Playstation 4 mounts by default a 500Gb Sata 2 HDD that runs at 5400 RPM , a good hard drive if we do not take into account the number of games that we will have to download in this generation and what each one will occupy (NBA 2K16 needs 46GB of installation) , for which surely the default hard drive of our PS4 could fall short.
Keep in mind that the PS4 operating system occupies 92GB with what we have 400GB real in the console. In this tutorial we are going to teach you how to change the hard drive of your PS4 easily and guide you between the different models available for the console, either by capacity or by speed.
WHAT YOU NEED TO CHANGE YOUR PS4 HARD DRIVE
- Phillips screwdriver (Lifetime star)
- A PC with an internet connection
- A USB stick of at least 1GB capacity
- A compatible hard drive
- The latest version of the Playstation 4 system software that you can download from its official website
Changing the PS4 hard drive is really simple, however we will have to be careful because if we break vital parts of the console in the process (something really difficult) Sony will not take care of the damage.
WILL I LOSE THE WARRANTY ON MY PLAYSTATION 4 IF I CHANGE THE HARD DRIVE?
No, Sony knows that 500GB will not be enough in the future and therefore has not objected to us changing the HDD of the console, without losing our purchase guarantee. With Xbox One, for example, we would lose the warranty.
DOWNLOAD THE PS4 SYSTEM SOFTWARE
First you have to download the latest version of the Playstation 4 system software that you can download from its official website
You have to format your USB memory in FAT 32 , create a folder inside that is called PS4 (in capital letters) and inside this, another folder that is called UPDATE (in capital letters).
It is in the UPDATE folder where you have to put the file that you are going to download with the software.
WHAT HARD DISKS ARE COMPATIBLE WITH PS4?
The vast majority of Sata 2 hard drives will be compatible with PS4 although we have several options available in relation to our needs and our pockets. It will be important that the HD does not exceed 9.5mm. high and always have more than 160GB.
The main options to change the default hard disk, a 500GB and 5400RPM HDD, would be, for example , 1T capacity and 5400RPM HDDs , although we already have available models of even 2T . We will double our storage capacity for an average of € 60, although our speed will remain the same.
On the other hand and for higher budgets we have SSDs , much faster and more efficient but more expensive than normal ones, these would be the ideal for capacity and speed of response. Finally we would have the hybrid discs and the 7200RPM ones , although these would not be officially accepted by Sony in principle and they cannot be 100% guaranteed to give optimal performance.
Here is a comparison of the speeds of these 4 hard drive models running on a Playstation 4 . By default the HDD 5400RPM in the upper left corner, the HDD 7400RPM in the upper right corner, the hybrid disk in the lower left corner and finally the SSD in the lower right corner.
WE BEGIN WITH THE CHANGE OF THE NEW HARD DISK
- The first thing to do is remove the top cover of the system.
- We will press down slightly while pulling out to remove the lid.
- Now with our Phillips screwdriver we unscrew the striking screw that has the Playstation buttons engraved on it.
- Now you can remove the old hard drive, gently slide the bracket that contains it to the left, then remove the 4 screws that hold it to the bracket and replace it with the new one.
- After this we will be ready to change the old hard drive for the new one, then we reverse the entire process until we close the lid of our PS4 with our new HD.
WE UPDATE OUR PS4 WITH SYSTEM SOFTWARE
Finally we need to install the Playstation 4 software that we will have downloaded from the official Playstation website and saved on our USB stick in the UPDATE folder .
To do this, we will plug the USB stick with the file into the PS4 , we make sure that we have our Dual Shock 4 controller connected to the console and we turn it on in safe mode ( Currently it would not be necessary to activate the console in safe mode, but if you want you can do it anyway just in case. )
We press the power button on the console for 7 seconds until we see the safe mode screen. We will select option 7 for the PS4 to (reinstall the system software.)
And the process is finished, we have changed our hard drive and we will have increased our capacity, speed or both in our Playstation 4 easily.
