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PS3 Hard Drive Upgrade

cecco

cecco

Senior member
Well, with the Welcome Back packages now available it looks like my 40GB HD space just isn't going to cut it anymore. What are the latest suggestions for PS3 hd upgrade? I may use it in the future to store music, right now I stream FLAC to it.

I'm not familiar with the backup process before swapping out, so any help or a link for a tutorial would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
 
5400 rpm sata laptop drive is what is in there by default. you can get a 7200 rpm one if you want but some people have said it will make the ps3 run hotter, but don't know from personal experience.

as far as replacing it and backing up data there are tons of guides just search google. there are even threads on this forum i believe.
 
On the Playstation site you can download the manual for the PS3. I would recommend synchronizing your trophies with the server and backup your data first. You might also want to make sure your have your account password handy.

I am getting a 500gb to replace my 80gb.
 
IIRC, the PS3 has a backup utility. You'd just need a USB enclosure and time. Any SATA drive will work with it apparently. You could install big, high speed 3.5" eSATA drives if you really wanted to. Ugly cables notwithstanding. By default, Sony uses 5400rpm Seagate laptop drives. I doubt modern 7200rpm drives would make a big dent heat wise. Not sure how much a realistic performance boost they'd give though.
 
If you just need some space, try deleting old game data for titles you don't play anymore. I cleaned up on my 60GB PS3 and wound up opening up 30GB+ just deleting stuff from games I don't even have anymore, some titles can use a few GB just on their own.
 
I tried deleting some of the game data already and even then there isn't much room left. I'd want to avoid introducing more heat since it seems the fans on my PS3 are always operating at their highest speed, so I think i'll try to look for a 5400rpm drive. I'll see what I can go find at newegg.

Update: I'm going to go with this http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digita..._tit_1_rsrsrs0

Price is right about what I was looking to spend and through amazon I can get it free shipping. Thanks for the help.
 
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mmntech said:
eSATA drives if you really wanted to. Ugly cables notwithstanding.
Click to expand...

The PS3 has an eSata connector on it? I have an esata enclosure I bought at newegg for $20, I might just pop my 2 tb in it and just use an external drive.

Will it work in combination with the internal sata drive plugged in?
 
I just changed mine. I used a 32gb flash drive and the built in backup utility. Took about an hour to backup, about 15 mins to format the new drive, and about an hour and a half to restore the backup. Everything was back there perfectly.
 
A drive with more cache is more important than getting a 7200rpm drive over a 5400rpm drive, largely due to restrictions on the interface controller in the PS3. Tests have shown a 7200rpm drive offer little to no performance increase, but a 5400rpm drive w/ a 16 or 32GB cache can reap substantial performance benefits.

Replacing the actual drive is really easy tho, just be sure not to strip any screws when you're doing it, but otherwise, I never looked at a guide and was able to swap it out in well under 15 minutes.
 
Krakn3Dfx said:
Replacing the actual drive is really easy tho, just be sure not to strip any screws when you're doing it, but otherwise, I never looked at a guide and was able to swap it out in well under 15 minutes.
Click to expand...

The weak screws attaching the drive to the enclosure were the biggest obstacle that I found while trying to upgrade -- they are butter soft, so if your Phillips head screwdriver isn't an exact fit, you run the risk of stripping them beyond usage. I actually wound up using needle-nose pliers sideways on the screw head to loosen the screws before finishing the job up with a screwdriver (mine was not an exact fit).
 
Krakn3Dfx said:
A drive with more cache is more important than getting a 7200rpm drive over a 5400rpm drive, largely due to restrictions on the interface controller in the PS3. Tests have shown a 7200rpm drive offer little to no performance increase, but a 5400rpm drive w/ a 16 or 32GB cache can reap substantial performance benefits.

Replacing the actual drive is really easy tho, just be sure not to strip any screws when you're doing it, but otherwise, I never looked at a guide and was able to swap it out in well under 15 minutes.
Click to expand...

Wouldn't the increased data density of larger capacity drives lead to a speed increase as well?
 
Wyndru said:
The PS3 has an eSata connector on it? I have an esata enclosure I bought at newegg for $20, I might just pop my 2 tb in it and just use an external drive.

Will it work in combination with the internal sata drive plugged in?
Click to expand...

Nope, the PS3 doesn't have eSATA. However, eSATA and SATA are one in the same. You'd just have to plug in the cable to the PS3's internal SATA port. It's down and dirty but it works. Google it. Some people have modded eSATA sockets on the outside though.
 
mmntech said:
Nope, the PS3 doesn't have eSATA. However, eSATA and SATA are one in the same. You'd just have to plug in the cable to the PS3's internal SATA port. It's down and dirty but it works. Google it. Some people have modded eSATA sockets on the outside though.
Click to expand...

Oh, I get what you mean. I thought maybe there was a port on it (an actual hot swappable eSATA port), that would be cool if there was.

I am surprised that it works plugging an eSATA cable into a standard SATA connector though, I thought one had an L shaped connector, and the other had a rectangle connector. Same number of pins, so guess it would work if it fits, I just never tried it. Good to know.

esata-vs-sata.gif
 
The upgrade went well. Easy hardware swap. Only ran into a problem booting up, apparently i needed version 3.61 or later to have the PS3 format the hard drive.

I had to download 3.65 to the a memory stick from PSN website, create a few folders, place the update file there, plug in the console and it worked perfectly from there.
 
Wyndru said:
Oh, I get what you mean. I thought maybe there was a port on it (an actual hot swappable eSATA port), that would be cool if there was.

I am surprised that it works plugging an eSATA cable into a standard SATA connector though, I thought one had an L shaped connector, and the other had a rectangle connector. Same number of pins, so guess it would work if it fits, I just never tried it. Good to know.

esata-vs-sata.gif
Click to expand...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-251-_-Product
 
zerocool84 said:
It should but honestly the only type of harddrive that you'll notice any difference is with an SSD.
Click to expand...

I thought that the general concensus was that SSDs offered barely any benefits at all on a PS3. Certainly not like what they offer on a computer anyway.
 
I slapped a 320gb into mine. Just remember that you need an external device with Fat32 to back your files to. Once you do that its easy peasy.
 
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