Best PS5 heatsink 2023: keep your internal storage cool
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The best PS5 heatsinks will be a cheap but effective insurance policy for your premium SSD stick. Although a lot of the best PS5 SSDs come with them attached, there are plenty of PC-aimed models, like the Samsung 990 Pro, that don’t have PS5 versions. Heatsinks are an essential sidekick to an internal SSD because while M.2 SSDs are incredibly efficient bits of kit, they work extremely hard to get the transfer speeds they do, which can cause a lot of heat build-up.
Since the M.2 SSD slot in your console can house some of the best SSDs for gaming in the wider market, you don’t want to waste your money by letting things degrade from overheating. A PS5 heatsink will not only protect your SSD but will also protect the console – ensuring that excess heat doesn’t build up in the inner organs of your PlayStation. If you’ve spent a lot of money on your PS5, one of the best PS5 SSDs, and then a small fortune on a few digital games, the last thing you want is to see it all get damaged from too much heat building up. One of the best PS5 heatsinks will keep things safe, cool, and ensure the best performance possible.
Of course, all this DIY and component talk isn’t for everyone. If you’re still on the fence about getting an internal SSD, you could always make your life a bit simpler and get one of the best PS5 external hard drives. While you won’t be able to play PS5 games off an external SSD, you can now store games on one, which makes life a bit easier.
For now, though, let’s get you up to speed with the best PS5 heatsinks on the market.
1. Sabrent PS5 Heatsink
The Sabrent is probably our favorite PS5 heatsink and the one that we always recommend when asked. We wouldn’t be surprised if this design starts becoming the default during the PS5’s lifespan – it replaces the entire SSD bay door and promotes heat dissipation by transferring SSD heat from the bay to the spacious PS5 interior. And, by the way, if you’re interested in the Sabrent SSD itself, then buy one that comes with this heatsink.
2. ElecGear PS5 Heatsink
Another PS5 heatsink that replaces the whole bay door, this ElecGear model’s innovative form is very functional: Its wing-like structure, 5mm nickel-plated pipe, and thermal pads all combine to funnel heat directly from the SSD straight into the heatsink and out into the PS5’s main chassis. Yes, you’re spending a fair bit on a metal plate here, but given the desire to get it right and protect one’s console and drive, this is an easy PS5 heatsink to recommend.
4. ELUTENG PS5 Heatsink
If you’re looking for something to do a solid job and only spend a few beans, however, then this ELUTENG PS5 Heatsink is as good as they get at the budget end of the spectrum. For less than $10 /£10, this is a reliable heatsink that you can put together easily yourself, and tuck away inside the PS5 bay. Though we would 100% recommend putting this PS5 heatsink together using the screw-in method, rather than the banded together approach.
3. GrauGear Heatpipe Cooler for PS5
This is an ingenious PS5 heatsink solution from GrauGear (also called Ineo). The heatsink embraces a wrap-around design, removes the need for any bay door and throws in a copper pipe extension for good measure. The latter takes heat away from directly around the SSD, and ‘deposits’ it at the console’s fan so it can be dispatched. Note: This doesn’t seem to be widely available in the US at the moment but keep an eye out for it.
5. QIVYNSRY PS5 heatstink
Also rocking the budget-end of the spectrum, the QIVYNSRY PS5 heatsink is another solid sub-$10/£10 option. Cut from the same cloth as the ELUTENG it has a simple design that can be neatly constructed to form a double-sided heatsink that will wrap around your SSD. Overall, this is a simple solution but still a terrific budget PS5 heatsink. Once again, be sure to screw it together to ensure the best and most secure fit for your SSD.
6. GLOTRENDS PS5 Heatsink
Offering one of the simplest solutions, the Glotrends PS5 heatsink is very much in the ‘anything is better than nothing’ category. It really is as simple as strapping the heatsink to your drive and plugging it in. The metal clips and rubber band combo will be solid enough for holding it in place, and it’s well-reviewed on Amazon which offers confidence too. If you need a quick fix before working up to one of the more substantial items on this list then this is it.
PS5 SSDs with Heatsinks
If you are after a PlayStation 5 SSD that already has a heatsink attached, you’ll find all the latest prices on the best models just below.
Today’s best PS5 SSD with Heatsink deals
Seagate FireCuda 530 500GB Heatsink
£53.82
£44. 99
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Seagate FireCuda 530 1TB Heatsink
£125.99
£107.99
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WD Black SN850X SSD 2TB
£166.78
£134.98
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WD BLACK SN850X 1TB
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Samsung 980 Pro 2TB Heatsink
£363.97
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Samsung 980 Pro 1TB Heatsink
£95.38
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WD BLACK SN850 2TB Heatsink
£154.98
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WD BLACK SN850 1TB Heatsink
£89.99
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Best PS5 Heatsink: FAQs
What is a PS5 SSD heatsink?
A heatsink is, in essence, a structure that attaches to your SSD and keeps it cool by taking away the heat made by the drive. One of the few downsides to Gen 4 NVMe SSDs is that they produce a lot of heat, so heatsinks are vital to giving them a long life. They can come in many forms from simple single-sided sheets that just cover the top of an SSD, to double-sided wrap-around units that house the whole stick.
Will any heatsink work with PS5?
The key thing to address here is to make sure that the total (SSD + heatsink) size doesn’t exceed Sony’s recommendations, and indeed the actual SSD bay’s dimensions. These are as follows (all maximums): a width of up to 25mm; a length of up to 110mm; and a thickness of up to 11.25mm.
However, you shouldn’t have to worry too much about this now as all the best PS5 heatsinks that are geared directly toward the console will have been designed with the size requirements factored in already.
Is a heatsink necessary for PS5?
If you plan on adding an additional SSD to your PS5 console then you absolutely need a heatsink. It is a crucial accompaniment to any SSD you slot in for extra storage and Sony only recommends having an SSD if you also combine it with a heatsink. Heatsinks aren’t nearly as expensive as the SSD they’ll protect, and there are frequent PS5 deals where you can get them on the cheap.
Of course, if you’re adding SSD storage in an external capacity then no heatsink will be required!
If you’re on the look out for some larger PlayStation 5 accessories, then check out the best TVs for PS5, best projectors for PS5, and the best PS5 monitors that are available right now.
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Ever since playing Journey at the age of 15, I’ve been desperate to cover video games for a living. After graduating from Edinburgh Napier University with a degree in Journalism, I contributed to the Scottish Games Network and completed an Editorial Internship over at Expert Reviews. Besides that, I’ve been managing my own YouTube channel and Podcast for the last 7 years. It’s been a long road, but all that experience somehow landed me a dream job covering gaming hardware. I’m a self-confessing PlayStation fanboy, but my experience covering the larger business and developer side of the whole industry has given me a strong knowledge of all platforms. When I’m not testing out every peripheral I can get my hands on, I’m probably either playing tennis or dissecting game design for an upcoming video essay. Now, I better stop myself here before I get talking about my favourite games like HUNT: Showdown, Dishonored, and Towerfall Ascension.
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Seagate Firecuda 530 review: “A truly excellent drive”
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Stellar all-round performance, but inevitably pretty pricey
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A big name in conventional hard drives, Seagate hasn’t been nearly so visible in the best SSDs for gaming, especially for home PCs, gaming rigs, and now consoles. That changes with the Seagate Firecuda 530. This thing smokes.
With that in mind, you won’t be surprised to hear that it’s a full-feature PCIe Gen 4 drive, complete with 7GB/s-plus of bandwidth, an optional heatsink designed to be compatible with the Sony PS5 console, and five year’s worth of warranty cover. On paper, this drive is very much up there with the big boys of high-performance storage.
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Given Seagate’s extensive track record in the storage industry, you might expect it to do all its own homework. But not for the Seagate Firecuda 530 SSD. In fact, it uses the off-the-shelf controller chipset du jour, none other than the Phison E18, albeit “validated” by Seagate for this application.
It’s a controller chip we’ve seen in numerous other high-performance PCIe 4.0 drives, for instance, the Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus, the PNY XLR8 CS3140, and the Kingston Fury Renegade. Every one of them ranks among the fastest currently available SSDs. That obviously bodes well for the Seagate Firecuda 530.
Seagate has also selected Micron’s latest 176-layer TLC NAND memory, which is said to be quicker, denser, and more durable than Micron’s previous 96-layer memory chips. All good, then. This 2TB model, incidentally, has 2GB of high-speed DDR4 cache. The amount of cache scales with drive capacity, with 500GB, 1TB, and 4TB variants available alongside our 2TB version that we have to review.
(Image credit: Future/Jeremy Laird)
Another highlight is the 2,550TB of write endurance. To put that figure into context, the Samsung 980 Pro, once the gold standard for PCIe 4.0 drives, offers less than half that endurance in 2TB configuration, as does the 2TB WD Black SN850. It’s higher even than the 2,000TB the Kingston Fury Renegade 2TB is rated for.
Physically, this is a standard M.2 2280, so offers wide compatibility with most of the best gaming PCs and best gaming laptops. It’s also compatible with Sony’s latest console and so is a great contender for a PS5 SSDs, particularly when you factor in a variant that comes with a heatsink that’s specifically optimised for that machine. The extent to which that’s required for sustained performance, we’ll see shortly.
Performance
Unsurprisingly, the Seagate Firecuda 530 2TB cranks out very similar headline performance figures to other drives using the Phison E18 controller chip. Seagate claims 7,300MB/s for peak reads and 6,900MB/s for writes and that’s pretty much what the drive delivers in CrystalDiskMark 7. It’s also about as quick as it currently gets for flash-based M.2 drives aimed at consumer PCs and consoles.
Slightly less impressive, though again entirely in line with other drives from the Phison E18 club, are the 83MB/s 4K reads and 251MB/s writes. These are still decent numbers. But by way of example, the WD BLACK SN850 can hit over 300MB/s for 4K writes. Of course, it’s debatable if you’ll ever feel the difference in the real world. While 4K random access performance is important for the perceived snappiness of system performance, it’s unlikely you’d be able to distinguish between 250MB/s and 300MB/s, subjectively. Either way, you’ll get a great experience.
(Image credit: Future/Jeremy Laird)
As for sustained performance, our testing indicates that the factory configuration includes around 700GB of SLC write cache before the drive drops back to TLC mode and exposes the underlying performance of the flash memory. But you still get over 1GB/s of performance even then. Operating temperatures we’re also impressively low, even without the optional heatsink, with a peak recorded temp for the E18 controller chip of 41 degrees. We suspect this drive will run just fine in both the PC and the PS5 just as it is.
Overall – should you buy it?
When it comes to peak storage performance, there’s probably little if anything quicker than the Seagate Firecuda 530 2TB. Of course, you can say that of most of the growing army of SSDs powered by the impressive Phison E18 controller chip, which can now count this Seagate drive among its ranks.
Random access performance is merely good rather than exceptional, but the Firecuda’s low operating temps are impressive. The same goes for the epic 2,550TB write endurance rating. All told, this is a truly excellent drive that would be an excellent addition to any PC. It’s also fully compatible with the Sony PS5, (but not the Xbox Series X).
If there’s a snag, inevitably it’s pricing. All drives based on the Phison controller are expensive and the Seagate Firecuda 530 is no exception. It’s an observation we keep finding ourselves making of late, but the WD Black SN850 2TB can be had for quick a bit less cash and actually outpaces all the Phison drives for 4K performance. As ever, we find that hard to ignore.
Today’s best Seagate FireCuda 530 deals
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And if your search is more for something externally-shaped then check out our guides to the best external hard drives, best PS5 external hard drives, and best Xbox Series X external hard drives to cover your bases.
Seagate FireCuda 530: Price Comparison
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A serious dissertation on the finer points of input lag and overshoot followed by a forensic examination of AI-accelerated temporal upscaling. Such is a routine day in the working life of long-time tech wordsmith, Jeremy Laird. Along with GamesRadar, Jeremy’s 15-year back catalogue includes a host of tech and gaming outlets, including TechRadar and PC Gamer, not to mention contributions to mainstream media from the Independent to the Evening Standard. Complimenting Jeremy’s debilitating addiction to all kinds of digital hardware, he is also afflicted by an obsession with and a significant occupational sideline in cars and automotive technology.
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Jan 2022
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In an age where games are getting bigger, games consoles require a lot more storage space. For console gamers, having enough storage space is critical to ensure there is enough room for all of your games. In the past, 500 GB was enough, but as games get larger, more and more storage is required to support large and dynamic game worlds. Given the somewhat limited storage space available on PlayStation® 4/5, Xbox® Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch™, in this article, we’ll take a look at some of the best storage options for gaming consoles.
Internal Solid State Drives
Has your collection of games filled up your PS5™ drive yet? Well, chances are pretty high considering the PS5 comes with an 875GB SSD, but some of that space is required for system software, leaving just 667.2GB for games, apps, screenshots, etc. . The best PS5 games require at least 40GB of storage, and for most gamers and their growing game libraries, more storage on the PS5 is a must.
In September 2021, Sony offered a solution for PS5 owners. Sony has added the ability to install your own internal SSD to the PS5 to increase the console’s storage. This is great news for PS5 users as they will now be able to increase their game console storage as they add games to their library.
However, not every internal SSD can be installed in the PS5. It must be a PCIe Gen 4.0 M.2 NVMe drive that meets all of Sony’s stringent and specific requirements. Before buying a new PS5 internal drive, be sure to visit the Sony website * and see M.2 SSD requirements for PS5 consoles.
The Kingston FURY™ Renegade PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 Solid State Drive is suitable for PS5 and is a great option for PS5 gamers looking to expand their console’s storage capacity. If you’re looking to expand your PS4™ console’s internal storage, check out our KC600 2.5″ SSD.
USB sticks
USB sticks are suitable for expanding the memory not only on the gaming computer, they are also on the game console. Have to delete games to make room for new ones? Perhaps a USB stick is exactly the solution you are looking for.
An important note for PlayStation owners: You won’t be able to play PS5 games directly from a USB stick, as they were designed with extremely fast storage in mind. But you can store PS5 games on a USB drive and copy them to PS5 ** SSD or internal SSD when you want to play them.
However, while PS5 games cannot be played from a USB flash drive, PS4 games can. Don’t let your PS4’s internal storage hold you back *** . Use a USB stick for storage so you don’t have to delete any of your favorite games.
Kingston’s DataTraveler® Kyson USB Type-A drive up to 256GB can store PS4 games, while DataTraveler® Max USB Type-C drive up to 1TB can store PS5 games.
USB flash drives can also be used to expand storage on Xbox Series X/S **** . The Xbox Series X comes with a 1TB SSD, while the Xbox Series S comes with a 512GB storage. After installing a small number of games, the storage space will run out. And if you subscribe to Xbox Games Pass, your built-in storage fills up even faster. Use your USB drive as storage for games you haven’t played yet, and you’ll save yourself the hassle of constantly re-downloading them. Our DT Kyson USB Drive can be used to store both old and new Xbox games. You can also play older Xbox games from this drive. However, you won’t be able to play new Xbox Series X/S games with it.
microSD cards
Running out of space on your Nintendo Switch? This is a fairly common issue with Nintendo Switch consoles as they only come with 32GB of internal storage and some of it is reserved for system use. You may be able to download a couple of games. However, if each of them requires at least 10 GB, the internal storage space will quickly run out. The good news is that it’s easy to expand the Nintendo Switch’s memory by simply inserting a microSD card into the built-in slot.
MicroSD cards are available in various capacities and your needs really depend on how many games you want to download. We recommend using a large capacity card such as 128 GB. This will allow you to play a wide range of games. But if you don’t even want to think about filling up a microSD card, you can even consider a 512GB memory card option; the more storage space, the more games! microSD card Canvas Go! Plus by Kingston is perfect for the Nintendo Switch console.
Conclusion
These days, internal storage on game consoles is simply not enough for most gamers. Don’t let a lack of storage stop you from playing your favorite games. Buy the right storage option and keep playing!
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3:31
How to install NVMe M.2 SSD in PlayStation 5
PlayStation 5 users can now install an NVMe M.2 SSD to expand the PS5 console’s storage. In this guide, we’ll show you how to successfully install a new M.2 SSD in your PlayStation 5 console.
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Gaming System Memory and Storage – DIY in 5 Release 149
Some people are confused about what type of memory is installed in a PC and what it does. We will talk about the differences between memory and storage in a PC.
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External Hard Drives and Solid State Drives Manual – DIY in 5 Issue 155
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How to increase memory on Playstation 5
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How to increase the memory on the PlayStation 5?
Sony PlayStation has officially confirmed that every owner of a branded ps5 console can upgrade the memory by connecting an SSD compatible with the game console. In the original version of the firmware, this feature was disabled, and connected external drives only allowed launching PS4 games. The latest update significantly expands the capabilities of the console. With it, you can not only increase the memory capacity of PS5, but also expand the customization options, improve the interface and get 3D sound support for speakers.
Why are PS5 consoles popular with gamers?
PlayStation 5 game consoles are quite popular among gamers of different age categories due to the following operational advantages of the set-top box:
The
However, the heavy use of the high-tech console makes gamers think about the need to increase the memory capacity, which would allow them to fully enjoy even more exciting games and adventures.
How much memory does the PS5 have in the base version and why upgrade it?
The question of how much memory is on the PS5 and whether it can be increased is of interest to many connoisseurs of the game console. The base PS5 has 825 GB of storage, which is enough to store information and run relatively small games. At the same time, the production company Sony PlayStation has provided the ability to connect an external USB drive. But such memory will not allow playing games intended for PS5. An external USB drive can be used for the following purposes:
- game data storage;
- play PS4 compatible games;
- transferring hard drive from PS4 to PS5 internal memory.
However, to improve the console’s capabilities, consider expanding the PS5’s memory by activating the M. 2 slot. To do this, you not only need to perform a firmware update, but also a Gen 4 SSD compatible with the console.
To increase PS5 memory, Sony recommends using console-compatible PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSDs. According to feedback from users who have already modified their game console, the following SSDs are perfect for this purpose:
- Seagate FireCuda 530;
- Gigabyte Aorus NVMe Gen 4 7000S;
- Western Digital Black SN850;
- Adata S70 Gammix;
- Patriot Viper VP4300.
At the same time, the bar must have a relatively small height, support connection via the M.2 connector and have a speed of at least 5500 MB / s. It is also recommended to give preference to components with a small built-in heatsink, which will prevent the console from overheating.
How to install an additional SSD on the PlayStation 5: a detailed guide
If you are the proud owner of a PS game console with an upgraded firmware that allows you to increase the internal memory of your device using the M.