PS5 SSD Comparison – WD BLACK SN850 v SEAGATE FIRECUDA 530 v SAMSUNG 980 PRO v SABRENT ROCKET 4+

Should You Buy the WD Black SN850, Seagate Firecuda 530, Samsung 980 Pro or Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus M.2 SSD for PS5?

If you have been considering an SSD upgrade for your Playstation 5 now that the feature is enabled (currently in beta and full support coming very soon), then chances are that of all the many PS5 compatible PCIe4 M.2 NVMe SSDs available to buy, that one of four models are at the top of your list. The WD Black SN850 (recommended by Mark Cerny), the Seagate Firecuda 530 (heavy endurance, high speed industry recommendation), the Samsung 980 Pro (widely available, fantastic performance and great value) and the Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus (great price vs capacity and fantastic architecture). These four SSDs have been the ones that have risen above most others, for various reasons, as the hottest picks for your PS5 storage upgrade. Each drive is pretty much the fastest and most capable drive from their respective brands and although there are a few close ones (such as the Aorus 7000s, ADATA Gamix S70 and PNY CS3140), they have not been as widely embraced at these four SSDs.

But which one should you buy? Which SSD should you choose for your PS5 Expansion storage? Today I want to go through a large selection of loading tests that were performed on each SSD in order to work out which one is the best SSD to upgrade your PS5. Let’s begin.

Note: SN850 = WD Black SN850, FC 530 = Seagate Firecuda 530, 980 Pro = Samsung 980 Pro and Rocket+ = Sabrent Rocekt 4 Plus.

SN850 v FC 530 vs 980 Pro vs Rocket+ SSD Comparison – PS5 Internal Benchmark

The first thing to test is the PS5 internal Sequential Read performance benchmark on all four SSDs.

Although it HAS TO be taken into account that the capacities of these drives differ, this has very little impact on sequential real (given that all four brands say that their smallest 250/500GB drives can all hit/surpass 7,000MB/s). The Seagate Firecuda 530 SSD had the highest PS5 reported speed at 6,558MB/s. However, this is a singular reported benchmark from the system bootup and not fully representative of game loading/handling when in use. So, let’s look at the game loading comparisons.

SN850 v FC 530 vs 980 Pro vs Rocket+ SSD Comparison Test 1 – Demon Souls 1

This test was for the PS5 launch title Demon Souls and was loading into the game from the title screen (offline). Below is a quick video/gif demonstrating this and how the WD, Seagate, Samsung and Sabrent PCIe4 SSDs compared:

Though incredibly close, in the case of the Loading of the save file, frame by frame analysis shows that the WD Black SN850 was the fastest loading.

SN850 v FC 530 vs 980 Pro vs Rocket+ SSD Comparison Test 2 – Demon Souls 2

This test was for the PS5 launch title Demon Souls and was loading from the nexus hub and into another world (offline). Below is a quick video/gif demonstrating this and how the WD, Seagate, Samsung and Sabrent PCIe4 SSDs compared:

Once again, with barely hundredths of seconds between them all, the WD Black SN850 SSD was still the first to load this demon souls level change.

SN850 v FC 530 vs 980 Pro vs Rocket+ SSD Comparison Test 3 – Demon Souls 3

This test was for the PS5 launch title Demon Souls and was loading from the nexus hub and into another world (offline). Below is a quick video/gif demonstrating this and how the WD, Seagate, Samsung and Sabrent PCIe4 SSDs compared:

The last Demons Souls test was once again, painfully tight, but this time I would say it was a tie between the WD Black SN850 and the Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus SSD.

SN850 v FC 530 vs 980 Pro vs Rocket+ SSD Comparison Test 4 – Resident Evil Village 1

This test was loading a save file from Resident Evil Village in the later stages of the game. Below is a quick video/gif demonstrating this and how the WD, Seagate, Samsung and Sabrent PCIe4 SSDs compared:

When loading Resident Evil VIII for PS5 from a save game, the Seagate Firecuda 530 SSD was first by just a few frames in the first test.

SN850 v FC 530 vs 980 Pro vs Rocket+ SSD Comparison Test 5 – Resident Evil Village 2

This test was loading a save file from Resident Evil Village in the early castle stages of the game. Below is a quick video/gif demonstrating this and how the WD, Seagate, Samsung and Sabrent PCIe4 SSDs compared:

Once again, in the 2nd Resident Evil savegame load (this time in to a more compact environment) the Seagate Firecuda 530 SSD was the fastest, but only just.

SN850 v FC 530 vs 980 Pro vs Rocket+ SSD Comparison Test 6 – Ratchet & Clank 1

This test was loading a save file from Rachet & Clank and featured the long transitional world-changing sequence in the first 30mins of the game. Below is a quick video/gif demonstrating this and how the WD, Seagate, Samsung and Sabrent PCIe4 SSDs compared:

When testing the Rachet and Clank long level change transitional rail segment, the Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus and the Seagate Firecuda 530 SSD were a tie.

SN850 v FC 530 vs 980 Pro vs Rocket+ SSD Comparison Test 7 – Ratchet & Clank 2

This test was loading a save file from Ratchet & Clank again and the very start of the game, in a very dense asset-rich environment. Below is a quick video/gif demonstrating this and how the WD, Seagate, Samsung and Sabrent PCIe4 SSDs compared:

In the 2nd Ratchet & Clank test, the Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus was the fastest but barely 2 frames! Still, a win is a win!

SN850 v FC 530 vs 980 Pro vs Rocket+ SSD Comparison Test 8 – GTA V

This test was loading GTA V from the PS5 main menu (notorious for an incredibly long loading time) and into single player. Below is a quick video/gif demonstrating this and how the WD, Seagate, Samsung and Sabrent PCIe4 SSDs compared:

Grand Theft Auto 5 is a game that has been migrated and upscaled from PS3, to PS4 to PS4 Pro. Now running on PS5 for this test (with a PS5 version coming soon), the loading screen is still VERY long! Of the four SSDs, the WD Black SN850 loaded the fastest but a VERY comfortably margin!

SN850 v FC 530 vs 980 Pro vs Rocket+ SSD Comparison Test 9 – DOOM Eternal

This test was loading a save file from Doom Eternal from the preliminary stages of the game. Below is a quick video/gif demonstrating this and how the WD, Seagate, Samsung and Sabrent PCIe4 SSDs compared:

Loading Doom Eternal PS5 upgrade (with high graphical settings and ray tracing enabled) from a save game, the Seagate Firecuda 530 and Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus SSD were the fastest, but once again, only by a tiny number of frames.

SN850 v FC 530 vs 980 Pro vs Rocket+ SSD Comparison Test 10 – Destruction Allstars

This test was loading an arena match in arcade mode of Destruction Allstars. Below is a quick video/gif demonstrating this and how the WD, Seagate, Samsung and Sabrent PCIe4 SSDs compared:

For Destruction Allstars, as the game uses a sneaky form of hidden loading (as you go into the arena, the game loads assets one by one, with smart camera angling) I judged loading to be ‘completed’ when the help splash screen appeared, as this signalled the start of the player control. In this case, the Samsung 980 Pro was the fastest!

SN850 v FC 530 vs 980 Pro vs Rocket+ SSD Comparison Test 11 – Control

This test was for the PS5 full version of Control and was loaded from the PS5 console menu and directly into the game. Below is a quick video/gif demonstrating this and how the WD, Seagate, Samsung and Sabrent PCIe4 SSDs compared:

This one was INCREDIBLY tight, but in the case of Control for PS5, the fastest loading SSD of the four was the Samsung 980 Pro SSD, but only by 1-2 frames.

SN850 v FC 530 vs 980 Pro vs Rocket+ SSD Comparison – RESULTS!

It is important to remember that all four of these SSDs are still amazing drives and still easily some of the best choices when upgrading your PS5 storage. Even when one SSD managed to load a game faster than another, it did so within 10ths/100ths of a second faster than the others in some cases. Below is a breakdown of points for each time an SSD either loaded the game first or was given a higher benchmark at the start. There is also the FULL TEST video below over on YouTube that goes through these tests in greater length and detail. It is also VERY important to factor in that these 4 drives were not all the same capacity, though this would have more sway/impact in writing operations (which were largely irrelevant here). I hope you enjoyed this guide and found it useful in your search for the perfect SSD for your PS5 Expansion slot upgrade! Use the links in the table to find your SSD of choice at the best available price right now, for each capacity.

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Summary

Reviewer

Robbie

Review Date

2021-08-13

Reviewed Item

PS5 SSD Comparison - WD Black VS Seagate Firecuda VS Samsung 980 Pro VS Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus

Author Rating

5