Samsung 980 Pro PS5 SSD Expansion Test

Last updated on 07 Aug 2021 📧 Subscribe
Contents hide
1 Testing the Samsung 980 Pro SSD on the PS5
2 PS5 SSD Expansion Samsung 980 Pro – Specifications
3 PS5 SSD Expansion Samsung 980 Pro Test – Internal Speed Test
4 PS5 SSD Expansion Samsung 980 Pro Test – Moving Games
5 PS5 SSD Expansion Samsung 980 Pro Loading Test 1 – Maneater
6 PS5 SSD Expansion Samsung 980 Pro Loading Test 2 – Destruction Allstars
7 PS5 SSD Expansion Samsung 980 Pro Loading Test 3 – Control
8 PS5 SSD Expansion Samsung 980 Pro Loading Test 4 – Destiny 2
9 PS5 SSD Expansion Samsung 980 Pro – Conclusion
10 Need Advice on Data Storage from an Expert?

Testing the Samsung 980 Pro SSD on the PS5

Now that Sony has enabled the ability to expand the storage of the Playstation 5 in the latest software update (in beta at the time of writing), the range of potential PCIe M.2 SSDs that PS5 gamers are able to choose from is surprisingly vast. The minimum requirements of the M.2 update are 5,500MB/s sequential read (i.e big files), no longer than 22110 in length and PCIe Gen 4 M.2 Key interface in architecture. So, that narrows things down a little, but not by a vast amount. I made a master list of current compatible SSDs for PS5 HERE with help from Reddit users, but today I want to focus on the Samsung 980 Pro, as it is one of the most available, well priced and high performing SSDs that are supported by PS5 right now. The Samsung 980 Pro is certainly supported by the Playstation 5 and in today’s test, I have opted for one of the most affordable capacities, at 250GB, as this is also the lowest reported performing drive in the series and all larger capacities will work the same, if not better. So, lets take a look at the Samsung 980 Pro NVMe SSD and how well it performs in the PS5.

IMPORTANT – In today’s article we will be testing 4 mid-range PS5 games. Bigger and more exhaustive titles (such as Spiderman Miles Morales, Rift Apart and Demon Souls) will be tested in a FULL comparison between the 6 BIGGEST/Most Popular M.2 NVMes that are compatible with the PS5 Expansion slot. Stay Subscribed for those next week!

PS5 SSD Expansion Samsung 980 Pro – Specifications

Samsung originally released the 980 Pro PCIe4 M.2 NVMe SSD around the same time the PS5 was launched last year in autumn/winter 2020. The specifications are particularly impressive, even at the 250GB level and the specifications are below:

Brand/Series

 

 Samsung 980 Pro

250GB – $69.99  ,  500GB – $119.99  ,  1TB – $199.99  ,  2TB – $429.99
Sequential Read (Max, MB/s), 128 KB 6900MB
Sequential Write (Max, MB/s), 128 KB 5000MB
PCIe Generation PCIe Gen 4
NVMe Rev NVMe 1.3c
NAND 3D TLC
Max Capacity 2TB
Controller Custom Elpis
Total Terabytes Written (TBW) 300TB
Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF, hours) 1,500,000
DWPD 0.3DWPD
Warranty 5yrs

PS5 SSD Expansion Samsung 980 Pro Test – Internal Speed Test

The first test is the easiest. When you boot the PS5 with the Samsung 980 Pro NVMe SSD inside the expansion slot, the system will immediately identify that it is installed and format the drive. Then the system makes a performance benchmark check in order to assertain whether the drive is suitable for PS5 Game use. The Samsung 980 Pro SSD achieved 6,317MB/s Sequential Read on the PS5 internal system performance test.

PS5 SSD Expansion Samsung 980 Pro Test – Moving Games

Moving games from the internal console storage and onto the Samsung 980 Pro SSD is very straightforward and can be conducted from the Playstation main menu r from the settings>storage manager menu. I moved the four games that will be used later in the article for performance and loading tests from the PS5 internal SSD and onto the Samsung 980 Pro:

Initiating the move fo these files is very easy, however when files were being transferred (much like in my testing of the PS5 and other compatible SSDs) it was nowhere near the speed I was expecting and in fact it became very apparent that the PS5 system much performs some encryption, compression or bit-checks as the files are moved. The result is that moving games from the internal PS5 SSD and onto the expansion slot with the Samsung 980 Pro took much, MUCH longer than I expects. This is not the fault fo the M.2 SSD and more regarding the clear internal handling protocol and security of the PS5 System.

They did move however and once the games were moved onto the Samsung 980 Pro M.2 SSD, the data used was clearly visible in the storage manager. Let’s get on with testing the games.

PS5 SSD Expansion Samsung 980 Pro Loading Test 1 – Maneater

The first game to test on the PS5 and using the Samsung 980 Pro SSD was Maneater. Rather than loading from the main PlayStation user interface, I opted to load the games from their own title screens, as this allowed me to not factor in the publisher and studio logos at startup that are unskippable and therefore would jsut hamper the comparison. Here is how the game running from the internal PS5 SSD compared with running on the Samsung 980 Pro:

Near identical boot up time, perhaps even the tiniest pinch quicker on the Samsung 980 Pro, with the game taking 11.3 secs on the expansion SSD and 12.8 seconds on the internal PS5 SSD.

PS5 SSD Expansion Samsung 980 Pro Loading Test 2 – Destruction Allstars

The next game to test loading times WITH the Samsung 980 Pro SSD on the PS5 was Destruction Allstars. Agin, I started the the timer from the title screen and below is the results o how the internal SSD and m.2 SSD compared:

Both games ran very well, but the game ran the tiniest pinch faster on the internal PS5 SSD than the Samsung 980 Pro, though it was so small that it barely mattered.

PS5 SSD Expansion Samsung 980 Pro Loading Test 3 – Control

Next was loading the game control directly from the PS5 player GUI and to test loading the game into a save and into direct gameplay would take, comparing the internal storage to the Samsung 980 Pro expansion SSD.

The Samsung 980 Pro seemingly loaded the game a pinch faster (really, REALLY small) than the PS5 internal SSD and ultimately both games took 17-18 seconds to load the save file and load into gameplay from the main PS5 library menu.

PS5 SSD Expansion Samsung 980 Pro Loading Test 4 – Destiny 2

The final test was with Destiny 2. This was an odd one, as the game does a lot of server connectivity at startup and whether it was on the internal PS5 SSD or on the Samsung 980 Pro, no two loading times were quite the same. Therefore although I have included this test, it is not quite as watertight as I would like.

Destiny loaded faster on the Samsung 980 Pro expansion slot storage than the internal SSD, however because of the internet connectivity and server connection of this game at start u, it is tough to say if this was because of the SSD or because of the network/internet connection.

PS5 SSD Expansion Samsung 980 Pro – Conclusion

Overall, I can happily recommend the Samsung 980 Pro (even in as little as 250GB) for the PS5 SSD storage expansion. It performed all the checks well, arrived with an impressive internal performance benchmark at start-up and regardless of whether you get the smallest or the biggest drive, I think you will have an SSD that will store and play your games remarkably well during the lifespan of your PS5. You can watch the full performance and comparison of the Samsung 980 Pro and PS5 Internal Storage in the video below:

Samsung 980 Pro

250GB – $69.99  ,  500GB – $119.99  ,  1TB – $199.99  ,  2TB – $429.99

 

 

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      123 thoughts on “Samsung 980 Pro PS5 SSD Expansion Test”

      4. I bought the Corsair MP600 Pro, I installed a separate heatsink with this.
        The Corsair MP600 Pro attempts around 6,6Gbps.
        I moved all my PS4 & PS5 games into my SSD M.2 and I kept YouTube, Prime Video, all other video apps in the system storage.
        The loading times is okay. To me and for my daily usage, there is my best configuration.

        Sometimes, I record my last 15-30 minutes video gameplay.

        The PS5 is always recording the gameplay, it doesn’t care which game you are playing.
        The read speed for your SSD is the most important thing.
        The PS5 console is already fast, and when you launch the game, you forget that you copied the game into the SSD due to the greats performances.

        My advice : If you care about write speed, you have to spend a lot of money for nothing, you’re actually go to the wrong way. The read speed is the most important thing that you have to care. Copying a file into a SSD itself is a not a task that you need to do every day.
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      5. Great video! Very informative. Greatly appreciate it.
        You made me lol a few times. You would say, …”and were doing this right now!”(snap)
        Then there was like a 3 second delay before anything happened ????????????
        To be fair you got quicker as the video went on. There was only a 1 second delay by the end, but I wonder why even snap at all? The snapping indicates promptness, so when you snap and there’s a 1-3 second delay, there is a disconnect that happens with the viewer.
        Perhaps it’s a comedic quirk that you do purposely idk, anyways thanks for the video
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      7. Question, please…. I’m just installing my 980 Pro 4.0 2TB ssd. {with heatsink) I’m wondering which slot i should install it in my gigabyte z590 aorus elite MB. I have as Radeon Pro WX-3200 GPU (with own fan). MB has three slots. Which one should I use?

        M2A_CPU (Above GPU), M2B_SB (Below GPU), or M2P_SB (Below M2B)
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      8. hi so i have an external drive for my ps5 and i dont really like it so i wanna switch to an ssd but the thing is i dont know if it will be hard to move my games from the external drive to the ssd can you let me know?
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      9. Sorry but this product is false advertising because the package shows that this Internal Solid State Hard Drive Memory Card can read speed up to 7000 Mb/s. Unfortunately, after formatting on ps5, we got around 5567 Mb/s. If you don’t have a computer, you cant update firmware, and you will still be stuck on 5000; you paid for it. Samsung needs to fix it and provide an update using ps5 in order to update it.
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      13. Blackfriday presale for 289 euro, 2TB version, its the cheapest comparef to FireGuda and WD SN850, but performance is almodt the same.

        At least now ps4 games can also transfered without worrying for space storage
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      14. Because I’m recording every game I play, I want to buy an SSD for my PS5. The thing is I don’t know if I should buy less storage (500GB) or one with less speed(maybe Samsung 980 instead of 980 PRO). Do you know if you can edit the videos directly from the SSD expansion or not in ShareFactory? If this is not possible I have my answer on what to buy.
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      18. Bought this drive with separate heatsink. Games work and are slightly faster than internal storage. I do wonder how accurate the Sony Speedtest is, as mine only reached 5800MB/s read… but it works so I am not fussed.
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      20. You are the only one who gave him a reading of 6300 on the PlayStation 5. Most of the videos on YouTube gave them a reading of 5500, is there something you did to give you high readings above 6000?
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      35. I have a question. I’ve bought the Samsung 980 pro which has a read speed of 7000 mb/s. When I first started my ps5 with the new ssd, the ps5 said read speed 5563 mb/s. How is that possible? Can I make it higher or something?
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      36. Do You need a firmware update for the 980 pro 2tb to get the correct speeds? I have orderder the 980 pro 2tb tommorow in Holland the final release goed live. Whensday 15-9-2021 finaly
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      44. I wonder if the read speed test is accurate, I have this SSD its still sealed just waiting for the update to be released. In another reviews ive seen the 980 barely push to the 5400 mark in others it goes closer to 7000. Hopefully this is more accurate when the update is released.
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      49. There seems to be slower read speeds being reported on the 1TB and 2TB versions of this SSD. I was planning to get the 2TB and I’m starting to have some doubts. Any ideas why this is happening?
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      50. A lot of people are complaining that the 980 pro is maxing out at about 5,500MBs read on PS5. How did you get such a high speed? I ordered one of those. I hope I get the same results you do. I’ve also noticed that the smaller capacity drives, were faster than the higher capacity in most YouTube videos. Weird
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      51. I’ll be going with a 980 Pro 1TB for my PS5, with a heatsink – I have two 970 Pros in my PC and they’ve been brilliant. Great series of videos with these drives for PS5 usage. Great stuff mate. Subscribed.
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      52. Warning Warning Warning Warning. If you do not have the 2.0 firmware on your PS5 do not waste your time putting an SSD in it because when you power it on it will tell you
        to power down and remove the SSD from the internal Bay.
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      53. Key note. I just watched a video for the 2tb. Which was running at only 5650 much slower than the 500mb. According to the inside package you have to update the software to get its max speed. Which is not possible in the ps5.
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      54. Is the Samsung 980 Pro, 2TB, version of this SSD a single or double sided SSD?
        From what I read online, it seems like the 2TB version is also a single-sided SSD, which I wasn’t sure about, because it seems to be one of a very few 2TB M.2 SSDs that is actually single-sided. Others are double-sided.
        Could someone confirm this for me, please? Just need to confirm to know which heatsink to buy (single or double-sided).
        Thanks.
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      63. I made the mistake of when redeeming control for the free ps plus game in january that i only added it to my ps4 library since it was what I had at the time. Didnt envision getting a ps5 so i never redeemed the ps5 version, now im stuck playing the ps4 version at 30 fps and no raytracing!!! Ughhh
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      73. Based on other videos the 980 Pro is getting 5.6GB/s for the 1TB variant. Your 250GB is getting 6.3GB/s despite it being slower than the 1TB variant. Did you update the SSD firmware prior to installation? Perhaps, this influences the result.
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      81. Transfer speeds are clearly being held back even on top tier m.2 SSDs — down to 1500MB/s — so what remains to be seen is how much slower loading times will be on older generation (and cheaper) NVME drives. That would be a very interesting comparison.
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      82. Overall, I think the Samsung loaded things maybe about a second quicker? Internal slightly slower probably due to the OS being on the same drive and it being accessed at the same time as the games were loading. Either way, not much difference and certainly nothing gamers would even notice ????
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      83. Hi Nas! Can you make a video about what happen if youre using the SSD that arent compatible with ps5? Because im curious what will happen to the system if youre using the Gen 3 SSD. Thankyou
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      84. Sometimes there are fimware updates fro certain M2 SSD.
        Are those updates very important when you used those SSD on a console or is it only an update for the use into PC ??
        Do you recommend to update the firmware of those M2 SSD before placing inside PS5 ?
        Just asking ……
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      86. Really interesting stuff, thank you for running these tests. It’s interesting that basically the Samsung loads everything about a second faster, except for Destruction All-Stars.
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      87. What happens if u transfer your games to your ssd and then give it to me…? Do i have your games??? …or i need to buy them even though i have them transferd from your ssd to my ps5?…did u try this? If u decide to try make a video or send me answer please ????????. Thank you.
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      88. The more full the SSD is the slower it (probably) also is to write so no wonder the smaller storage sized ones are slower write speed.

        I would think it would be way better if you tested games that actually made use of the high read speed that the PS5 specifically demands. I would think all those games would run fine on a SATA SSD as well. So a game like Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart would be interesting to see how it performs, especially if you manage to install an SSD that doesn’t have high enough read speed.
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      89. The PS5’s game transfer system is a mess in my opinion.

        On my Xbox One X, not only can I copy between TWO external drives (something not possible to have on the PS4 or PS5) but I can queue them to do it in the BACKGROUND. That means that you can still use the console while shuffling files around. On the PS5, you have to wait for the transfers to complete – you literally cannot use the console at all while it does its business – and despite being SSD to SSD these transfers are frustratingly slow, likely because Sony have capped the speeds to keep heat down and because the data is being encrypted/decrypted. It’s unbelievable really that a console as powerful as the PS5 cannot allocate some resources to background file transfers. The Xbox One X is significantly less powerful than the PS5 in terms of storage (5,400rpm hard drive) and CPU but yet it manages it fine; you even play games while the process happens in the background.

        Sony really do have a LOT to learn….
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      90. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is really the only PS5 game at the moment that takes full advantage of the M.2 NVMe drive so I would have been far more interested in seeing how that performs on an expansion drive during actual game, say, when going backwards and forwards through the rifts, during cutscenes (when the PS5 can be shifting a lot of data) and gameplay.
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      102. I’ve had nothing but problems with the beta version the games crash the system freezes and I couldn’t even turn off or reboot without having to pull the AC plug. So after 2 days I went back to the regular version. I didn’t even get the chance to try the ssd I ordered so I canceled my order and sent sony a long feedback from the horror show this beta is. I’m not going to risk the console so that sony can do their R&D on our systems and if something goes wrong it’s our problem. This is some of the worse engineering I’ve ever seen. This is such a difference with how well easy and consumer friendly my series x is. The fact that so many videos on all this has been made and the hundreds of articles trying to help people on how to figure this out is telling on how bad this design is.
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      108. Doesn’t really show much other than 3rd party storage is faster than the internal storage.
        Now try using under spec’d storage too to show the difference between them. I tried it with a rocket 4 1TB just to see what would happen and its just as fast – you don’t need a M.2 with 7000MB/s SR. BTW, the choice of games is really poor. why not use R&K and say HzD or GoW? 
        Internal SSD is over-hyped, right now nothing needs/can take advantage of these claimed speeds with games been random read in nature – its all just marketing. You could also take the same game and compare to an XsX. Game for game on both internal storage and M.2, XsX seemed to be faster in all but 1 3rd party game..!
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      109. It seemed a second faster on the SSD??? Or was I seeing things 😀 + Shame moving games wasn’t faster but I doubt I would be moving games all the time anyway. Cool video anyway 😉
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      113. destiny also depends on their servers and your isp. i think ratchet and clank rift apart and spider-man miles ps5 would be a good test if you are looking for ps5 titles.
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