PS4 Pro SSD vs HDD – Which Is Better?

Undoubtedly, there’s a big trend among PS4 Pro users to upgrade their game console’s storage to an SSD. No wonder why. Because SSDs are much faster and way too reliable than mechanical HDDs, like the one that comes with PS4 Pro. But, what are the real difference between PS4 Pro SSD and HDD in terms of basic aspects? And accordingly, is it worth getting an SSD for PS4 Pro based on the comparison results? In this short essay you’ll find the right answers to these questions.

PS4 Pro is SSD-Ready

Sony has designed PS4 Pro to make it SSD-Ready. You can easily notice that in two significant features added to PS4 Pro—the SATA III support and multitasking capability.

As for SATA III support, it allows an SSD to run at its maximum speed. This also opens the door wide for any game improvement in future that can take advantage of this feature.

As for the multitasking capability, PS4 Pro comes with 8gb GDDR5 RAM with an additional 1gb DDR3 dedicated for multitasking operations. And since SSDs shine in the multitasking environment, unlike mechanical hard drives, this adds more potentials to the PS4 Pro overall performance.

Additionally, developers now design their PS4 Pro games with the consideration of the enhanced hardware specifications of PS4 Pro. Moreover, because upgrading PS4 Pro hard drive to an SSD is a rapidly increasing trend nowadays, game developers will surely make use of that to design games that suits this situation.

Now you can realize why Sony has configured PS4 Pro with SATA III interface and enabled the multitasking feature on it. It simply knew that PS4 Pro users would like an SSD instead of HDD. But due to the fact that SSDs are still very costly, adding them to PS4 Pro would dramatically increase the overall price. This would dissuade many consumers from buying a PS4 Pro. So, the best thing to do was to prepare PS4 Pro for an SSD, yet use a cheap hard drive in the official build. This leaves PS4 Pro users free to whether upgrade to an SSD and pay the extra money, or just keep their game console intact.

Facts About PS4 Pro HDD

Do you know that PS4 Pro employs an old, slow and obsolete mechanical hard drive that was manufactured in 2011? That means it’s just an outdated drive that no longer meets the minimum standards of today’s data storage technology. Worst is that this drive supports only SATA II connectivity, which indicates how old it is. So, being that old and outdated, you can easy deduce that it should be replaced with a better one for the sake of higher performance. Read about PS4 Pro hard drive specifications for additional details.

SSD vs. HDD in PS4 Pro

Comparing SSD with HDD in PS4 Pro platform reveals the facts about why PS4 Pro must have an SSD. It will take PS4 Pro to the next performance level like you never imagined. So, let’s see what benefits SSDs offer to PS4 Pro systems. Then we have to see also what an HDD offers to PS4 Pro. Finally you can decide whether you can trade in the stock HDD for an SSD or not.

SSD Benefits for PS4 Pro

There are several considerable benefits SSDs offer for PS4 Pro, which are:

• Solid reliability that can last many years without any kind of failure/error. Yes, this is a fact about SSDs in general. They’re very reliable to the extent that they can last too long (more than 5 years) without a single failure. This is very important advantage that interests serious players who care too much about their data from a sudden failure. But, on the other hand, you have to note that having a very low failure rate doesn’t mean it’s not possible to fail. It just means it’s very rare.
• High speed improvement that may exceed 60% as compared to PS4 Pro stock HDD. This is quite impressive. PS4 Pro operating system will load noticeably faster, games and apps will take remarkably shorter time to load, and the data transfer between SSD and the external storage device is much higher, especially if you have an external SSD.
• Smoother online gaming experience. If other players have SSDs within their game console, you all will get a smoother and enhanced online gaming experience. Otherwise, if one of the players have the stock hard drive still, there will barely be any noticeable improvement in this concern.
• Multitasking capability. You can perform multiple tasks simultaneously without having to close your running game/app.
• Up to 4tb of storage capacity that perfectly fits into PS4 Pro drive cage.
• 5-year limited warranty. Modern SSDs with a renowned brand come now with a standard 5-year limited warranty. That is a too long warranty that indicates how reliable SSDs have become now. Plus, this makes users relax about the high price they paid for the SSD. They will feel that they don’t have to pay that much money any time before the next 5 years.

That’s it. These benefits are so appealing to a wide variety of PS4 Pro users that the high price of SSD can’t cease them from getting one for their game console.

PS4 Pro HDD Benefits

As compared with SSD, the only real benefit that a new mechanical hard drive offers for PS4 Pro users is the very low price. While you get 1tb of HDD for less than $60, the 1tb SSD costs you above $120 in average. Accordingly, the limited budget users prefer mechanical hard drives over SSDs for this major aspect only. Otherwise, even in terms of capacity, SSDs have surpassed HDDs long time ago.

Is It Time to Upgrade to SSD?

Actually, the most important advantage of using an SSD in PS4 Pro is not the speed in the first place. Rather, it’s the solid reliability this type of storage devices boasts. That’s for the reason that data safety is more important than data processing speed. It’s a matter of intuition. SSDs are the best storage devices in terms of reliability and speed. So, if you can get one for your PS4 Pro and you afford it’s price, go for it without hesitation.

As for the suitable storage capacity, most PS4 Pro users who want to upgrade get 1tb SSD. We’ve recommended a variety of good 1tb SSDs for PS4 Pro users on this website. On the other hand, if you feel that you can afford the 2tb SSD for your PS4 Pro, go for it.

At the end of the day, you can still find a viable alternative to SSDs in solid state hybrid drives (SSHD). Try considering Seagate Firecuda 2tb SSHD, you can get it for less than $100. If you want more options, have a look at the best PS4 hard drive upgrades and pick the right one for yourself.