PS5 SSD Comparison 2022 – Seagate Firecuda 530 vs WD Black SN850 vs Samsung 980 Pro vs Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus

PS5 Loading Comparison of the WD Black SN850, Seagate Firecuda 530, Samsung 980 and Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus SSD

The Playstation 5 has had the support of SSD storage upgrades now for the better part of half a year and in that time, ALOT of different SSDs have arrived on the scene that make promises to be your PERFECT PS5 SSD upgrade. However, despite all of these more modern releases, there are still four SSDs that arrived on the scene BEFORE sony enabled the SSD expansion feature of the PS5 that are among the very best performing SSDs in the system right now. These are the Samsung 980 Pro (released in Autumn 2020), the WD Black SN850 (also released in Autumn 2020), the Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus (released in winter 2020/2021) and finally the Seagate Firecuda 530 (released in summer 2021). These four SSDs are not only easily the most popular SSDs for PS5 SSD upgrades among the majority of gamers, but they also bring different unique qualities each that make the stand out – Value, Price, Durability and IOPs (more understandable as the reactivity in practice). I have discussed these four SSDs several times on NASCompares and on the NC YouTube channel, but now in 2022 with so many different options in the market to choose from, do these SSDs still cut the mustard? And if they do, which one does the best job? Let’s compare these SSDs in PS5 performance.

Note – I compared these four SSDs last year when the PS5 SSD expansion option was enabled and you can find my first wave of tests below:

PS5 SSD Faceoff I (video)- WD Black SN850 vs Seagate Firecuda 530 vs Samsung 980 vs Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus SSD

PS5 SSD Faceoff II (video)- WD Black SN850 vs Seagate Firecuda 530 vs Samsung 980 vs Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus SSD

PS5 SSD Faceoff ALL (article)- WD Black SN850 vs Seagate Firecuda 530 vs Samsung 980 vs Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus SSD

Test 1 – Spiderman Miles Morales #1

A PS5 launch title, this test comprised of seeing which SSD loaded the game world (from the title screen) the fastest. The difference was INCREDIBLY small and came down to the frame!

Winner – Samsung 980 Pro, 03:966 Seconds

Test 2 – Spiderman Miles Morales #2

Sticking with Spiderman Miles Morales, the next test is an in-game world load, fast travelling to another part of the open world. Again, a very quick load and all four SSDs were incredibly close.

Winner – DRAW, Samsung 980 PRO / Seagate Firecuda 530, 04.166 Seconds (less than a single frame between them)

Test 3 – Lego Worlds

Switching back to a PS4 title, I selected Lego Worlds as it is a surprisingly long loading game for the previous generation that (despite the PS5’s increased power and NVMe SSD performance) is quite a demanding game to load into its open world, sandbox mode. Each test for a completely fresh, randomized sandbox mode without internet connectivity involved. I measured this (as it is a dynamic loading screen) at which SSD hit 100% asset loading first.

Winner – WD Black SN850, 25:087 Seconds (Seagate Firecuda 530 shortly afterwards)

Test 4 – Deathloop

Released in late 2021, Deathloop is a fast-paced game that is semi-open-world and prioritized its framerate and colourful assets. This test was direct from title screen load and into an early stage of the game. Loading was compared from the immediate load screen (as the title screen animation can vary)

Winner – WD Black SN850, 07.050 Seconds (Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus shortly after)

Test 5 – CALL OF DUTY WARZONE

A very popular game on all platforms, Call of Duty Warzone is a very tough game to test as it is ‘always-online’ and cannot be played without a server connection that is hit every time any action is performed at the title screen/menus. This test tried to remove as much of the server connection as possible, using bots only training match, but still had server connections that could not be avoided (so these should be taken into account). Loading was deemed ‘completed’ when you had character control (existing aircraft immediately as the option appeared for control)

Winner – Seagate Firecuda 530, 01:13:085 Minutes (WD Black Closely behind)

Test 6 – SPIDERMAN PS5 REMASTERED #1

The next test was very similar to tests 1 and 2, but this time with Spiderman, remastered for the PS5 using the Miles Morales engine upgrades, and the initial test was once again measuring the time it took the game to load into the world from the title screen. Once again, incredible close and came down to the frame and took less that 2-3 seconds across the four.

Winner – Seagate Firecuda 530, 01:854 Seconds

Test 7 – SPIDERMAN PS5 REMASTERED #2

Back to Spiderman Remaster for a 2nd test. A fast/travel test ‘in world’ much like the test with Spiderman M/M. Once again, lightning-fast loading was the order of the day.

Winner – Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus, 03.839 Seconds

Test 8 – Ghost of Tsushima: Legends #1

The next test was using the PS5 version (Directors cut) of Ghost of Tsushima. Using the Legends mode, I was able to set up two different instances of direct-to-game world loading from the main menu. Each test transition ALSO includes an opening world overview cut scene that includes in-world assets (i.e silent background loading with the player watching fixed views), so ‘full’ loading in both instances was judged at the point when the player was given character movement control (the fade-in-effect). The first test, focusing on a tightly knit but graphically detailed area, went like this:

Winner – TIE, Samsung 980 PRO and Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus, 27:774 Seconds

Test 9 – Ghost of Tsushima: Legends #2

Moving on to test two of Ghost of Tsushima, legends mode, this was another open-world area that has an enormous amount of NPCs to factor in and a larger area. Results were as follows:

Winner – Three-way Tie, Samsung 980 PRO, WD Black SN850 and Seagate Firecuda 530, 39:164 Seconds

Test 10 – ROCKET LEAGUE

Another popular multi-platform game, the next test used Rocket League. A single exhibition match test, using bots 4v4, this was never going to be a particularly taxing test but included because this is such a popular game for many.

Winner – Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus, 06:654 Seconds (but only a few frames ahead of all other SSDs)

Test 11 – LAST OF US PART 2 #1

Arriving at the tail end of the PS4 generation’s place as the top gen, Last of Us Part II is an incredibly hefty game (in terms of performance and graphics) and this is achieved with incredibly subtle use of silent/background loading throughout the game’s campaign and also a substantial title-screen to game loading time (one of the loading games of its generation with only the likes of GTA V and RDR2 in the same league). A massive combination of heavy chunks of data and a horrendously large number of smaller files. Put that all together and you have a bit of a loading nightmare for lesser SSDs! Two tests were conducted on Last of Us Part II with these SSDs. The first test featured an incredibly closed in area of the game that cannot afford the luxury of exchanging high-quality textures and assets in favour of lower ones (typically accessible via fixed camera work or distance management). Here is how it turned out in the SSD comparison.

Winner – Samsung 980 PRO, 46.654 Seconds (it loaded ALOT faster and although the difference was negligible in repeated tests, it still was the fastest each time)

Test 12 – LAST OF US PART 2 #2

The 2nd test of The Last of Us Part 2 was in a significantly more open area that on the one had afforded the game the luxury of loading out assets in favour of lesser ones that were unseen/far away, but also had a larger base level of assets to load in initially from the title screen load. Here is how the WD Black SN850, Seagate Firecuda 530, Samsung 980 Pro and Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus SSD compared:

Winner – TIE, Seagate Firecuda 530 and Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus, 01:36.638 Minutes

So, those were the tests, let’s tally up the results! No ‘half points’ in the case of a tie/draw, as even if two or more SSDs loaded at the same pace, it is still a win for both!

Note – If you want to check out the continuous testing of the WD Black SN850, Seagate Firecuda 530, Samsung 980 and Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus SSD for PS5, we have been testing these four SSDs (and many others) over on our YouTube Channel. If you want to check out the playlist for each SSD below, you can use one of the 4 links here.

Click to load the respective video playlist in another tab/window:

Seagate Firecuda 530 PS5 SSD Playlist

WD Black SN850 PS5 SSD Playlist

Samsung 980 Pro PS5 SSD Playlist

Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus PS5 SSD Playlist

WD Black SN850, Seagate Firecuda 530, Samsung 980 Pro and Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus SSD Comparison – The Results

Going through the results, we are able to see that the overall winners on points are the Seagate Firecuda 530 and Samsung 980 Pro SSDs. Also, they were notably similar in the games they succeeded at (a lot of ties/draws).

Samsung 980 Pro – 5

Seagate Firecuda 530 – 5

Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus – 4

WD Black SN850 – 3

 

TOP 4 Recommended PS5 Storage Expansion Compatible SSDs
WD Black SN850	Seagate Firecuda 530	Samsung 980 Pro	SABRENT Rocket 4 Plus
500GB – $169.99 1TB – $249.99 2TB – $549.99	500GB – $149.99 1TB – $239.99 2TB – $489.99 4TB – $949.99.	250GB – $69.99 500GB – $119.99 1TB – $199.99 2TB – $429.99	1TB – $200 2TB – $469.99 4TB – $999.99

If you are interested in learning more, I have reviewed all four of these SSDs here on NASCompares and a lot with a barrage of PS5 tests for this article, the reviews have all featured around 16 different PC benchmark tests via CrystalDisk, ATTO, AS SSD and AJA performance. Find out more below.

SPEED - 9/10 HARDWARE - 9/10 PERFORMANCE - 9/10 PRICE - 7/10 VALUE - 9/10 8.6 PROS 👍🏻Highest PCIe 4×4 M.2 Performance Right Now 👍🏻176 Layer 3D TLC NAND is Unparalleled right now 👍🏻 👍🏻Best Example of Phison E18 Performance 👍🏻 👍🏻Highest Endurance PCIe Gen 4×4 M.2 SSD Right Now 👍🏻 👍🏻Inclusive Data Recovery Services 👍🏻 👍🏻PS5 Compatibility Fully Confirmed 👍🏻 👍🏻Available in up to 4TB CONS 👎🏻Costs more than most 👎🏻Heatsink is an Additional Purchase	SPEED - 8/10 HARDWARE - 8/10 PERFORMANCE - 8/10 PRICE - 9/10 VALUE - 9/10 8.4 PROS 👍🏻FINALLY, a first-party heatsink for the Samsung 980 Pro 👍🏻One of the first PS5 Expansion Compatibility confirmed SSDs 👍🏻 👍🏻Performance still stands up well in 2022 (almost 1.5yrs since original release) 👍🏻 👍🏻Impressively dense NAND for one of the earliest gen PCIe 4 SSDs still 👍🏻 👍🏻Still has some of the highest 4K Random IOPS in the market 👍🏻 👍🏻Very, VERY good temperature reports in PC use during sustained use 👍🏻 👍🏻Very Good Pricing Now CONS 👎🏻Heat dissipation in a PS5 environment was not as good as I hoped (PS5 closed bay design at fault really) 👎🏻Traditional Write performance, even at 2TB, looks a little lacklustre against the competition in 2022 👎🏻 👎🏻Still no 4TB version commercially available
SPEED - 8/10 HARDWARE - 8/10 PERFORMANCE - 8/10 PRICE - 9/10 VALUE - 9/10 8.4 PROS 👍🏻High Availability Worldwide 👍🏻 👍🏻One of the first PS5 Expansion Compatibility confirmed SSDs 👍🏻 👍🏻Performance still stands up well in 2022 (almost 1.5yrs since original release) 👍🏻 👍🏻Impressively dense NAND for one of the earliest gen PCIe 4 SSDs still 👍🏻 👍🏻Still has some of the highest 4K Random IOPS in the market 👍🏻 👍🏻Very Good Pricing Now 👍🏻 👍🏻Regular Firmware updates CONS 👎🏻Heat dissipation in a PS5 environment was not as good as I hoped (PS5 closed bay design at fault really) 👎🏻 👎🏻Traditional Write performance, even at 2TB, looks a little lacklustre against the competition in 2022 👎🏻 👎🏻Still no 4TB version commercially available	SPEED - 9/10 HARDWARE - 8/10 PERFORMANCE - 9/10 PRICE - 8/10 VALUE - 8/10 8.4 PROS 👍🏻Genuinely Impressive Performance 👍🏻One of the Affordable 7,000MB/s Drive on the Market 👍🏻 👍🏻PS5 Compatibility Confirmed 👍🏻 👍🏻Decent Amount of DDR4 Memory Cache 👍🏻 👍🏻96 Layer 3D TLC NAND Hugely Beneficial 👍🏻 👍🏻One of the Earliest Phison E18 SSDs 👍🏻 👍🏻Surpasses Samsung/WD PCIe 4 SSDs in some key areas CONS 👎🏻IOPS rating is noticeably lower than most competitors 👎🏻Endurance (DWPD/TBW) has dipped noticeably since it’s predecessor 👎🏻 👎🏻Still Outperformed by the Firecuda 530 👎🏻 👎🏻Warranty (1yr unless registered) seems needlessly complex

 

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