The PS5 SSD Designed Sabrent Heatsink Review – Fad or Fantastic?
Earlier this month, when we discovered that Sabrent had been working on a custom PS5 designed heatsink for SSD upgrades on the system, we were understandably surprised. Not only because they were the first company in the world to have produced this potentially game-changing component, but because the ability to utilize SSD upgrades on the PS5 had only been made available in Beta in July and only officially launched a little over a week ago. Add to this the fact that they have had this heatsink ready for consumers to see and order the day of the PS5 SSD expansion update and you really have to marvel at the speed of their design team. For those that are not aware, the m.2 NVMe SSD slot of the PS5 is a 22110 length contained/covered m.2 Key connector that allows the installation of super-fast PCIe Gen 4×4 SSDs. These SSDs can get remarkably hot when in use and in order to ensure ideal performance, maintain the durability and optimal system operating temperatures, the use of a heatsink on the SSD to dissipate the generated heat is highly recommended. Some heatsinks are larger than others and although these bigger 1st and 3rd party heatsinks do a great job of dispersing that heat, they prevent the m.2 slot metal cover from being replaced after installation and these have the potential of interrupting the designed airflow through the PS5 system. As practically all M.2 SSD heatsinks are designed for desktop PC use in 2021/2022, the bulk of them are either 2280 length only or were not technically designed to work in the PS5 hardware environment. This is where the Sabrent PS5 designed heatsinks for SSDs comes in. Designed to precisely fit the PS5 M.2 SSD cavity, it fills the whole 22110 area, also acting as an alternative to the m.2 cover and therefore managing to maintain the airflow through the PS5. At least, this is what Sabrent is claiming. So, let’s take a closer look at the Sabrent SSD Heatsink for PS5, does it do what it claims and is this the new must-have extra for your PS5 SSD storage upgrade? Let’s find out.
Sabrent PS5 Heatsink Review – Quick Conclusion
The Sabrent PS5 SSD Heatsink is near impossible to fault, both because it clearly does exactly what they claim it can and because it is a genuinely unique product in the market right now. The simple fact is that the PS5 for all its appeal arrives on the market with a questionably small amount of storage by default and even casual gamers are going to feel the storage pinch early in the systems life, as games start to arrive in the hundreds of gigabytes each. Therefore the need for a storage upgrade on the PS5 is going to be a ‘sooner or later’ decision for many gamers and Sabrent having a range of supported SSDs and currently, the ONLY PS5 specific SSD heatsink right now, is an unquestionable win for them in the market. The price tag when compared with other heatsinks is a little steep, arriving at over twice the cost of a generic heatsink, but given its niche and unique position in the market, that shouldn’t be a huge surprise. Overall, I genuinely like what Sabrent has done here and am particularly surprised that WD and Seagate (with their own rather evolved selections of SSD gamer solutions) have been pipped to the post. Respect!
 Amazon.com Here – $19.99 |
 Amazon.com Here – $189.99 |
Amazon.com Here – $369.99 |
 Amazon.com Here – $909.99 |
Sabrent PS5 Heatsink Review – Retail Packaging
The Sabrent PS5 SSD heatsink arrives in a familiar branded box. The outside highlights the advantages of this heatsink over the standard available heatsinks, but the thing that stands out is the number of times Playstation 5 is mentioned (8x in total!). They know it’s USP and are leaning as heavily as possible into it.
The contents of the box are a cardboard outer box that holds the heatsink in place, as well as the few accessories that it arrives with.
The contents include the Sabrent PS5 heatsink, a first-time setup manual, a thermal pad (that Sabrent has since informed me will be pre-applied in future revisions) and a screwdriver for installing the device. It is worth mentioning that it does NOT arrive with a screw to attach it to the PS5 chassis, as this is already included o nthe PS5 system (the PlayStation symbol embossed screw that currently secures the M.2 expansion slot cover plate.
The contents are pretty normal, but still more than enough to get things started. Let’s discuss the design, the main advantage this heatsink claims to have over its competition on PS5 SSD upgrades.
Sabrent PS5 Heatsink Review – Design
The Sabrent PS5 Heatsink is definitely a sturdy build. One thing I did not realise until I got my hands on it properly was the weight, it is a thick bit of kit!
Arriving in black and copper/rose-gold plated metal (to compliment the Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus series I am sure), the heatsink is designed to be as flush with the ground level of the PS5 chassis as possible inside. This is done so that when air is being pulled throughout the PS5 system in use, it is not blocked by the heatsink in any way. The Sabrent PS5 heatsink achieves this, but also utilizes this airflow in a subtle way, but creating a ridged/teeth structure on top of the plate that results in the air passing through the top of the heatsink grooves. This means that the internal active airflow is cooling the heatsink, whilst not interrupting the existing airflow. Smart!
The angular end of the heatsink sits exactly where the original PS5 SSD bay plate would, and the screw lines up neatly. The heatsink top (the ridged top) is a fraction thicker than the PS5 existing SSD plate, but gets around this by being thinner at the screw area. This means that the SSD bay external screw is equally secured with the heatsink as it would be with the original cover/plate.
The other end of the heatsink top features the Sabrent rocket logo, but also has a small lipped portion that slots exactly into the existing PS5 SSD expansion slot top. This results in a hinged design that you then can use to close the heatsink over an SSD for it to be locked (more detail on this later).
The heatsink initial felt very tall, but a closer look shows that a fair chunk of that space is because of the perspective of those top airflow lines in the design. The part of the heatsink that directly connects with the thermal pad and heatsink is a chuck of aluminium that fills the entire length of the PS5 SSD bay.
The base of this is fairly non-descript. As mentioned, Sabrent (after contacting them) have highlighted that they plan for future revisions to have the heatsink pad pre-attached and ready on the heatsink, but this early release model had the heatsink separately. I was not hugely fussed either way on this, but perhaps if I was buying this heatsink and SSD in a bundle from Sabrent, I might want them pre-attached. However, the heatsink does not heatsink an underside panel for the SSD to sit in, so this might be a tough one to implement for them. Generally, the base of an SSD is either empty (1TB or less) or on double-sided SSDs (most 2TB and AL 4TB SSDs) this would be occupied with NAND that will be ok to get ‘warm’.
If you line up the Sabrent PS5 heatsink alongside a standard 2280 SSD in their Rocket 4 Plus series, you are immediately aware of the extra length of the heatsink. This is because the PS5 supports up to 22110 SSDs and although there are almost non-existent in PCIe 4×4 SSDs in 2021/2022, this might well change as the demand for capacity grows. So, it is a nice touch that they have ensured the heatsink can cover a full 22110 SSD later down the line if you upgrade further.
That said, the included thermal pad was still a 2280 length generic model. By no means a big deal, but still would have been good to see a longer one for this longer heatsink!
Of course, how this heatsink compares with other M.2 NVMe heatsinks is incredibly important and largely the reason for its existence! Currently, if you want to install an SSD in your PS5 with a heatsink (advised!), you have FOUR options.
1 – Buy an SSD with a heatsink pre-attached, such as the WD Black sSN850, Aorus 7000s or XPG Gammix S70. They can be diverse, good and bad! Some are too big for the PS5 SSD bay, fit but are designed around PC chassis airflow, or are vented for efficiency which is not possible in the PS5 SSD m.2 slot.
2 – You install the SSD without a heatsink and close the PS5 SSD Bay with the included cover/plate (creating a contained area) and not interrupting the PS5 airflow internally
3 – You install a regular under 12.5mm total height (including SSD) heatsink in the available bay, then reinstall the cover/plate. These heatsinks are designed for PC use and in a PC they would be in an open, fan-assisted chassis – not a slot, closed slot.
4 – You use a larger heatsink that totals over 12.5mm (such as Sabrent’s other heatsink for PC gamers) that will ensure maximum SSD heat dissipation, but clocks you from re-installing the cover/plate and also will be in the airflow path partially. This means that although the heatsink will get plenty of airflow for the SSD temperature control, it has the potential to impede PS5 internal airflow .
And this is why the Sabrent PS5 SSD Heatsink is such a big deal (and why you googled it and found this review and/or video!). The PS5 designed heatsink is made for the console, does not impede the airflow of the system, ensures maximum SSD heat dissipation and even takes a little advantage of the PS5 internal fans and draws air through the heatsink top. You can see why they are pleased about their product and it’s rather unique position i nthe market right now, given that PS5 SSD upgrades are very much in their infancy. let’s walk through the installation.
Sabrent PS5 Heatsink Review – Installation
The installation of the Sabrent PS5 SSD heatsink is as straightforward as you might imagine. Even if you purchase this heatsink in an SSD bundle alongside another Sabrent drive, the SSD does not arrive pre-attached to the heatsink. This has been the case with previous Sabrent SSD heatsinks, but makes more sense in this case as the heatsink needs to be more concerned with filling the surrounding cavity. Your SSD needs to be installed as normal inside the PS5 SSD M.2 Slot (here is a guide to installing an SSD inside a PS5 if you need it) and held in the m.2 screw bracket as normal.
After that, you need to apply the thermal pad onto the SSD, ensuring that the top of the SSD (where the controller is located) is covered. Covering the whole top of the m.2 SSD is important, but the controller is particularly susceptible to poorer performance if it gets too hot.
Next comes the Sabrrent PS5 SSD Heatsink. There is a lip at the more rectangular end of the heatsink that needs to hook/hinge in the thin slot just above the M.2 Key connector. It fits precisely (as you would expect) and this allows the heatsink to thing down.
After that, you simply hinge the Heatsink down, over the SSD and thermal pads, where the other end of the heatsink will align perfectly up with the screw hole located just above the 22110 length m.2 hole. Where you can then just screw in the heatsink to the PS5 chassis as you would the original plate cover.
It really is as easy as that. Because the height of the chips on the SSD are going to be universal among all NVMe SSDs, as well as the m.2 washer that holds the SSD in place being a universal height, that means that regardless of the SSDD, this heatsink still fit on top of any media drive and connect with the components to dissipate heat. The sabrent PS5 heatsink will then fill the same space and position on the internals of the console, jsut as the previous cover did. The diagram below shows the airflow:
The Sabrent PS5 designed heatsink is aiming to be a perfect middle ground between using a smaller heatsink and maintaining the panel/negative-pressure inside the consoles airflow or using a fatter heatsink that will dissipate more heat, but potentially impede airflow. Below is how it compares with a regular generic heatsink AND the original Sabrent ‘phat’ Heatsink:
Eluteng NGFF NVME Heatsink – $13.99
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Sabrent SSD Rocket Heatsink SB-HTSK – $24.99
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So, as you can see, there is certainly some logic to the Sabrent PS5 SSD heatsink’s design. But how well does it work? And is it better than using a small and lower-priced heatsink? Let’s run some tests.
Sabrent PS5 Heatsink Review – Temperature Testing
In order to see how well the Sabrent PS5 designed heatsink for M.2 SSDs does its job, I set up the PS5 in two separate scenarios, one with a 3rd party compact heatsink and one with the Sabrent heatsink. The test involved connecting a two-node temperature recorder to the PS5, with one node placed on the SSD controller chip (inside the heatsink, under the thermal pad) and the other node was outside the m.2 SSD bay (but still inside the larger SSD shall casing.
| SENSOR NODE ON THE SSD CONTROLLER | SENSOR NODE NEXT TO THE SSD BAY AND IN AIRFLOW PATH |
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Then numerous PS5 activities (including reading, writing and gameplay) were conducted and the results were recorded. Below is how each actual compared between a generic 3rd party heatsink and the Sabrent PS5 Heatsink.
Sabrent PS5 Heatsink Review – Verdict
The Sabrent PS5 SSD Heatsink is near impossible to fault, both because it clearly does exactly what they claim it can and because it is a genuinely unique product in the market right now. The simple fact is that the PS5 for all its appeal arrives on the market with a questionably small amount of storage by default and even casual gamers are going to feel the storage pinch early in the systems life, as games start to arrive in the hundreds of gigabytes each. Therefore the need for a storage upgrade on the PS5 is going to be a ‘sooner or later’ decision for many gamers and Sabrent having a range of supported SSDs and currently, the ONLY PS5 specific SSD heatsink right now, is an unquestionable win for them in the market. The price tag when compared with other heatsinks is a little steep, arriving at over twice the cost of a generic heatsink, but given its niche and unique position in the market, that shouldn’t be a huge surprise. Overall, I genuinely like what Sabrent has done here and am particularly surprised that WD and Seagate (with their own rather evolved selections of SSD gamer solutions) have been pipped to the post. Respect!
| PROS of the Sabrent PS5 SB-PSHS Heatsink | PROS of the Sabrent PS5 SB-PSHS Heatsink |
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Amazon.com Here – $19.99 |
Amazon.com Here – $189.99 |
Amazon.com Here – $369.99 |
Amazon.com Here – $909.99 |
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