Before I shared the 2T capacity M.2 SSD solid state drive, its nominal speed reached 7400MB/s. Due to its fever-level price, many small partners cannot accept it. In fact, I was also thinking at the time, can’t we drop a specification? For example, with a 5000MB/s SSD, will the PS5 host really fail to recognize it? Or does it have a bigger impact on speed.
This time, I bought a Dahua C970 SSD solid state drive from a friend. It was originally used for installation. Now I will use it to test the situation in the PS5 host, hoping to solve the doubts of your friends.
About the space expansion of the host
There is about 825GB of storage space inside the PS5 console, and the actual available capacity is about 677.2GB. In terms of the current capacity of PS5 games, installing 10 games at random is full, especially after opening the second tier of membership. Fortunately, the PS5 provides a built-in M.2 SSD expansion slot, which can increase the storage capacity of the host.
Are there any requirements for M.2 SSD specifications?
Looking through the official instructions, you can see that the specifications of PS5’s built-in M.2 SSD require M slot type, the length supports 2230, 2242, 2260, 2280, 22110, single-sided or double-sided M.2 SSD can be used, and the storage size is 250GB. Up to 4TB, recommended sequential read speed of 5500MB/s or higher. In other words, it is recommended to use the PCIe Gen4.0x4 transmission mode, the speed can reach 5500MB/s or more, and the SSD solid state drive with a capacity of less than 4TB.
Due to the need for heat dissipation, PlayStation 5 also supports the installation of solid-state drives with M.2 SSD heat dissipation “vests”, but the overall thickness cannot exceed 11.25mm.
So is M2.SSD with a speed of more than 5500MB/s enough? Here is the official explanation. “There is no guarantee that all M.2 SSD devices that meet the stated specifications can be used with your host, and we are not responsible for the selection, performance or use of third-party products.” Therefore, it is recommended to pay attention to each manufacturer before purchasing The official introduction of , or take a look at the actual user experience, whether the PS5 host is supported.
This time, we will use the Dahua C970 1TB SSD solid state drive (hereinafter referred to as Dahua C970 SSD solid state drive) to test whether 5500MB/s will affect the game performance of the PS5 host.
First of all, we can see through the CrystalDiskInfo software after getting on the computer that the capacity of the Dahua C970 SSD is 1024GB, which is 1T in size, and the PCIe 4.0×4 transmission mode supports SMART, TRIM, VolatileWriteCache and other functions.
Add M.2 SSD to PS5 console
Before installing the M.2 SSD, make sure that the PS5 host system has been upgraded to the latest version, and then prepare a well-lit plane console, a soft pad and a screwdriver. It is recommended to touch the metal before operation to remove static electricity from your hands.
Specific installation steps:
- [1.] Lay the PS5 console flat on the console, with the PS5 logo facing down, the optical drive facing up and facing away from you.
- 【2.】Grasp the lower right edge of the cover with your right hand and the left edge of the cover with your left.
- [3.] Press the cover with the right thumb slightly and forcefully, so that the cover feels slightly lifted; at the same time, press the bottom of the PS5 host with the left hand, and then slide down (to the left of the body) the host cover.
- 【4.】Remove the screws on the expansion slot cover and open the expansion slot cover.
- 【5.】According to the size of the M.2 SSD, place the booster pillars in the corresponding position, then install the Dahua C970 SSD solid state drive, and fasten the fixing screws.
- 【6.】Finally install the expansion slot cover, tighten the screws, and slide the main unit cover back to its original position.
Format hard drive and game loading test
After the installation is complete, turn on the PS5 host, it will automatically recognize the Dahua C970 SSD solid state drive, and jump out of the format option.
After selecting “Format M.2 SSD”, the host will automatically detect the read speed of the solid state drive. The speed of Dahua C970 SSD solid state drive on PS5 reaches 5231MB/s, which exceeds the 5000MB/s mark on the official product page. But there are still some gaps with the speed officially suggested by SONY.
After formatting, you can see the extra “M.2 SSD storage space” option in “Settings” -> “Storage Space”, and you can see that the DaHua C970 with 1TB space has been correctly recognized. Although it has been recognized, what about the actual performance?
First try to move the two games stored in the PS5 host storage space to the Dahua C970 SSD solid state drive, the total size is about 106GB, and the transfer time is about 90 seconds.
Record the time of loading “God of War 4” in the host and the built-in M.2 SSD expansion slot respectively, the left is the original PS5 host, and the right is the Dahua C970 SSD solid state drive. Interestingly, the one on the right is obviously faster. Even if the small delay in the video is excluded, it can be felt that the Dahua C970 SSD is a little faster.
Try using Tsushima to test the loading speed again. The one on the right with the built-in M.2 SSD expansion slot will still be a little faster, not only perfectly fitting the host, but even faster.
When the game was moved to the Dahua C970 SSD solid state drive, there was no problem in normal play for a few days, and the stuttering problem that everyone was worried about did not exist at all.
How SSDs behave on PCs
In terms of outer packaging, the design of the Dahua C970 SSD is quite satisfactory. There are not only product renderings, but also reference values of capacity and speed. You can intuitively grasp the basic data of the SSD.
Dahua C970 SSD solid state drive uses M.2 2280 specification, length 80mm, width 24mm, capacity is 1T, without heat dissipation vest.
In terms of interface, the Dahua C970 SSD has an M.2 Socket 3 interface and supports the NVMe protocol. A closer look at the new disk has no scratches, and the golden fingers are bright.
Generally, SSD solid state drives with 1T capacity are single-sided PCB design, which is very suitable for loading into some thin and light notebooks. In addition, the official offer is a 5-year replacement service, so you don’t need to worry too much about the after-sales service.
After tearing off the label, you can see that the Dahua C970 SSD solid state drive uses the Yingren IG5220 master controller. The main controller belongs to the Rainier series, positioned at the sub-flagship level, supports 4 NAND channels, supports the NVMe1.4 protocol, the maximum design capacity is 4TB, the performance design sequential read and write is 5100 MB/s and 5000 MB/s, and the random read performance is Up to 800,000 IOPS5.
In terms of particles, the NAND particles of the Dahua C970 SSD are marked with the Dahua logo. According to the official parameters, the original 3D NAND Flash flash memory particles and VBGA packaging process are selected, with a total of 4 chips forming 1TB of storage space. However, the disk body omits the cache particles, and uses the MAX Write technology to simulate SLC buffering, which is the best way to save costs and is quite cost-effective.
Read and write speed values on PC
After the TxBENCH test, the sequential read performance of the Dahua C970 SSD is 5112MB/s and the sequential write performance is 4951MB/s. In the CrystalDiskMark test, read and write were 512MB/s and 4748MB/s, respectively. Compared with TxBENCH, the writing performance is slightly lower, but it also belongs to the normal floating category.
The AS SSD Benchmark test will also add comprehensive performance such as CPU to it. In this test, the continuous read and write of the Dahua C970 SSD is 4327MB/s, and the write is 4308MB/s. In the case of an empty disk, the read and write speeds are very stable, and the overall result is not unexpected. After all, the AS SSD Benchmark result is the test average, and the CrystalDiskMark is the test peak, which cannot be compared with the original disk test.
In the small file transfer test, the writing of Dahua C970 SSD is 4.38GB/s, and the reading is 4.70GB/s, with excellent stability.
Thoughts at the end
It can be seen from the above tests that the most ideal solution for expanding the PS5 console is to use the built-in M.2 SSD slot. Although the official recommendation is to take the speed of 5500MB/s or more, in fact, as long as 5000MB/s is satisfied, it can achieve very good results. Just like the Dahua C970 SSD solid state drive, the product label is 5000MB/s, which is actually in the host. It can run to about 5200MB/s. Of course, if the budget is sufficient, I personally suggest that it is best to add a heat dissipation vest for the solid disk, and the thickness must not exceed 11.25mm, otherwise the expansion slot cover will not be covered.
Finally, I would like to emphasize again, “It is not guaranteed that all M.2 SSD devices that meet the stated specifications can be used with your console.” It is recommended to check the actual experience before purchasing to see if it supports PS5 consoles.
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