am...

I liked the idea of it being a faster speed so loading will be faster, but does the higher speeds cause problems like some have stated above?

If you want to increase speed too you should look for hybrid hard disks. They mix the usual hard disk technology with a flash memory but they are more expensive (almost twice for the same size). A 7200 rpm HDD will let you save just few seconds and Sony officially warns about their use because of heating.
(this is just my opinion, based on the research I made one year ago)

Hmm ok guess I won't go for the faster speed. It would be nice but it's not needed. I am not that annoyed by load speeds for the most part.

So I was looking at this one as well, would it be a better choice?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01C4W2P18/ref=asc_df_B01C4W2P18478...

@Tasuki Maybe technology and prices changed in the last year but at the time I preferred to play safe. I was worried then, but reading "912GB available" after upgrading with a 1.5 TB HDD and reinstalling everything surely made me grin!

EDIT: that one is OK. I have a 1.5 Seagate with the same specs. Once formatted and with the OS installed you'll have almost 1.8 TB available.