PS5 SSD Upgrade: Which Drives Fit, and Do You Need a Heatsink?

A PS5 takes one extra M.2 SSD, and Sony's rules for it are short. It has to be a PCIe Gen4 NVMe drive, it has to fit a slot with a strict height limit, and it needs cooling, which in practice usually means a heatsink. Sony recommends a read speed of 5,500MB/s or faster. Even then, Sony doesn't promise that every drive meeting the list will work. The requirements are the same for every PS5 model, though the fitting steps differ.

The three drives we've reviewed here all come with a heatsink fitted. We haven't installed them ourselves. Sony's figures are from PlayStation's UK support page and each drive's size and speed from its maker, all read on 4 November 2026.

Sony's requirements for a PS5 M.2 SSD

Requirement	Sony's wording	What to look for on a listing
Interface	"PCI-Express Gen4x4 supported M.2 NVMe SSD (Key M)"	"PCIe 4.0" or "Gen4" and "NVMe". A Gen3 drive doesn't meet this, and Sony says "M.2 SATA SSDs aren't supported"
Capacity	"250 GB - 8 TB"	Anything from 250GB to 8TB
Form factor	"2230, 2242, 2260, 2280, 22110"	The first two digits are the width and the rest the length, in millimetres, so 2280 is 22mm wide and 80mm long, one of the supported sizes
Size with cooling fitted	"Width: up to 25 mm"; "Thickness: up to 11.25 mm (up to 8.0 mm from above the board, up to 2.45 mm from below the board)"	This is the one that catches people out. Tall PC heatsinks don't fit
Speed	"5,500MB/s or faster is recommended"	The sequential read figure. It's a recommendation, not a hard cut-off
Cooling	"Using an M.2 SSD with your PS5 console requires effective heat dissipation with a cooling structure, such as a heatsink and a heat transfer sheet."	A drive with a heatsink fitted, or one you add that stays inside the size limits

Sony also says it "cannot guarantee that all M.2 SSD devices meeting the described specifications will work with your console". Meeting the list is necessary, not a promise.

Do you need a heatsink?

You need some kind of cooling. Sony states the requirement twice and explicitly warns against using an M.2 SSD without a heat-dissipation mechanism such as a heatsink or heat transfer sheet. A heatsink is the usual way to meet it.

The simple route is a drive with one built in. The other is a bare drive plus a separate low-profile heatsink. You'll need to measure the two together: no more than 11.25mm overall, no more than 8mm above the circuit board and no more than 2.45mm below it. Heatsink sizes vary a lot, and if the slot cover won't close, the cooling is probably too big.

A thin graphene pad or label on a bare drive may not be enough on its own, so read the listing closely and check the maker's own figures before relying on one. If you're unsure whether a drive and its cooling fit, look for another drive or ask the maker. And don't double up: adding another heatsink to a drive that already has one may make the built-in one less effective, so Sony advises against it.

1TB, 2TB or 4TB: how much storage?

Buy for the games you want installed at once, not for your whole collection. Big games can take 100GB or more each, so a 1TB drive holds fewer than the number suggests. 1TB suits one player who keeps a handful of big games installed. 2TB is the comfortable choice if several people share the console. 4TB makes sense if you'd rather keep a large library installed than delete and re-download.

Sony's ceiling is 8TB. The console formats the whole drive, so you can't set aside just part of it for PS5 storage, and every game has to sit in one place rather than being split between the console's own storage and the new drive.

Three drives sold with a heatsink

All three are 2280 PCIe Gen4 NVMe drives with heatsinks, and their makers quote maximum read speeds well above Sony's 5,500MB/s recommendation. Each maker also gives a total height under 11.25mm and a width under 25mm. None says how its height splits above and below the board, which is the other half of Sony's limit. Buy from somewhere with easy returns.

Drive	Maker's stated size (L x W x H)	Maker's quoted maximum sequential read	PS5 wording (maker)	Price
WD_BLACK SN850P 2TB	80 x 24.46 x 9.89mm	7,300MB/s	"Officially licensed for the PlayStation 5 console"	£479.00Price checked 18:16 GMT, 4 Nov 2026 · Details
Kingston FURY Renegade 1TB, heatsink	80 x 23.67 x 10.5mm	7,300MB/s	"PS5 ready"	£199.99Price checked 18:32 GMT, 4 Nov 2026 · Details
Lexar NM790 4TB, heatsink	80 x 24 x 9.7mm	7,400MB/s	"compatible with PlayStation 5 consoles"	£649.99Price checked 17:45 GMT, 4 Nov 2026 · Details

WD_BLACK SN850P 2TB: the officially licensed one

WD describes this drive as "Officially licensed for the PlayStation 5 console", and it's the only one of the three whose maker claims Sony's licence. That's the reason to look at it first if you'd rather not weigh up the others' compatibility claims. The 2TB model is rated at up to 7,300MB/s and stands 9.89mm high with its heatsink fitted, according to WD's product page.

Price: £479.00Price checked 18:16 GMT, 4 Nov 2026 · Details · ★★★★½ (4.7) from 11,515 ratings · WD_BLACK SN850P 2TB review

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Kingston FURY Renegade 1TB with heatsink: the 1TB option

Kingston's datasheet calls the heatsink version "PS5 ready" and lists a DRAM cache. That matters because the PS5 doesn't support Host Memory Buffer, the alternative that lets a drive borrow memory from the host. At 10.5mm it's the tallest of the three, but still under Sony's total height limit. The Renegade also comes with a low-profile heat spreader instead of a heatsink, so check you're buying the version marked "W/ HEATSINK" (part number SFYRSK/1000G).

Price: £199.99Price checked 18:32 GMT, 4 Nov 2026 · Details · ★★★★½ (4.8) from 1,507 ratings · Kingston FURY Renegade 1TB review

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Lexar NM790 4TB with heatsink: for a larger installed library, with one caveat

Lexar's UK page says the heatsink version is "compatible with PlayStation 5 consoles", quotes reads of up to 7,400MB/s and gives a height of 9.7mm. That's Lexar's own claim, not Sony's licence.

The caveat is the cache. Lexar lists Host Memory Buffer (HMB) 3.0 for the NM790. The PS5 doesn't support HMB, and Sony warns that drives relying on it "may experience slower-than-expected performance". Sony doesn't say how much slower, and we can't either.

Price: £649.99Price checked 17:45 GMT, 4 Nov 2026 · Details · ★★★★½ (4.7) from 1,563 ratings · Lexar NM790 4TB review

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Do the same SSDs work in the PS5, the slimmer PS5 and the PS5 Pro?

Yes, the requirements don't change. What differs is how you reach the slot: Sony gives separate fitting steps for the "CFI-1000 model group" and the "CFI-2000/7000 model group". Your model number starts with CFI and sits on the bottom of the console when it's standing upright (take the base off first if it's fitted). Moving to a PS5 Pro? PlayStation's own getting-started post says an M.2 SSD from your original PS5 can go into the Pro.

How to upgrade your PS5 SSD

Before you start, check the console has the latest system software. You'll also need a #1 Phillips or cross-head screwdriver. Then follow Sony's steps for your model group. Switch off, unplug everything and let the console cool. Take off the cover and unscrew the expansion slot cover. Move the spacer to suit the drive's length, then slide the drive in at an angle. Screw it down and put the covers back. When the console starts, it asks you to format the new drive, which wipes anything already on it. Don't switch off while that's happening.

Once it's formatted, you can download games straight to the M.2 drive or move them across from the console's storage, and it sits alongside the built-in storage rather than replacing it.

What an M.2 SSD does that a USB drive can't

A USB drive is the other way to add storage. The difference is what you can play from it. You can play PS5 games from an M.2 SSD, but you can't play them directly from USB extended storage; they have to be copied back first. PS4 games will play from either. If most of your library is PS5 games, the M.2 drive is the one that fixes the problem. Our PS5 external-drive guide covers the USB side.

Common questions

Will a PC SSD I already own work?

Check it against the full table above: Gen4x4 NVMe with an M key, between 250GB and 8TB, one of the supported lengths, and cooling that fits the height limits. A Gen3 drive doesn't qualify, and an M.2 SATA drive won't work at all. The PS5 will format it, so copy off anything you want to keep first.

Does a drive need to be officially licensed?

No. Sony's page sets out requirements, not a list of approved drives, and a drive doesn't need a licence to meet them. Sony also says it can't guarantee that every drive meeting them will work. A licence like WD's is the maker's assurance on top of that.

Does it matter if a drive has no DRAM cache?

It can. Some drives skip their own DRAM and borrow memory from the host instead, which is called Host Memory Buffer. The PS5 doesn't support HMB, so drives that rely on it may perform more slowly than expected. It doesn't stop a drive working, and Sony doesn't say how much slower it might be, but if a listing mentions HMB, weigh that caveat against a drive that lists its own DRAM.

Is a faster drive better in a PS5?

Past Sony's recommended 5,500MB/s, don't expect miracles. Sony says not every game will perform exactly as it does on the console's internal storage, "even where the M.2 SSD device's sequential read speed is faster than 5500MB/s". Buy on capacity, heatsink fit and price before speed.

What if a game misbehaves on the new drive?

Try pausing any downloads first. If that doesn't help, move the game from the M.2 drive back to the console's own storage.

Can I move the drive to another PS5?

Yes. You don't need to format it again when moving it between two PS5 consoles. Sign in to the same account on both to get at the data.

Does fitting an SSD affect the warranty?

Sony says that in general it shouldn't, provided the drive meets the requirements and you follow the fitting instructions, but damage caused by getting either wrong isn't covered. Take the SSD out before you send the console for repair.

How we put this page together

The compatibility rules are Sony's, from the PlayStation UK support pages "How to add an M.2 SSD to a PS5 console" and "USB extended storage on PS5 consoles", and the PS5 Pro transfer line is from PlayStation's blog. Each drive's size, read speed and PS5 wording comes from its maker's own page or datasheet (WD, Kingston and Lexar). All were read on 4 November 2026. The three drives are ones we've reviewed. We haven't fitted or benchmarked them.