Sony may not be ready to unveil the PlayStation 5 just yet, but that hasn\u2019t stopped keen observers from analyzing industry trends to find out exactly what components will fill the belly of the beast. Let\u2019s Go Digital has narrowed down the possibilities, determining that the\u00a0Samsung NVMe SSD 980 QVO drive is most likely to be used. While that particular SSD won\u2019t be the top of the line one made available this year, it will still strike a balance between affordability and the kind of performance that Sony is looking to get on the PlayStation 5.<\/p>\n
Sony\u2019s talked about the PS5 SSD before, a \u201cspecialized\u201d solid state drive that will all but eliminate load times and allow game file sizes to be a lot smaller. In April 2019, system architect Mark Cerny said that the PS5 SSD would have a \u201craw bandwidth higher than any SSD available for PCs.\u201d That suggested that this specialized drive was not as of yet commercially available. Sony has avoided giving any specifics or naming a manufacturer, but some recent SSD reveals lend some clues as to what might be inside the console.<\/p>\n
At CES 2020, Samsung revealed the\u00a0980 PRO NVMe, an SSD that adopts the new\u00a0PCIe 4.0 standard. This drive can reach\u00a07 GB\/s sequential read speeds, an insanely high benchmark that blows every current console and even most high-end PCs out of the water. But those speeds come with a cost, and unless Sony wants to repeat its PS3 pricing mistakes\u2014or take a massive loss on every console sold\u2014don\u2019t expect the PRO to be what\u2019s onboard the PS5.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s curious is that Samsung apparently has two other SSDs in the 980 line\u2014the EVO and QVO\u2014but didn\u2019t reveal them at CES alongside the PRO. The company has filed a trademark for\u00a0NVMe SSD 980 EVO and 980 QVO at the EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office) however, which suggests these SSDs will also be coming this year. Samsung also trademarked the phrase \u201cUnstoppable Speed,\u201d which is presumed to accompany the new 980 series of SSDs and sounds curiously like a marketing term for gaming in particular.<\/p>\n
The PRO, EVO, and QVO names have accompanied each generation of Samsung hard drive recently, and Let\u2019s Go Digital estimated the differences between the 980 models based on the 970 generation. EVO is the mid-grade model, and is expected to land at 5.5 or\u00a0\u00a06GB\/s \u201ceasily.\u201d Sure, it\u2019s not the insane\u00a07 GB\/s of the PRO, but it also makes this particular drive much more affordable and still\u00a0still twice as fast as older PCIe 3.0 drives.<\/p>\n
While Let\u2019s Go Digital doesn\u2019t know how the quad-level-cell technology will scale with the PCIe 4.0 standard, it expects the QVO to benchmark lower than the EVO. QVO technology allegedly \u201csuffers more from speed drops and degradation over time,\u201d but it\u2019s also the most affordable. It will still be far faster and more reliable than anything we\u2019re used to with current-gen HDDs.<\/p>\n
![\"PS5](\"https:\/\/cdn2-www.playstationlifestyle.net\/assets\/uploads\/2020\/02\/PS5-SSD-PlayStation-5-solid-state-drive-samnsung-nvme-ssd-980-QVO-1-650x429.jpg\")
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So how does that tell us what the PS5 SSD will be? Tech insiders have apparently been saying that the PS5 will use an\u00a0NVMe SSD from Samsung. While Samsung revealed its PRO model at CES 2020, it suspiciously kept the other two models from this generation of SSDs under wraps, suggesting that Sony may want to be the one to reveal its specs when the PS5 itself is unveiled. Between the EVO and QVO, Let\u2019s Go Digital projects that Sony is going with the\u00a0Samsung NVMe SSD 980 QVO for the simple reason of cost. Sony made the same move in 2013 with the PS4, with the goal of lowering the front-end price of the console while retaining power and performance. Let\u2019s Go Digital estimates that the\u00a0Samsung NVMe SSD 980 QVO won\u2019t run any cheaper than $149.99 for a 1 TB drive, while the PRO model will be somewhere in the range of $349.99. Where the EVO falls (and if Sony is willing to take a loss on it) would be somewhere in between these two. Don\u2019t expect Sony to load the console up with anything bigger than a terabyte unless it releases a larger premium-priced option.<\/p>\n
The PS5 SSD is just one piece of the next-gen console puzzle, with plenty of additional components and specs to be detailed in the future. Sony still hasn\u2019t committed to a final PlayStation 5 price yet, further suggesting that going with the cheapest SSD model gives them a bit of wiggle room to undercut Microsoft. The company has yet to even name the controller, though leaks from its own official site in France indicate that it will be the DualShock 5. Many expected a February PS5 reveal event to mirror the PS4\u2019s 2013 reveal, but as we get into the month, it\u2019s starting to look more and more unlikely.<\/p>\n
[Source: Let\u2019s Go Digital; Images courtesy Let\u2019s Go Digital and Snoreyn]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n