500GB Not Enough? Here's How You Upgrade Your PS4's Hard Drive

I have a 750 gb drive laying around that I should put in the ps4, though I have a feeling once I get my hands on it I will be more concerned with playing the system than installing a new HDD. I don't plan on filling up the 500 gb drive any time soon anyway.

Don't forget that you have to install disc-based games on the hard drive, too...an upgrade would definitely be a good idea for anybody who wants quick no-hassle access to a lot of games.

What I want to know is, if there is a significant boost in loading times if I stuff an SSD in there, but again the size of that SSD might be a problem, everything bigger than 250 GB runs for really expensive still. I might get a normal 1TB, why invest crapload of money just for a few seconds saved in loading times (if even).

@get2sammyb I doubt most people on this site are "average" gamers lol.

Awesome post... I dig the easy access, I will be upgrading to 1TB probably a few months after release if needed.

If I had the money I would definitely go for a "big" SSD. I bet that in PS4 you would see a boost in performance. I guess I will settle for a simple 1TB HDD.

I plan on sticking with retail for all the high profile stuff so I'm hoping 500GB will last a while. I do buy a lot of download-only games though and between the indies and possibly a few decent F2P games I guess I could see that space getting filled up quickly. I'm sure there will also be some games I don't buy right away that will get a great discount on Plus that can't be passed up.

I prefer retail, but with all the F2P games the PS4 is supposed to be getting, I'm sure I'll have to upgrade the HDD at some point.

Well maybe due in one or two years, but don't seem like I will upgrade it right after

i keep seeing 1 tb, but why not 2? my external 2 tb hdd only costs 80 bucks, id go that high up for this system

@zonron the only issue there is that 2tb drives are noticeably slower than even a 1 tb drive, I guess cause of the density of data. I also hear they run hotter for the same reason. 1tb worked great in my fatty ps3.
I'd love to go to into BestBuy and just get the biggest solid drive I can afford, maybe even before the 15th. I'm scared switch drives before its initial boot, as there aren't boot diskettes anymore, so some 1st startup info might be on the original drive. 500gbs will go so fast in the coming years!

Wait, so I can transfer my 4TB HDD from my PS3 to my PS4?

(Yes, I bought a 4TB sata hard drive)

I'm also going to have to plump up for a 4TB HDD. I used to have all seasons of Family Guy, American Dad, Futurama, Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, etc. etc. plus a 120GB folder of movies, but that was pretty much all culled due to (mostly) Uncharted 3's ridiculous arse trying to squeeze into the last seat in my PS3's 500GB HDD

As 70% of people still on a DSL connection I Don't thing that a 500GB HDD be to big just that only 25% that have the high speed cable to counter all the time-out errors that prevents downloading.

Meanwhile the 5% still on dial-up would not be aware of the PS4 existence.

Does anyone know what type of torx screwdriver it needs, and if it's a security bit or not?

@darkhairwarrior "Wait, so I can transfer my 4TB HDD from my PS3 to my PS4?

(Yes, I bought a 4TB sata hard drive)"

Why would you even lie about something like that? You have nothing to prove to us. but Anything passed 1.5TB is bigger than a 2.5" hdd

@MisfitLantern If I may:
http://www.ebuyer.com/504793-wd-2tb-green-hard-drive-wd20npvx

@benrawr I happily stand corrected. But the fact still stands that no 2.5" 4TB hdd exists

@MisfitLantern agreed. I've been searching for an hour or so. I guess 2TB will have to do!
P.S. if you want a high capacity HDD that's the cheapest one I could find, including eBay!

@benrawr and @misfitlantern

I think 1TB is the largest 2.5" drive that can go in the PS4 currently. This is because 1.5TB and greater 2.5" drives are 15mm thick and PS4 only allows up to a 9.5mm drive. Basically its because more than 1TB requires two platters which take up more room.
A 4TB 2.5" drive (if they existed) would be about 26mm or just over an inch thick. LOL
It did amuse me though to read that..

Several 9.5mm 1.5TB's have been manufactured already, but they aren't widely available. I can post a link here if you want one too?
Unfortunately there are yet not whispers of a 2TB being made.
My PS4 shall only have the best!

@benrawr
I would appreciate that link.

5K1500 HTS541515A9E630 0J28001 <-- There's the culprit's product name. I'm getting one from eBay (just search with the link) but here's a website you can get them from if you so wish
http://www.span.com/product/Hitachi-HGST-Travelstar-5K1500-HTS541515A9E630-0J28001-SATA-6Gb-1-5TB-5400rpm~41229

I am planing to install 1tb ssd should i start up ps4 first then install or upgrade
1st then turn on ?

@benrawr Super late bump, but I'd STRONGLY recommend at least buying a 7,200 RPM drive. It's a very noticeable performance boost over the dated/slow 5,400rpm drives.

@nathanuc1988 in a laptop perhaps, but the motherboard will likely lock down the SATA speed. The PS3 is no faster at anything if you put an SSD in there, so I'm very content with just maximum storage

@benrawr That's incorrect as well. A 7,200 drive in a PS3 is NOTICEABLY faster at loading content on the drive compared to 5,400. The problem is the PS3's IO for the hard drive utilizes a USB controller so speeds are limited by that. There is also a slightly performance increase from 7,200 to SSD on PS3, but it's not cost effective.

Here is a video with hard evidence that the PS3 will benefit from an upgraded drive. NOTE: This is an upgrade from 5,400 to SSD. An upgrade from 5,400 to 7,200 would be very similar. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1o1I1zb8gU

All that said, I'm extremely confidant that the PS4 will also have huge benefits with a 7,200 installed. The cost differences aren't huge between 5,400 and 7,200 so I strongly recommend going with a 7,200 drive.

@nathanuc1988 Curse you IGN! Still, the PS4 itself and the games are going to be so fast I don't think it will be at all noticeable. After putting Killzone in the disc tray you can play it in thirty seconds. The thing that matters most to me is storage for my films and TV shows, hence why I've got a 1.5TB coming my way

@benrawr I can almost bet anything on storage will be noticeably smoother with a nicer HDD. Personally, considering how much is going to be accessed straight from the hard drive, I wouldn't have it any other way than 7,200 until SSD costs go down ($600 for a 1TB .. yeah right). I'd be interested to test some of these 750gb 7,2000 SSD hybrid drives, but I'm sure the small SSD cache wouldn't help due to the way storage will be accessed from the OS.

I went with a HGST Travelstar 7,200 1TB drive for $59.99. That should hold me off a bit until SSD are more affordable. The 640gb drive in my PS3 lasted about 2 years of PS+ before it was packed.