Sony's PS5 and PS5 Digital Edition are open for pre-order ahead of their November launch, alongside the line of accessories including the new DualSense controller, DualSense Charging Station, and PULSE 3D wireless headset.
But there's one accessory that's going to be absolutely essential, and it's not going to be cheap. Anyone looking to jump on board with the next generation of Sony console is almost certainly going to need an external SSD – and here's why.
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Both the PS5 and the PS5 Digital Edition are ultimately the same console; one has a disc drive and one doesn't, so the specs are the same – which isn't the case with the Xbox Series X and its digital counterpart.
Both PS5 consoles are packing an 825GB SSD which isn't as large as the Xbox Series X's 1TB, but more sizeable than the Xbox Series S' 512GB. Given that the size of next-gen games are undoubtedly going to be fairly large, the size of the SSD has been a point of contention in the dialogue around the hardware.
And now it seems that those concerns are justified, with the revelation of the install size for a couple of PS5 titles that suggest users are going to have to splash out on a pricey SSD.
GamesRadar has spotted the PlayStation Store's pre-order page for Demon's Soul and Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales Ultimate Edition and both titles are set to gobble up a not-insignificant portion of your PS5's hard drive space.
The Demon's Soul remaster weighs in at 66GB, while the Ultimate Edition of Spider-Man – which includes the PS4's Marvel's Spider-Man remastered for the PS5 – comes in at a whopping 105GB. Meanwhile the Miles Morales DLC on its own is 50GB "minimum".
That's 171GB for two games – 20% of your hard drive.
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While the PS5 doesn't require a proprietary SSD like the new Xbox, the scope for what you can use is limited. The console is compatible with off the self M.2 NVMe SSDs with the proviso that they utilise the PCI Express 4.0 standard. As such, SSDs for the PS5 will need to be certified by Sony. We haven't seen a list of compatible SSDs yet – although Samsung's 980 Pro SSD looks promising.
PS5 lead system architect, Mark Cerny, has managed fans' expectations by stating that the information won't be available until post-launch, but even without the official details, you're looking at a price tag of at least $200/ £200. Seagate's 1TB Xbox Series X SSD, for example, will set you back $220/ £220.
With the possibility that a handful of games will fill up the PS5 hard drive, upgrading the console's storage is practically a must, meaning that you'll be spending that amount of money on top of the $499 / £449 / €499/ AU$749.95 for the PS5, or $399 / £349 / €399 / AU$599.95 for the PS5 Digital Edition.
So be sure to squirrel away some extra money for the fall launch window as it's traditionally jam-packed with hot new releases and you're going to need the space.
Source: GamesRadar
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