Upgrading PS3 HDD

[daretadakatsu]

Hey guys, i was just wondering if this HDD, will work with Ps3

http://www.cclonline.com/product/83861/MK6475GSX/Hard-Drives/Toshiba-640GB-MK6475GSX-2-5-SATA-II-Hard-Drive/HDD1492/

 

[Hawkeye22]

It should. Just make sure the height is 9mm and not 12mm.

 

[daretadakatsu]

It says 9.5mm, will that be fine?

also is this a good drive to upgrade to?

 

[Hawkeye22]

Hrmmm, I could have sworn 2.5" drives came in 9mm and 12mm. Check your ps3 manual or the ps3 web site. I could have sworn the clearence was 9mm. I put a WD scorpio blue in my PS3 a few years ago, so it's been a while. Anyhow, if it's a newer 2.5" drive (which it is), it should fit. I think mostly older 2.5" drives were 12mm.

 

[daretadakatsu]

Whats the difference between this http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/14918143/Samsung-Spinpoint-640GB-2-5-inch-Internal-SATA-Hard-Drive/Product.html?_%24ja=tsid:11518|cat:14918143|prd:14918143
and the other i posted?

 

[Hawkeye22]

The manufacturer and the size of the drive. Other than that, they are both 2.5" drives. The PS3 can use most any 2.5" sata drive as long as it isn't over 9mm in height. Stick with the 5400rpm drives (that's what the original ps3 drive is). A 7200rpm drive might give a little better performance, but will cause more heat, which you don't want.

 

[sscultima]

I found that you normally wont get a 12mm drive unless its a 1TB now from seagate or WD.

 

[Hawkeye22]

I found that you normally wont get a 12mm drive unless its a 1TB now from seagate or WD.

I figured 12mm is probably for older laptops that have much bigger cases. All the newer laptops I've had to replace drives for are 9mm.

 

[sscultima]

I figured 12mm is probably for older laptops that have much bigger cases. All the newer laptops I've had to replace drives for are 9mm.

that is true, hard drive chassis were bigger in older laptops, as well as high end gaming laptops that supports bigger drives.

 

[daretadakatsu]

Thanks for replys

 

[jay2tall]

If you are going to upgrade your PS3 HDD I can't suggest a Seagate Momentus XT drive enough. They have built on SSD's that cache data. I installed the 500GB version with the 4GB SSD in my PS3 over a year ago and the performance was immediately noticeable. Most noticeable in games that load alot, like Gran Turismo 5. It also boots your system faster and installs updates faster once downloaded.

http://www.cclonline.com/product/39521/ST95005620AS/Hard-Drives/500GB-Seagate-Momentus-XT-2-5-Hard-Disk-Drive/HDD1024/

The above link is on the one site you already listed. They have a 750GB version with an 8GB SSD, but the cost is a bit more and doesn't really perform much better than the 500GB model.

 

[daretadakatsu]

I've noticed alot of people saying try to stick to 5400rpm, is this just because of the heat a 7200rpm will produce?

 

[sscultima]

honestly, 7200rpm does not generate too much heat, because the ps3 will not always be reading from the drive, as long as you have good ventilation to the ps3 you are fine.

 

[jay2tall]

^ They say it's heat issues, but each drive is different. A good 7200 RPM drive won't make much more heat than a 5400RPM drive. Like I said I've used the Momentus XT 500GB drive for over a year and have had no issues.

 

[daretadakatsu]

How much data did the Ps3 take on the firmware/partioning install, i've also notice it varying, from taking 10gb-40 gb of data just by installing the new drive, and thanks for the quick replys.

Edit: also does the Seagate Momentus XT come in NTFS or FAT32?

 

[Hawkeye22]

NTFS and FAT32 are file systems. They don't come on any drive. You have to format them as such. There is no need to worry about the file system as the PS3 will put it's own proprietarty file system on the drive.

 

[sscultima]

the PS3 will format it to the filesystem it needs to use i think is extended journal. and as for the size it takes off from the total drive size, that is the way the difference between the manufacture measures the drive size compared to the OS calculating the drive size, there is always less showing on the system than what the drive is marketed for

 

[daretadakatsu]

Alright thank you

 

[jay2tall]

I recall needing to go to a Sony support site because the system did not prepare the hard drive and was requesting a disk. They had a download that you have to put on a USB stick or drive and boot with. Just remember to perform a system backup before pulling the current hard drive. It wasn't very difficult just took a little time.

 

[Hawkeye22]

I recall needing to go to a Sony support site because the system did not prepare the hard drive and was requesting a disk. They had a download that you have to put on a USB stick or drive and boot with. Just remember to perform a system backup before pulling the current hard drive. It wasn't very difficult just took a little time.

Really? Do you have an older system or something? I have an 80gig fat and other than needing a USB with the newest firmware on it, I had to do nothing special when upgrading my drive. Since my system was already a year old and had quite a bit of stuff on it, I did do the backup and restored it after the PS3 formatted and installed the firmware.

I've heard that the newer PS3's store their firmware in ram somwhere as my system actually stores part of the firmware on disk, which is why my system forces you to reinstall the firmware after putting a new drive in it. Since there is no OS yet, you can't download the firmware via the ps3's internet connection. You need to download the firmware on the PC and put it on USB.

 

[jay2tall]

I have the PS3 Slim with the 120GB drive. It wasn't a big deal, I just searched the issue online, and didn't take to much time to resolve. I'm sure if someone didn't have a USB drive laying around and was already fired up it could be frustrating. I performed the backup before the drive swap and then a restore when the new drive was installed and OS installed.... An then I got all excited when it booted up quicker and the sparkly background was sparkling really fast.

 

[sscultima]

i have the original 60GB PS3 and have popped in several different drives and it would just format and install the main OS and boot, that reminds me, i was able to fit a 12mm hdd in it, just was not able to use the hdd chassis that has the handle on it, lol

 

[jay2tall]

^My understanding is the original PS3 can handle the thicker drives. The Slim is limited to the 9mm drive height. I think those are mostly 1TB+ drives, maybe some 750GB drives.

 

[Hawkeye22]

There are at least 7 versions of the "original" Mine was a factory 80gig (fat) and it will not fit a 12mm drive. The original fat's that came with 4 usb ports and card readers might be able to fit 12mm drives.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3#Model_comparison

 

[sscultima]

There are at least 7 versions of the "original" Mine was a factory 80gig (fat) and it will not fit a 12mm drive. The original fat's that came with 4 usb ports and card readers might be able to fit 12mm drives.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3#Model_comparison

that is correct, the later phat models are straight loader with a metal handle that extends out and the older models slid in sidways which had higher clearance without the bracket but it was a tight fit.