A new PlayStation 5 internal SSD, M.2 drive speed and performance test has been shared online, highlighting the excellent performance of an M.2 drive that meets the recommended specs.
The new video, shared on YouTube by MiDASTECH, compares gaming performance and transfer times between the console’s internal SSD and a Samsung 980 PRO 1 TB drive in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart. As revealed by Insomniac Games last week, there’s pretty much no difference in terms of gaming performance and load times between the two drives. Once again, the only difference is in the transfer speeds, which are considerably slower when transferring a game from the M.2 drive to the internal SSD.
As mentioned above, the excellent performance of the M.2 drive in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart isn’t surprising at all, as Insomniac Games’ Director of Core Technology Mike Fitzgerald did confirm a few days ago that early tests made by the developer showed little to no difference if the M.2 drive met the recommended specs.
Support for the PlayStation 5 M.2 storage expansion has been introduced with a new beta firmware. A public release date for the firmware has yet to be confirmed.
We tried some below-spec Gen4 M.2 drives as well and saw up to 15% slower loading in the most SSD-stressing areas of the game. Not too shabby, but keep a close eye on technical specs if you’re making an SSD purchase, as our game does rely on high-quality storage.
