Western Digitalreleased an 8TB version of itsWD_Black SN850PNVMe SSD that’s officially licensed for thePlayStation 5console. This doubles the capacity of the previous largest WD_Black SSD for the PS5, which was 4TB. However, the 8TB version is much more expensive, coming in at $999.99 on the Western Digital page, almost thrice the price of the $349.99 4TB version.
The 8TB version is the largest possible SSD you can get from WD_Black for the PlayStation 5, but it’s a bit slower in sequential reads compared to its stablemates by about 100 MB/s. However, it’s unlikely that you’ll notice this difference in actual gaming performance. All other metrics, including random read and write performance and endurance, fall within the expected values.
However, this massive SSD for your PlayStation 5 comes at a cost. It’s almost thrice the price of its 4TB version and about $150 more expensive than the 8TBWD_Black SN850XNVMe SSD without a heatsink, which is the basis of the SN850P.
Here’s a comparison of the prices of the vanilla SN850X versions versus their PlayStation 5-certified cousins.
The only physical difference between the SN850P and the SN850X with the heatsink is that the former is about 0.2 inches shorter, allowing it to fit more freely inside the PlayStation 5. Nevertheless, despite its taller size, the SN850X with heatsink still fits inside the PS5 SSD slot.
Unfortunately, the 8TB version of the SN850X isn’t available yet with a heatsink. So, if you want an 8TB SSD that won’t overheat in your console, you must pay the $150 premium on the SN850P version. This larger capacity is becoming crucial as new AAA titles are getting larger and larger every year. For example, the PC port forGod of War: Ragnarokrequires at least 190GBand GTA VI is expected to require between 150 to 300GB when it arrives. If you’re the type to hoard a lot of AAA games on your PlayStation 5, then you need this upgrade in your console.
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Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He’s been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he’s been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics.
