Do It Yourself: More Storage For Your PlayStation 3
Table of contents
- 1. Turning The PlayStation Into A Media Repository
- 2. Sony’s PlayStation 3 Slim
- 3. To Do List For Your Hard Drive Upgrade
The latest PlayStation 3 Slim offers up to 250 GB of storage on its built-in hard drive. But enthusiasts are better off paying Sony less for a cheaper model and upgrading immediately to a larger hard drive. We show you how in four simple steps.
Sony’s PlayStation 3 (PS3) has been available since 2006, but today's models retain only the core feature set from the original. The latest PlayStation 3 Slim is, well, slimmer than the first revision, and it's available with 120 GB and 250 GB capacities for $349 and $429, respectively. Whether or not you’re a gamer, you can’t ignore the console as an all-around multimedia box that also serves as a Blu-ray player. Today, we're looking at what it takes to replace the built-in hard drive with a larger storage option, so that you can turn your PS3 into a respectable data repository.
Sony has already sold more than 30 million PlayStation 3 units, making it one of the dominant products on the console market. It competes with Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and the Nintendo Wii, trailing those two in overall sales, according to VGChartz.com. The console right for you depends on a few different factors.
First of all, there's a chance that a game you like is only available on one console. If so, your choice is already made. Otherwise, we can generalize about the three options. Nintendo's Wii just aims at fun. It doesn’t support HD video, digital audio, or similar media-slanted technologies. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 bridges the PC and gaming console worlds by interfacing with Windows Media Center on a conventional PC. And the PlayStation 3 comes with a Blu-ray player, on top of its slightly-superior hardware. From a purely technical standpoint, PS3 is the way to go.
The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 qualify as media servers, but we’ll only focus on the Sony product in this article. As mentioned, the current rendition comes with either a 120 GB or 250 GB hard drive. This is sufficient for most users, but if you want to really store all your pictures and video, especially high-def content, then you’ll probably run out of storage capacity rather quickly. Luckily, the PlayStation 3 Slim can be upgraded with a larger hard drive, and we exchanged the built-in 250 GB disk with a new 640 GB drive.
Latest Internal Storage News
- 07/02 – Intel Introduces New 520 Series Line of SSDs
- 02/02 – Seagate Believes HDD Supply Disruption to Continue in 2012
- 01/02 – Other World Computing (OWC) Reveals Two New SSDs
- 28/01 – Cleversafe Announces 10 Exabyte Storage System Configuration
- 26/01 – The 15 Winners of the "Explain a Samsung SSD" Contest
Latest Internal Storage reviews
- 09/02 – Momentus XT 750 GB Review: A Second-Gen Hybrid Hard Drive
- 06/02 – Intel SSD 520 Review: Taking Back The High-End With SandForce
- 01/02 – Upgrade Advice: Does Your Fast SSD Really Need SATA 6Gb/s?
- 26/01 – Install A Hard Drive Or SSD In Your Notebook's Optical Bay
- 24/01 – Best SSDs For The Money: January 2012
Not sure if this's high tech stuff, but useful nevertheless ...
This is awesome. I don't have a ps3, but these are the kinds of things I like to read about
I guess it is important to note that the process is essentially the same for the older, fat, PS3's except that the drive is located on the side of the console rather than the front.
I upgraded my PS3 40GB to a 250GB drive a while back. Found it almost essential not for media, but for the game installs!
I put a 500gb in mine. Well worth it.
I would love to put a fast SSD in there. I read a few reports a while back and it wasn't that magic. But they are getting faster and cheaper all the time.
Would it be too much to know why 750Gb and above drives are not suitable? Is it simply because such drives are 12.5mm thick, rather than 9.5mm? I would have appreciated clarity on this point.
Why have I read this? I already upgraded from 60 GB to 160 GB a year or so ago.
Would it be too much to know why 750Gb and above drives are not suitable? Is it simply because such drives are 12.5mm thick, rather than 9.5mm? I would have appreciated clarity on this point.
I don't think the physical size actually matters, You can run a SATA and SATA Power cable out from inside to a 3.5" drive sat next to the PS3 if you want. See the Viedo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YB8628tuL50.
It looks pretty fiddly though. There doesnt seem to be much around as to the actual limit of the filesystem. A quick google I found a website detailing using an External Raid controller to have over 5TB(!!!) of "internal" storage for the Playstation 3, so I guess the jury is still out.
does that ruin the warranty?
Nice article check E3 i think 500 GB PS3 is coming soon..
OK, this is getting silly. THG needs to start banning accounts that put advertising in the comments section. I am starting to consider alternatives for my hardware review information.