PS4 - upgrade internal drive or add external

[jonmac73]

Hi, new games bought as presents (GTSport & COD WWII) so need to (finally ) upgrade the storage on 500Mb PS4.
Have the correct drive to upgrade internally for some time, but think now PS4 will accept external drives as storage.

Has anyone run external & do games run off it OK ? So just need a decent USB 3 enclosure.
Or is it signifcantly better to upgrade internal drive - have correct drive & seen guides - more faffing required though.
Thanks

[Havoc856-S]

I went internal so I didn’t use up one of the valuable two USB ports.

The process to install the software is simple enough

[northwest monkey]

I was wondering the same. I did internal on the PS3 which was a piece of cake, but was also thinking of external on the PS4 but what else do you use the USB ports for on the front?

[Havoc856-S]

Charging my controllers and my turtle beach headset - routinely using both at the same time.

It’s a five minute job to physically swap the drive and ten minutes of waiting to do the software. That then allows me to utilise both USB at the same time and it is the tidy solution/ocd

[ambuletz]

it makes more financial sense to buy and replace the internal.

[jonmac73]

Thanks all - will go the xtra and upgrade internal drive.

[sidaorb]

I bought an external at Argos £35, re USB I charge my controller using my phone charger.

[AllyBassman]

Fitted a 1TB SSD to mine, made a real difference!

[Steven_RW]

You may not care but GAME will not take a PS4 as a trade in if the seals have been broken.

I removed just one sticker to see what the bolt head looked like to see what type of tool would be needed to open it (was thinking about a de-dust) and that made them question whether they would take the PS4 as a trade in when I was picking up my PS4 Pro on release day.

Fortunately not of the rest of the stickers/seals had been touched so they realised it hadn't been opened up.

Probably won't matter for you, but wanted to share the info.

Cheers,
Steven RW

[jonmac73]

Interesting thought - thanks.
I got the impression internal drive upgrade is not frowned upon as they have made it so relatively 'easy' to do.
No plans to upgrade currently, but maybe better to leave standard and use external USB3.
Could get by with 1 USB socket for charging controlllers.

[Steve Campbell]

I did this a couple of months ago.

Really easy to do. Here's the thread.

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[siovey]

Steven_RW said:

You may not care but GAME will not take a PS4 as a trade in if the seals have been broken.

I removed just one sticker to see what the bolt head looked like to see what type of tool would be needed to open it (was thinking about a de-dust) and that made them question whether they would take the PS4 as a trade in when I was picking up my PS4 Pro on release day.

Fortunately not of the rest of the stickers/seals had been touched so they realised it hadn't been opened up.

Probably won't matter for you, but wanted to share the info.

Cheers,
Steven RW

Strange that. They took my ps4 a few months back when I was after a ps4 pro. That had had the hard drive swapped out and back in again. They must have had problems with old consoles that have had that done perhaps?

[jonmac73]

Decided to go external route for time being - ordered USB3 enclosure from Amazon due to ease.
If too much inconvenient will upgrade internal.

[jonmac73]

Decided to go external route for time being - ordered USB3 enclosure from Amazon due to ease.
If too much inconvenient will upgrade internal.

[Jinx]

External at the moment but will upgrade to a hybrid internal when I start to run out of space (1TB internal, 1TB external at the moment - plan to switch to a 2 or 3 TB hybrid drive in the future).

[jonmac73]

Do games run OK from external - that was the only thing I was worried about ?
USB 3 enclosure should be arriving this week ......

[Jinx]

jonmac73 said:

Do games run OK from external - that was the only thing I was worried about ?
USB 3 enclosure should be arriving this week ......

I haven't noticed any difference in load times.

[jonmac73]

Thanks Jinx - good to know.

[Steven_RW]

siovey said:

Steven_RW said:

You may not care but GAME will not take a PS4 as a trade in if the seals have been broken. Cheers,
Steven RW

Strange that. They took my ps4 a few months back when I was after a ps4 pro. That had had the hard drive swapped out and back in again. They must have had problems with old consoles that have had that done perhaps?

Interesting. Is there any chance that you don't need to remove the stickers to exchange the hdd? IE do u need to open up the full case to get access that you needed and maybe only some other bolts have stickers on them?

or...

I did my deal on day one and I wonder if maybe that particular trade in price offered (£175 for a ps4 traded in with 5 games) was dependent on it not having been opened? IE different grade/value of trade in based on different criteria including whether it had been opened or not?

RW

[Havoc856-S]

I have a slapped a 1tb WD SSHD in mine. You don’t need to remove ANY seals to change the HDD. The glossy panel (on a launch console) slides away and a Philips head screwdriver releases the caddy.

For Gen 2 and Pro there is a flap apparently.

No seals required. Although if you’re de dusting like I do and don’t like the aesthetic of visible screw heads you can always buy some PS4 seals...


https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/PlayStation-4-Maintenance...