• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

The reality of consoles storage

There has been many discussions about console storage on the next-gen consoles, many data points, but they were never put together in a meaningful way as far as I know... So I thought that I would put the information out there, no comment to avoid the warring.

I got the list from a site, that seems to match what I have seen going around and it gives us a decent sample of games that fits on the storage of both main next-gen consoles.

PS5 VS Xbox Series X, game sizes​

  • Control: 25.7 vs 43.6
  • Hitman 3: 61.9 vs 77.8
  • Subnautica: 3.8 vs 8.3
  • Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time: 20.0 vs 28.0
  • Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 e 2: 23.3 vs 31.9
  • Marvel’s Avengers: 74.1 vs 116.6
  • Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: 41.8 vs 72.5
  • Watch Dogs Legion: 50.6 vs 61.1
  • Immortals Fenyx Rising: 22.3 vs 32.9
  • Borderlands 3: 51.1 vs 63.8
  • DIRT 5: 50.9 vs 63.3
  • Mortal Shell: 4.6 vs 8.6
Then ran some numbers myself:

Total size:
PS5:
430.1 GB
Xbox Series X: 608.4 GB

Free space on new console:
PS5:
667 GB
Series X: 802 GB
Series S: 364 GB

Game sizes to storage ratio:
PS5:
64.5 %
Series X: 75.8 %
Series S: 167 %

Quite the surprise, I seriously did not expect this... but I will let you guys figure out what to do with this information.
 
Last edited:

Banjo64

cumsessed
I’m sure Bo_Hazem Bo_Hazem had a similar thread up not too long ago.

Only thing I’d say is what I said last time, the Series S often has much smaller file sizes than the X (and PS5), and not just for first party. I’ve just taken this screen shot of Dirt 5 on my Series S, 39gb instead of 50/63gb.

QwQK8m4.jpg
 

Kupfer

Member
I hope this sets a trend for devs to better optimise their games. Games (CoD franchise in particular) are using more and more space and for me, I don't see why.
 

Imtjnotu

Member
It helps having an external ssd to store your ps4 games too. I just install everything there and then ps5 games I am not using I keep on the SSD slot. All current played games play off the internal ssd
 

Bo_Hazem

Banned
I’m sure Bo_Hazem Bo_Hazem had a similar thread up not too long ago.

Only thing I’d say is what I said last time, the Series S often has much smaller file sizes than the X (and PS5), and not just for first party. I’ve just taken this screen shot of Dirt 5 on my Series S, 39gb instead of 50/63gb.

QwQK8m4.jpg

I think due to unified SKU some devs just don't bother as that as well saves them time and money with future updates. Sony seems to be forcing them or encouraging them.
 
Last edited:

reksveks

Member
PS5 benefits from both compression and the fact its a single sku whereas xbox needs to do basically enable both sku's in a single package. Think it gets rather weird especially in the case of Control.

That seems to be my understanding from the likes of LeviathanGamer2.
 

Banjo64

cumsessed
I think due to unified SKU some devs just don't bother as that as well saves them time and money with future updates. Sony seems to be forcing them or encouraging.
Yeah, I’ve just checked Subnautica and that’s 8gb on S as well (lines up with OP). Definitely at the devs’ discretion.
 

Kilau

Gold Member
Thankfully both systems allow you to easily add any external storage option of your choice to provide for quick swapping. If you like to have a lot of games downloaded it’s nice and of course the official (expensive) storage expansion methods.

It is interesting to see the file size differences though and how the PS5 can potentially do more with less.
 
My takeaway is that the benefit of xCloud will become more and more prominent in the coming years.
Games streaming is not even in the range of acceptable options for me, but is it was I would consider a service like that to run on some streaming stick instead of even a 300$ console.
I’m sure Bo_Hazem Bo_Hazem had a similar thread up not too long ago.

Only thing I’d say is what I said last time, the Series S often has much smaller file sizes than the X (and PS5), and not just for first party. I’ve just taken this screen shot of Dirt 5 on my Series S, 39gb instead of 50/63gb.

QwQK8m4.jpg
Noted, I'll take off the Series S from the list until I can find information I can use to make a reasonable comparison with it (I found more information, just nothing I can use).
 

Skifi28

Member
It seems everybody was expecting faster loading speeds with the PS5's advantage but it turned into smaller sizes instead. I'm really happy with that, it's a bigger difference than shaving another 2 seconds.
 
Last edited:

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
It seems everybody was expecting faster loading speeds with the PS5's advantage but it turned into smaller sizes instead. I'm really happy with that, it's a bigger difference than shaving another 2 seconds.
It was one of the advantages of the new storage and I/O pipeline: data does not need to be duplicated as much (… and it is better compressed).
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
It seems everybody was expecting faster loading speeds with the PS5's advantage but it turned into smaller sizes instead. I'm really happy with that, it's a bigger difference than shaving another 2 seconds.

Not "instead", but "as well". Proper made-for-PS5 games load pretty much instantly. 3rd party/cross-gen games that load comparatively slowly, even though they are less complex visually and thus have less data to load, are not representative.
 

FrankWza

Member
That PS5 SSD is suddenly not looking so small (compared to all the FUD early on before launch) now that all facets are considered.
I haven’t had any storage issues. I preordered that made for PS5 heat sink but I feel like drives are going to come down so quickly I can get a 1TB when it’s the price of a 512gb. Still see a bunch of comments about load times but it’s obvious the SSD and I/O is much more than that
Not "instead", but "as well". Proper made-for-PS5 games load pretty much instantly. 3rd party/cross-gen games that load comparatively slowly, even though they are less complex visually and thus have less data to load, are not representative.
the sopranos hbo GIF
 

Skifi28

Member
Not "instead", but "as well". Proper made-for-PS5 games load pretty much instantly. 3rd party/cross-gen games that load comparatively slowly, even though they are less complex visually and thus have less data to load, are not representative.
Compression VS speed is always going to be a trade-off. You can have a nice balance, but I don't think you can have both max compression and instant loading times.
 
Last edited:

RoadHazard

Gold Member
Compression VS speed is always going to be a trade-off. You can have a nice balance, but 8 don't think you can have both max compression and instant loading times.

On the contrary, the compression (and the powerful hardware decompression in the PS5) is part of the reason why the PS5 can load full, complex game worlds in the blink of an eye (faster than 5.5GB/s). This makes games smaller AND makes them load faster, the two go hand in hand.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
On the contrary, the compression (and the powerful hardware decompression in the PS5) is part of the reason why the PS5 can load full, complex game worlds in the blink of an eye (faster than 5.5GB/s). This makes games smaller AND makes them load faster, the two go hand in hand.
Don’t have to worry about the CPU waiting on draw calls through extraction layers. Another reason direct storage will be a thing on the PC, and those current naysayers and downplayers on this method, will all rejoice and scrub their critical post histories. ;)
 

Skifi28

Member
On the contrary, the compression (and the powerful hardware decompression in the PS5) is part of the reason why the PS5 can load full, complex game worlds in the blink of an eye (faster than 5.5GB/s). This makes games smaller AND makes them load faster, the two go hand in hand.
Not what I'm saying. As I said above, you can indeed strike a nice balance where you can have both good compression and great loading, but the more you compress a game naturally the more time you need to decompress and load, dedicated hardware doesn't make everything instant. You still need to balance it.

Example: demons souls is about 60gb. If they compressed it to 40 (assuming it's possible), it wouldn't load in 2 seconds like it does now.
 
Last edited:

Banjo64

cumsessed
That PS5 SSD is suddenly not looking so small (compared to all the FUD early on before launch) now that all facets are considered.
It wasn’t small in the first place considering that most Sony first party PS4 games were around 40gb in size or less. Even if all of Sony’s next gen games increased to an average of 60gb you’d still fit 10 on your SSD.
 
One major difference in favor of Xbox is that you can actually use every bit of storage, whereas PS always keeps a big slice of space set aside for the system. I know I have about 25 games downloaded on my Series X, and I can never seem to squeeze more than a handful of games onto my PS5
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
Not what I'm saying. As I said above, you can indeed strike a nice balance where you can have both good compression and great loading, but the more you compress a game naturally the more time you need to decompress and load, dedicated hardware doesn't make everything instant. You still need to balance it.

Example: demons souls is about 60gb. If they compressed it to 40 (assuming it's possible), it wouldn't load in 2 seconds like it does now.

Sure, there's a limit of course. But the PS5 can decompress 9-22GB/s (depending on how well those particular assets can be compressed) from 5.5GB/s of raw data, with no performance penalty, which is enough to fill up the entire RAM (or the 13.5GB or whatever that games can actually use) in 1-2 seconds.

Of course you wouldn't compress your assets with some crazy algorithm the PS5 doesn't support (meaning you would have to do the decompression on the CPU).

And Demon's Souls is already compressed. If it wasn't, it would take up more space AND loading would take 2x longer or more.
 
Last edited:

Deerock71

Member
Breath of the Wild - 13.4 GB

8fvvDNY.jpg


Storage is a disaster for me on all 3 consoles. Can't even come close to downloading my entire library.
Even on the Switch, and I've got a FUCKING 1TB micro SD card that...occasionaly...I gotta clean out.
 
Last edited:

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
One major difference in favor of Xbox is that you can actually use every bit of storage, whereas PS always keeps a big slice of space set aside for the system. I know I have about 25 games downloaded on my Series X, and I can never seem to squeeze more than a handful of games onto my PS5
Shocked John Oliver GIF by Last Week Tonight with John Oliver


Are we comparing apples to oranges here? NBA2K + COD + FIFA on PS5 vs small indies on the XSX?
 
Last edited:
Are we comparing apples to oranges here? NBA2K + COD + FIFA on PS5 vs small indies on the XSX?
Nope, I have a few games with bigger files on my Xbox than I do for any of my PS5 games. Now, of course I have some smaller games on Xbox as well, but the biggest game on my PS5 right now is Rainbow 6 Seige, no 100+GB games at all
 

Topher

Gold Member
One major difference in favor of Xbox is that you can actually use every bit of storage, whereas PS always keeps a big slice of space set aside for the system. I know I have about 25 games downloaded on my Series X, and I can never seem to squeeze more than a handful of games onto my PS5

Not sure what you mean. XSX, XSS, and PS5 all have space set aside for the system.
 
Not sure what you mean. XSX, XSS, and PS5 all have space set aside for the system.
PS systems always hold back more space, and for some reason, you can't squeeze that one last game onto your system. If I have 50GB left on my Xbox, I can download a 50GB game. On PS, it makes you delete something to allow the download. I literally just had to do this last week. According to the system storage, I SHOULD have had enough room for the game, but the system wouldn't let me install it until I made extra room
 
Right now, I have 23 games installed on my Xbox, and have 301.2 GB left. This includes multiple games of over 50GB.
On my PS5, I have only 10 games installed, with just 101.3 GB remaining.
The biggest file I have total is also on Xbox, at 76 GB.
Idk what to tell you, that's just my anecdotal facts, based on what I have installed
 
Last edited:

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Right now, I have 23 games installed on my Xbox, and have 301.2 GB left. This includes multiple games of over 50GB.
On my PS5, I have only 10 games installed, with just 101.3 GB remaining.
The biggest file I have total is also on Xbox, at 76 GB.
Idk what to tell you, that's just my anecdotal facts, based on what I have installed
I’m talking about your comment of using “all the storage,” … you don’t have access to “all the storage” on either system… or even PC.
 
Last edited:

Topher

Gold Member
Right now, I have 23 games installed on my Xbox, and have 301.2 GB left. This includes multiple games of over 50GB.
On my PS5, I have only 10 games installed, with just 101.3 GB remaining.
The biggest file I have total is also on Xbox, at 76 GB.
Idk what to tell you, that's just my anecdotal facts, based on what I have installed

Ok.....but that doesn't really mean much. To compare you would have to have the exact same games installed on both.
 
Ok.....but that doesn't really mean much. To compare you would have to have the exact same games installed on both.
Some of them are the same, and the crazy thing is that several of my PS5 files are really quite small.
Frostpunk is only 9.67 GB
Dark Souls Remastered is only 7.47 GB
Curse of the Dead Gods is only 5.34
The biggest files I have are around 50-60GB.

As long as I've owned an Xbox and a PS, this has been the case. I can ALWAYS fit more games on my Xbox. I don't really know why. I only game on both systems, so I don't have superfluous apps installed
 
Ok.....but that doesn't really mean much. To compare you would have to have the exact same games installed on both.
You know that the PS5 withholds like 200GB of storage space that doesn't even show up in your "Console Storage" section, right? That's a huge amount of memory that is just not available. You don't have anywhere close to 1TB of space. And yes, Xbox holds back space too, but it always allows me to have more games installed.
Like I said, idk what else to tell you besides the numbers I see on my systems.
 
Last edited:

Topher

Gold Member
You know that the PS5 withholds like 200GB of storage space that doesn't even show up in your "Console Storage" section, right? That's a huge amount of memory that is just not available. You don't have anywhere close to 1TB of space

That is the case for all consoles. Here is the breakdown of Total space to Available for each console:

XSX 1TB total -> 802GB available 78%
XSS 512GB total -> 364GB available 71%
PS5 825GB total -> 667GB available 80%
 
Last edited:

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
Right, but the PS5 holds back a LOT of hidden memory space. You simply cannot fit the same amount of games on both systems
You literally don’t have access to 100GB on the Xbox that is reserved for quick resume and that isn’t the system files portion either.

They are two different sizes because PS5 is 825GB vs 1TB.

Effective usage you have access to are less than that on both, which one uses a higher % of the total than the other.
 
That is the case for all consoles. Here is the breakdown of Total space to Available for each console:

XSX 1TB total -> 802GB available 78%
XSS 512GB total -> 364GB available 71%
PS5 825GB total -> 667GB available 80%
That's exactly my point though. You just showed that there's more actual usable memory for games on a Series X. That's what I'm saying.
 

Kenneth Haight

Gold Member
Honestly. I have a 1GB external SSD that is 550MB/s. I shift games between that and the internal. Really not an issue they were making it out to be. I’ll probably go the whole gen without installing a new internal drive I imagine.
 
You literally don’t have access to 100GB on the Xbox that is reserved for quick resume and that isn’t the system files portion either.

They are two different sizes because PS5 is 825GB vs 1TB.

Effective usage you have access to are less than that on both, which one uses a higher % of the total than the other.
Yes, I know, but you still have more actual usable memory on a Series X, that's why I can download more games onto it.
 

Topher

Gold Member
That's exactly my point though. You just showed that there's more actual usable memory for games on a Series X. That's what I'm saying.

That has nothing to do with "hidden memory space" at all. The PS5's SSD total size is 825GB. There is no "200GB of storage space that doesn't even show up". If you are talking about "hidden" as in used by the system then yeah, of course. Again, that's across the board.

Having a hard time following your point here. If your point is that XSX simply has a larger size SSD then that has been a known fact for quite some time.
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom