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[PS5] Samsung 980 Pro... barely faster than 5,500mb/sec?

DJ12

Member
The first step is to stop believing the PS5 actually requires an SSD that reads at 5+ GB/s when PC games have had equivalent load times for years even on SATA III based SSDs.
I have a PC with OC'd Ryzen 5950x, 32gb of ram and all my games run from a gen 3 970 evo (faster than the 970 pro which was released earlier) so very much in date for your statement of "for years" to be relevant and a PS5 and can categorically state this is bullshit.

PCs have not loaded games anywhere near as fast as PS5 does "for years" unless you are referring to minesweeper or classic solitaire.
 

nkarafo

Member
A crappy SSD Is a revelation over a hard disk.


The Best SSD of all time is an okay bump over a crappy SSD.
HDD = A fat, frail person who can barely walk to the next block without losing his breath.

Crappy SSD = A silver medalist athlete.

Best SSD = A gold medalist athlete.
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
I just installed this drive and didn't spot this thread. Got 5500 score. Was I supposed to put in my pc and update the firmware first. I've literally just bought the drive. Ut has a manufacture date of 23rd of Sept 2021. Hmmm can't be assed taking it out.
 
I just installed this drive and didn't spot this thread. Got 5500 score. Was I supposed to put in my pc and update the firmware first. I've literally just bought the drive. Ut has a manufacture date of 23rd of Sept 2021. Hmmm can't be assed taking it out.
Don’t bother. It probably already has the latest firmware. Also, I heard you can run the test multiple times and get different numbers.
 

Consumer

Member
I ordered a 1TB 980 Pro on Jan 2, and it arrived a couple days ago. I'm adamant about updating the FW prior to putting it into my PS5 (apparently a Dec update removed the 5700 cap of the 1-2TB drives). I know the extra speed is largely unnecessary, but I don't care.

Problem is, I can't really update the FW because, of my 3 laptops, only my main one can fit a 2280, and it already has a default one installed (presumably with all the core OS software on it). I'm looking for advice for the best way to proceed, with the following considerations/options:
  • My friend lives upstairs and games on PC, so he can potentially help, but I've read that we might need a screw that doesn't come with the SSD? And considering this guy didn't even know what an M.2 SSD was, I doubt he'd have extra screws lying around... I'd rather not ask him to tear apart his PC unless I'm sure we can install it
  • I know I can probably just buy something like this, but if I wanted to spend an extra ~$30 CAD, I would've just bought a non-bottlenecked SSD instead, like a WD.
  • Apparently PC/tech repair shops can do it for me, but how much might that cost?
  • As a last resort, I'd be willing to temporarily replace my laptop's default M.2 SSD to update the FW, if it's both possible and straightforward.
 
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Nitty_Grimes

Made a crappy phPBB forum once ... once.
Point one mate - depending on his motherboard if it has a spare SSD slot then that screw and a plate should already be on it as standard as it will be holding the plate on. Don’t know the model or make of the motherboard so just a suggestion

The Asus Z590 has 3 M2 slots for example not saying that’s his board but just as an example.
 
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I have the 980 (Samsung) in my gaming laptop and there are literally like no loading times. The longest I’ve had, was like 2 seconds with the initial booting into a saved game on Final Fantasy 13.
 

AGRacing

Gold Member
I ordered a 1TB 980 Pro on Jan 2, and it arrived a couple days ago. I'm adamant about updating the FW prior to putting it into my PS5 (apparently a Dec update removed the 5700 cap of the 1-2TB drives). I know the extra speed is largely unnecessary, but I don't care.

Problem is, I can't really update the FW because, of my 3 laptops, only my main one can fit a 2280, and it already has a default one installed (presumably with all the core OS software on it). I'm looking for advice for the best way to proceed, with the following considerations/options:
  • My friend lives upstairs and games on PC, so he can potentially help, but I've read that we might need a screw that doesn't come with the SSD? And considering this guy didn't even know what an M.2 SSD was, I doubt he'd have extra screws lying around... I'd rather not ask him to tear apart his PC unless I'm sure we can install it
  • I know I can probably just buy something like this, but if I wanted to spend an extra ~$30 CAD, I would've just bought a non-bottlenecked SSD instead, like a WD.
  • Apparently PC/tech repair shops can do it for me, but how much might that cost?
  • As a last resort, I'd be willing to temporarily replace my laptop's default M.2 SSD to update the FW, if it's both possible and straightforward.
There's a December update?

This thing is currently in my PS5 and holds the vast majority of my games.

Reasoning behind that is that not using the built in storage in the PS5 will maintain its health... and I generally keep my systems forever.

I've had absolutely no issues with the drive... always loads games as intended at full speeds. Obviously the minimum 5500 mb/s meets the internal drive specs...

But that damn benchmark when you install does bother me... I admit.

Please let us know if this "December 2021" update fixes the issue on the 1TB drive.

EDIT :

I went ahead and did it. Installed windows on the drive on my PC... then samsung magician... then installed the new firmware and set the drive to performance mode. PS5 registers 6500 mb/s. It works.
 
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Consumer

Member
Here's evidence of the December FW update, for those curious. Seemingly yielding ~6,500 benchmarks for everyone that updates it:
(How do I prevent obnoxious embedding while still showing the link?)



Point one mate - depending on his motherboard if it has a spare SSD slot then that screw and a plate should already be on it as standard as it will be holding the plate on. Don’t know the model or make of the motherboard so just a suggestion
Thanks, I'll seek out his help tonight
 

Nitty_Grimes

Made a crappy phPBB forum once ... once.
Let us know 👍🏻

Be interesting if you had before and after firmware updates but I guess not?
 
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I ordered this PCIe adapter to update my 980 Pro

The update installed successfully! Just have to put it in my PS5 to see if the read speed has changed. Even if all the update does is fix the speed test reading, it makes me feel better that it will be more in line with WD and other brands.
Would be much appreciated If you can put the drive Back in your PC after formating It on the PS5 If the drive kept the actual firmware.
 
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oldergamer

Member
I bought the 980 Pro 2TB version for my PS5 since I've always had really good experiences with Samsung SSDs in the past. All of my SSDs have always come from Samsung, so when I saw the 980 Pro advertised as 7000mb/sec read, I figured it would be perfect inside my PS5. I bought a compatible heatsink (same one Sony even uses in their installation video) and yet when I booted my system up, I got just slightly over 5,500mb/sec. This is disappointing to me since it's advertised as a 7000mb/sec drive. Was I expecting a full 7000 right out of the gate, no not really, but I was expecting at least better than 6000ms/sec.

I don't know about you, but I feel a little ripped off since so many other drives are hitting close to their advertised speed like the Western Digital hitting around 6,800mb/sec.

Yes, I know that it's fast enough to meet Sony's specification, but I bought a 7000mb/sec drive and I feel like I'm not getting what I paid for.

Also, who knows what some games will tap into in the future. Yeah, Rift Apart works perfectly on this drive, but one can argue that it's not really even maxing out the internal drive anyway since even slower drives are working fine with R&C.

I bought the drive a month ago to avoid stock issues so I can't even return it now. I'm kinda bummed out and disappointed in Samsung. I'm also aware that it's not their fault, as the drive wasn't "made for PS5", but my purchase decision was based on an Digital Foundry video where they showed the drive hitting some impressive speeds in their test



where they got about 6,500mb/sec.

Am I overthinking all of this? Absolutely, but I still feel like I paid a premium for mediocre speeds.

Peak read times on SSD's is only attainable at specific file sizes. In general, lots of small files won't transfer as fast as large files.
 

XinTniX

Neo Member
Although the internal PS5's SSD is 5.5GB/s, it has 12 Channels and 6 priority levels. Those 4Gen SSDs up to 7.5GB/s probably have half of this PS5's SSD specs (Channels and Priority).

Mark Cerny already said that you will need a faster SSD to compensate this.
 
Although the internal PS5's SSD is 5.5GB/s, it has 12 Channels and 6 priority levels. Those 4Gen SSDs up to 7.5GB/s probably have half of this PS5's SSD specs (Channels and Priority).

Mark Cerny already said that you will need a faster SSD to compensate this.
Sony's official requirement for gen 4 M.2 NVMe drives is at least 5,500MB/sec read speed.
 
I ordered this PCIe adapter to update my 980 Pro

The update installed successfully! Just have to put it in my PS5 to see if the read speed has changed. Even if all the update does is fix the speed test reading, it makes me feel better that it will be more in line with WD and other brands.

Bottom line is that not everyone has a PC, so for those people it's better to buy the WD Black SN850 NVMe than the Samsung 980 Pro for the PS5 upgrade.
 
Before update:
Ne5DULF.jpg


After update (reformatted inside PS5):
PPYO6jM.jpg
 
Kindly run test multiple times before filling with content
Nah, I'm confident that this isn't a misreading. I couldn't even get in the 6,000 range before. Also, the firmware on these is stored in an area that isn't affected by formatting. Otherwise, every time you erase the drive, it wouldn't know how to run because there would be no firmware on it. That wouldn't make sense.
 

Shmunter

Member
Nah, I'm confident that this isn't a misreading. I couldn't even get in the 6,000 range before. Also, the firmware on these is stored in an area that isn't affected by formatting. Otherwise, every time you erase the drive, it wouldn't know how to run because there would be no firmware on it. That wouldn't make sense.
Not about firmware, more about PS5 benchmark consistency
 

Shmunter

Member
I'm not worried about it. I'm not gonna keep formatting my drive. Like I said, I could barely get over 5,500MB/sec before and seeing it jump up almost 1GB/sec is good enough for me.
In that case I’ll ignore your results on the grounds of widely reported inconsistencies in the benchmark.
 

DJ12

Member
I also got 1gb/s increase ran the format twice and got the same speed twice. 6497 I think, already forgot. Due to having multiple devices available I was also able to update it on pc without wiping anything from the drive which may or may not already be known. Ran the format just to see the speed increase though.
 

saintjules

Member
Thanks for updating the thread. I wouldn't have known about this otherwise. I guess I'll take it out of my PS5 tonight and upgrade.

Will this need to be formatted before it can be read by the PC? I think any of my games that's installed on the SSD is not anywhere else anymore. I guess I'll just have to reinstall the games on there if that's the case.

I also got 1gb/s increase ran the format twice and got the same speed twice. 6497 I think, already forgot. Due to having multiple devices available I was also able to update it on pc without wiping anything from the drive which may or may not already be known. Ran the format just to see the speed increase though.

Cool, so it's possible to update without wiping the drive. That's a bit of a relief lol.
 
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Hoddi

Member
I wouldn't put too much stock into that benchmark. I formatted my drive twice and it only registered 8GB of cumulative reads afterwards. 4GB is nowhere near enough to make it an accurate SSD benchmark.
 

M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
I know that this thread is running while, but there is no need to buy Samsung 980 Pro, when WD SN850 1/2TB are cheaper and faster drives. I have 4 of them in my PC, because how cheap and great they are and honestly for me this is huge comeback of WD. I have Samsung's in the past and they were great, but it feels like they are lagging behind now.

At least price in here is
980 Pro 1TB - 4400CZK
SN850 1TB - 3999CZK

Also WD's seems to running colder, thus cooling is not really an issue.

Pisses me off that I could not plug this into mine XSX, would do so in heartbeat.
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
Ffs now I need to update my drive. Can I update it in a pcie gen 3 port?

cant miss out on an extra 1gbs speed. What a ball ache. But also awesome as I got the drive for 90 quid.
 

NeonDelta

Member
Ffs now I need to update my drive. Can I update it in a pcie gen 3 port?

cant miss out on an extra 1gbs speed. What a ball ache. But also awesome as I got the drive for 90 quid.
Yes you can update firmware in gen 3 port.

That's what I did a few months back and looks like I'll be updating it again. Luckily I've only put 1 game on the ssd so far.
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
Yes you can update firmware in gen 3 port.

That's what I did a few months back and looks like I'll be updating it again. Luckily I've only put 1 game on the ssd so far.

yeah I’ll have to move some games. I guess saves are all stored on the internal.

I’ll look to sort it all tomorrow.
great news on the gen 3 port, thx for letting me know.
 
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