The Steam Machine was finally released on Monday, and many gamers were disappointed with its $1,049 starting price, which doesn’t include a Steam Controller (you have to pay an extra $79 to bundle one). Unfortunately, Valve’s hands were tied in this due to the current RAMpocalypse, where even the cheapest RAM kits now cost four times as much as before. While engineers Pierre-Loup Griffais and Yazan Aldehayyat said that they cannot give a hard number for the console’s original price point, they told IGN in an interview that it would have experienced a “probably similar” price increase to the one the Steam Deck got in May 2026.

Given that the Steam Deck 512GB and 1TB experienced a price increase of around 45%, it stands to reason that the Steam Machine would have received the same hike if it were already in the market. So, if we extrapolate the numbers, the Steam Machine would’ve been originally priced at around $729.91. The 1TB Steam Deck’s price jumped by 46.22%, but we can’t just apply that increase to the higher-tier Steam Machine because it has double the storage capacity. But if we check our SSD price tracker, the price difference between the cheapest 1TB and 2TB SSDs was just at $28 when they were at their lowest. If we add this to the 1TB "version" of the living room PC console, then we can safely estimate that Valve’s target price for the 2TB Steam Machine is around $950-$1,000.

The Steam Machine is still more expensive than the PlayStation 5 Pro, even at its original prices, because Valve refuses to subsidize its hardware sales with the sales on the Steam store. After all, the Steam Machine has an open hardware philosophy, allowing buyers to do what they want with the console. You can install Windows 11 on it and just stick with PC Game Pass to play your games on the console, meaning Valve will make zero dollars on game purchases from you.

This stark price difference could make the Steam Machine unpalatable to console gamers who are interested in switching to PC gaming through the living room PC console. After all, several tests reveal that the PlayStation outperforms the Steam Machine in several titles (although the Valve hardware still performed well enough). But the advantage that gamers are paying for in the Steam Machine is the abilities of a desktop PC (you can pretty much install anything you want on it without going through the Steam store and you don’t have to subscribe for online play), combined with the convenience of a living room console (like HDMI-CEC and the ability to switch the console on or off from the controller). Interested gamers will also likely have a library of titles ready to play.

Hopefully, the Steam Machine’s price will come down once the memory supply finally stabilizes, but it will probably be years before this happens, if at all. Valve’s new gaming console is quite a niche product — it’s built for PC gamers with an extensive Steam library who want to play games on their living room couch or while lying in bed without going through the hassle of building an SFF PC. But if you prefer playing games on your desk or already have a substantial game library on your PlayStation, you’re probably better off sticking with your current hardware.

Sony just increased the price for refurbished PlayStation 5 Slim consoles by $100, bringing the Digital Edition to $499 and the disc drive model to $549. The original PS5 and Fortnite bundle now also appears out of stock at the time of writing, so you can no longer get a brand-new PS5 Digital Edition for just $399. You can see these changes on the Sony website, with u/FernandoRocker sharing the bad news to the r/PS5 subreddit yesterday.

At the moment, the cheapest PS5 you can get is still the original console for $399, although this is a refurbished model. If you want a brand-new unit, you have no choice but to shell out $599 for the PS5 Digital Edition console, or get the Ghost of Yotei Black Limited-Edition Bundle for the same price if you want the version with an optical drive.

The original and Slim versions of the PS5 have almost the same specifications, except for a couple of minor changes — the latter has a larger 1TB internal storage (versus 825GB) and comes with two USB-C ports (instead of a USB-C and a USB-A port). Otherwise, you’re not missing out on much. So, if the budget is tight, you can get the cheaper original refurbished model and then upgrade your console with one of the best PS5 SSDs later, when you have extra cash.

The company did not make any official announcements about the price increases, so this came as a surprise to some of its fans. This also isn’t the recent price hike that Sony made on the PlayStation 5. Just last month, it increased prices across all its new consoles, with the Digital Edition models (both original and Slim) getting a $100 bump, while the PS5 Pro went from $749.99 to $899.99. Even the PlayStation Portal now costs $50 more, at $249.99.

Price hikes for brand-new consoles are understandable, especially given the ongoing memory and storage chip crisis. However, it’s unclear why refurbished PS5 Slim consoles now also cost more. After all, the original refurbished PS5 still costs the same, so we cannot chalk this up to increased labor costs.

Unfortunately, without official guidance from Sony, we can only speculate about why it increased its prices. It’s possible that the company did this to reduce demand for used Slim edition PS5s so they wouldn't run out of stock. After all, if the price difference for a new console is just $100, quite a few buyers would rather go for a brand-new model than a refurbished one.

Security engineer Andy Nguyen, known online as TheFlow, has publicly released ps5-linux on GitHub: a complete toolchain for booting Linux on PlayStation 5 Phat consoles running firmware versions 3.xx through 4.xx. The project, which Nguyen demonstrated running GTA V Enhanced Edition via a proof-of-concept in March, is now a documented, reproducible process that anyone with compatible hardware can follow.

The release includes a Linux payload that exploits a patched hypervisor vulnerability, a build script that produces a bootable Ubuntu 24.04 image, tools for M.2 SSD installation, and a fan and CPU/GPU boost control utility. Nguyen credits several contributors, including c0w, resulknad, flatz, and the fail0verflow and ps5-payload-dev teams.

Only PS5 Phat consoles on older firmware 3.00, 3.10, 3.20, 3.21, 4.00, 4.02, 4.03, 4.50, or 4.51 are supported, with Nguyen having said support for 1.xx and 2.xx may come later, but that it’s not a priority. Firmware 5.xx could eventually work, though Linux would run inside Sony's GameOS virtual machine with reduced performance and unknown limitations, while anything 6.xx or above is ruled out entirely. Users who want to downgrade or sideload a specific firmware version can do so using Sony's official reinstall process with the correct PUP file.

Installing the payload requires a separate jailbreak tool — the umtx2 exploit — for initial code execution. Users set up a fake DNS server and HTTPS host on a local PC, redirect the PS5's manual page lookup to trigger the exploit, then send the ps5-linux-loader payload over TCP. After the console enters rest mode and the LED goes solid orange, pressing the power button boots into Linux. If the LED turns white, it worked.

Once booted, the PS5 runs as an x86 Linux desktop with access to all eight Zen 2 CPU cores (16 threads) at up to 3.5 GHz and the RDNA 2 GPU at up to 2.23 GHz. A bundled control tool enables CPU and GPU boost clocks alongside an adjustable fan curve, and Nguyen warns users should always enable the fan profile when boosting, as the console's cooling was designed for Sony's own power management. You can see the hack running GTA V in the tweet above.

The system outputs video and audio over HDMI at 1080p, 1440p, or 4K at 60 Hz. All USB ports remain functional, so users can optionally install Linux onto an M.2 SSD inserted in the PS5's expansion slot, turning it into a dedicated Linux partition separate from the console's internal storage. The internal SSD is never modified, and the console can return to normal PS5 operation on a standard reboot.

It’s worth noting that ps5-linux is a soft mod, not a permanent installation, meaning that the exploit must be re-run each time you want to boot into Linux. Some monitors are also known to have compatibility issues with HDMI output at 1440p and 4K, and Nguyen in his FAQs directs users to try a 1080p fallback or join the project’s Discord for troubleshooting.

With discrete GPU prices remaining elevated and Valve’s Steam Machine delayed beyond its original early 2026 expected launch window, a used PS5 Phat on old firmware could easily serve as an affordable and surprisingly capable alternative for Linux gamers willing to work through the setup.

The global component crisis has reached an inflection point where even consoles, historically a bastion of affordability against the fluctuating PC market, are now affected. Sony has just announced that all PlayStation 5 models are receiving price hikes, going into effect from April 2, 2026. It's your last chance to buy a PS5 or a PS Portal, because they're about to get $100 to $150 more expensive in just a few days.

• Buy PlayStation 5 Digital (slim)
• Buy PlayStation 5 Disc (slim)
• Buy PlayStation 5 Pro
• Buy PlayStation Portal

The base PlayStation 5 with a disc drive is now $649.99, up from $549.99, while the digital edition will now cost $599.99, up from $499.99. Both of those face only $100 hikes, but the PlayStation 5 Pro is $150 more expensive now, going from $749.99 to 899.99. Remember, the PS5 Pro doesn't come with a disc drive either. The PlayStation Portal, on the other hand, is now $249.99, up $50 from its original $199.99 price.

Sony says these changes were necessary given the current economic climate and that the company understands the community vitriol that'll stem from this decision. The PlayStation 5 already received another price hike in August 2025, where all models were made $50 more expensive. The new prices announced today are sure to upset many, but they won't surprise most of us.

This announcement comes at a time when most of the world, not just the tech industry, is reeling from an economic and political crisis tied to the Iran-U.S. war. The Strait of Hormuz, a major trade route in the Gulf region responsible for carrying a large chunk of the global oil supply, is still closed. The conflict is showing no signs of fizzling out.

The chipmaking sector is on the verge of facing a helium crisis, impacting the manufacturing process of silicon used in all sorts of devices around us. That includes the APUs Sony puts inside its PlayStation 5 consoles, and the future chip that'll power the PS6 and Microsoft's Project Helix. Let's not even get started on the memory shortage that the AI boom already caused, driving RAM and SSD prices up by as much as 500%.

Prices for PlayStation 5 consoles have risen in the UK, Europe, and Japan as well, so countries that import units from there will also experience the inflation soon. In Europe, the PS5 Pro will cost €899.99 from next week; that translates to a whopping $1,037. In the UK, at least, Sony offers PS5 rental services through a third-party vendor, and we assume they'll start to get a lot more popular now.

We've previously talked about how the upcoming Steam Machine isn't trying to hit console-level prices, but seeing what's happening to those in real time, one can only wonder the situation Valve is in.

The PlayStation platform will reportedly receive frame-generation technology, according to the console’s architect. Mark Cerny, who is the lead system architect for the PS4 and the PS5, said in an interview with Digital Foundry that machine-learning-powered frame generation will arrive on Sony’s gaming console. However, it’s unlikely to arrive this year, and gamers seeking higher FPS on the same hardware will likely have to wait until 2027 (or longer) to achieve that capability.

Cerny said in the interview, “The new PSSR uses the same core co-developed algorithm as FSR Redstone’s Upscaling.” AMD released the latest version of its upscaling and frame-generation technology in late 2025 to compete with DLSS 4, with FSR 4.1 dropping recently for RX 9000-series GPUs. The PlayStation architect said that AMD and Sony also co-developed the technology behind FSR Frame Generation and that “an equivalent frame generation library should be seen at some point on PlayStation platforms.”

However, Cerny was quiet when asked whether frame generation would hit the PlayStation 5 Pro or the upcoming PlayStation 6, which will have GPU upgrades that will enhance AI-rendering performance. “All I can say is that we have no more releases planned for this year,” he told the publication.

AMD is working with Sony to develop the next-generation PlayStation, which typically launches about 6 to 7 years after the current one. The company released the PS5 in 2020, with the PS5 Pro following in 2024. Because of this, many expect the PlayStation 6 to launch in 2027. Unfortunately, there are rumors that the company might delay the console until 2028 or even 2029 due to the ongoing chip shortage.

Some hardcore enthusiasts dismiss AI-powered technologies like super resolution and frame generation, calling them “fake pixels” or “fake frames.” However, this is one way manufacturers can deliver higher resolutions and faster frame rates without resorting to beefier, more expensive hardware that requires much more power. More importantly, the technology has improved over the years. Earlier versions of DLSS and FSR come with several downsides, like ghosting; newer releases have fixed those issues, with only the most keen-eyed gamers and pixel peepers able to spot the imperfections. So, by adding these machine-learning-powered features and pairing them with appropriate hardware, console gamers might finally be able to achieve the visual performance of a high-end gaming PC without shelling out the cash for one.

In light of Sony's heavily-rumored decision to pivot away from PC releases, one security engineer took matters into his own hands and turned the PS5 into a PC. Andy Nguyen ported Linux to a PlayStation 5 console, hacking through several layers of hardware and software barriers thanks to full-chain exploits. Not only did he manage to get Linux running, but the modded console actually performs well in games.

As the video below shows, that's a PS5 Slim running full-fat Linux with no illusions. Now that it's a PC, it can do anything a standard computer can, which includes running GTA V Enhanced Edition via Steam. It's set to 1440p resolution, with ray tracing enabled as denoted by the "High RT" preset in settings. The gameplay is steady at a smooth 60 FPS with barely any fluctuation, and even the sound is working.

Andy says this Linux-PS5 (LinuxStation 5?) supports 4K HDMI and audio output, and all USB ports are working. The CPU is sitting at 3.2 GHz, while the GPU is at 2.0 GHz, but both can go higher — the CPU can boost to 3.5 GHz, and the GPU can boost to 2.23 GHz. But the PS5 Slim doesn't have the thermal headroom to keep up with those numbers and simply overheats if pushed any harder.

To achieve this, Andy used a PS5 running significantly older firmware, between 1.0 and 2.0, that was released around five years ago. The author used the 'Byepervisor' exploit to say bye to the hypervisor Sony uses on its console, gaining kernel-level control to run unsigned code. GPU acceleration is still incomplete, and some functionality remains limited, but the community's efforts are impressive nonetheless, as Andy demonstrates.

To be clear, GTA V Enhanced Edition, the game Andy tested on this, is natively available on PS5 as well, but where's the fun in that? Under the hood, the PS5 is essentially a locked-down x86-based PC that's very similar in architecture to a modern computer. If Sony's hypervisor weren't in place, you could probably boot Linux directly on it. In fact, Sony used to allow that back in the early PS3 days as "OtherOS."

In a way, this is a tease of what the upcoming Steam Machine will be since it'll feature similar performance and run SteamOS, based on Linux. Through Proton, it can play pretty much any Windows game, sometimes with even a slight FPS bump. The Linux-PS5, therefore, is like the best of both worlds because it can go back to being a regular exclusives-playing machine after the tinkering phase is over.

Play Has No Limits — except if you're trying to buy a console. Amidst the dire wastelands of the tech industry, Sony has decided that enjoying its PlayStation 5 console should remain its top priority. Even if you can't pay for one outright, the company will now lease it to you every month with recurring payments, thanks to a local collaboration with Raylo in the United Kingdom called "Flex."

Raylo is a "tech subscription service" in the UK that allows customers to lease all sorts of stuff, including TVs, phones, appliances, and consoles. PS5s were already available on Raylo's site, but this new program, in partnership with PlayStation Direct, makes the process even more accessible. In fact, even this offer has been active since at least March 2025, so the company is simply readvertising here.

Instead of buying from third-party vendors or retailers like Amazon, you can buy PlayStation hardware "directly" from Sony via its online store. Every item sold here is authentic and official, adding another layer of legitimacy to the purchase. Raylo's leasing partnership is limited to PlayStation UK.

Speaking of which, the offer includes four options: 12 months, 24 months, 36 months, and an indefinite rolling plan. The longest lease is the cheapest, starting from £9.95 per month ($13.55) for the base PS5 Slim across 36 months. The most expensive plan is the flexible one, where you pay a flat £19.50 per month ($26.56) for the same PS5 Slim and £37.49 per month ($51.06) for the 2 TB PS5 Pro. Prices vary across hardware.

You can choose from a range of devices, including the PS5 Pro, as well as newer additions such as PSVR2 and the PlayStation Portal. The DualSense Edge controller, for instance, can be leased for as little as £6.50 ($8.85) per month for 36 months. Regardless of whatever item or plan you choose, at the end of the contract, you have to return the console or "upgrade for free."

That means this is not a financing situation; you're not paying installments as part of a payment plan to own the console at the end. You're simply renting it for the time being, but Raylo says you can contact them to discuss buyouts as well. On the other hand, Microsoft offers a similar leasing solution through "Xbox All Access," but that option lets you keep the console after you've fully paid it off.

Now, some quick math shows that renting a PS5 Slim over 36 months at £9.95 per month would total £358.2 ($487.89) — that's not too far from the console's upfront cost, and it's been on sale for less before. Perhaps short-term renting is the best use for this service: you can simply get the console for a month when a new exclusive comes out, play it, then return it as part of the 20 quid rolling plan.

Of course, then there's the doom and gloom of it all. Everything is a subscription service nowadays; you will own nothing,g and you will be happy. Beyond the obvious long-term disadvantages of this service, it's not a bad deal entirely. Even the maximum contract length of 3 years makes sense if you plan to upgrade to the next-gen PS6 at the end. Raylo says you can also keep paying after the lease ends if you don't want to return or upgrade the console.

The PlayStation 5’s ROM keys have allegedly been leaked, meaning anyone who can get their hands on the hex strings now has the hardware code that will allow jailbreakers to try decrypting and analyzing the console’s bootloader. According to The Cybersec Guru, this is an unpatchable problem for Sony, because these keys cannot be changed and are burned directly in the APU. The only way that the company can invalidate the leaked codes is to replace the chips on yet-to-be-manufactured units, meaning consoles that are already in the wild could possibly take advantage of future jailbreaks stemming from the use of these leaked codes.

When you turn on the PS5, its CPU runs the BootROM code that’s baked in the chip and uses the ROM keys to ensure that Bootloader is valid. Now that the ROM keys have been leaked (and assuming they are valid), a hacker could then decrypt and study the official bootloader and potentially use that as a starting point to understand how the PS5’s boot system works. Since the issue is at a hardware level, Sony would not be able to release an update that will stop consoles with the compromised chip from loading kernel-level exploits in the future, should one become available.

Note that this leak does not automatically mean that we will see jailbroken PS5s on the market right now, especially as Sony has other security measures that hackers need to bypass. However, the appearance of these codes means that one of the biggest security features of the console has likely already been compromised, making it easier for those working on creating custom firmware to have a deeper understanding of how the console works and use that knowledge to maybe build a modified (or even a totally different) operating system for it.

This isn’t the first time that Sony has had to deal with a security crisis with the popular PlayStation family. The PlayStation 3 was previously hit with a vulnerability when the company made a mistake with their cryptography on the console, allowing users to install homebrew software and allow piracy and cheating on popular titles. We also saw this with the Nintendo Switch, when a flaw in the Nvidia Tegra X1 chip that it used let tinkerers run Linux on the handheld.

Sony has yet to release a statement regarding the hack, but the company could release revised hardware in the near future to rectify the situation. Another solution is to issue a recall for all existing PlayStation 5 consoles on the market and replace their motherboard to change the hardware codes, but this is unlikely to happen as it’s either going to be too costly for the company or gamers would be unwilling to pay extra for a mistake that was ultimately not theirs.

Back in 2021, AMD's crypto-mining-focused BC-250 graphics card, powered by the Sony PlayStation 5’s APU instead of regular GPU chips, started popping up on eBay for around $500. Fast forward to the present day, and similar units are now available in China for as low as £96, or about $120. One such unit was ordered and procured by the creator of the YouTube channel Budget-Builds Official, notably sold as the “PS5 graphics card.”

The unit received by the YouTuber indeed looked like a GPU; however, in reality, it was a server-style motherboard with a large passive heatsink, power and fan headers, I/O ports including DisplayPort, USB 2.0/3.0 ports, Ethernet, as well as a CMOS battery slot. The unit also included a standard 8-pin PCIe connector to feed power and an I/O shield. According to the YouTuber, at its core, the custom board included the BC-250, a cut-down version of the APU used on the PS5, with six Zen 2 cores (compared to eight on the console), 12 threads, 24 compute units (compared to 36 on the console), and 16GB of GDDR6 memory. Interestingly, the board did not include any provision for standard DDR memory; instead, the GDDR6 memory was divided equally between the system and the Radeon GPU.

To power up the board, a standard 1,000W PSU was used along with an SSD, peripherals, monitor, CMOS battery, and a standard 120mm fan to actively cool the heatsink. To the YouTuber’s surprise, the janky system came to life, booting directly into the BIOS. After loading Linux, initial testing with Half-Life 2 and 3DMark’s Time Spy and Fire Strike benchmarks failed, likely due to issues with Linux drivers.

After some tinkering, the YouTuber was eventually able to run Half-Life 2 at over 200 FPS, however, 3DMark benchmarks did not show any signs of stability. Additionally, more games were tested, including GTA V Enhanced Edition, which ran at an average of 65 FPS at 1440p high settings and 25–30 FPS with ray tracing enabled. Counter-Strike 2 rendered fairly well at 1440p in a competitive setting, averaging 130 FPS. Surprisingly, demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Hitman 3 also managed to run at 1080p high settings with 42 FPS and 47 FPS, respectively.

While the performance of the custom BC-250 board may not be able to replace your Nvidia RTX or AMD Radeon GPU-powered gaming rig any time soon, it is interesting to see a PS5 APU converted into a working desktop. At $120, it might be one of the cheapest gaming PCs out there, but in reality, it is truly a collector’s item and highlights how inventive PC enthusiasts can get when given the right hardware and a bit of determination.

The past few years have witnessed a shift in Sony's strategy for first-party exclusives, as more and more titles make their way onto PC. While there's no sign of those titles also showing up on Xbox, the Japanese game company seems comfortable giving them up to Microsoft's other baby: Windows. And now we have our first look at what could be PlayStation's version of Xbox Play Anywhere — "Cross-Buy," a service that will let you purchase one game and own it across multiple platforms.

The news was first spotted by Amethyst on X, and now popular leaker billbil-kun on Dealabs is corroborating that they've found a "Cross-Buy" option in PSN, along with a "PS5 / PC" icon — both hints suggesting the new feature could be dropping soon. Billbil-kun reportedly managed to access the CSS files for PlayStation Store's website and discover a reference to "crossbuy-tag," which was recently added in June 2025.

Sony used to have a Cross-Buy feature back in the day, where you could buy one game and own it across PS3, PS4, and PS Vita, but it's been dormant for some time. The June 2025 date confirms that we're looking at something new. Since it was found alongside a PS5 / PC logo, it's pretty easy to connect the dots and conclude that you may soon be able to buy a game on PS5 and also own it on PC.

Microsoft already does this with its Xbox Play Anywhere program, in which buying the game on Xbox also gets you the Microsoft Store version. But Sony doesn't have a native PC launcher — it relies on Epic Games and Steam to distribute exclusive games, so it'll be interesting to see what sort of licensing deals are chartered up to make this whole ordeal work.

The other, more exciting possibility could pertain to the long-rumored PS6 handheld in the works. Since Cross-Buy is already associated with the PS Vita in some way, a spiritual successor building upon its legacy would be the perfect time to revive this branding. Realistically speaking, such functionality wouldn't be added in the files this early for a product that's at least two years away. Only time will tell if Cross-Buy extends to the next generation, though, while we wait for it to show up in the current one.

Sony took the wraps off its Pulse Elevate wireless speakers during its State of Play event a few hours ago. With this 2.0 speaker system, the firm says it will be introducing its “first wireless speakers for desktop gaming.” Obviously, Sony has a long legacy of wired speakers for PCs, dating back to its VAIO multimedia PC days.

The new PC, Mac, and PS5-compatible Sony Pulse Elevate speakers use PlayStation Link wireless connectivity, which promises lossless audio with ultra-low latency. Other key features are the inclusion of a microphone with AI noise cancellation, an easy-access volume knob, and battery power for portability.

This launch will expand the Pulse audio family, which Sony already established with the Pulse Elite wireless headset and Pulse Explore wireless earbuds.

In terms of audio performance, a technology highlight of the Pulse Elevate speakers is the use of Planar magnetic speaker drivers. In each speaker, these are situated above woofers, which extend the bass response so you can “feel every impact” when gaming.

Different platforms, different speaker features

Tempest 3D AudioTech is supported on the PS5 platform, in compatible titles, for positioning audio. Both PS5 and PC have software controls that allow for adjustments of the speaker EQ, sidetone volume, and mic mute settings. It seems like Mac users will miss out on this extra configurability.

The speakers are easy to position and detach from their charging docks, upon which they sit on your desk. The PlayStation Link USB-C wireless dongle and associated software are also said to make it easy to switch input sources. That may be welcome if you have multiple systems sharing a desk space, for example.

We also note that the Pulse Elevate works with the PlayStation Portal Remote Player, if you are one of the ~2 million people who own one of these handhelds. The design offers “simultaneous Bluetooth and PlayStation Link connectivity.” And thanks to Bluetooth, you will also be able to pair them with your smartphone.

Wait until next year for availability and pricing

If you've gamed on a PC, you've probably at some point had a go on a racing sim, or at least seen a clip of someone racing an F1 car or driving a big-rig in Truck Simulator. There are many steering wheel and joystick peripherals on the market for the occasional dable in a driving game, but if you at all start to take the hobby seriously, or want to inject more realism into your simulated driving experiences, then you're going to want to opt for a sim setup that includes a more proffessional steering wheel, and they don't come cheap - normally.

This Logitech deal makes use of a couple of promo codes that let you claim not only a money-off discount, but also some extra gear for free. Go to the G923 page and select your preferred PlayStation/PC or Xbox/PC version, then from the cart, add promo codes F-SHIFT and DRLUPO. You can then select the Logitech G DE9 gear shifter and TrueForce racing gloves and add them to the cart for FREE. Once completed, you'll notice that the Logitech G923 TrueForce Sim-Racing Wheel has been reduced from its initial list price of $399.99, all the way down to $214.99. Add the price of the free gear shifter and gloves, and the original total hits $484.97, so you're saving $269.98 - over 56%.

• Check out the deal at Logitech

The Logitech G923 features the button layouts of your preferred console option (Xbox/PlayStation) and is constructed of high-quality material. The steering wheel is hand-stitched leather, while the sequential paddles are brushed aluminum. The steering wheel has a full lock-to-lock rotation of 900 degrees with a magnetic hall-effect steering sensor. Logitech's TrueForce force-feedback is powered by dual motors and features overheat protection.

Also bundled in with this deal is the Logitech G Series DE9 Gear Shift, a 6-speed short-throw gearbox that can accompany the G923 for a complete driving setup. Constructed with a solid steel gear shaft and leather knob, the DE9 is built to last and hopefully withstand the most extreme driving conditions.

If you're looking for more savings, check out our Best PC Hardware deals for a range of products, or dive deeper into our specialized SSD and Storage Deals, Hard Drive Deals, Gaming Monitor Deals, Graphics Card Deals, or CPU Deals pages.

Dutch PlayStation gamers are up in arms about what they call the unfair 'Sony tax.' Their collective anger has been mobilized today in a class action suit against Sony, alleging monopolistic practices. In brief, legal representatives of the 'Fair PlayStation' campaign say that “consumers pay an average of 47% more for these digital versions than for exactly the same game on a physical disc” (machine translation used), as Sony leverages its monopoly on digital sales.

Research undertaken by the Dutch collective indicates that Sony has been “exploiting its dominant position in the console market for at least ten years,” with things made much worse by barring other app stores from the platform. It concludes that “at least 1.7 million Dutch PlayStation owners pay too much for digital games and in-game content.” In total, Dutch consumers have thus had to shell out €435 million ($505 million) more than they should have done since 2013, according to campaigners.

Wherever you live, though, new PlayStation 5 releases are expensive, and typically arrive at $69.99 in the U.S., for example. While Sony can easily control game pricing in its digital store, competing sellers of physical game media releases will often race to cut the margins they enjoy per game to aim for the volume market. This kind of healthy competition is being eroded by the introduction and promotion of the digital-only versions of consoles.

Of the key components in any PC, the storage drive is the slowest, transferring bits in a fraction of the time your CPU and GPU take to process it or your RAM takes to load it. A poor-performing storage drive often leads to a big bottleneck, forcing your processor (even if it's one of the best CPUs for gaming) to waste clock cycles as it waits for data to crunch.

You can fix that problem with an SSD, but finding the best SSD or solid-state drive for your specific system and needs is key if you want the best gaming PC or laptop, or even if you just want a snappy productivity machine. To find the best SSDs for gaming and productivity, we test dozens of drives each year and highlight the best ones here. We also maintain an SSD benchmark hierarchy that ranks SSDs by performance. We have multiple categories, including the best SSD for NAS and the Best SSD for the Steam Deck listed below. For those on the hunt for the best external SSD or the best SSD for the PS5, be sure to head to those links for our recommendations based on our exhaustive testing. If you're looking for the ultimate in cheap and deep storage, we also have a list of the best hard drives.

Prime Day Exceptional SSD deal

Here is a standout deal from the Prime Day event, which is currently taking place. Our list of best overall picks continues below.

Picking the Best SSD for You

The era of PCIe 5.0 SSDs is also upon us, propelling storage performance to new heights. Blazing-fast PCIe 5.0 M.2 SSDs, which offer up to twice the sequential speeds of the older PCIe 4.0 standard, are now supported with Intel and AMD's current platforms, like Zen 5 Ryzen 9000 and the Intel Core 200S series.

It's great if your desktop system can handle a PCIe 5.0 drive, but they are still new and more expensive and certainly aren't a requirement. For example, the PCIe 4.0 Samsung 990 Pro is our current choice for the best SSD overall, and the best SSD for gaming. This drive is rated for 7,450 / 6,900 MBps of sequential read/write throughput and 1.2 / 1.55 million read/write IOPS. That means less time waiting for game levels to load or videos to transcode, not to mention a snappier experience in Windows.

PCIe 5.0 SSDs still have plenty to offer. The Crucial T705 ranks as the fastest consumer SSD in the world that you can actually buy, alongside similar SSDs like the Sabrent Rocket 5, delivering up to a blistering 14.5 GB/s of sequential throughput and 1.8 million random IOPS over the PCIe 5.0 interface. That's an amazing level of performance from a surprisingly compact device.

While the PCIe 5.0 drives are the fastest SSDs money can buy right now, believe it or not, raw speed isn't everything. In regular desktop tasks such as web browsing or light desktop work, you may not even notice the difference between a PCIe 3.0 SSD and one with a 4.0 interface, let alone a new bleeding-edge PCIe 5.0 model. The latest PCIe 5.0 SSDs also carry a heavy price premium for now, so you're probably best suited with a PCIe 4.0 model — unless you're after the fastest possible performance money can buy, of course. If that's the case and your system supports it, go for a new PCIe 5.0 SSD.

Ultimately, the best SSD for you is one that provides enough capacity to hold your data at a price you can afford. Consider that a high-end, AAA game can use more than 100GB of data, and Windows 11 all by itself may need 60GB. These days, we feel 2TB drives represent the sweet spot, with 4TB models becoming increasingly common.

Best SSDs in 2026 at a glance (more info below):

Here's the shortlist of our rankings, but we have deeper breakdowns for these drives below, along with far more picks for other categories, like PS5 SSDs, RGB SSDs, workstation SSDs, and SATA SSDs, among other categories.

Quick Shopping Tips

Below, you'll find our list of the best SSDs. For even more information, check out our SSD Buyer's Guide. Iif you're looking for an external SSD, you can check out our Best External Hard Drives and SSD page, or learn how to save some money by building your own external SSD.

Best SSDs You Can Buy Today

Samsung hit back at its competitors with this impressive update to the 980 Pro. New hardware and new options, including a heatsink with RGB and a 4TB variant, have allowed Samsung to retake the M.2 SSD crown. Performance is excellent across the board, setting a few new performance records, such as with 4K random read performance. In our testing, the drive was consistent, power-efficient, and cool. Samsung has also updated its software for this drive, giving it the best SSD toolbox available, and the drive is backed by a competent warranty and decent support.

$20 extra for a heatsink and RGB is a good deal, and Samsung will likely discount this drive over time. Competing PCIe 5.0 drives on the market offer faster performance, but they still carry a premium.

Read: Samsung 990 Pro review

WD has taken its popular Black SN850 SSD and turned it up to 11. The Black SN850X leverages an improved controller and newer flash to get the most out of the PCIe 4.0 interface. Performance is improved across the board, and the drive rivals most of the top contenders in the PCIe 4.0 market. There's also a heatsink option that comes with RGB at 1TB and 2TB. WD also supports the SSD with its decent Dashboard application and a respectable five-year warranty.

The M.2 Black SN850X was a bit pricey at launch, however, with a daunting MSRP, but those prices have largely come down. The touted Game Mode 2.0 feature felt incomplete in our testing, although WD ensures us that this will improve with future firmware updates. All-in-all, this is a good compromise if you can’t find the Samsung 990 Pro.

Read: WD Black SN850X review

Fastest Best SSDs

The Corsair MP700 Pro XT delivers shocking levels of performance with excellent power efficiency. It’s the first Phison E28-based drive we reviewed, and it’s also the fastest drive, period, we’ve ever reviewed. If you want a no-compromises storage solution, this is it. The only exception would be if you’re gunning for 8TB in a single drive, in which case we recommend the Samsung 9100 Pro or, when it arrives, the 8TB model of the SanDisk WD Black SN8100. The Black SN8100 was our old pick for fastest SSD and still remains relevant at lower capacities if it’s priced lower than the MP700 Pro XT.

Read: Corsair MP700 Pro XT review

Not content with the release of the WD Black SN7100, our pick for the best laptop M.2 SSD, Sandisk followed up quickly with the WD Black SN8100. This drive is a response to the Samsung 9100 Pro – a good drive in its own right – with the added desire to destroy all existing high-end PCIe 5.0 SSDs. The SN8100 achieves this by using a new, more efficient controller from SMI along with very efficient BiCS8 flash. Through this, the drive is not only highly power-efficient for an SSD of this caliber, but it’s also able to hit higher performance levels with less overhead. For the time being, it’s the fastest all-around drive out there.

Sandisk could have skimped on the capacity end, but there’s 1TB to 4TB at launch, with 8TB promised in 2025. Historicall,y it has been difficult to get even 4TB drives out the door at this performance level and while it might take some time for Sandisk to improve availability there, the upfront promise of 8TB has us more hopeful. An 8TB drive in this class is a dream come true for many enthusiasts. That said, you’ll pay for the privilege. The SN8100 is not and will not be an inexpensive drive..

Read: Sandisk WD Black SN8100 review

Best Budget PCIe 5.0 High-End SSD

“Budget” and “PCIe 5.0” are two terms that are difficult to reconcile, but the modern consumer SSD landscape is such that you actually might want to save some money when getting a high-end drive. The Lexar NM1090 Pro is positioned precisely to take advantage of that, offering full PCIe 5.0 bandwidth but at a lower cost by using older flash. The cost differential is small, but so is the real-world performance impact. This drive will max out your PCIe 5.0 slot and won’t leave much performance on the table, which means the drive can be a slightly more affordable way to future-proof.

You’re still getting 14 GB/s or more of theoretical bandwidth with up to over 2 million 4K random read IOPS. These are startling numbers that beat any PCIe 4.0 drive and also all lower-end Gen 5 drives. Earlier high-end Gen 5 drives will fall behind in other areas, such as being much less power-efficient than the NM1090 Pro. This is a drive that could functionally work in some laptops – especially in Gen 4 mode – and it never needs any active cooling. You’re trading one generation of NAND flash for the ability to get a top-tier drive for a little less money. A worthwhile trade-off, even if the drive doesn’t stand out in any way.

Read: Lexar NM1090 Pro review

Best Laptop SSDs

If you’re looking for a new SSD for your laptop or other portable device, the Sandisk WD Black SN7100 should be at the top of your list. Battery life is usually of utmost importance, and there is no drive on the market more efficient than this one. In the grand scheme of things, your SSD probably won’t make a huge dent in your power budget unless you’re pushing things a little harder, but on the other hand, every bit matters. That selling point alone might not be enough for everyone, but luckily, the Black SN7100 also has fantastic random read performance, which makes it exceptionally responsive.

While the drive did not have a 4TB model at the time of launch and review, it is now part of the lineup, which removes one of the negatives we had for the drive. You no longer have to compromise on capacity. However, the drive still suffers from middling all-around performance, and its pricing remains a sticking point. Sandisk has been more prone to sales as of late, though, and we think that even if this drive isn’t the best pick for desktop, it’s pretty hard to beat for laptops.

Read: Sandisk WD Black SN7100 Review

The Crucial T500 combines cutting-edge flash with a customized controller that manages to be power-efficient with just four channels but also squeezes in the coveted performance-boosting DRAM cache. The T500 is also a single-sided drive with TCG Opal support, making it perfect for professional laptop use.

Many laptops are still stuck with PCIe 3.0 slots, and that’s fine. The T500 will be even more efficient when run at 3.0, and its benefits, aside from bandwidth potential, do not disappear. While the T500 does offer a heatsinked version, which we have in our all-around best SSD category, you’ll be going bare for a laptop. In this respect, it can even be better than DRAM-less drives, as the T500’s controller has more surface area and a metal IHS to prevent controller overheating. It’s simply the finest drive for laptops at this time unless you really want more horsepower. That’s on the menu, too, especially once the 4TB version arrives.

Read: Crucial T500 Review

Best 4TB SSD

4TB has become a more attractive capacity point for SSDs as time has gone on. While there are now many options available, most come with compromises of one sort or another. You may have to settle for QLC, a weaker controller, no DRAM, unreliable hardware, etc. This is not always a big deal, especially if the drive is intended to be a secondary gaming drive. In the PlayStation 5, however, extra cooling is beneficial, so it’s convenient to have a heatsink option available. At the same time, laptops favor bare drives and especially single-sided drives, the latter of which have been very rare with TLC until recently.

Samsung has managed all of this with its high-performing 990 Pro SSD. You have a powerful controller with DRAM, cutting-edge TLC flash, and a single-sided drive with or without heatsink even at 4TB. WD’s SN850X has been out a while at 4TB but has no heatsink option and is double-sided, with the SN850P being a latter heatsinked version for the PS5. There has been an increasing amount of 4TB TLC drives, including the Lexar NM790 and Addlink A93, but these cannot compare to the power and brand power of Samsung’s 990 Pro. You do have to pay for that privilege given the high MSRP, but at this time there is no substitute.

Read: Samsung 990 Pro Review

Now that Crucial has finally brought out the 4TB SKU for the T500, it can replace the T700 on our best SSDs list for the best 4TB SSD alternative. The T700 is still a good choice for this, but the T500 is better for a few reasons. While both drives have a heatsink option, the T700 requires one, while the T500 can work bare in a laptop. The T500 is also more power-efficient but doesn’t skimp on performance by omitting DRAM. And while the T700 is PCIe 5.0 capable, many machines — including laptops and the PS5 — won’t benefit from that extra bandwidth.

The 4TB T500 is not without its faults, though. Its pricing is a little high for what you get, matching other high-end drives, which makes more sense on desktops. This is partly because the T500 has inconsistent sustained performance while those like the 990 Pro and SN850X do not. The 4TB T500 is also double-sided, which potentially reduces its compatibility. There are already single-sided, 4TB DRAM-less drives for less, such as the Lexar NM790, and there may be more in the future, although in general, this fact shouldn’t reduce the T500’s appeal.

Read: Crucial T500 4TB review

Best High-Capacity (8TB) SSD

We love the WD Black SN8100 and we love the SanDisk Optimus GX Pro 8100 now, too. Okay, it’s the same drive by a different name, but we finally got to see what this hardware can do at 8TB with the latter. While the WD Black SN850X remains the best bargain for an 8TB SSD, the Optimus GX Pro 8100 / Black SN8100 offers the best performance for an 8TB drive. It achieves all of this while remaining power-efficient, which is no mean feat. It even offers an optional heatsink with RGB LED lighting if that suits your fancy.

Most importantly and especially for a high-capacity drive, the drive’s random read latency is incredibly low. This ensures the most responsive experience possible with fast game and app loading times. The drive even has a Game Mode feature to improve this even further. It’s maybe a little expensive to get just for games, but if you want the very best this is the way to go. It’s the best all-around 8TB drive out there if you need one drive to rule them all. The Samsung 9100 Pro is not the worst consolation prize but it’s just not as good. We’ll have to wait for more high-end, Gen 5 8TB drives to see if SanDisk’s masterpiece can be unseated.

Read: SanDisk Optimus GX Pro 8100 Review

The Samsung 9100 Pro is not a record-setting drive now that the second generation of Gen 5 SSD controllers are coming out in retail products. However, it is the first high-end drive to offer an 8TB SKU. This is a massive amount of storage, especially for a drive at this performance level. The 9100 Pro delivers good results in all of our tests, and the overall package is perfect for enthusiasts who want this much space in one drive for their HEDTs and workstations. It can also work in laptops, but the double-sided nature of the drive makes it more suitable for desktops, especially with the optional and affordable heatsink. Behind it all is Samsung’s name, so you know you’re getting a high-quality product with support to back your expensive investment.

Read: Samsung 9100 Pro 8TB SSD review

Best Budget M.2 SSD

Everybody loves a good budget drive and, luckily, there’s almost always something to fill that gap. Right now, it’s the Biwin NV7400, taking over from our long-time favorite TeamGroup MP44. There’s nothing wrong with the MP44; it’s just getting harder to find. It also has variable hardware – a reality for almost all drives – while our more recent NV7400 sample had very good hardware, indeed. Biwin did a great job with this drive, and we can recommend it for pretty much any system, so if its price is at or below similar contenders like the MP44, then it’s an easy choice. Assuming things stay that way.

There are many things to like. It has good all-around performance, capped by good power efficiency. The single-sided design, that makes it a good pick for laptops and the PS5. You can always add your own heatsink, though. It also has high TBW if that’s something you look at, although we think a drive with DRAM is better for high writes. Also, there is no 8TB SKU here – the MP44 does have that – but we really don’t think that matters for a budget drive. There are less expensive drives, sure, but this category is for the best budget drive, and the NV7400’s bandwidth and 232-Layer flash take the prize.

Read: Biwin Black Opal NV7400 2TB SSD Review

We recently replaced the TeamGroup MP44L on our Best PS5 SSDs list for a good reason: the MP44L has had its hardware changed over its life, but it’s now showing up with decidedly bad controllers and QLC flash. It was our budget champion for quite some time, but it feels like Team has introduced the MP44Q to fill that gap.

Drives in the middle of the PCIe 4.0 range – usually around 5 GB/s peak, give or take – are becoming less sensible by the day. What this means for you is that it’s more appropriate to opt for budget-friendly 7 GB/s drives, such as the MP44 and MP44Q, if you’re budget-conscious. Which drive to pick depends on the pricing and availability at the time of purchase. The MP44Q can end up competing with the MP44 with comparable pricing at times, and even at its best, it’s up against other QLC-based drives.

That doesn’t mean the MP44L and its class of drives should be ignored completely, as sometimes it really does come down to a few $ in either direction. However, we would strongly recommend going up to the MP44Q at the least if you value hardware longevity. Cheap drives are cheap for a reason. The MP44L once stood out with good controllers and TLC flash, but now that the market squeeze has left it as a poor man’s Kingston NV3 – Kingston’s NV series being the poster child for hardware that changes in some budget SSDs – we think you can do better. The MP44Q offers a good, power-efficient alternative.

Read: TeamGroup MP44Q review

The WD Green SN3000 is not a drive for everyone. It’s on the lower end for budget Gen 4 drives in terms of peak bandwidth, and it inherits a mixed reputation. WD’s Green line has always been associated with dirt-cheap drives that are very much the last resort. This isn’t helped by the fact that the SN3000 has a shorter warranty than usual at three years, and also has some of the lowest TBW, or warrantied writes, of any drive we’ve tested in recent memory. That paints a nasty picture, but we believe this drive is actually a diamond in the rough.

The drive has good performance thanks to its BiCS8 QLC flash, so it feels more responsive than expected. This flash also helps the drive stay efficient enough for mobile devices. On top of this, you can get the drive at smaller capacities that have been hard to find. If you’re buying on a budget, it’s a veritable godsend. We can overlook its weak sustained write performance, as that’s not a factor in this segment. As for the TBW, we can’t deny that it is dismal, but in its defense, a read-heavy drive won’t have any problem here over three years.

Read: WD Green SN3000 Review

Sandisk’s newest Blue NVMe SSD is an achievement despite its complete transition from TLC to QLC flash. This drive has something for everyone, offering decent all-around performance, low 4K random read latency, and high power efficiency, all within a nice capacity range. In fact, it’s difficult to tell it apart from the TLC-based Black SN7100 in everyday use. Given that the Blue SN5100 is using less-expensive QLC flash, it should end up priced better, too, which would be quite something given the great value the Black SN7100 provides.

The Blue SN5100’s excellent balance makes it an all-around winner for use in mobile systems, the PS5, HTPCs, and as a secondary or gaming desktop drive. It’s a drive for everyone and is our pick for the best QLC drive on the market, although the Crucial P310 comes close. QLC usually means capacity, and thankfully, the Blue SN5100 is available up to 4T,B which leaves us with few criticisms. Yes, it still has weaker sustained write performance than a TLC drive, but this is less concerning than the launch price. This drive, when settled at its proper price point, will be a great pick.

Read: Sandisk WD Blue SN5100 Review

WD took its popular Black SN850 SSD and turned it up to 11, but luckily for value seekers, the price isn't nearly as extreme. The current $156 price on Amazon for the 2TB model is a great deal, even if it's now $25 more than it cost last year. The Black SN850X uses an improved controller and newer flash to get the most out of the PCIe 4.0 interface, thus delivering excellent performance with the Sony PlayStation 5. WD improved performance across the board, and the drive comes with a heatsink option at 1TB and 2TB capacity points.

WD also supports the SSD with a solid five-year warranty that will let you game with peace of mind. This drive is made for the PlayStation 5, and while it can be a bit pricier than budget options, overall, it's still our top pick for the PS5. It's also fast for gaming on a PC, particularly with DirectStorage starting to become useful, so this drive is plenty attractive.

WD has taken the course of releasing an officially licensed SN850P SSD. That drive is a glorified heatsinked SN850X and you should only pick it if you want the heatsink at 4TB. Even then, it's far cheaper to get a bare SN850X and add your own heatsink.

Read: WD Black SN850X Review

The Addlink A93 is a perfect example of a great PlayStation 5 expansion drive – it delivers top performance at up to 4TB without breaking the bank. The PS5 doesn’t need anything special, but you might as well get a drive that will last a long time. The A93 checks this box with its TLC flash, and it’s also designed for the PS5 with a compliant heatsink and a single-sided drive design. It’s DRAM-less with a four-channel controller, which means it’s power-efficient and, with its heatsink, it’s therefore unlikely to overheat, which is always good news for console lovers.

That said, enthusiasts would still prefer to have DRAM, which is why we have the WD Black SN850X as our first pick for a PS5 drive. If you’re trying to save some money, though, the A93 is a decent substitute. There are competing drives that would work as well, such as the Lexar NM790, but currently, the A93 offers the best package for the best price. It has all the performance you need with no real drawbacks, unless you really have your heart set on 8TB.

Read: Addlink A93 SSD Review

The Crucial P310 came as a bit of a surprise, but a welcome one. M.2 2230 SSDs have ratcheted up in popularity ever since Valve’s Steam Deck launched, and now there are more portable gaming systems than ever. There’s also Microsoft’s Surface Pro line and some laptops that take M.2 2230 or M.2 2242 - this drive can be extended up to M.2 2280 if needed - which used to mean going to eBay for OEM options like the WD SN740. This hasn’t been the case in a while, but finding a decent 2TB drive has remained difficult. The P310 handles that challenge like a champ.

Sure, it’s QLC-based, which means it’s not quite as fast or consistent as it could be, but it’s more power-efficient than the TLC-based WD Black SN770M and has more throughput. In fact, it’s the fastest 2TB M.2 2230 SSD we’ve ever tested. We expect the updated Corsair MP600 Mini would beat it, but the P310 has better availability and should be less expensive. It’s fast enough where it matters, which makes it the best option if you’re looking purely for capacity, but your host system should be able to take PCIe 4.0 drives to fully benefit.

Read: Crucial P310 SSD review

Kingston’s NV3 (2230) is a good example of a budget drive done right. Our reviewed version has good hardware, including superior QLC flash. However, the specifications are lower than normal which gives Kingston the ability to change the hardware down the road. This isn’t a big trade-off considering the drive is priced right at 1TB and 2TB, the most popular drive capacities for this form factor. The good power efficiency also means it won’t drain your battery or overheat.

When we’re talking about the Steam Deck this drive is more than fast enough as the device is limited to PCIe 3.0. Other and future devices will take PCIe 4.0 and even 5.0 SSDs, however. For the most part you don’t need a drive with TLC flash even in that case if your primary workload is gaming. The NV3 would have more competition there, certainly on the performance front but also possibly with capacity down the line. Aside from the excellent Crucial P310, we may begin to see 4TB drives in this and the M.2 2242 form factor with double-sided solutions, 2TB dies, or both. Right now the NV3 is a solid deal, though.

Read: Kingston NV3 (2230) SSD review

Corsair’s second run at the MP600 Mini, now with a faster controller and flash, is an example of how to do things right. It takes M.2 2230 SSDs to the next level in terms of performance while maintaining excellent levels of power efficiency. To top it off, it brings TLC flash at up to 2TB in a single-sided package. Previously, it was necessary to go with QLC flash - which in some cases is slower than TLC flash - or the power-hungry WD Black SN770M, which in any case isn’t as fast. This isn’t as big a deal with the PCIe 3.0 Steam Deck, as you can’t reach the full potential of today’s drives with that interface.

The new MP600 Mini comes at a price, though. Literally - it costs a bit more than the competition. The least expensive way to get this level of performance is to go with the Crucial P310, the best choice for M.2 2230 on any PCIe 4.0 platform if you want the highest capacity and 7 GB/s. For a 3.0 platform like the Deck and TLC flash, the Black SN770M remains solid. If you want the best performance possible, then the updated MP600 Mini is the way to go. For the time being, it is even good for M.2 2242 with an extender, otherwise, the native Rocket Nano 2242 will do the trick at 1TB.

Read: Corsair MP600 Mini (E27T) SSD Review

The WD Black SN770M is unique in that it offers 2TB of TLC NAND flash in the tiny M.2 2230 form factor in a single-sided design. This makes it optimal for use in the Steam Deck, ASUS ROG Ally, and other portable gaming/computing devices. Some of these can take double-sided drives or longer drives, but the most popular of them all - the Deck and Deck OLED - work best with this form factor. For a long time, it was only possible to get a drive with less-desirable QLC if you wanted 2TB, but with the SN770M, that compromise is no longer required.

This comes at a cost as the older hardware on the SN770M - which is the same as the popular M.2 2280 Black SN770 - pulls more power and puts out more heat. For regular gaming use, this wasn’t an issue in our testing. The difference in battery life is essentially negligible, and the drive is usually not pushed enough for its direct heat output to be an issue. Therefore, it offers the best baseline performance in this form factor for now, but QLC-based alternatives may be more affordable.

Read: WD Black SN770M Review

The Corsair MP700 Micro is the best M.2 2242 SSD on the market, and it’s not even close. It’s not only the fastest drive, it also has the highest capacity possible at up to 4TB in a single-sided design. This makes it an effective, if niche, storage solution. If you happen to need an M.2 2242 SSD with this much space or want the highest performance and power efficiency possible, the MP700 Micro is your drive. Although a bit overkill, it would also be great in PCIe 3.0 and 4.0 slots if that’s all you have available.

The overkill factor is also a drawback to this SSD. You can get by with slower drives like the Sabrent Rocket Nano 2242, especially as most M.2 2242 devices are not PCIe 5.0 capable. While it’s impossible to match the capacity of the 4TB MP700 Micro, it’s a very expensive drive, and the current memory market may end up encouraging smaller drives for affordability purposes. If all you need is 1TB or 2TB, you can get by with many M.2 2242 or 2240 drives instead. The MP700 Micro still has its place, though, and it could be a niche solution for specific HTPC builds as well.

Read: Corsair MP700 Micro review

With the growing popularity of M.2 2230 SSDs, it was only a matter of time before we saw retail 2242 options. The Sabrent Rocket Nano 2242 is one of these, alongside the Corsair MP600 Micro. Alternatives include OEM and last-gen drives, like Sabrent’s original Rocket 2242, but some are double-sided. Not so with the Rocket Nano 2242, which will fit in the Lenovo Legion Go and many laptops with at least one M.2 2242 slot. It’s an easy drop-in solution with good performance and power efficiency.

The drive is only currently available at 1TB. However, with dual NAND packages, we expect larger capacity options in the future. M.2 2230 SSDs can also be extended for M.2 2242, but the 2TB options currently on the market all have their own drawbacks, except perhaps for the imminent Corsair MP600 Mini (E27T). However, the Rocket Nano 2242 gives plenty of performance for portable devices as it stands and is an easy pickup for M.2 2242.

Read: Sabrent Rocket Nano 2242 SSD review

PNY had its heart set on producing a very fast RGB-capable SSD, and with the CS3150 XLR8, or CS3150, it succeeded. This PCIe 5.0 SSD also has a heatsink with dual fans to ensure it never overheats. PNY’s software allows control over the RGB and fans, with synchronization possible for the former if you have other PNY RGB products. The warranty is standard, but the drive does support hardware encryption via the TCG Opal 2.0 specification, which may be a selling point for some.

The CS3150 isn’t perfect, though. It’s expensive and can be difficult to find. It’s only available at 1TB and 2TB capacities, needing 2TB to hit its maximum performance numbers. There are also other drives equal or faster to it, although for many workloads this isn’t particularly relevant. If RGB isn’t your thing, this drive also comes without the RGB in both white and black variants. Regardless of the model you go for, the drive can operate without throttling, and its performance is good across the board.

Read: PNY CS3150 Review

Best Workstation SSDs

The Inland Performance Plus has been around for a while, so long in fact that it hasn’t been using its original hardware in a long time. It was updated when the Gaming Performance Plus came out with a newer type of flash. It also saw an expanded capacity range over time, up to 8TB. The performance specifications have not changed, though, and remain quite good for a Gen 4 drive. The warranty is also excellent at six years – more than the typical five – with up to a whopping 6,000TBW at 8TB.

This is a solid all-around drive that’s good for anything, but it’s especially good for NAS. Aside from the high write endurance and warranty period, the drive also has a balanced pSLC cache scheme that makes it more ideal for expected workloads. It doesn’t hurt that the drive is also actually available – well, at the time of writing, anyway – for prices that are not outside the competitive range. It’s Inland so there’s no real software support, but that’s our only ding.

Read: Inland Performance Plus Review

The Seagate FireCuda 530R is an all-around contender for best workstation drive, covering all the main areas you look at for a heavier workload storage solution. It has good performance with exceptional IOPS, consistent writes, and decent throughput. The drive is rated for an unusually high amount of writes, and Seagate throws in three years of data recovery service support, too. On top of this, it also optionally comes with a heatsink and runs surprisingly cool for a drive of its caliber and hardware age.

Speaking of age, the Phison E18 controller is long in the tooth, and BiCS6 flash isn’t as exciting as it once was. However, this combination proves to be a winner if you’re looking for a reliable workstation SSD. You’re mostly missing out on the higher-efficiency options that now exist, but we’d take this drive over the DRAM-less options if you have more demanding workloads.

Read: Seagate FireCuda 530R Review

Best Workstation SSD Alternate

The Kingston KC3000 is a long-standing favorite, a popular Gen 4 SSD that has been around for a while. There are many drives out there with the same hardware, including the previous holders of our Best Workstation SSD and SSD Alternate slots. The primary reason for the change is that drives with the Phison E18 controller have been identified with issues that could impact performance or reliability. However, only a few manufacturers have actually addressed this with a firmware update. Kingston is the primary one, offering the update for both the KC3000 and the Fury Renegade.

This makes the KC3000 a safer pick for workstation use, given that it also has decent all-around performance and is readily available. It also has a higher-than-standard TBW endurance rating and the Kingston name, which means it can be serviced more widely around the world. The only downside is that there are competing products, including some that are less expensive. However, if the reported issues are something you take seriously, then that brings things into focus. The KC3000 – or its sibling, the Fury Renegade – checks the right boxes for workstation use if you want a reliable solution.

Read: Kingston KC3000 Review

Best NAS SSDs

The Addlink NAS D60 is a niche drive but fills its designated role pretty well. If you have a NAS system, a workstation, or other servers - whether for home lab use or SOHO - this drive may be worth looking at. Assuming your server can take an M.2 NVMe drive or two, the NAS D60 can do caching duty in tandem with mechanical hard drives or even be used in an all-flash array. Whichever way you go, some special features of this drive help it step away from other retail consumer drives, which justifies its price premium. But it’s still more affordable than full-out enterprise solutions.

The first thing that stands out about this drive is that it’s using enterprise-grade flash. Such flash is more reliable with higher baseline endurance. This lets Addlink extend the warranty to 1 drive write per day (DWPD), which is three times the retail standard. The second thing that stands out is that it has capacitors on-board for power loss protection. This means improved integrity for data-in-flight. Lastly, the NAS D60 foregoes any pSLC cache, which, while hurting all-around performance, does give more consistent sustained performance. This combination makes it particularly good for a write cache, singly or in RAID, for NAS and other systems.

If you’re looking for a more traditional drive or one with a larger capacity option, the Adata Legend 960 Max remains viable. It also has a heatsink, which the D60 NAS lacks. Pick the D60 Max if you want the higher TBW, the PLP, and/or the non-cache performance characteristics. Oh, and remember that the NAS D60 will not be very power-efficient if that’s a factor for you.

Read: Addlink NAS D60 SSD review

Best SATA SSDs

You can get a SATA drive in the M.2 form factor, but most SATA drives are 2.5-inch models, which allows them to drop into the same bays that hold laptop hard drives. SATA drives are the cheapest.

If you’re still buying SATA SSDs, your options are vanishingly few if you’re looking for a quality drive. Crucial has stopped making its popular MX500 – our previous Best SATA SSD – and other manufacturers have swapped to DRAM-less hardware in some cases, the WD Blue SA510 being the most prominent example. While having DRAM isn’t make-or-break with newer M.2 NVMe SSDs, it’s more useful for maintaining good performance with SATA SSDs. TLC flash is also preferable to QLC if you want to maintain high write speeds and performance.

This leaves the Samsung 870 EVO as the likely best remaining SATA SSD available. You’re going to get quality TLC flash and DRAM. Samsung also offers a decent capacity range, which means you should be able to find the drive you need when you need it. The vast majority of SATA SSDs out there are DRAM-less nowadays, but they’re also cheaper and might be good enough for basic upgrades. The 870 EVO, as a result, is an expensive proposition, but if you want a drive to last, it’s the best option.

Read: Samsung 870 EVO Review

How We Test SSDs and Benchmark Charts

We use the same test system for all our SSD benchmarks. You can find the specifications in the boxout, and the short summary is that it's an Intel Alder Lake platform — chosen because it was the first platform to support PCIe 5.0 for expansion cards and M.2 slots. We have periodically looked at newer platforms, but Raptor Lake didn't change the results much if at all, and AMD's PCIe 5.0 platforms tend to be slightly slower than Intel's platforms.

We have a battery of benchmarks, each of which gets run multiple times. We use the best result from each test. Here are the charts of all currently tested SSDs (from the past three years, give or take). We froze Windows 11 at version 22H2 in order to keep the test results consistent — various security updates have had an impact on certain benchmarks over the years.

We've grouped the SSDs by capacity, beginning with the 4TB and larger drives, then the 2TB drives (which are easily the most popular and well-represented class in our testing), then the 1TB drives, and finally all the 2230 drives (in both Gen3 and Gen4 modes). We haven't tested any new 500GB-class or smaller SSDs in several years as that market is mostly dead for DIY upgrades these days.

4TB SSD and larger testing results

2TB SSD testing results

1TB SSD testing results

M.2 2230 SSD testing results

Finding Discounts on the Best SSDs in 2026

Whether you're shopping for one of the best SSDs or one that didn't quite make our list, you may find savings by checking out the latest Crucial promo codes, Newegg promo codes, Amazon promo codes, Corsair coupon codes, Samsung promo codes or Micro Center coupons.

MORE: Best External SSDs and Hard Drives

MORE: All SSD Content

The Best PS5 SSDs

Finding the best PS5 SSD can be daunting due to the wide variety of choices. Plenty of SSDs will work in the PS5 and provide a simple and hassle-free capacity upgrade for your game library, but which ones rise above the crowd? To narrow down the options, we've tested many drives in a battery of tests, including many models from our SSD benchmarks hierarchy. From these, we've picked the best SSDs for the PS5 based on performance and price at several different capacities.

Nearly any new drive you buy for the PC can also be used in the PS5, so you'll also find many of these same picks on our list of Best SSDs for desktop PCs. You can also use everything from a tiny M.2 2230 drive up to a longer M.2 22110 model in the PS5, but there's no real benefit from choosing the other form factors. M.2 2280 SSDs are ubiquitous and typically offer the best combination of value, performance, and capacity.

The PS5's internal SSD is a restrictive 825GB (or 1TB on the PS5 Slim), and after formatting, updates, and bloatware, it typically leaves you with about 670GB free for games. That's bad news because today's games are becoming larger with each new release, and you'll also need somewhere to store all the screenshots and video clips you gather while you play. Call of Duty, as an example, can use more than 200GB all by itself!

The good news is that Sony has an M.2 expansion slot where you can put a second SSD for the PS5, and the current system firmware allows you to use SSDs with up to 8TB of capacity. That's hopefully enough storage to satiate even the most demanding of gamers, but there are also far more affordable options, with modern 2TB and 4TB models being particularly attractive choices for the PS5.

Prime Day Exceptional PS5 SSD deal

Here is a standout deal from the Prime Day event, which is currently taking place. Our list of best overall picks continues below.

The TLDR: Best SSDs for the PS5 (more info below):

Here's the quick list of the best SSDs for the PS5, but we have further breakdowns and testing results below. There are also similar drives in some cases, with effectively the same hardware, and we'll list those alongside our primary selections. When searching for the best SSD for the PS5, you'll want to be careful about which drive you pick. The Samsung 990 Pro and WD SN850X are great SSDs for the PS5, though pricing has been trending upward for the past several months — on all SSDs. The SN850X also comes as an SN850P that's just an overpriced SN850X with a different heatsink and PlayStation 5 branding.

We've broken things down by category, with our top picks being the WD Black SN850X, SK hynix Platinum P41, and Samsung 990 Pro. For capacity or budget minded shoppers, we also have the Acer GM7000, Silicon Power US75, and Netac NV7000. Which drive will fit your particular needs best depends on what you're after, so we list multiple alternatives for most categories and SSDs.

Best SSDs for PS5

WD took its popular Black SN850 SSD and turned it up to 11, but luckily the price isn't nearly so extreme. The current $124 price on Amazon for the 2TB model is a great deal, though other capacities may not be as attractively priced. The 4TB drive at $249 is worth a look for those who want more capacity; the 8TB drive at $549 is also worth a thought if you really want all the capacity you can pack into that M.2 slot — and it's now $300 off the original launch price.

The Black SN850X leverages an improved controller and newer flash to get the most out of the PCIe 4.0 interface, thus delivering excellent performance with the Sony PlayStation 5. Performance is improved across the board, and the drive comes with a heatsink option at all capacities. You'd be better served by a purpose-built PS5 heatsink, however.

WD also supports the SSD with a respectable five-year warranty that will let you game with peace of mind. It's a great match for the PlayStation 5, and while it can be a bit pricier than budget options, overall it's still our top pick. It's also fast for gaming on a PC, particularly with DirectStorage starting to become useful.

WD has taken the course of releasing an officially-licensed SN850P. That drive is a glorified heatsinked SN850X and should only be picked if you really want the PS5 logo on your heatsink for whatever reason. It's far less expensive to get a bare SN850X and add your own heatsink.

Read: WD Black SN850X Review, WD Black SN850X 8TB Review

The Samsung 990 Pro was not our original pick for the best PS5 SSD alternate option, but the drive has grown on us over time. Samsung experienced some firmware issues with the 990 Pro that were eventually resolved, and the manufacturer later introduced a single-sided 4TB SKU with newer flash to enhance the product. This newer flash has trickled back into the smaller SKUs, making the mature version of this drive an excellent all-around pick. That means it’s great for the PlayStation 5 even though it lacks the 8TB option that WD/SanDisk offers with the SN850X/SN850P line.

Samsung also offers the drive with a PS5-compliant heatsink, which means one less worry if you’re running your system hard in a hotter environment. You can also take advantage of Samsung’s software and support if you have a PC available to host the drive. The main downside of the 990 Pro, especially when it’s being used for the console, is that it costs more per GB than many alternatives on the market. If you want a high-quality drive, though, it’s near the top of our list.

Read: Samsung 990 Pro Review

The Biwin NV7400 doesn’t have DRAM, but it does have good performance, good power efficiency, and a good warranty with high TBW. The cost of DRAM has made DRAM-less SSDs more attractive than usual, but some are better than others. The NV7400 should be near the top of the list for PCIe 4.0 choices. It’s available in a range of capacities up to 4TB with a single-sided form factor that’s great for the PS5. It does lack a heatsink, but you could add your own, and the drive is power-efficient enough to be run bare. If you don’t want to go with a slower drive or one with QLC flash, it should be near the top of your list.

Read: Biwin Black Opal NV7400 Review

Alternative Compromise PS5 SSD

Our backup choice for a compromise drive is the WD Black SN7100. We like the NV7400 a little bit more on the whole as it’s more well-rounded in the performance department, but the Black SN7100 has a lot going for it. It has class-leading power efficiency and random read performance, which makes it fantastic for everyday use and for laptops. These two areas are less important for the PS5, though, which means the NV7400 wins on price. That said, we think you should keep the door open for this drive. We would take it over budget options like the Kingston NV3 or QLC-based Blue SN5100, or even higher-end QLC like the P310.

Read: WD Black SN7100 Review

High-Capacity SSD for PS5

If you want the largest possible SSD for your PS5, look no further than the WD Black SN850X 8TB. 16TB drives aren't really a thing in the consumer space, likely because even 8TB drives remain relatively niche parts with a higher price per TB of capacity than 4TB and 2TB drives. But the SN850X online prices have dropped quite a bit since it initially launched with an $849 MSRP.

In our PS5 test suite, the SN850X 8TB was effectively just as fast as any other drive. The PS5 doesn't support PCIe 5.0 speeds and the internal drive ends up being a bottleneck for both the copy to and read from tests that we run. That means you not only get maximum capacity but also maximum performance.

What's not to love? The price. $579 for 8TB isn't terrible, but that's more than a PS5 costs on its own. $649 for the heatsink version is a bit of a joke, since you can put on your own $10–$15 heatsink instead (but without the WD Black branding). It's also a double-sided drive, which means the underside can run a bit hotter if you're doing a bunch of writes — both most writes will be limited by the internet connection so it's not really a concern.

Read: WD Black SN850X 8TB review

The Addlink A93, or the S93 if you don’t need a heatsink, has been one of the most affordable SSDs for the PS5 all the way up to 4TB. It’s DRAM-less, but it has good performance and power efficiency, so it works well in the PS5. The A93 also takes a PS5-compliant heatsink if that’s something you want, although the S93 without the heatsink uses the same hardware. Its main weakness is a lack of DRAM but, but thankfully, that’s not a requirement for use in a PS5.

Other drives we’ve reviewed with this same hardware, like some variants of the TeamGroup MP44, would also fit in this slot as pricing and availability change over time. The Biwin Black Opal NV7400, which has Micron flash with the same controller, is also a good alternative. The A93 stands out here mainly because it is often positioned less expensively and is sometimes overlooked for bigger brands.

Read: Addlink A93 SSD Review

Best Cheap SSD for PS5

Our biggest complaint about the Crucial P310 – both in this and the shorter M.2 2230 form factor – was its high price for what it offered. This has changed as the price of the drive relative to the competition has lowered significantly. Memory and SSD prices are currently in a large upward swing, but Crucial benefits from using its own Micron NAND flash and can position QLC, which is in high demand in the enterprise, more aggressively in the consumer market. This means it’s a good pick for the PS5 right now, as our original entry for this category – that would be the SanDisk WD Black SN7100 – uses TLC flash but has become more expensive.

While we’re all about getting a drive with TLC flash whenever possible, and better yet with DRAM, the PS5 console’s storage requirements are very modest. Almost any Gen 4 drive will do, and, as it so happens, the P310 isn’t at the low end of that segment anyway. It’s one of the best QLC-based drives on the market – only the WD SanDisk Blue SN5100 gives it a real run for its money – and it performs well even without DRAM. The P310 was only available up to 2TB at the time of our review, but now comes in 4TB, which removes another caveat we had. The Blue SN5100 does have higher rated endurance, but we don’t suspect that it is an issue on the PS5.

Read: Crucial P310 (2280) Review

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. We long had the popular TeamGroup MP44L on our list as a good budget SSD for the PS5, but times have changed. With the release of the MP44Q earlier this year, settling for a 5 GB/s drive like the MP44L doesn’t make much sense anymore. Especially as the MP44L is using questionable hardware these days. The MP44Q excels in its role, even with the transition to QLC flash, delivering good performance and power efficiency. More importantly, it’s affordable with a decent capacity range.

There are some caveats, though. The drive does have the typical issue with sustained write performance that QLC flash is known for, but this is not a huge deal with the PS5. The MP44Q may also have to face the superior Crucial P310 and Sandisk WD Blue SN5100 down the road if prices come down. Currently, however, it offers an affordable alternative to the TeamGroup MP44 – which would fill a gap if not for the Sandisk WD Black SN7100 – and has a good price per GB at 1TB and 2TB. The SN7100 currently beats both at 4TB, but on a tighter budget, you can get by with the MP44Q at lower capacities.

Read: TeamGroup MP44Q review

Benchmarks / How We Tested PS5 SSDs

Swipe through the galleries for different capacities

Some of the best SSDs for the PS5 are either specifically designed for the console, or come with an integrated heatsink. However, some drives don't come with a heatsink, so we equip them with the Sabrent M.2 NVMe heatsink for the PS5 to both meet the requirements for the PS5 and to ensure a level playing field. We've found that this cooler is a great solution if you're looking for a cheap, versatile, and easy-to-install solution. There are other similar heatsinks, like the SK hynix Haechi H01 that will work just as well (though apparently neither of those work with the newer PS5 Slim).

The Sony PS5 has an internal benchmark measuring how fast the system can read data from the drive. This is the most critical performance metric for gaming, as a speedy response time is responsible for ensuring a smooth gaming experience. As you can see in the 'PS5 Read Benchmark' column above, the fastest SSD in our test pool was 90% faster than the slowest model. Sony will even flag performance as being potentially inadequate if the read score is below about 4,000 MB/s. However, this read tests only takes a few seconds and basically shows the burst speed of the SSDs, so it's quite synthetic in nature.

Real-world tests show much smaller differences. For instance, our 'Copy to M.2' benchmark consists of timing how long it takes to move four games totaling more than 200 GB (we use Mass Effect: Andromeda, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Elden Ring, and Astro's Playroom) from the internal PS5 SSD to the expansion drive. In most cases, we only see a difference of a few seconds, and converting to MB/s the difference between the fastest WD Black SN850X and the Solidigm P41 Plus is only 10%. But then there's a pretty big step down to the Samsung 990 Evo and the various Phison E27T-equipped SSDs, followed by the Transcend 250H, and in dead last (for now) sits the Inland TN470 1TB — another Phison E27T drive. How much will this matter in terms of gaming performance? Probably not at all, but when you move a bunch of data from the integrated SSD to the M.2 drive, it will take longer.

On the flipped side, we also tested this process in reverse, moving the four games back to the internal drive for our "Transfer From M.2" benchmark. Here, the sustained write speed (and encryption/security protocols) of the integrated 825GB SSD becomes the limiting factor, and there's only a 5.6% difference between the fastest and slowest SSD we've tested. The current 825GB SSD only appears to write data at up to ~250 MB/s, and all of the M.2 SSDs are easily able to maintain read speeds much higher than that figure.

Likewise, real-world testing (i.e. launching games) has failed to expose meaningful differences between the drives — it's common to see at most a one to two second difference between drives in game load times. Other testing we've seen from multiple outlets indicates very few meaningful differences, if any, for game loading times. Overall, you're unlikely to notice the speed difference between most PCIe 4.0 SSDs and could make a good argument for simply selecting the most cost-effective drive that meets the capacity target that you want — 4TB and 2TB drives are particularly popular.

Naturally, not all of the drives that we test will make the final cut for our list of Best SSDs for the PS5, but that doesn't mean those drives failed the test, or wouldn't be a great deal if you can catch them on sale. The Solidigm P44 Pro is a great SSD that delivered respectable performance in our PS5 SSD benchmarks (it's the same hardware as the SK hynix Platinum P41), and given the slim difference between the fastest and slowest SSDs on our list, it could make a great drive if the price is right. The only thing we'd try to avoid is any SSD that uses QLC NAND, as those drives can slow down significantly as they're filled to capacity.

There's also no real benefit at present to selecting any of the PCIe 5.0 SSDs, as they tend to use more power then PCIe 4.0 drives, making them a poor choice for the PS5. Given current prices there's no real purpose in using a PCIe 5.0 drive for your PlayStation 5, though we've included results from several of the newer models (on the assumption that price differences between PCIe 4.0 and 5.0 drives will shrink over time).

Tips for Finding the Best SSD for the PS5

Sony PS5 SSD Requirements

The Sony PS5 requires an M.2 SSD that communicates over the NVMe protocol. Officially, you'll need a PCIe 4.0 x4 model that can deliver up to 5,500 MB/s of sequential read throughput. In practice, you can use slower SSDs, and you'll just get a warning that performance may be inadequate — note that PCIe 3.0 models are explicitly prohibited from working. The console supports 250GB, 500GB, 1TB, 2TB, 4TB and 8TB models.

These small, rectangular drives look like sticks of RAM, only smaller, and the PS5 accepts both single-sided and double-sided versions. You'll also need to ensure that your drive has a cooling solution pre-applied. These can consist of thin copper heat spreaders that look like a label, or a full-fledged metal heatsink with a thermal pad.

Not all of the best SSDs for the PS5 come with a heatsink, but you can easily use your own double- or single-sided heatsink. We recommend the Sabrent M.2 NVMe heatsink for the PS5, which actually replaces the outside SSD panel on the PS5 with a heatsink, giving the SSD access to nice cooler air from outside the system. We've found that this cooler is a great solution if you're looking for a cheap, versatile, and easy-to-install solution, but there are many options on the market. For instance, TeamGroup has its new TForce AL1 heatsink, which operates similarly, coming to market soon.

Just make sure the SSDs don't exceed 110 x 25 x 11.25mm. M.2 SSDs are usually 80mm long by 22mm wide, described as size 2280, but some may be shorter or longer. The PS5 supports M Key Type 2230, 2242, 2260, 2280 and 22110. Some M.2 drives are also SATA interfaces instead of NVMe, but those are rare and would not be listed as being PCIe 4.0 compliant. Regardless, make sure your SSD supports NVMe.

Sony has detailed instructions on how to install a PS5 SSD. As you can see in the video above, installing the SSD is a simple process that only requires a #1 Phillips head screwdriver. After you've installed the SSD, you can navigate through the menus to the 'Settings→Storage→Installation Location' area and change it to your new SSD. All new games will now install directly to the SSD.

To move existing games to your new drive, select the internal SSD, highlight the item you want to move, press the Options button, and then select 'Move Games and Apps.' Select any other games that you would like to move in the checkboxes, then select 'Move.' As noted in our above testing, moving from the integrated SSD will generally be much faster than moving to the integrated drive.

Asus has released an updated ROG NUC for 2025 featuring the latest GPU and CPU hardware for Nvidia and Intel. The new variant features an Intel Core Ultra 9 Arrow Lake-HX series CPU and an RTX 5080 laptop GPU in a form factor smaller than a PlayStation 5.

As the name suggests, the new ROG NUC comes in a portable/compact form factor of 282.4mm tall, 187.7mm deep, and 56.5mm thick. Compared to other consoles, such as the PlayStation 5, the new ROG NUC is 71.3% smaller volume-wise. The NUC is cooled with an integrated triple-fan design and twin vapor chamber coolers that purportedly keep the device silent. One of the fans is dedicated entirely to the CPU and can cool up to 135 watts alone. The chassis features integrated vents on both sides that exhaust air out the rear of the case.

The chassis' ventilation system has been integrated into its aesthetic. The left ROG logo features a perforated design that allows the internal fans to intake cool air. The right side features an RGB-illuminated ROG logo with a cutout at the bottom, enabling the CPU fan to intake air.

PlayStation uploaded a video yesterday of Mark Cerny presenting a PS5 Pro Technical Seminar at Sony Interactive Entertainment HQ. The system architect provided a deep dive into Playstation 5 Pro's new hardware and chose to clarify some rumors floating around the new console. Mark spent some time addressing "FLOPflation" since an "erroneous 33.5 TFLOPs number" was leaked due to a misunderstanding of the hardware by a leaker assuming deeper use of RDNA 3-inspired architecture.

In reality, the PS5 Pro achieves 16.7 TFLOPs compared to the PS5's 10 TFLOPs. Meanwhile, one of the accurate pre-release leaks pointed toward the PS5 Pro achieving 300 TOPS when performing 8-bit calculations. 16-bit calculations, meanwhile, can achieve 67 TFLOPS. As Cerny clarifies, RDNA 2.X, Sony's customized AMD RDNA 2 architecture, uses many RDNA 3 features but maintains enough of the original architecture to not force code rewrites on the new hardware.

According to Mark Cerny, the biggest improvements of PS5 Pro are considered to be its new Ray Acceleration structure using BVH8 (Bounding Volume Hierarchy) and leveraging improved "Stack management in hardware," which means that graphics shader code is now better-managed, simpler, and more performant on the new hardware.

BVH refers to how bounding boxes, a common feature of 3D rendering, are used to make graphics calculations like reflections. BVH4, with bounding boxes in groups of 4, was used on PS5 for RT calculations, while PS5 Pro can now leverage BVH8 (8 bounding boxes) for its RT calculations. Similarly, the Ray Intersection Engine has doubled from checking rays against 4 boxes and 1 triangle (PS5) to 8 boxes and 2 triangles (PS5 Pro).

These improvements to ray tracing hardware in the PlayStation 5 Pro, made possible through an incredibly customized version of the RDNA 2 GPU architecture used within the PS5, give great performance gains with curved and bumpy light reflections but only moderate gains with shadows and flat reflections.

The full 37-minute video on the PlayStation 5 Pro is recommended for more technical information. It includes lots of interesting hindsight into the console market and the technologies required to compete in it.

Chinese modders have made Sony's PlayStation 5 portable (Credit: VideoCardz) in a laptop-esque battery-less form factor at Weibo. BBook AI has a massive 17.3-inch display and a rather chunky build reminiscent of old bulky gaming laptops. It weighs over 9 pounds, but it is visually a real head-turner.

The BBook AI Original Edition's 3D-printed chassis houses the PS5's internal components. Realistically, the only edge you'd have with this custom laptop is the included screen - featuring a large 17.3-inch 4K IPS panel with full 100% DCI-P3 coverage. However, it is limited to a disappointing 60 Hz refresh rate.

The added HDMI 2.1 port at the side allows you to connect an external monitor but diminishes the essence of this machine. There is no built-in battery, so you'd rely on AC power to run the laptop. Blame the design, not the modders, since the PS5 consumes roughly 200W while gaming, landing a not-so-great 30-minute runtime if equipped with a 100Wh battery.

There is a USB Type-A 10 Gbps port for connectivity to the laptop's right. The report mentions that BBook AI is extremely loud, reaching 71.3 dB - said to be comparable to the sound of a sports car. And to reiterate, the laptop features a fully functional PlayStation 5 inside - running PlayStation OS - so this is technically the first PC to run Astro Bot; can your gaming laptop play the GOTY?

The BBook AI offers the same specs as the PS5, running an eight-core CPU based on Zen 2 and a 36 Compute Unit (RDNA 2) GPU, with 16GB of non-upgradeable unified memory and 825GB of PCIe 4.0 storage (M.2 2242). For the listed price of $2,750, you'd be spending 5.5X more than a standard PS5. The laptop even includes a keyboard - at least if we go by the pictures, though we aren't sure if it's membrane or mechanical.

While the BBook AI's idea is portability, the laptop with the adapter is two times heavier than an RTX 4090-powered Lenovo Legion 9i Gen 8, which includes a 99Wh battery. To save money, get a portable monitor between $700 and $1,000 and a PS5 instead—which should cost $700-$1,000, depending on your monitor choice. Still, the BBook AI is just a fun DIY project—even if it is impractical.

A Kickstarter campaign is touting its PlayStation 5 cooling unit that purportedly resolves overheating and instances where the rear I/O can melt. The campaign was at $89,000 when we wrote this, with a stretch goal of up to $125,000. Pricing for the cooling element starts at $39.

The add-on is dubbed the Arctic PS5 cooler and is advertised as the world's first AI-powered PS5 cooler. The device is a clip-on vent that hooks onto the rear exhaust of Sony's PS5 console, featuring either four or six fans that actively dissipate heat. The device is powered with a single USB port and features a pass-through USB port, negating any reduction in port selection from the console.

SCRY, the creators of the new Kickstarter, are offering three unique models, one for each PS5 version, the original PS5 (SCRY is dubbing the "fat" model), the PS5 slim, and the recently launched PS5 Pro. The PS5 Pro and Slim models are very similar, with four fans in total, three at the top and one at the bottom. The PS5 "fat" version comes with six fans.

As highlighted several times on the Kickstarter campaign page, the three cooling add-ons are powered by "smart thermal AI" that adjusts fan speed based on the PS5's internal temperature. It's unclear how or if this is different from the way PC fan speeds have been controlled for decades. At 50C, the fans are purportedly programmed to ramp up to maximum fan speed to keep the console as cool as possible.

SCRY says its new cooling element provides a 30% reduction in temperature compared to stock operation, dropping from a max of 64C to a max of 55C. Thermal camera imaging on the site shows a 9 degrees Celsius reduction in temperature at the hottest point at the rear of the PS5 chassis, the ethernet port.

The goal of these PS5 coolers is to prevent any overheating issues that might occur on Sony's latest console. Last year, reports were swirling regarding overheating problems in several titles, such as Final Fantasy XVI. In some rare instances, reports have shown the PS5 can overheat to the point where some of the rear connectors can melt.

In addition to the PS5 coolers, SCRY is also promoting a Gen 4 M.2 SSD with a heatsink as part of its Kickstarter campaign.

Again, the main page shows a stretch goal of up to $125,000 with that milestone arriving with a free "vertikal" universal PS5 stand. Stretch goals for $75,000 and $100,000 are also in place but will purportedly be "announce when unlocked."

If you're still on the hunt for more storage after the recent Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, you're in luck—especially if you're looking for one of the fastest Gen 4 SSDs. Whether it's for expanding the available storage on your PlayStation 5 console or boosting the storage capacity in your laptop or gaming PC, the WD Black SN850X is a great choice and one of our favorite drives that we've had the chance to review. In the run-up to the holidays, a few deals are popping up, and this is one of the more interesting.

The WD Black SN850X is back down to $259 at Amazon. It's not an all-time low or even as low as when it was featured at $249 in the Black Friday sales, but this is really close and certainly beats the average $304 asking price.

We reviewed the WD Black SN850X and were very impressed with the performance of the drive in our benchmark testing, rating it at 4 out of 5 stars and awarding it an Editor's Choice badge. The performance results placed the WD Black SN850X near the top of the charts and earned it a top spot on our Best SSDs for the PS5 list.

The WD Black SN850X features 112-layer BiCS5 TLC memory with a WD proprietary controller. This 2280 M.2 SSD is PCIe Gen 4x4 and is able to reach impressively high sequential read/write speeds of up to 7300/6600 MBps, easily meeting the PlayStation 5 specifications checklist.

Sony is working on a portable gaming console that will aim to compete against Nintendo and Microsoft, according to reports. This portable gaming device will allow gamers to play Playstation 5 games irrespective of the location, unlike the PlayStation Portal which is a connected remote play device. However, the standalone device may still be "years away from launch," leaving plenty of time for Sony to change or abandon the project.

Earlier, Microsoft CEO Phil Spencer said that the development of a portable Xbox gaming device would take a few more years, which now seems similar to Sony. Nintendo is a major player in the handheld gaming market, and its next-gen Switch is expected to be released next year.

Sony's spokesperson declined to comment regarding its plans.

In recent years portable gaming has evolved dramatically with Valve's Steam Deck and its newer OLED version making big waves. This encouraged others to step into the market- namely Asus, Lenovo Legion, Logitech, MSI, and many more. The major benefits both Microsoft and Sony have are their wide collection of games in their libraries and the ability to attract more IPs and developers for their platforms- either exclusive or cross-platform - by indie and AAA studios.

Making a portable device to work with the PlayStation 5's games will take time as it will need suitable hardware and specially optimized firmware. Since this project is still in its initial design phase, it remains a distinct possibility that Sony may change the design goal or abandon it completely.

The State of Portable Gaming- Then Vs. Now

Sony is familiar with the portable gaming market, as it released the original PlayStation Portable, PSP Vita, and PSP GO years ago. According to Bloomberg's earlier report, the PlayStation Portal was meant to be a standalone device, but the company ended up opting for a remote gaming device with an 8-inch screen that wirelessly streams games from the user's PlayStation 5 via WiFi.

Irrespective of its success with the PSP in the past, Sony has many competitors now. Sony will also be competing with cloud gaming services that are device agnostic - led by Nvidia with GeForce Now and Microsoft's Xbox cloud gaming offerings.

There are major benefits to going portable, as it opens its offerings to a wider audience base who may not play games on either PC, cloud, or console. If Sony decides against marketing a new portable, it is going to be the only gaming platform not to enter the handheld gaming market.

Save state functionality has been part of the emulation scene for many years but it seems that it may make the move to consoles. A recent patent made by Sony outlines a future version of the PlayStation controller with a dedicated Save State button, per a legal document spotted on PatentScope by the folks at Tech4Gamers. An exact quote from the document states, "The user is able to enter the rewind mode from the live game play using one or more controller inputs to view recent game play (e.g. rewinding, fast-forwarding, playing, etc.) and returning to live game play afterwards." Keep in mind that not all patents become real products.

To users of various emulators, this descriptor of a "rewind mode" recalls the save and load state functionality common to those applications. Even Nintendo Switch Online's retro games support save states and brief rewind windows, these days. Instead of setting this functionality to a key bind like on PC emulators or a custom button combination like on Switch, though, Sony is looking to implement a dedicated button for this specific functionality, likely within immediate proximity to the D-Pad.

Outside of official and unofficial emulators, there are some other uses of save states in gaming— and not just regular old save files. One of the most interesting examples of this has to be Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, a 2003 action adventure game originally released for PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Nintendo GameCube in November 2003. That game's titular sands of time mechanic allowed players to reverse time to undo unfortunate deaths to the game's many enemies and environmental hazards, quite similar to how system-level save state functionality often allows users to rewind death or other mistakes in emulators.

Of course, it's worth noting that such a button like this, even implemented system-level, simply will not work with all games. For example, multiplayer titles that rely on synchronizing game states between players, servers, or both won't allow for functionality like this. A dedicated button like this would only be usable in single-player games, and some fans may even argue it would taint those experiences— particularly Soulsborne fans and their devotion to a static difficulty.

The launch of Sony's PlayStation 5 Pro is imminent, set to arrive in four days (on November 7) to the tune of $699 USD. At this price point, Sony is promising massively improved resolution and framerate through the use of AI upscaling with PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR), and a souped-up CPU and GPU compared to the base PlayStation 5 released back in November 2020. Considering the absence of a similar upgrade from Microsoft's Xbox brand, it seems the high-end console gaming throne has truly been ceded to Sony — and an apparent teardown of the new strongest console appeared on YouTube just last night.

The video teardown of the PlayStation 5 Pro ahead of its street release date seems to be from a Portuguese console repair shop, with the process revealing an internal layout quite similar to the PlayStation 5 Slim model. Other sources have noted that these similarities would make PlayStation 5 Slim faceplates compatible with the Pro were the interlocking mechanisms not seemingly changed specifically to prevent that functionality, so this teardown also seems legitimate.

Aside from some noted similarities to the PS5 Pro, there isn't too much else immediately notable about this PlayStation 5 teardown unless you specifically wish to see the internals. You can't exactly gauge the way these internals will perform based on a teardown, though, since you'll just be left looking at circuit boards instead of numbers that could establish some expectations. For those, we'll be looking to a Twitter post that's also been drawing lots of press attention this week.

This supposed PlayStation 5 Pro specifications leak was posted yesterday afternoon on Twitter by user @videotechuk_, previously known for posting Rockstar Games leaks. This leak mostly includes information we already knew or expected, including that PlayStation 5 Pro will still be using the same Zen 2 architecture that its immediate PlayStation 5 predecessor is using. Sticking with Zen 2 is likely a conscious choice for strict compatibility with the base PlayStation 5, though some prior reports have mentioned the PS5 Pro could potentially support boosted clocks compared to the base.

What sticks out most about this purported specifications leak is that the PS5 Pro GPU is now slated to perform at an expected 16.7 teraflops and have a full 16GB of dedicated GDDR6 VRAM, not having to share it with CPU like on base PlayStation 5 models. Rumors also indicate the PlayStation 5 Pro will have 2GB of DDR5 RAM dedicated system memory. This marks quite a departure from previous PS5 models with unified memory.

Four years on from the original November 2020 release date of PlayStation 5, it's clear that gamers are more eager than ever to get their hands on the new PlayStation Pro console, even though it's Sony's second mid-generation "Pro" upgrade. If Xbox won't be doing it and you are unwilling to engage with PC gaming, the PlayStation 5 Pro still makes sense, and early benchmarking of its improvements in PSSR image quality and support for real-time ray tracing graphics look promising.

Sony announced the PS5 Pro and its 30th Anniversary Limited Edition variant earlier this month, with pre-orders now available on the Sony website. The former will start shipping on November 7 for $700, while the latter becomes available on November 21 for $1,000, with only 12,300 units made globally. However, even though the release dates for these consoles are still more than a month away, a quick search on eBay shows several results marked as ‘Presale’ or ‘Confirmed Pre-Order.’

The PS5 Pro sells for about $1,000 on the e-commerce platform—a nearly 43% premium over Sony’s price—but the pricing for the PS5 Pro 30th Anniversary console is far more egregious. Most listings for the limited-edition console start above $3,000 — a 200% markup from the original—and we’ve even seen a listing asking for $12,300.

These prices are reminiscent of the PlayStation 5’s (and practically every other high-profile electronics, like the RTX 3000 series GPUs) launch during the height of the pandemic in 2020. While Sony has limited pre-purchases of the PS5 Pro and limited-edition versions to just one per user, scalpers seemingly find ways to bypass this security system to make money off the average consumer.

Hopefully, Sony has learned its lesson during the launch of the PS5 and has made enough units to avoid the scalper problem. After all, we don’t have Covid-related lockdowns anymore, so getting production up and running shouldn’t be a problem. However, the limited-edition run of the PS5 Pro 30th Anniversary Edition would be an issue. Given that Sony is keeping the number of units available low — with each individual numbered as a collector’s item — it is a prime target for scalpers, as we can see on eBay right now.

The only way we can combat scalpers is to not buy from them. It would likely mean you won’t get the PS5 Pro right at launch, but what’s a little patience to avoid getting stiffed by people taking advantage of a situation? But if you’re a hardcore PlayStation fan and didn’t get the chance to the PS5 Pro 30th Anniversary Edition, we still do not recommend buying from a scalper. After all, who knows what other types of scams they might be running to separate you from your hard-earned money?

Sony's PlayStation family of game consoles spans five generations and 30 years. To celebrate the anniversary of the launch of the original PlayStation in 1994, Sony on Thursday introduced a set of limited edition PlayStation consoles and accessories that come in the original dark gray color.  

The new family of limited edition PlayStation consoles in the original dark grey color includes the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition console with a DualSense controller and a gray cover for disc drive as well as the PlayStation 5 Pro 2 TB system with a DualSense wireless controller, DualSense Edge wireless controller, DualSense Charging Station, and a gray cover for a disk drive.  

These consoles will come bundled with various collector's items, including a USB Type-C cable designed to look like the original PlayStation controller connector housing, cable ties, stickers, a poster, and even a paper clip. 

Sony has not announced pricing of the limited edition consoles and Portal Remote Player for PS5, but keeping in mind that the PS5 Pro limited edition will come bundled with the DualSense Edge premium controller and all of the consoles will include collector's items, expect them to cost more than a typical PS5 and PS5 Pro.  

Also, Sony said that it will produce only 12,300 limited edition PlayStation5 Pro systems in dark grey for the whole world, so these are going to be rare birds (expect them on eBay from scalpers). 

Sony will also offer its PlayStation Portal Remote Player for PS5 in the original gray color for those who play on the go, as well as DualSense Edge controller, and DualSense controller in the same color scheme.  

The PlayStation 30th Anniversary Collection will be released on November 21. In regions where direct.playstation.com is available (U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Austria), customers with a PlayStation Network account can pre-order everything except the PS5 Digital Limited Edition starting September 26. The PlayStation 5 Digital Edition – 30th Anniversary Limited Edition Bundle will be available for pre-order starting October 10.

Sony posted a recent blog post celebrating 30 years of PlayStation consoles, but the promo as noticed by Kami also gave a glimpse of an alleged and highly anticipated PlayStation 5 Pro. 

The blog post's featured images for many of the earlier consoles — including the PlayStation Portable (PSP), official accessories and physical media for the PSP. But, one of the grey silhouettes stood out as it did not resemble any of the earlier PlayStation consoles- but it does correlate with the fabled PlayStation 5 Pro design- nestled behind the PlayStation logo. 

While Sony hasn't named this console or revealed information to officially confirm it, the design that can be seen within the featured image is no different than the alleged sketch leaked a few days ago. Based on the PlayStation's history of previous consoles, it was only a matter of time before we saw signs of the Pro (or an update) iteration of its current-generation console. What the update will bring is still shrouded in mystery but we can hazard a guess.

The design sketches imply the PlayStation 5 Pro differentiates itself with three black stripes across its white console cover. The standard PlayStation 5 has a plain cover design, while its 'Slim' nomenclature has a single one black stripe. There is a possibility that the PS5 Pro may have both digital and disc variants. The former being a more preferred format for those who wish to collect consoles and their library. 

Youtube channel Technizo Concept made renderings based on the earlier leaks that match the print on the 30th-anniversary image. 

As for hardware specs, nothing concrete has been revealed. But earlier leaks suggest up to 45% higher rendering performance boost and possibly two to four times the ray-tracing performance compared to the standard PlayStation 5. Leaks indicated the inclusion of an AI accelerator up to 300 TOPS of 8-bit computation for PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) upscaling. The console maker is expected to use a 'High-Frequency Mode' for its CPU, giving a boost up to 3.85 GHz. Using an AI-based PSSR upscaler would suggest the use of RDNA4 architecture in the PS5 Pro, compared to the RDNA1 used in the original PlayStation 5. To keep up with near-future-ready requirements and the ability to have good gameplay at higher resolutions, such significant changes will be needed.

Judging by the number of leaks occurring over the weeks, one can't help but speculate that the PlayStation 5 Pro launch is sooner rather than later. Originally, the PlayStation 1 was launched in Japan on 3rd January 1994 with launches happening in other regions on the 9th and 29th September in North America and Europe. 

It's also very likely that at the time of release, there will be some titles available with the purported PlayStation 5 Pro which would use its enhancements. The blog post does mention that we should be on the lookout for more announcements in the near future- and all we need to do now is wait.

An angular-looking gaming headset from Corsair that features a retractable boom mic, plenty of gamified RGB lighting, and a wireless 2.4 GHz connection. You can use this headset with either a PC or a PlayStation 5 console via a wireless USB dongle. 

Today we're highlighting the Corsair Void RGB Elite wireless gaming headset that is now $79, on sale at Amazon and reduced by $30. The Void RGB Elite has been available since 2019 and In our Corsair Void RGB Elite review we noted its sleek design with a carbon finish, a clear microphone that "you could land planes with.", and a breathable fit thanks to the microfibre mesh fabric with very soft foam padding in the earpads.

These cans are also capable of 7.1 surround when connected to a PC and using Corsair's iCUE software. Unfortunately, the 7.1 surround sound is not available when connected to the PlayStation 5 console. When gaming or using Discord you can easily mute your voice thanks to a flip-up mute function and a built-in LED mute indicator to let you know when you're broadcasting. 

The Corsair Void Elite Pro RGB gaming headset houses large 50mm neodymium audio drivers in the earcups that can support a frequency range of between 20Hz and 30,000Hz. The earcups are held to the headband with strong aluminum yokes for durability and the earcups also house the bright dynamic RGB lighting that can be configured through the Corsair iCUE software. 

Following the near-complete PS5 Pro specs list leak earlier this month, leaked info verified by Tom Henderson at Insider Gaming points toward the specific requirements for games to receive "PS5 Pro Enhanced" labeling, codenamed "Trinity Enhanced" internally.

The ideal "Trinity Enhanced" mode is described as using PSSR to upscale resolution to 4K, achieving a constant 60 FPS, and adding or increasing ray tracing effects compared to the stock PS5 version, which may or may not have RT. While specific PS5 titles are built from the ground up for RT, like Spider-Man 2, others skirt RT entirely while still targeting 30-60 FPS, like Final Fantasy XVI — so this seems ideal for those games, in particular.

However, "Trinity Enhanced" requirements seem looser than meeting all three of the above goals at once. Instead, meeting any of the below-listed requirements will give a PS5 Pro game its appropriate Trinity Enhanced/PS5 Pro Enhanced labeling.

Leaked PS5 Pro "Trinity Enhanced" Requirements (any)

• Inclusion of "PS5 Pro Ray-tracing effects"—In other words, some titles' only enhancement on PS5 Pro will be the addition of ray-tracing effects to games that ran at specific performance targets (4K30, etc.) but didn't yet include RT. This also applies to games that already had some RT but disabled or lowered the quality of features like RT reflections on PS5.
• Increased target framerate versus standard PS5—This entails 30 FPS PS5 games going up to 60, 60 to Variable or 120, etc. PS5 has supported VRR since April 2022.
• Increased target resolution for games that run with Dynamic Resolution Scaling on PS5 — Most modern console games utilize some degree of dynamic resolution scaling, especially when targeting 4K resolution or 60 FPS.
• Increased fixed resolution for games that already run at a fixed resolution on PS5—This enhancement entails changing the 1080p lock to 4K lock, etc. It's self-explanatory. Either of these increased target resolutions can also be met using Pro-exclusive PSSR upscaling.

Let's use a specific PS5 game as an example to examine these PS5 Pro Enhanced requirements in more detail.

Devil May Cry 5: Special Edition was released on PS5 with various performance modes. As what was originally a PS4 game locked to 60 FPS without RT, one of the basic PlayStation 5/Special Edition enhancements was ray tracing. Ray tracing could be enabled in DMC5:SE while targeting 30 FPS at 4K or 60 FPS at 1080p. However, the game also offered to run at up to 120 FPS/120 Hz without ray-tracing with resolution scaling enabled.

With the four existing performance modes of DMC5:SE on current PS5 hardware targeting either ray tracing or high FPS, it seems evident that a "Trinity Enhanced" patch for the game would allow you to do both. Enabling RT in DMC5:SE's Variable 120 Hz Performance Mode, for example, would seem to fall perfectly in line with the PS5 Pro's established ~4X RT performance boost—though it may not consistently hit 120 FPS.

Widespread speculation from outlets like Digital Foundry points toward actual next-gen titles like Grand Theft Auto VI being unable to run at 60 FPS on the console. However, if the footage of the game we've already seen is running with those ray-traced effects at 30 FPS on existing console hardware— as DMC5:SE is above when targeting 4K— it does seem that PS5 Pro may allow those 30 FPS RT Modes to hit 60. 

On base PS5 and in PC games, real-time ray-tracing is also incredibly CPU-intensive, not simply GPU-intensive. However, console games can be optimized at an SoC level, and it seems as if the PS5 Pro's GPU may be tailor-made to offset those CPU bottlenecks otherwise introduced by real-time ray tracing on the console.

Considering the nature of these "PS5 Pro Enhanced" performance targets and the existing leaked specs, it may be too soon to rule out 60 FPS for PS5 Pro games.

Chips and Cheese acquired a Zen 2 CPU used in Sony's PlayStation 5 and went to town studying differences compared to AMD's Ryzen-branded products sporting the same CPU architecture (like the Ryzen 3000 series). The chip review outlet found that Sony's custom-designed Zen 2 chip sports a heavily cut-down FPU that's shrunk by 35%. However, Chips and Cheese discovered these changes don't impact gaming performance making it the "perfect" gaming CPU.

The area AMD paid the most attention to when designing Sony's custom Zen 2 PlayStation 5 CPU was the FPU, or floating point unit. AMD cut down the number of floating point pipes and eliminated some of the FP/vector execution units. Compared to a comparable Zen 2 Ryzen CPU desktop chip like the Ryzen 7 3700X or 3800X, Sony's custom Zen 2 chip comes with only half of the FPU capabilities of a 3700X or 3800X.

To do this, AMD added more functionality to the remaining floating-point ports. In a traditional Zen 2 chip, there are four ports, with most of the ports handling duplicate instructions. But with the PS5 CPU, all of the duplicates have been deleted with the fourth port being deleted entirely. Port 0 and 1 handle all of the instructions while port 2 only handles FStore.

AMD also shrank the register file to improve size efficiency. The amount of blocks the register file has is the same as AMD's Ryzen 3000 chips, but each block size is smaller. Chips and Cheese believes this was a design change made in conjunction with the FPU port count reduction apparently because the performance impact of a smaller register file size is directly correlated with the FPU's capabilities.

Chips and Cheese found that these changes did not make any difference in terms of gaming performance. In a test with Call of Duty: Black Ops - Cold War Zombies, the chip review outlet monitored the FPU execution units and found that none of the EUs were taxed beyond 20-22%. The only benchmarks where the FPU nerfs compromised performance were in heavy productivity/synthetic tests such as Y-Cruncher. But even in Y-Cruncher performance only dropped by 16% (compared to a normal Zen 2 chip) despite having effectively half of the FPU execution pipeline of a traditional Zen 2 CPU.

With these changes, AMD was able to reduce Sony's PS5 Zen 2 FPU size by a whopping 35% while offering identical gaming performance as Zen 2 chips (at identical clock speeds and memory speeds that is). It's an excellent representation of AMD being able to custom-design chips specifically for its customers. Though interestingly these specific changes have only been done to Sony's PS5 CPU, and no other custom chips AMD makes currently (including the Steam Deck's Van Gough APU).

This design appears to be working great for Sony. Leaked specifications of the PlayStation 5 Pro suggest that Sony will keep using this same Zen 2 chip, but with a dual-mode performance mode that allows developers to clock the CPU to 3.85 GHz if necessary.

Recently, we covered a massive PS5 Pro leak that revealed a 45% higher raster and up to 4X higher ray-tracing render performance, alongside "PSSR" AI upscaling for all Pro games. This leak was first dropped through a YouTuber, but Insider Gaming verified the leak's authenticity before we covered it— and now, Insider Gaming has a look at the rest of PS5 Pro's core specs. As ever with leaks, take the news with a pinch of salt. Until they are officially announced by Sony, the specs are nebulous.

Now, before you get too excited, this is where the "Pro" nature of the console refresh really starts to reveal itself. While it seems the GPU has been fully upgraded to a new architecture (considering AI acceleration and drastically better ray tracing) for a whopping 45% performance bump, the other upgrades are a little more modest than that.

• CPU
  • Same as PS5, but "High Frequency Mode" boosts the CPU to 3.85 GHz
• GPU
  • 45% better rendering performance than PS5
  • 2-3x Ray tracing performance (Insider Gaming states that this could be 4x in some cases
  • 33.5 Teraflops
  • PSSR (PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution Upscaling) 
  • *k Resolution support in future SDK
  • Custom machine learning architecture
  • AI accelerator capable of 300 TOPS of 8-bit computation, 67 TFLOPS of 16-bit floating point
• RAM
  • 576 GB/s (18 GT/s) versus PS5 448 GB/s (14 GT/s)
• Audio
  • ACV runs at a higher clock rate

Source: Insider Gaming

For example, the CPU in the PlayStation 5 Pro is slated to be identical to the 8-core AMD Zen 2 CPU already present inside the PS5, which is roughly equivalent to an 8-core Ryzen 7 3700X, in theory. However, there is now a "High CPU Frequency Mode" that increases CPU TDP, raises clock speed by 10% to 3.85 GHz, and only costs a measly 1% GPU performance.

Considering how CPU-bound framerate often is (particularly with upscaling in the equation), this mode will likely be key for a smooth experience in end-generation games.

The PS5 Pro also isn't stated to come with a memory capacity upgrade yet, which could be because that information hasn't yet leaked or upgrading capacity would cause deeper compatibility issues with PS5 and PS4 titles. However, the RAM is confirmed to run at up to 18 GT/s versus PS5's 14 GT/s, which is a 28% increase in memory bandwidth— nothing to scoff at! This shared memory bandwidth boost is likely necessary for pushing high resolutions, even upscaled.

Finally, the Insider Gaming piece has confirmed that the ACV (audio processor) in the PlayStation 5 Pro runs at a higher clock speed than PS5, and expected to have 35% more performance. While PS5's 3D Audio has already been praised by some gamers, it seems Sony thinks an internal bump was needed. Sony did get its start in audio, after all.

With any luck, the speculated release date of Fall 2024 for PS5 Pro will soon be met with a concrete announcement from Sony. If these specs leaks are genuine, it looks like they have a ,mid-gen console refresh to be proud of, as long as the pricing is right.

Insider Gaming's Tom Henderson has confirmed that recent specs and performance leaks surrounding the rumored PlayStation 5 Pro are real. Henderson reports that the source material of these new leaks came from documentation leaked from a PlayStation developer portal sent out to third-party developers this week. The leak Tom Henderson refers to states that the PS5 Pro will feature 45% higher rendering performance and two to four times the RT performance of the outgoing PlayStation 5. Henderson also reports that the PS5 Pro will launch later this year during the holiday season.

As with all leaks, take them with a grain of salt. However, Henderson is a widely known leader in the industry and has a purportedly accurate track record. As a result, it's safe to assume these PS5 Pro rumors are probably legitimate.

As previously mentioned, the leak unveiled massive performance upgrades for the PS5 Pro, yielding a 45% faster rendering rate than the PS5 and up to a 4x performance upgrade for ray tracing. To make these performance improvements happen, unknown hardware upgrades will give the PS5 Pro an impressive 33.5 TFLOPs of FP16 performance—over triple that of the PS5.

One hardware upgrade that the leaker did know about is the integration of an AI accelerator (or NPU) that will support 300 TOPS of 8-bit computation. This AI accelerator will reportedly drive Sony's upcoming PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution Upscaling (PSSR), an AI-based upscaling solution similar to DLSS and XeSS that will debut with the PS5 Pro.

The performance upgrades Sony is putting inside the PS5 Pro are immersive. Its sky-high graphical upgrades practically confirm that Sony will be jumping ship from RDNA 1 to possibly RDNA 4 due to the super immersive ray tracing performance for the PS5 Pro. 

Henderson states that Sony's goal with the PS5 Pro is to rectify specific performance issues with the PS5 at 4K resolutions. In games where the PS5 cannot achieve a solid 60 FPS, the PS5 Pro should be able to do so without any problems. The PS5 Pro will purportedly do this with its combination of superior graphics hardware and Sony's new PSSR AI-based upscaling — offering smooth 4K performance and 8K gaming through aggressive upscaling.

As mentioned, if Henderson's release date is legitimate, the PS5 Pro will be unveiled later this year during the holiday season.

Your keyboard is the main way you interface with your computer, which means it's one of the most important parts of your PC. Wireless gaming peripherals have gotten a bad rap in the past, but they've since caught up to — and have even surpassed — their wired counterparts when it comes to latency and connection quality.

There are many wireless gaming keyboards on the market — the best one for you depends on how and where you plan to use it, and what you plan to do with it. Wireless gaming keyboards come in all sizes, from mini (60-percent) layouts to larger-than-full-size, with extra macro keys and programmable knobs and buttons. You'll also want to consider switches: most gaming keyboards come with smooth, silent linear switches, but gaming companies are starting to cater to enthusiasts more — and many gaming keyboards now feature multiple switch options and hot-swappable PCBs.

Whether you're a couch-bound console gamer trying to chat with teammates or a productivity-focused coder trying to clean up your workspace, there is a perfect wireless keyboard out there for you. We've tested hundreds of gaming keyboards over the years, and these are our favorite wireless keyboards for every setup.

If you're looking for a great gaming keyboard and you don't mind a cable or two, take a look at our list of best gaming keyboards.

The Quick List

The Best Wireless Keyboards You Can Buy Today

Best Wireless Gaming Keyboard

Asus's ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless is just about everything you could want in a wireless gaming keyboard — it's speedy, responsive, and reliable while gaming, customizable, and it gets up to 1,500 hours of battery life over its low-latency 2.4GHz wireless connection. It has a 96-percent layout, which means it's relatively compact (it measures just 14.84 x 5.16 x 1.57 inches / 377 x 131 x 40mm) — saving desk space without sacrificing the 10-key numberpad.

The ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless is sturdily-built, with an aluminum alloy top plate and double-shot PBT keycaps. It does have a plastic chassis (necessary — according to Asus — for reliable wireless connectivity), but it's got multiple layers of sound-dampening foam inside to minimize case ping. It comes with Asus's second-gen ROG NX Snow linear mechanical switches, which have an actuation force of 45g and are stable, smooth, and quiet. It's also got a hot-swappable PCB, so you can swap the NX Snows out for the switches of your choice.

This keyboard is wireless (that's why it's on this page), with both low-latency 2.4GHz wireless and Bluetooth 5.1 connectivity. Asus says it will get up to 1,500 hours of battery life over 2.4GHz wireless with the lighting turned off, which is fantastic (though this number drops precipitously with the lighting turned on). The ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless isn't quite as fancy as its pricier sibling, the Asus ROG Azoth, but it's close — and it's $70 cheaper.

Read: Asus ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless Review

Best Full-Size Wireless Gaming Keyboard

The Razer BlackWidow V3 Pro is our favorite wireless keyboard for gaming because it offers you a full-size, full-height mechanical switch experience, plus all the features you’d expect in a premium gaming clacker. You also get a cozy, plush leatherette magnetic wrist rest and four onboard memory profiles. Unfortunately, you’ll need the software to use any RGB besides the 7 effects stored in the keyboard’s memory. And there are no macro keys, like the Logitech G915 Lightspeed offers.

The BlackWidow V3 Pro can connect with a wireless dongle, via its included charging cable or through Bluetooth, which lets it pair with up to 3 additional PCs. Battery life varies based on backlight brightness and effect but can range from 5-25 hours with lighting and reach 192 hours without. And at 3% battery life, the BlackWidow V3 Pro can get wonky, with delays in registering keypresses and issues with the software finding it.

But ultimately, the BlackWidow V3 Pro delivers everything you’d expect from an expensive, top-of-the-line gaming keyboard, except a mandatory cable. There's also a newer BlackWidow V3 Mini model, although it doesn't bring as much to the table for its price as its larger sibling.

For more gaming recommendations, with or without cables, see our Best Gaming Keyboards page.

Read: Razer BlackWidow V3 Pro review

Best Budget Wireless Gaming Keyboard

Redragon isn’t exactly a well-known gaming brand in the U.S., but it’s hard to argue with the $70 price of the K596 Vishnu. This 2.4 GHz wireless gaming keyboard packs RGB, dedicated macro and media keys, a metal volume rocker, linear switches and even a wrist rest (albeit a hard plastic one) all into a tenkeyless package. And that's at well less than half the price of the more well-known competition.

The K596 Vishnu also feels solid and was comfortable to use while gaming and typing; although, the plastic used for the shell does look a bit cheap. There’s also some funkiness going on with the design, like the fact that F1-F8 are labeled as secondary media controls, despite there also being a bank of dedicated media buttons directly to their right.

The second bank of programmable G keys are also oddly narrow and jammed up. And there are light bars on either side of the keyboard that, while look cool, are only going to drain your battery faster while you’re gaming without the USB-C cable plugged in. You can turn these off by hitting Fn and the Pause button repeatedly, but that’s a pain. The extra lights should default to only turning on when the keyboard is plugged in via a cable. The Vishnu is also heavier than competing wireless keyboards.

Still, despite its oddities and minor flaws, this is one heck of a keyboard for $70, when you consider Logitech’s G915 TKL costs more than three times as much and doesn’t include a wrist rest. If you’re after a compact, colorful wireless gaming keyboard on a budget, the K596 Vishnu easily earns a top spot in the pantheon.

Read: Redragon Vishnu K596 review

Best Low-Profile Wireless Gaming Keyboard

Logitech's update to its G915 keyboard — the G915 X — comes in both TKL and full-size layouts (we tested the TKL layout for our review). Its dimensions are identical to those of its predecessor, the G915 TKL: 15.2 x 5.91 x 0.88 inches (368 x 150 x 22.6mm), though it is slightly heavier at 1.9lbs / 860g (versus the original's 1.8lbs (810g). But the added weight isn't a bad thing, as the G915 X TKL feels very premium and sturdily built, and the extra heft only adds to this.

This isn't the thinnest or most low-profile gaming keyboard you'll find, but that's not necessarily a bad thing — the G915 X TKL manages to offer a typing and gaming experience that's almost as satisfying as a full-height keyboard, but in a much slimmer package. You can grab the G915 X TKL with Logitech's new low-profile switches in linear, tactile, or clicky variants; the switches feature a POM cross-style stem for a more stable keypress and are compatible with third-party keycaps. They have an increased total travel distance (3.2mm vs. 2.7mm) and are factory-lubed, but you will still get some rattling from the keycaps (similar to what we saw on the more budget-friendly version of this keyboard, the G515). Still, the G915 X TKL offers a very good typing experience — especially for a low-profile board — and an excellent gaming experience that won't require much compromise if you're moving from a full-height board. Add in a battery that will last up to 1,000 hours over 2.4GHz wireless (with the backlighting turned off, of course), and it's a great upgrade from the original G915.

Read: Logitech G915 X TKL Review

Best Optical Switch Wireless Gaming Keyboard

Razer’s DeathStalker V2 Pro is a totally different animal from its predecessor, and that’s a good thing. It’s an attractive low-profile keyboard that has basically all the features you need — connectivity, customization and pretty lights, plus a surprisingly decent typing experience and an excellent gaming experience. It’s not exactly, as Razer claims, “built like a tank,” but it’s pretty durable for how small, slim and lightweight it is.

Read: Razer DeathStalker V2 Pro review

Best TKL Wireless Gaming Keyboard

SteelSeries' Apex Pro TKL Wireless borrows the Apex Pro Mini’s sturdy, minimal, and more generic-looking chassis design, adding the company's updated, highly customizable dual-actuation OmniPoint 2.0 optical switches. The keyboard also packs plenty of premium features like an aluminum alloy top plate, double-shot PBT keycaps, bright per-key RGB, and a detachable magnetic wrist rest. The Apex Pro TKL/Apex Pro TKL Wireless’ roomier layout allows for dedicated media keys and a customizable OLED smart display. Also, unlike its predecessor, it comes in both wired and wireless versions.

The Apex Pro TKL Wireless is an excellent, highly customizable gaming keyboard in a TKL layout, which is much less restrictive than the Apex Pro Mini’s 60 percent layout — but we’re still holding out for an update to the full-size SteelSeries Apex Pro to rival Razer's excellent DeathStalker V2 Pro.

Read: SteelSeries Apex Pro TKL Wireless review

Best Wireless Keyboard for Productivity

A typist’s dream, the Akko 3098B combines the company’s comfy, ASA keycaps with a compact, 96-percent layout and the ability to hot-swap in your favorite switches if you don’t like the defaults. The curved surface of the keycaps made it easier to feel our way around while touch typing and the default CS Jelly White switches are the best linear switches we’ve ever used.

The keyboard also has a classic, retro terminal look that made us feel like we were hacking into the Pentagon mainframe from Matthew Broderick’s house. Once we upgraded to our favorite clicky switches, it felt more like we were finishing a story on deadline in the newsroom of the Daily Planet. If you want a touch of modern flair, you can turn on the vibrant RGB lighting that lies beneath the keys.

All nostalgia aside, the Akko 3098B comes loaded with features, including the ability to connect via 2.4-GHz, Bluetooth 5.0 / 3.0 or USB-C. Switching between entry methods takes a single keystroke and less than a second so you can easily use this keyboard with your desktop, a laptop, a Raspberry Pi, your tablet and your phone at the same time.

The Akko 3098B’s 96-percent layout makes it nearly the same width as a tenkeyless model, but with almost all the keys of a full-size keyboard, including the numpad and arrow keys. Two sets of flip-out feet let you adjust the height to your liking.

Akko also sells an identical looking keyboard for $20 more under the model name 3098N. The 3098N just uses a different controller card inside, different client software and has a different selection of switches, but is otherwise the same.

Read: Akko 3098B / N Wireless Keyboard review

Best Portable Wireless Keyboard

You’ll have to spend extra on Keychron’s $25 travel pouch (or find something else to protect the keys), but the Keychron K3 offers a lot to like for typists on the go. With its appealing looks, attractive backlighting, svelte frame, and hot-swappable low-profile switches, there's a lot to like about the Keychron K3. It's easily the best portable low-profile mechanical/optical keyboard we've used in terms of comfort, looks, and versatility. The fact that Keychron was able to keep things this thin while retaining the ability to swap switches is especially impressive.

That said, battery life, as well as overall frame rigidity are compromises you'll have to make in favor of the slim package. If there’s room in your backpack for something taller, the Keychron K2 gets better battery life and feels like it’s built tougher — so it's worth considering exactly how much portability you need before buying.

Read: Keychron K3 review

Best Magnetic Switch Wireless Keyboard

Hall Effect magnetic switches are all the rage these days, especially for gamers — they're popular for their speediness and their adjustable actuation, and while this is not technically a gaming keyboard, it does have low-latency 2.4GHz wireless connectivity with a 1,000 Hz polling rate. The Keychron Q1 HE is a wireless mechanical keyboard with a 75-percent layout (slightly smaller than the more common TKL layout). It features linear magnetic HE switches with an actuation range of 0.5 - 3.8mm and a bottom-out force of 60g and a hot-swappable PCB (though it's only hot-swappable with similar magnetic switches — a common issue with all magnetic switches) gasket-mounted inside a solid chassis made of aluminum.

The Q1 HE offers a comfortable, nice-sounding typing experience, thanks to sound-dampening foam and an acoustic pad to reduce ping. It's not the absolute best-sounding keyboard we've ever used, but it sounds very good — especially for magnetic switches. The keycaps are high-quality double-shot PBT with printed legends and Keychron's OSA profile (the same height as OEM profile, but with angled, spherical tops). For gaming, you'll find the standard suite of magnetic switch options: wide range, precise adjustable actuation, multiple inputs on a single key, and Rapid Trigger. The switches' actuation can be set individually and have a sensitivity of 0.1mm.

The Q1 HE also has built-in Bluetooth 5.1, for those who don't need that low-latency 1,000 Hz polling rate. It features a switch on the back for switching between 2.4GHz wireless, Bluetooth, and wired, as well as a switch for switching between Windows and Mac modes. It's housed in a hefty chassis that weighs 3.75 pounds (1,700g), so it's not the best keyboard for traveling — but it's not going anywhere on your desk, even if you're an aggressive typist. The Q1 HE has received a price increase since we reviewed it a year ago — it's now $239.99 (previously $219.99), and it comes in either "carbon black" or "shell white."

Read: Keychron Q1 HE Review

Other Wireless Keyboards We Tested

Asus ROG Strix Morph 96 Wireless

Asus' ROG Strix Morph 96 Wireless is sort of like a successor to one of our all-time favorites, the Asus ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless — sort of. It's a wireless, hot-swappable gaming keyboard with a gasket mount design and a 96-percent layout. It has three forms of connectivity, a semi-customizable multi-function knob, bright per-key RGB lighting, and a solid build.

It's a cheaper version of the ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless, though. It comes with fewer accessories, has double-shot ABS keycaps instead of double-shot PBT keycaps, and has excellent battery life — 590 hours over a 2.4GHz wireless connection with the lighting turned off — that still manages to be less than half of what the ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless gets (1,500+ hours). It debuted with a retail price of $140, while the ROG Strix Scope II 96 Wireless is currently on sale for $130. So, while this keyboard may eventually make its way onto our best list as its predecessor (sort of) leaves shelves, it's not quite there yet.

Read: Asus ROG Strix Morph 96 Wireless Review

Epomaker RT82

This retro-inspired wireless keyboard has a magnetic detachable mini color LCD screen designed to look like an old-school computer monitor in the upper right corner. It's a little gimmicky, sure, but this keyboard is otherwise pretty impressive, with quiet, hot-swappable switches, lower-profile dye-sub PBT keycaps, and five layers of sound dampening in the case.

It's not quite a gaming keyboard, but it does have a 1,000 Hz polling rate and N-key rollover, so you can use it for gaming if you want to. And it's priced right, too — it retails for $85.99, but we've seen it on sale for less. If you like the look and you're looking for something quiet, this is a nice nostalgic option.

Read: Epomaker RT82 Review

Asus ROG Azoth X

Asus' most recent addition to its Azoth lineup brings a new look and a new price tag of $300 — $50 more than the original Azoth and just $200 than the Azoth Extreme. Like the original, it features a hot-swappable PCB with a gasket-mount design and five layers of sound-dampening foam, but the typing experience is less-than-perfect thanks to an over-dampened space bar (you can remove the sound dampening in the space bar, but for $300, should you have to?).

It also comes with Asus' new second-gen "refined" linear or clicky switches, tri-mode connectivity, and up to 1,600 hours of battery life. It's a solid wireless gaming keyboard, but you can get much more for the price.

Read: Asus ROG Azoth X Review

Asus ROG Azoth Extreme

The Asus ROG Azoth Extreme is the anticipated "extreme" version of Asus' flagship premium gaming keyboard, the ROG Azoth. The Azoth Extreme takes the already-pretty-extreme Azoth to the next level with a full aluminum alloy chassis, a carbon fiber positioning plate, refined sound dampening and stabilizers, a full-color, customizable, touch-gesture-enabled OLED screen, an adjustable gasket mount, and a wrist rest. But all this doesn't come cheap: the Azoth Extreme is a whopping $500 — twice the price of the already-expensive $250 Azoth.

The Azoth Extreme is a very, very well-built 75-percent mechanical gaming keyboard, with a meticulously machined case, per-key RGB backlighting, double-shot PBT keycaps, and your choice of Asus' ROG NX Snow (linear) or ROG NX Storm (clicky) mechanical switches. It also has a hot-swappable PCB, a carbon fiber positioning plate, and a gasket mount that can be adjusted via a switch on the back for a softer or firmer typing feel. Out of the box, the Azoth Extreme sounds and feels even better than the original Azoth (which already sounded and felt fantastic).

Like its predecessor, the Azoth Extreme is wireless with 2.4GHz wireless, Bluetooth, and wired connectivity, and it packs an impressive 92 hours of battery life with both the OLED screen and the RGB backlighting turned on. With both of those turned off, it gets over 1,600 hours of battery life, which is not quite as good as the original Azoth (which was rated for over 2,000 hours with its screen/RGB turned off), but is still impressive enough to be considered overkill.

The Azoth Extreme is definitely extreme. And it's so well-built that it arguably earns its high price — but that doesn't necessarily mean it's worth buying. The Azoth Extreme is highly customizable, but most of that customizability will likely go unused by the majority of gamers — you're not paying $500 for a keyboard you then have to turn around and customize.

Read: Asus ROG Azoth Extreme Review

Logitech G515 Lightspeed TKL

The Logitech G915 Lightspeed is one of our favorite low-profile gaming keyboards, but at $250 it's not exactly budget-friendly. The new Logitech G515 Lightspeed TKL, however, features the same general design as the rest of the GX15 lineup, but with updated switches, access to Logitech's KEYCONTROL, and a much more budget-friendly price of $140.

The G515 Lightspeed TKL is a wireless mechanical gaming keyboard with Logitech's low-profile GL switches (linear or tactile), which now have a POM cross-style stem for reduced wobble and a better typing experience. It sports a slim, all-plastic build with premium-feeling double-shot PBT keycaps and bright per-key RGB backlighting. While it's not quite as satisfying to type on as a similarly-equipped full-height gaming keyboard, the G515 Lightspeed TKL offers a very pleasant typing experience with consistent tactile feedback and solid (if not perfect) gaming performance.

It features both 2.4GHz wireless and Bluetooth connectivity and gets 36 hours of battery life over 2.4GHz wireless with the brightness turned up all the way — and up to 600 hours with the backlighting turned off.

Read: Logitech G515 Lightspeed TKL Review

How We Test Wireless Keyboards

Peripherals — especially wireless peripherals — are as much about comfort, convenience, and aesthetics as they are about performance. We begin by inspecting each wireless keyboard's build quality, taking note of any premium materials used, such as metal/aluminum chassis or double-shot PBT keycaps. We also look at any included accessories, including wrist rests, cables, replacement parts, and cases.

We spend a couple of weeks using each keyboard as our daily driver for writing, gaming, and everything else. We take a typing test at the beginning of our time with each keyboard and several throughout testing — typing tests don't objectively tell us much, but they give us a good handle on how well a keyboard is laid out and how well its elements fit together, as well as how easy it is to adapt to the keyboard if it's an unusual size or layout.

We test each keyboard's gaming performance by playing a variety of games, ranging from fast, precise first-person shooters to more endurance-based RPGs. We want to see how each keyboard performs in terms of speed, accuracy, and latency, as well as how comfortable and convenient it is for longer, more button-heavy games.

If the keyboard is hot-swappable, we swap in our favorite switches and assess how that changes the typing experience. We also test and review the included switches, because most people aren't going to immediately swap out switches in a brand-new keyboard.

For wireless keyboards, we test the strength, consistency, and latency of the wireless connection through gaming, as well as the battery life with lighting turned on and off. We also try to run each keyboard all the way down, battery-wise, so we can see how the wireless connection performs at lower battery levels.

Customization is especially important on keyboards, so we analyze each keyboard's customizability using any included companion software.

Wireless Keyboard Shopping Tips

⌨ Mechanical or not? If you’re a gamer and/or will also be doing a lot of writing, a mechanical clacker will be the best wireless keyboard for you. Keyboards with mechanical switches are also usually more durable — although membrane models hold up better to spilled liquids.

⌨ Backlighting / RGB: The least-expensive wireless keyboards won’t likely have backlighting, which is OK if you always use your keyboard in a well-lit space. But if you work or game late into the night and don’t want to (or can’t) switch on overhead lights, a keyboard with backlit keys is what you should be looking for. A single light color will get the job done, but RGB backlighting lets you change things up.

⌨ Pick your switch: Not all of the best wireless keyboards will use mechanical switches. But for those that do, you’ll have plenty of switch options, depending on the model you choose. Many gamers prefer linear switches (often labeled as red or brown) because they make it easier to mash the same buttons repeatedly in quick succession. But, this kind of switch often results in more mistakes (often repeated letters) when typing.

Those who type for a living often prefer “clicky” switches with a tactile bump (often labeled as blue, white, or green) that you can feel when the switch actuates. But clicky switches are noisy, which can bother those around you.

There are dozens of other switch types, including optical-mechanical and membrane. The latter tend to have a mushier feel but are much better at surviving things like spilled drinks. The type of switch that’s best for you depends on personal preference and your use cases and needs. So whenever possible, get an inexpensive switch tester to try out different options, or try to find a keyboard you’re considering in a store to get a feel for it before buying.

⌨ Magnetic switches? You've probably seen a lot of "Hall Effect" magnetic switch keyboards popping up in the gaming space. Magnetic switches are technically mechanical switches, but they actuate via disruption of a magnetic field rather than physical contact — so they don't have the same moving parts that traditional mechanical switches have. The benefit of this type of actuation is that it's highly adjustable — you can adjust each key's individual actuation level, and turn on features like Rapid Trigger, which matches the actuation and reset point so you can hit keys even faster. The downside of these switches is that they're all feel pretty similar — because there's no physical actuation, any tactile bump or click is manufactured. Magnetic switches aren't for everyone, but certain types of gamers will appreciate the extra speed.

⌨ Full-size, tenkeyless, or smaller? Tenkeyless keyboards ditch the number pad, while 65% models often eliminate navigation keys, and 60% boards also usually cut the arrow keys. While some will want every possible key, others prefer a smaller keyboard to save space on their desk, or something that's smaller for easier travel.

⌨ Bluetooth or 2.4GHz: If you want a wireless keyboard that you can use with smartphones and tablets, opt for a Bluetooth keyboard. Most laptops and many desktops these days support Bluetooth. So these are good if you want to use your best wireless keyboard with multiple devices.

That said, if you're only going to use your keyboard with a PC or Mac, and you plan on gaming, you'll want to go with a 2.4GHz connection. A 2.4GHz connection uses a USB dongle, so you'll need a spare USB port — but pairing is a lot simpler and the latency will be reduced drastically when compared to Bluetooth.

It's also handy to have a keyboard that works when plugged in via USB, even if you plan to be wireless most of the time. If you can plug the keyboard in and use it while you're charging, you won't have to worry about downtime.

MORE: How to clean your keyboard | How to build a custom mechanical keyboard | How to lube switches on your mechanical keyboard | Best budget mechanical keyboards | Best gaming keyboards

Finding Discounts on the Best Wireless Keyboards

Whether you're shopping for one of the best wireless keyboards or a model that didn't quite make the cut, you may find some savings by checking out our lists of the latest Newegg promo codes, Best Buy promo codes, Razer promo codes or Corsair coupon codes. You can also check out our Best Tech and PC Hardware Deals page for daily updates on discounted peripherals and other hardware.

A Sony executive told Reuters that the company's PlayStation 5 game console sales had hit 50 million units. This milestone comes three years after its launch in late 2020. Sony praised strong performance during Black Friday sales and touted how well the system continues to sell ahead of the holiday season.

Hitting 50 million sold-through units a little more than three years after the launch is impressive — for comparison, VGChartz estimates that life-to-date sales of Microsoft's Xbox Series X|S consoles have barely surpassed 25 million units.  

Meanwhile, the pace of PlayStation 5 sales is a bit slower than those of Sony's own PlayStation 2, which took around two years and four months to hit 50 million units following its launch in the U.S. and E.U. in October and November 2000, respectively (it launched in March 2000, in Japan). Nintendo's Wii also achieved its 50 million unit milestone around 2.5 years after its release.  

It should be noted that Sony set an ambitious goal to sell 25 million PlayStation 5 units this fiscal year alone (it started on April 21, 2023, and will end on March 31, 2024), so it was quite aggressive in promoting its consoles. By contrast, it doesn't look like Microsoft's prolonged acquisition of Activision — which attracted a lot of attention to the Xbox platform — helped the software giant much. 

"Given the momentum we've had in November and a lot of what we are seeing in December, just in general we are feeling very good about sales overall," said Eric Lempel, senior vice president for global marketing, sales and business operations at Sony Interactive Entertainment. "We have done some good promotions this year. I will say we've done fewer promotions at this stage of the lifecycle than we ever have in the history of the company." 

Interestingly, PlayStation 5 sales did not slow after the company hiked PS5 pricing in almost all regions except the USA in late October.

Steam is looking to encourage PlayStation users to spend more time with its platform by officially embracing PS controller-specific support. The latest Steam patch will now integrate, identify and provide input API for PlayStation DualSense and DualShock controllers, thereby providing the required tools to game developers and information to its users. The patch note further specifies console-specific controller support either as a full or partial integration. 

With this major addition, Valve enabled sorting and filters to highlight games compatible with these controllers via Steam's controller-friendly hub. This also includes a controller configuration button conveniently placed on the play bar. Developers can now specify controller recommendations in their game's respective listings. 

Valve's Interest in PlayStation Users

The common ground between the platforms is the controller. Unlike consoles, the PC platform doesn't have any restrictions to disallow support. It depends on the input API. And Valve felt now was the best time to roll out this integration, as 12% of Steam's active players on its platform regularly use a controller to play its games. It acknowledges many games are played with controllers almost exclusively. One of the oldest games I could think of is Rocket League. But you can include any sports or racing games, certain RPGs and fighting games like Street Fighter 6 and Tekken. Because of its vast collection of games and global player base, Steam was able to gather the following data:

• There were over 3 billion game sessions that included a controller in the past year
  • 60% Xbox controller
  • 27% PlayStation models
  • The remaining % is made up of Steam Deck, Switch Pro, and hundreds of other controller models
• The same period four years ago (ending Nov 2019) had 990 Million controller sessions
  • 76% Xbox controllers
  • 19% PlayStation controllers
• During these four years, PlayStation controllers saw a 4x increase in sessions

A combination of official and third-party controllers using XInput and DirectInput gets detected in Steam as an Xbox controller by default. Hence, it is not very shocking to see a 60% share with Xbox controllers. It is still remarkable to see 27% of Steam's user base using PlayStation controllers in 2023 while identifying a noticeable increase since 2019. Steam attributes this to PlayStation 4 and 5 console sales globally, while acknowledging that some of its player base would use Sony's controllers on Steam as a plug-and-play device. Since Valve recognizes the significant use of PlayStation controllers in its platforms, it is only natural to see input API, division and identification of controller-specific games. 

Steam succeeds while Console makers wouldn't tread

While console players would like to take a slice of each other's market share with exclusive game titles and other features, Steam plays on its strong points by providing seamless support on the PC for PlayStation users to alternate with using the same controller. This wouldn't make people replace PlayStation for PC, but will likely result in a more active user base. You'll never see PlayStation or Xbox do this type of cross-integration. While there are unofficial Playstation controllers, notably fight sticks, that use either Brooke Fusion or the open-source GP2040-CE PCBs, Xbox recently put its foot down and disabled third-party controller support, something that didn't go well with many of its users. 

Steam's New Classification for Controller Support

The controller support will now specify 'Full' and 'Partial' controller support differentiating USB and Bluetooth connections for DualSense and DualShock. What this means is that games with full controller support indicate almost all in-game actions and interactions seamlessly. It doesn't necessarily mean it uses every feature on the controller. It is also not certain if gamers will be able to use the audio port via the PlayStation controller, as you'd think it would need Steam to recognize it as a separate audio output somehow. 

A partial controller indicates that some elements may not work even if the controller is seen just fine. As an example, some specific interactions might not work or the game might suggest the wrong key to trigger an in-game action. This wouldn't render your controller completely useless but rather require you to operate with a keyboard and mouse when the situation arises. 

Valve admits this addition is more complicated than Xbox controllers. Hence, Steam is actively encouraging developers to use its input API for all console controllers, including Switch. This will take time, but naturally many developers should eventually integrate either full or partial support for PS controllers with its games. Thanks to Steam's input API, many indie developers will be encouraged to do the same. Seeing these stats, developers should be encouraged to enable all of the console-specific controller functions such as adaptive triggers and haptic feedback for many of its games. If not, the recognition of partial support with PlayStation controllers goes a long way.

While some are surprised that only 12% of Steam gamers use controllers, that's a very large share when you think keyboard and mouse dominate a large section of Steam because of many of its long-running multiplayer titles like Counter-Strike, and now CS2 and Apex Legends.

Sony's PlayStation 5 game console can be praised for its vast game collection available for the PlayStation platform, futuristic design, and storage upgradeability using off-the-shelf M.2 solid-state drives (SSDs). The recently introduced PS5 'Slim' maintains the advantages of the original version while being smaller. Apparently, it still uses the same AMD processor featuring Zen 2 general-purpose cores and Radeon RDNA 2 GPU and consumes the same amount of power.

Sony's new PS5 Slim is powered by the same AMD-designed system-on-chip (SoC) made on TSMC's N6 (7nm-class with enhancements) that powers the original one. Yet, the new console has a completely re-engineered motherboard, which allowed Sony to reduce the system's size and weight, as discovered by Linus Tech Tips and Dave2D. To make the machine smaller, Sony's engineers not only redesigned the motherboard but had to redesign its cooling system to fit into the new chassis. The new cooling system has five heatpipes (up from four in the case of the original one) and a smaller backplate.

Despite being generally smaller than the original one, the revamped cooling system is efficient enough to sustain the console's performance under high loads while maintaining rather low noise levels. Based on the findings, PS5 Slim produces 33.6 dBA of noise, whereas the original one generates 33.8 dBA.

Sony's PS5 Slim has a similar design to the original one, so it still features a futuristic look with a combination of glossy and matte finishes, which clearly attracts attention. Meanwhile, the vents have been simplified, removing the stylized design of the original in favor of a more straightforward, lighter structure. These design choices, along with an optimized storage configuration (1 TB is now available for the user), additional USB ports, and a smaller power supply unit, end up in a console that retains the performance of the original PS5 while boasting a slimmer, lighter profile.

Over time, Sony's PlayStation 5 Slim versions will replace the original models on the market. Keeping in mind that the new revisions offer more storage and more ports while retaining the performance of the original one, this will clearly please buyers.

Sony is rolling out redesigned, smaller PlayStation 5 models in November, including a new optional Ultra HD Blu-Ray Disc Drive that can pair to a Digital Edition PS5 in order to let digital gamers move to discs later. But it appears that those who decide to add a Blu-ray drive later on will require an internet connection to pair the console and the drive together.

Call of Duty-focused site Charlie Intel posted images on X (formerly known as Twitter) of a Call of Duty Modern Warfare III bundle featuring the slim PS5, and readers noticed that the fine print on the box reads "Internet connection required to pair Disc Drive and PS5 console upon setup."

It's a fair bit of irony for a medium that gamers like because physical copies mean you can play games even if servers are shut down later on.

Some X users likened the move to putting DRM on the optional disc drive, with some worrying about issues when, many years down the line, Sony may shut down servers supporting the PlayStation 5 and the disc drive, preventing the preservation and play of these games.

Community Notes on X point to a Wired story from December 2020 that may, in part, answer why this is occurring. That article points out that both Sony and Microsoft "lock down the software they use to pair their disc readers with their consoles' motherboards." This may be an attempt to ensure compliance with Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which is what makes it illegal to "circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a copyrighted work." In that case, pairing the disc drive and the motherboards ensures that you're using a legitimate first-party accessory, and not one that can enable piracy.

Of course, pirates have rarely been stopped by firmware pairing, though third-party repairs sure can suffer. It's likely that you'll only need to connect to the internet one time, on first use, to pair the drive. It's unclear if Sony will ever remove the requirement, perhaps when the next generation of consoles comes out.

Sony did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication. If we hear back, we'll update the story.

The new PlayStation 5, which some have taken to calling the PS5 Slim, is set to launch in November alongside the existing design. Once the original design is out of stock, the new one will be the default.

Sony is bumping the storage on the PS5 from an 825GB SSD to 1TB. The PS5 with a disc drive will run for $499.99, while the Digital Edition will be $449.99 (a $50 increase from the existing model). Those who want to add a disc drive to the Digital Edition later can pay $79.99 for the accessory.

Finding the best deals on tech can be laborious. You're on the lookout for a new piece of tech or an upgrade for your beloved PC, but how can we tell a good deal from a dud? Keep an eye on this deals hub for all the best tech deals from the most popular UK-based retailers. We regularly check this page to make sure we include the best deals and that the prices listed are as up-to-date as possible.

So if you're looking for a new pair of gaming headphones or more SSD storage for your PlayStation 5, we have you covered. We’ll be keeping our deals eye out for more of the best bargains and deals on tech. 

Here are some of our best deals picks so far, but hurry, because these prices don’t last forever. 

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EKWB has launched numerous liquid cooling monoblocks for multiple high-end PC motherboards. But who said that only PCs need liquid cooling? This week, the company rolled out a liquid cooling monoblock for Sony's PlayStation 5 game consoles designed to make the system quieter and cooler, literally and figuratively. Yet, it will have to be installed into an mATX PC case.

While game consoles generally aim at mainstream gamers, EKWB's EK-QuantumX CoolingStation Monoblock for PS5 is designed for experienced liquid cooling enthusiasts. To build a liquid-cooled PlayStation 5, users must disassemble their console, extract the PCB, and install it within the monoblock, which is compact enough to fit into a regular mATX chassis.

To ensure comprehensive cooling, the EK-QuantumX CoolingStation Monoblock for PS5 covers all key PlayStation 5 components, including the AMD-designed system-on-chip with Ryzen CPU and Radeon GPU, its voltage regulating module (VRM), 16 GB of GDDR6 memory, various controllers, and even the built-in SSD (which some may deem a controversial decision since true PS5 enthusiasts use third-party SSDs that may not be compatible with the monoblock). For optimal and safe heat transfer, EK suggests using thermal paste for the SoC and thermal pads for other components. 

Unfortunately, EKWB does not share any details on how liquid cooling affects the temperatures of PS5 components versus stock cooling. It is also unclear whether using a built-in optical disc drive with the liquid-cooled console is possible.

EK-QuantumX CoolingStation Monoblock for PS5 resembles monoblocks for PCs. It has a pair of G1/4″ connectors for integration into a liquid-cooling circuit. It requires a pump to circulate the coolant, a radiator accompanied by fans to expel heat, and interconnecting tubes sold separately. Essentially, users are building a liquid-cooled mATX PC with PlayStation 5 components inside.

To simplify the buildout, the monoblock has an embedded PCB that converts PlayStation's default 2-pin DC plug to dual 8-pin PCIe auxiliary power connectors, meaning users will need a standard ATX PSU to run the unit.

Aesthetically, the base of the monoblock is forged from nickel-plated copper and boasts a transparent acrylic pane. Other embellishments and structural components are fashioned from stainless steel and aluminum. These materials remain separate from the coolant, preventing any undesirable metal interaction.

EKWB believes that its QuantumX CoolingStation Monoblock for PS5 promises to enhance the gaming experience by reducing noise, which could distract from gaming sessions.

EKWB's EK-QuantumX CoolingStation Monoblock for PS5 is not cheap at all. It has a list price of $449/€449 and can be pre-ordered now for delivery in early November.

August 25, 2023 Update: We've added new testing for the 2TB PNY XLR8 CS3140 SSD on page 2.

Original Review published June 22, 2022:

PNY has been around for a long time, known in particular for its flash-based products, but also for its memory and GPUs. The company's new XLR8 CS3140 SSD tops out at 7,500/6,850 MBps of sequential read/write throughput for the 2TB and larger models, and it's also flexible in that it has both a version with a heatsink and one without, and you can also use a separate PlayStation 5 heatsink for the latter. 

Last year, PNY reduced the endurance rating on its CS3030 SSD by almost 80% due to the impact of Chia cryptomining, which was known for killing SSDs with heavy write workloads. But PNY has now returned to high endurance ratings with the XLR8 CS3140.

We tested the new 1TB XLR8 CS3140 model, which is a good starting capacity, but the 2TB model offers better peak performance because it is packed with more flash dies. Naturally, the 4TB is even more compelling if you're after more raw capacity. However, a basic primary drive is quite fine at 1TB, especially when coupled with strong hardware and a good SLC caching scheme like we see with the previous-gen CS3140. Let's see how the PNY CS3140 fares in our test suite. 

Specifications

The PNY CS3140 is available in the 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB capacities. These all have a five-year warranty backed up by 700TBW, 1400TBW, and 3000TBW of write endurance, respectively. Performance tops out at 7,500/6,850 MBps of sequential read/write throughput for the 2TB and larger models.

PNY doesn't officially list the IOPS measurements, but we can guess that this drive would be similar to other SSDs that have the same hardware combination. We had to dig up the endurance numbers on PNY's Taiwanese site, and the company seems to operate on the principle of “the less the information, the better.” That does make some sense in an era where SSD manufacturers often change the SSD's hardware after launch, but you'll need to do your homework to find concrete specs for these drives.  

The drive supports 256-bit AES encryption. PNY sells this drive with and without a heatsink, and we are testing the version without. This makes it a good choice for the PlayStation 5, possibly as-is, but PNY sells a separate heatsink for SSDs that is designed especially for the PS5. 

Software and Accessories

The CS3140 doesn't come with anything special. PNY does offer a download for its PCIe SSD toolbox software for firmware updating on their site. This software also gives some basic information about the drive, such as SMART readings, and allows for secure erasing.

A Closer Look

The drive is quite plain, sporting a rear label with basic details about the drive. Under the top label, we see the controller, DRAM, and four NAND packages in a standard configuration.

The flash is labeled IA7BG94AYA, which is 176-layer Micron TLC, a.k.a. B47R. This flash has proven excellent when coupled with the Phison E18 controller. As there are four packages, each should have four 64GB flash dies in a QDP configuration.

Based on data pulled from the drive, this flash is standard B47R running at 1200 MT/s. We’ve seen faster, but this is sufficient with two dies per channel. The endurance and quality of the flash look good, so there are no surprises here.

The Phison E18 controller needs no introduction - it’s been used on a wide variety of drives to good effect. It tends to be optimized for peak performance, specifically in sequential work, and it’s particularly good when paired with newer flash.

The DRAM is SK hynix’s H5AN8G6NCJR-VKC, which is 1GB of DDR4 in the 512M x 16b configuration. This would be C-die DRAM with the normal DRAM-to-NAND ratio, more than enough for any user. We can also spot the Phison power management package (PMIC) near the controller.

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Comparison Products

There are some new drives out on the market that weren’t here when we reviewed the 1TB CS3140, including PCIe 5.0 SSDs like the Crucial T700 and Corsair MP700. We also have reviewed some great 4.0 SSDs like the Samsung 990 Pro, the Solidigm P44 Pro/SK hynix Platinum P41, and the WD Black SN850X. There’s also the Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus-G and Adata Legend 960 Max. Lastly, we have the budget-oriented Solidigm P41 Plus. Keep in mind that we got the PS5 heatsink with the 2TB CS3140 which makes it great for the PS5 even if the drive is dated in standard benchmarks.

A Closer Look

Trace Testing - 3DMark Storage Benchmark

Built for gamers, 3DMark’s Storage Benchmark focuses on real-world gaming performance. Each round in this benchmark stresses storage based on gaming activities including loading games, saving progress, installing game files, and recording gameplay video streams.

The CS3140 is below average in 3DMark. It scored slightly worse than the 1TB version.

Trace Testing – PCMark 10 Storage Benchmark

PCMark 10 is a trace-based benchmark that uses a wide-ranging set of real-world traces from popular applications and everyday tasks to measure the performance of storage devices.

The CS3140 is near the bottom in PCMark 10, too, faring worse than the 1TB version.

Transfer Rates – DiskBench

We use the DiskBench storage benchmarking tool to test file transfer performance with a custom, 50GB dataset. We copy 31,227 files of various types, such as pictures, PDFs, and videos to a new folder and then follow-up with a reading test of a newly-written 6.5GB zip file.

Things aren’t quite as bad with DiskBench. The CS3140 is close enough to the other high-end PCIe 4.0 SSDs. The 5.0 SSDs - the T700 and MP700 - pull away due to their faster interface, while the slower P41 Plus is at the bottom.

Synthetic Testing - ATTO / CrystalDiskMark

ATTO and CrystalDiskMark (CDM) are free and easy-to-use storage benchmarking tools that SSD vendors commonly use to assign performance specifications to their products. Both of these tools give us insight into how each device handles different file sizes.

The CS3140’s sequential performance in ATTO and CDM is adequate but not on the level of the better PCIe 4.0 SSDs. This is fine as sequential performance at this level isn’t super important. Random write latency is good — surprisingly good even, but random read latency is fairly bad and significantly worse than the 1TB version of this drive.

The reason for that is obvious; PNY switched to 112-Layer Kioxia TLC (BiCS5) which does not perform as well with this controller as the original 176-Layer Micron TLC (B47R). However, if you’re buying a drive for capacity and especially for the PS5, this is not a big deal.

Sustained Write Performance and Cache Recovery

Official write specifications are only part of the performance picture. Most SSDs implement a write cache, which is a fast area of (usually) pseudo-SLC programmed flash that absorbs incoming data. Sustained write speeds can suffer tremendously once the workload spills outside of the cache and into the "native" TLC or QLC flash.

We use Iometer to hammer the SSD with sequential writes for 15 minutes to measure both the size of the write cache and performance after the cache is saturated. We also monitor cache recovery via multiple idle rounds.

The 2TB CS3140 writes in pSLC mode for over 30 seconds at up to 6.2 GB/s. This makes for a cache over 200GB, which is fairly large. Luckily, the drive does not easily hit a folding state, and instead drops to around 1.6 GB/s in TLC mode. This is not a bad result in any way. The 1TB version with Micron TLC is faster in TLC mode and it would probably be even faster with more dies at 2TB. Still, the BiCS5 2TB CS3140 is fairly consistent. Its recovery response has it lingering in TLC mode, which is luckily not too bad.

Power Consumption and Temperature

We use the Quarch HD Programmable Power Module to gain a deeper understanding of power characteristics. Idle power consumption is an important aspect to consider, especially if you're looking for a laptop upgrade as even the best ultrabooks can have mediocre storage.

Some SSDs can consume watts of power at idle while better-suited ones sip just milliwatts. Average workload power consumption and max consumption are two other aspects of power consumption, but performance-per-watt is more important. A drive might consume more power during any given workload, but accomplishing a task faster allows the drive to drop into an idle state more quickly, ultimately saving energy.

For temperature recording we currently poll the drive’s primary composite sensor during testing with a 24C ambient.

The 2TB CS3140 with BiCS5 flash is not very efficient, especially compared to similar drives using Micron’s TLC instead. This is to be expected as this flash is less efficient in general and does not seem to pair quite as well with Phison’s E18 controller. This result isn’t crtical if this drive is used in a high-end desktop or PS5, but it does demonstrate the downsides of swapping the flash. It’s worth pointing out that other manufacturers can and have changed hardware over the course of an SSD’s lifespan.

We only reached a brief maximum of 67C during testing, which is far away from significant throttling. This drive would be quite happy in a PS5 with the optional heatsink. We would recommend it for that or perhaps some extra fast storage if the drive is priced right. Right now, at the time of the review update, the 2TB SN850X is probably the better option.

Test Bench and Testing Notes

We use an Alder Lake platform with most background applications such as indexing, Windows updates, and anti-virus disabled in the OS to reduce run-to-run variability. Each SSD is prefilled to 50% capacity and tested as a secondary device. Unless noted, we use active cooling for all SSDs.

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PNY XLR8 CS3140 1TB SSD

RATING: ★★★★ (4 Stars)

PROS

+ Consistent performance
+ Strong peak and all-around performance
+ Power-efficient
+ Good PlayStation 5 option from PNY

CONS

- Pricing

OUR VERDICT
The 1TB PNY CS3140 is a solid drive that can be used in a PC or in the PlayStation 5, but the latter is best with PNY’s separate PS5 heatsink. Performance is strong, but there’s not much special about this drive versus the competition.

Comparison Products (1TB)

We compared the PNY CS3140 to other PCIe 4.0 drives, including the more budget-oriented WD Black SN770. Contenders using proprietary controllers include the WD Black SN850, the Samsung 980 Pro, and the Crucial P5 Plus. The other three drives use the same Phison E18 controller, but the Gigabyte Aorus Gen4 7000s and Corsair MP600 Pro use the older 96-layer Micron TLC while the last one, the Kingston Fury Renegade, is equipped with the same 176-layer flash as the CS3140.

Trace Testing - 3DMark Storage Benchmark

Built for gamers, 3DMark’s Storage Benchmark focuses on real-world gaming performance. Each round in this benchmark stresses storage based on gaming activities including loading games, saving progress, installing game files, and recording gameplay video streams.

3DMark shows off WD’s excellent optimization, but thanks to their upgraded flash, we also had respectable results for the CS3140 and Fury Renegade.

Trace Testing – PCMark 10 Storage Benchmark

PCMark 10 is a trace-based benchmark that uses a wide-ranging set of real-world traces from popular applications and everyday tasks to measure the performance of storage devices.

Again we see strong optimization from WD and Crucial, with the newer flash helping out the CS3140 and Fury Renegade. PCMark is often considered a “real world” benchmark, and we can look particularly at the latency results to see that the older 96-layer flash on the 7000s and MP600 Pro is appreciably slower.

Transfer Rates – DiskBench

We use the DiskBench storage benchmarking tool to test file transfer performance with a custom, 50GB dataset. We copy 31,227 files of various types, such as pictures, PDFs, and videos to a new folder and then follow-up with a reading test of a newly-written 6.5GB zip file.

This bandwidth-heavy test favors the high-end PCIe 4.0 drives, particularly those based on the Phison E18 controller. The newer 176-layer flash also brings improvements, particularly as we are testing at 1TB rather than 2TB of capacity. The Phison E18 can peak with 32 dies of flash, and considering these use 64GB dies, that means 2TB. The 176-layer flash is also faster per die than the 96-layer flash for copying tasks.

Synthetic Testing - ATTO / CrystalDiskMark

ATTO and CrystalDiskMark (CDM) are free and easy-to-use storage benchmarking tools that SSD vendors commonly use to assign performance specifications to their products. Both of these tools give us insight into how each device handles different file sizes.

The queue depth 1 (QD1) sequential read and write results from ATTO paint a simple picture: drives using the Phison E18 come out on top, with a significant edge given to those with the newer 176-layer flash. To some extent, there is a “wall” due to the limits of the x4 PCIe 4.0 interface, as seen with queue depth 8 sequential reads in CrystalDiskMark. The write result shows a bit more delineation between the tested drives. At this point, we see a theme, with the CS3140 underperforming the Fury Renegade, possibly due to inferior firmware optimization.

Random QD1 performance is good to excellent on the CS3140, where we again see the newer flash pulling ahead. Again, no real surprises, which is not a bad thing — this hardware configuration performs very well on multiple fronts.

Sustained Write Performance and Cache Recovery

Official write specifications are only part of the performance picture. Most SSDs implement a write cache, which is a fast area of (usually) pseudo-SLC programmed flash that absorbs incoming data.  Sustained write speeds can suffer tremendously once the workload spills outside of the cache and into the "native" TLC or QLC flash. We use Iometer to hammer the SSD with sequential writes for 15 minutes to measure both the size of the write cache and performance after the cache is saturated. We also monitor cache recovery via multiple idle rounds.

The CS3140 writes at above 5.8 GBps for almost 20 seconds, revealing an SLC cache of around 116GB. This is not a particularly large cache but should be more than sufficient for a 1TB SSD. The drive then hits its direct-to-TLC phase at up to 2 GBps, which is quite fast for a 1TB drive. This reflects the choice of having a smaller SLC cache while using the faster 176-layer TLC. Performance would be higher at 2TB due to additional interleaving. As the cache is dynamic, it will shrink as the drive is filled. It’s still possible to hit a slower state with sufficient writing, but this is difficult to achieve.

Beyond flash choice, the size of the cache is one thing that separates drives based on the E18 controller. As we can see here with the Fury Renegade’s results, it has a larger, faster cache than the CS3140, but no middle-ground TLC state — this allows some flexibility for the manufacturer and the user. While cache recovery remained slow on both drives, the CS3140's ability to maintain TLC speeds ensures it has better steady state performance for edge cases.

Which is better is arguable, particularly as high-end PCIe 4.0 drives tend to focus on raw bandwidth. However, we believe in the future that sustained performance may become more important. For example, if you’re able to stream assets steadily from a drive via DirectStorage. That would be reads and not writes, of course, but there are nevertheless cases where consistency trumps peak performance alone.

Power Consumption and Temperature

We use the Quarch HD Programmable Power Module to gain a deeper understanding of power characteristics. Idle power consumption is an important aspect to consider, especially if you're looking for a laptop upgrade as even the best ultrabooks can have mediocre storage.

Some SSDs can consume watts of power at idle while better-suited ones sip just milliwatts. Average workload power consumption and max consumption are two other aspects of power consumption, but performance-per-watt is more important. A drive might consume more power during any given workload, but accomplishing a task faster allows the drive to drop into an idle state more quickly, ultimately saving energy.

We also monitor the drive’s temperature via the S.M.A.R.T. data and an IR thermometer to see when (or if) thermal throttling kicks in and how it impacts performance. Remember that results will vary based on the workload and ambient air temperature

Efficiency remains strong on the CS3140, thanks to the flash and the ability to quickly finish workloads with high peak performance. It still trails the Fury Renegade by a small bit.

According to both SMART and the IR gun, the CS3140 idles in the mid-40Cs and peaks in the upper-70Cs. This is hot but not unexpected as the drive lacks a heatsink. The smaller SLC cache helps when the drive hits the TLC flash, but sustained writes still get it pretty close to the throttling mark. In fact, we did see light throttling after about 215GB of writes when the drive hit 78C. Therefore, we recommend a heatsink if you anticipate having heavier workloads and/or a hotter environment.

Test Bench and Testing Notes

We use a Rocket Lake platform with most background applications such as indexing, windows updates, and anti-virus disabled in the OS to reduce run-to-run variability. Each SSD is prefilled to 50% capacity and tested as a secondary device. Unless noted, we use active cooling for all SSDs.

Conclusion

We didn't expect any surprises, and we didn't find any — the PNY XLR8 CS3140 gets close to our performance expectations without any weirdness. As with similar drives, the peak and general performance ranges from good to excellent. The SLC caching scheme is conservative, making for consistent performance in sustained workloads, and the new flash ensures good power efficiency. The PNY CS3140 is also a strong choice for a PlayStation 5 drive due to its option for a tailored heatsink.

On the other hand, there’s not much to set this drive apart from the competition. It is nice to see a functioning SSD toolbox — this is something lacking with, say, Inland drives — but the pricing isn’t particularly competitive. That being said, this is an adequate alternative and would be a good choice if you can find it on sale. PNY isn't pulling any endurance shenanigans here as far as we could tell, even if the company is a bit shy about some of the drive's specifications.

We scored the Kingston Fury Renegade a bit higher. The Fury Renegade edges out the CS3140 in almost every test while coming with cloning software, although currently, it is more expensive. The Kingston SSD is also designed for the PlayStation 5 and is perhaps a more trusted brand, perhaps except for those users who remember the ancient NAND switch-a-roo.

We also previously reviewed the Silicon Power XS70, a similar drive that's also designed for the PlayStation 5. It costs less than the CS3140 and comes with a PS5-capable heatsink out of the box. All of this makes it hard to give the PNY XLR8 CS3140 a higher score, but it is still a strong drive and contender. The biggest challenge for the XLR8 CS3140 is that it's in an increasingly crowded market, but it is a competent alternative.

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The Samsung 990 Pro, one of the best SSDs, was launched last year in 1TB and 2TB flavors. Making good on its promise to release a 4TB version, Samsung has confirmed on X (formerly Twitter) that the speedy PCIe 4.0 SSD will hit the market soon.

Samsung's position on PCIe 5.0 SSDs is a bit complex. While the company has some enterprise drives that leverage the PCIe 5.0 interface, it has yet to launch a consumer PCIe 5.0 SSD. The Samsung 990 Pro, an M.2 2280 drive, is still on the PCIe 4.0 interface and is currently the brand's fastest consumer drive. The company has followed up with a 4TB variant, doubling the Samsung 990 Pro's 2TB capacity. Samsung doesn't always offer the 4TB capacity with all its SSDs. For example, the Samsung 980 Pro, the predecessor to the Samsung 990 Pro, maxed out at 2TB.

The Samsung 990 Pro 4TB will arrive in a bare drive (MZ-V9P4T0BW) and heatsink (MZ-V9P4T0CW) versions. The SSD's form factor and design allow it to live inside many devices, including laptops, desktops, and consoles like the PlayStation 5. Therefore, the Samsung 990 Pro 4TB isn't just an SSD for PC consumers. It's a drive that PlayStation 5 owners can look forward to due to its ample capacity and blistering performance.

While the manufacturer hasn't listed the Samsung 990 Pro 4TB on its website, the drive is already mentioned in the product brochure. Similar to the other capacities, the new Samsung 990 Pro 4TB utilizes Samsung's in-house Pascal SSD controller, which features an Arm design. The company produces Pascal on the 8nm process node. As for the NAND, the drive employs the same Samsung 176-layer TLC NAND as the other drives. The difference is that the die sizes are larger to hit 4TB.

Samsung 990 Pro Specifications

The Samsung 990 Pro 4TB SSD's advertised performance mirrors that of the lower capacity 2TB version. The drive delivers sequential read and write speeds, hitting 7,450 MB/s and 6,900 MB/s, respectively. Meanwhile, the random performance is at 1,400,000 IOPS reads and 1,550,000 IOPS writes. The figures may look low compared to the PCIe 5.0 standard, but the Samsung 990 Pro can hang with some PCIe 5.0 drives on the market.

Besides the capacity, the difference between the 4TB and 2TB models is the size of the cache memory and the endurance. The Samsung 990 Pro 4TB has a 4GB LPDDR4 DRAM cache and a 2,400 TBW rating, twice that of the Samsung 990 Pro 2TB. As expected, Samsung backs the Samsung 990 Pro 4TB with a limited five-year warranty.

Pricing on the Samsung 990 Pro has improved significantly over the last few months. The 2TB bare drive had a $289.99 MSRP but retails for as low as $169.99 nowadays. The heatsink versions are typically more expensive than the bare drive models and have identical performance. The MSRP for the Samsung 990 Pro 4TB is unknown, but it shouldn't remain a mystery for long since Samsung has already started teasing the upcoming SSD.

PlayStation has confirmed an official launch price for the new PlayStation Portal remote player handheld, which was announced as being in development back in April. Users can expect a launch price of $199.99 (USD) for the new PlayStation Portal remote player when it’s released later this year.

The PlayStation Portal is a portable device featuring an 8-inch LCD screen with 1080p resolution and a refresh rate of 60 fps. It has haptic feedback and adaptive triggers, similar to the DualSense wireless controller, and is intended to work in tandem with the PS5 console over Wi-Fi.

The idea behind this handheld is to serve as an extension of the console. Any compatible games on the PS5 can be played on the PlayStation Portal remote player. Games that use the DualSense controller should be compatible but games that require additional hardware might not work. Users can also connect external audio peripherals using its 3.5mm audio jack.

Anything related to PS VR2 will not be compatible, as users must use the headset and VR controllers to interface. It’s also worth noting that games must be installed locally on the PS5. Anything hosted through PlayStation Plus Premium’s cloud streaming cannot be played on the PlayStation Portal remote player.

Because the PlayStation Portal remote player works in tandem with the PS5, it’s not in direct competition with other handhelds such as the Steam Deck or Asus ROG Ally. This also lends to its lower price threshold of $199. Though it’s possible this price might change in the future, it’s nice to have an official say so from Sony on the matter to set expectations.

You can read more about the PlayStation Portal remote player as well as new products, including the Pulse Elite wireless headset and Pulse Explore wireless earbuds, in the official announcement shared to the PlayStation blog.

If you're on the hunt for a replacement controller for your games console or perhaps a new gamepad for your PC, then take a look at the Sony PlayStation 5 controller at $49— that gives you an awesome $20 discount. With haptic feedback and a built-in microphone, the Sony controller is a great choice for gaming if a mouse and keyboard doesn't suit the game.

Pick up 2TB of storage with this excellent price on Crucial's P3 SSD for $74. This Gen 3 SSD can reach read/write speeds of 3500/3000 MB/s and is a great option for a budget drive for your games library. It's an older SSD and may not be the best SSD on the market, but its price-to-performance ratio is a winner. 

And for only a few dollars more than the above offering, you can upgrade to a 2TB Gen 4 Crucial P3 Plus SSD for just $79. This newer drive offers an increase in performance with speeds of 5,000 MB/s sequential read and 4,200 MB/s write. This is a great price for an SSD for your games, or if you're looking to upgrade the storage in a laptop.

For more deals keep on scrolling.  

TL;DR — Today’s Best Deals

• Sony PlayStation 5 DualSense Wireless Controller: was $49 at Amazon (was $69)
• Crucial P3 2TB SSD: now $74 at Amazon (was $174)
• Crucial P3 Plus 2TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSD: now $79 at Best Buy (was $189)
• 1TB Crucial P3 NVMe SSD: now $39 at Best Buy (was $89)
• Skytech Azure Gaming PC: now $1,799 at Newegg (was $2,199)

Today’s best deals in detail

Looking for more deals?

An urgent pull request was sent out this weekend,to extend the Linux 6.5 kernel’s AMD Zenbleed vulnerability mitigation to Valve’s Steam Deck. It turns out that when the kernel was patched last month, mitigations weren’t implemented for Valve’s custom AMD SoC, sometimes known as Aerith, Phoronix first reported.

AMD’s Zen 2 product stack is pretty complicated, so it is hard to be critical of the Linux dev team. Zen 2 cores debuted with the well-known Ryzen 3000 chips, but the Zen 2 architecture can be also found in some Ryzen 4000 and 5000 processors, as well as Epyc server chips, the Sony PlayStation 5, in the Microsoft Xbox Series X/S consoles, and Valve’s Steam Deck.

It has been three weeks since news of the 'Zenbleed' vulnerability broke. The threat to AMD Zen 2 processor users seemed to be relatively severe. Zenbleed was shown to open up simple remote attack vectors, via JavaScript embedded in a webpage, for example. After successfully exploiting the Zenbleed vulnerability, an attacker could potentially learn your encryption keys or web logins.

If you care to head on over and look at the notes of the pull request you will see that a developer notes that “the AMD Custom APU 0405 found on Steam Deck was not listed, although it is clearly affected by the vulnerability.” The dev then goes on to request the Steam Deck’s CPU is added to the Zenbleed list “in order to unconditionally enable the fallback fix until a proper microcode update is available.”

This last point is important to note. AMD hasn’t provided any of its official patches for Zenbleed as yet, except to the EPYC 7002 'Rome' processors. Everyone else will have to wait until November / December this year. The chipmaker said that it is not aware of any Zenbleed exploits outside of the research environment. Some assume that microcode updates will be able to fix the Zenbleed vulnerability with little or fewer performance penalties than a software patch would, but that remains to be seen.

A performance decrease isn't ideal for a gaming machine, but with access to web browsers from the Steam side and a full desktop on the KDE Plasma desktop side, the Steam Deck is a full-on Linux computer.

It seems like the favorite processor families of PC DIYers have been plagued with newly uncovered bugs recently. In addition to Zenbleed, last week we reported on both (Intel) Downfall and (AMD) Inception.

Phison has demonstrated its what it claims to be the fastest client solid-state drive released to date: the PS5026-E26 Max14um Gen5 SSD with an over 14 GB/s sequential read speed, which is higher than what the best SSDs offer today, at Flash Memory Summit 2023. The unit was cooled down using an innovative system from Frore.

Phison and its partners were first to offer SSDs based on the PS5026-E26 controller with a PCIe 5.0 x4 interface. Those drives significantly outperformed all SSDs that existed at the time, even though they could not demonstrate their full potential due to scarce availability of 3D NAND with a 2,400 MT/s interface. By now, Micron has finally managed to ramp up production of its fastest 3D NAND devices and Phison can demonstrates its PS5026-E26 Max14um Gen5 SSD featuring a sequential write speed of over 14 GB/s. 

As PCIe Gen5 SSDs based on controllers from Innogrit and Silicon Motion are getting closer, Phison wants to remind people that its platform can pack quite a punch, which is why it built an SSD based on its PC5026-E26 controller and Micron's B58R 3D TLC NAND memory chips that can hit a 14,175 MB/s sequential read speed and a 12,471 MB/s sequential write speed as well as 1.79 million random read IOPS and 1.74 million random write IOPS. 

Performance offered by the PS5026-E26 Max14um Gen5 SSD is a bit higher than sequential performance of enterprise-grade PCIe Gen5 drives and even higher than what Sabrent achieved with its E26-based drive a month ago. To hit such read/write speeds, Phison had to tweak firmware and cool down its drive properly. To do so, Phison used Frore Systems's AirJet Mini cooling system that uses tiny vibrating membrane to generate airflow.

For now, Phison does not disclose whether it plans to offer its partners reference designs of its PS5026-E26 Max14um Gen5 SSD, or just let them achieve similar performance levels themselves, though it is logical to expect SSD makers to offer another generation of E26-based SSDs in light of the fact that there are PCIe Gen5 drives featuring different controllers incoming.

Corsair’s HS80 Wireless gaming headset arrived in 2021 to strong but mixed reviews, and was followed by the wired HS80 RGB. Our review of the HS80 RGB, which gave the headset four out of five stars, praised its build quality, design, and overall audio performance, but took issue with its inflexible connectivity, which only supported PC and Mac — not quite one of the best wireless gaming headsets around. 

Now, Corsair has the solution: the HS80MAX Wireless. It’s broadly similar to the HS80 Wireless and HS80 but improves connectivity. The PlayStation 5 is now compatible with the headset’s 2.4GHz wireless dongle, and Bluetooth joins the party with support for iOS, Android, and Nintendo Switch. This bumps the price up to $179.99, up from the HS80 Wireless’ $149.99, which seems a fair price for the improvement in versatility. 

Design and Comfort 

Corsair’s HS80MAX Wireless struck a soft, inviting, modern profile that looked fantastic in a variety of home office and gaming setups. The white model, which I received, appears friendly and inviting: a matte black model is available for those with more reserved tastes. No matter the color you choose, the HS80MAX’s design is defined by rounded edges and tapered shapes. 

Build quality is good but not exceptional. The hinges which connect the earcups to the head strap are metal, but plastic dominates the rest of the design. That’s not a surprise given the headset’s price point: I can’t immediately think of similarly priced competitors with significantly more durable materials. Alternatives like the Beyerdynamic DT 900 Pro X are in another league, though way more expensive. 

The Corsair HS80MAX has RGB lighting but, like the rest of the headset, it’s subtle. Lighting is only available in a few locations such as the Corsair logos on the exterior of each earcup and the microphone. I liked this approach, but I’m also not a fan of RGB lighting. Those who prefer more LED flair might be disappointed.

The power and volume buttons lurk around the rear of the left earcup, while the Bluetooth pairing button is on the right. The buttons activate with a firm, tactile click, and they have a textured surface that’s distinct from the material around them. The headset also has a USB-C port on the left earcup and ships with a six-foot USB-C cable in the box. 

Comfort was a highlight, as the Corsair HS80MAX has thick, substantial padding covered in supple, pleasant fabric. The headset’s size is adjusted with a simple velcro strap on the headband. I have a big head that can challenge some headsets, but the HS80MAX managed to accommodate my dome on its largest setting. 

The ear cups also fit nicely over my ears. I eventually felt a touch of pressure after wearing the headset for several hours, but this occurs with nearly all headsets I use (big head, remember?) — the Corsair HS80MAX was more comfortable than most. The Logitech G733, for instance, was too small for my head, and quickly became uncomfortable. 

While the Corsair HS80MAX is enjoyable in most situations, the fabric wasn’t especially breathable, and the headset felt warm on my ears after a couple hours of use in an air-conditioned room. I expect they wouldn’t be a great choice for gaming in a hot or humid environment. 

The Corsair HS80MAX’s overall design and comfort left me impressed. They fit well on my head, stayed in place, and caused little strain after several hours of use. I’d be more than happy to use them as my “daily driver.”

Specs

Audio Performance

The Corsair HS80MAX Wireless packs 50mm neodymium drivers. It also has support for Dolby Atmos and Atmos Spatial Sound, which holds hope for surround sound performance. With that said, it doesn’t offer 5.1 or 7.1 virtual surround.

First up, music. The HS80MAX proved a solid and well-rounded performer and made a good first impression, but it didn’t knock my socks off.

Boards of Canada’s New Seeds immediately revealed the headset’s limitations. This is a complex track that frequently hits high, bass, and mid-range simultaneously, and includes numerous details that can be difficult for any sound system to pick up. The HS80MAX had a warm and pleasant sound with good bass that didn’t overwhelm the mids, but the audio felt close compared to better headphones (such as the Denon AH-D2000s I typically use). The subtle shifting of the track’s gritty, static-like mid-range percussion was hard to pick out.

Taylor Swift’s Anti-Hero, on the other hand, was a win. This a warm track to begin with, and it arguably benefited from the HS80MAX’s close, intimate sound stage. Swift’s excellent vocal delivery was mere millimeters from ear, and there’s nothing wrong with that. 

Yves Tumor’s Echolaila was a mixed win. Sean Lee Bowie’s vocals are, perhaps unsurprisingly, not on par with Swift, and the HS80MAX highlighted the less pleasant elements of his breathy, raspy delivery. The low end was present and accounted for, however, without overwhelming either the vocals or the mid-range, and the narrow soundstage continued to provide an immersive listening experience.

The HS80MAX’s overall performance in music was solid but didn’t entirely clear my (admittedly rather high) standards. My key issue was the close, narrow soundstage. Every track seemed to place me on the stage with the band which, though dramatic, isn’t always desirable. It was listenable, but certainly not on par with mid-range audiophile headphones.

Throw the HS80MAX into games, however, and the headset comes into its element. The HS80MAX supports Dolby Atmos surround and offers a rather good experience in games that provide surround sound support. 

The headset’s close, narrow sound, while a problem in music, was less of a problem in games and movies that offer surround sound. Explosions, blaster shots, and the rumble jet engines were presented with cinematic flair and provided plenty of audio drama alongside on-screen action. 

Sound staging, while not the best I’ve ever heard, was good for the price point. Lefts, rights, and center channels are extremely distinct. More dynamic audio effects, like a TIE Fighter screeching above me in Star Wars: Battlefront 2, weren’t entirely convincing, but the difference in audio staging was noticeable. I didn’t feel the urge to duck for cover, but my brain understood what the audio was trying to convey.

The warm, pleasant, and balanced bass is also a benefit for both audio quality games and the headset’s surround sound performance. Many of the most dramatic sounds in games move across the low and mid-range. Remember the TIE Fighter’s shriek: that piercing howl, when heard on a high-quality sound system, obscures a more visceral rumble. Effects like this were a joy on the HS80MAX.

Microphone

A retractable mic is attached to the Corsair HS80MAX Wireless’ left earcup. It automatically turned off when retracted, and back on when deployed. A soft feminine voice offered an audible reminder when moving between each mode.

The microphone’s audio quality was excellent. My voice picked up strong and clear without the boomy or hollow quality found in less capable headset microphones. In fact, it’s the best headset microphone I can recall hearing this year (although, admittedly, I haven’t had the privilege to try cream-of-the-crop models like the Steelseries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless).

A high-quality microphone is great for games, but also useful in less enjoyable tasks. The HS80MAX is an ideal headset for Zoom or Teams video conferences. Odds are you’ll sound better than anyone else on the call. I even think an amateur YouTube or Podcast creator could rely on this microphone until it makes sense to invest in a standalone mic.

Corsair opts for an omni-directional microphone and seems to rely on noise cancellation to filter out background noises. Owners of Nvidia video cards can use Nvidia Broadcast for AI noise filtration. Unfortunately, I was using an AMD video card and couldn't use this feature.

The microphone had a tendency to pick up background noises, such as a loud mechanical keyboard. However, this trait wasn’t so strong that capable video and audio communication software, like Discord or Zoom, couldn’t filter it out. Friends listening to my voice on Discord were satisfied with its quality and didn’t notice the click-clack of my keyboard unless I was speaking while typing.

Features and Software

Corsair’s iCue software, which is available for both Windows and MacOS, controls all headset features. This includes key assignments, lighting effects, and equalizing settings. ICue is an attractive, intuitive app, and it performed well on my desktop. The app also controls other Corsair devices, which is handy if you own other Corsair hardware. Corsair partners with Philips and Nanoleaf to allow control of Philips Hue and Nanoleaf light panels, though some setup is required.

Corsair includes a sound customization feature, SoundID, which I accessed through the iCue software. It presents an audio text that takes roughly five minutes to finish, once complete, customizes the sound of the headphones to meet your preferences. I highly recommend using the feature. It reduced my issues with the headset’s close and narrow sound, slightly widening the stage to help details stand out in complex tracks. An equalizer and sound presets were available, but can’t be used when SoundID is turned on.

The Corsair HS80MAX supports both Bluetooth and Wireless (via the included USB dongle), and offers broad compatibility which includes PC, Mac, PlayStation 5, Switch, iOS, and Android (though Xbox is left out). This is a broad range of connectivity of a gaming headset, and it makes the HS80MAX useful as both a gaming headset and general purpose headphones.

Wireless range is excellent, too. A USB dongle is provided to enable a low-latency 2.4GHz wireless connection. It delivered a strong signal throughout my entire house. To my surprise, Bluetooth proved even stronger: I made it 30 feet out my front door before I lost connection to my iPhone 12 Mini, which was placed in the rear-most room of my house. That’s outstanding.

Battery Life (if applicable)

Corsair claims the HS80MAX RGB Wireless can achieve up to 130 hours of battery life over Bluetooth, and 65 over wireless. That’s not the best available — the HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless leads the pack with up to 300 hours of battery life — but it’s pretty good.

Still, the HS80MAX should only require a charge once every few days even if used all-day for both work and gaming. More casual users could weeks between charges. I didn’t need to charge it even once during the week I reviewed the headset.

Bottom Line

The Corsair HS80MAX Wireless delivered dramatic, impactful sound in games and movies, an excellent microphone, and versatile connectivity in an attractive, comfortable headset with great battery life. Music was at times narrow and claustrophobic, but I suspect less picky listeners will have zero complaints.

The Razer BlackShark V2 Pro (2023) has a better mic and includes (slightly underwhelming) virtual surround by way of THX Spatial Audio, but costs a little more at $199.99. And if you don’t mind the wires, HyperX’s recently-released Cloud III headset is an excellent option for just under $100. But all in all, the HS80MAX is a headset I’d be happy to use for all my tasks all day, every day, and it’s well worth its $179.99 MSRP.

Here's a great deal for a large capacity Gen 4 SSD with included heatsink for keeping cool under load. This 4TB SSD from Nextorage with included heatsink is reduced in price currently to just $258. One of the best SSDs for PC and PS5, this Gen 4 drive has transfer speeds that make the most of the Gen 4 bandwidth with 7300MB/s read and 6900 MB/s write.

From the same manufacturer and model but with a smaller capacity, the Nextorage Japan 2TB SSD is also reduced to $111. This drive has near identical speeds to the above SSD and is one of the fastest and also cheapest Gen 4 SSDs of this specification that also features an included heatsink. 

A Gen 4 drive that's not the fastest kid on the block but still a great SSD, the Solidigm P41 Plus 2TB model is on sale for only $69. That's a fantastic price for 2TBs of capacity that also comes with transfer speeds of 4125MB/s read and 3325MB/s write.

See below for more deals.

TL;DR — Today’s Best Deals

• Nextorage Japan 4TB SSD for PS5 and PC: now $258 at Amazon (was $549)
• Nextorage Japan 2TB SSD for PS5 and PC: now $111 at Amazon (was $229)
• Solidigm P41 Plus 2TB PCIe 4.0 SSD: now $69 at Newegg (was $169)
• Asus ROG Flow X13 Gaming Laptop RTX 3050: now $799 at Best Buy (was $1,599)
• Acer Nitro 17 Gaming Laptop: now $1,149 at Amazon (was $1,399)

Today’s best deals in detail

Looking for more deals?

On Monday, Sony rolled out a new PlayStation 5 beta software update that adds support for high-capacity 8TB SSDs and support of its Tempest 3D AudioTech on Dolby Atmos devices, along with new accessibility features. For now, beta access will be limited to invited participants in select countries, but eventually, these features will be added to the final version of the software. 

While Sony's PlayStation 5 console fully supports off-the-shelf PCIe 4.0 SSDs (check out our list of the best PS5 SSDs), Sony has limited the maximum capacity to 4TB. With the new beta software, Sony increases the maximum capacity of PS5 drives to 8TB, which enables owners of its latest consoles to store more games locally. This naturally improves the competitiveness of PS5 compared to Microsoft's Xbox Series X|S since the latter only supports proprietary storage drives with up to 2TB capacity.

Another important addition the new beta release brings is the support of Sony's Tempest 3D AudioTech on compatible Dolby Atmos-enabled HDMI devices such as soundbars, TVs, or home theater systems. Implementing the Tempest 3D AudioTech is specifically designed to cater to Dolby Atmos audio devices, including overhead channels, to enhance the three-dimensional audion of PS5 games. Previously, Sony's Tempest 3D AudioTech was only available on select headphones.

With the new beta release, gamers can now designate a secondary controller to a single account, functioning as an assist controller. This allows two controllers to manage a PS5 console as though there were only one in use. This newly added feature presents an innovative method to engage in games collaboratively or assist a friend or child during difficult game sequences. 

Furthermore, the beta update adds a new setting to enable haptic feedback effects when navigating through PS5 menus. This option is accessible using a DualSense controller, a DualSense Edge controller, or a PS VR2 Sense controller.

For under $800, you can pick up this budget gaming laptop for playing games while out and about or on vacation. The Acer Nitro 5 (model - AN515-58-5046) is $799 from Best Buy and features an Intel Core i5-12500H processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti graphics. It's certainly not a desktop replacement, but it's a good-value gaming laptop and one of the best gaming laptops under $1000 compared to the competition at this price.

Ideal for a PlayStation 5 or PC upgrade, this 1TB WD Black SN850X SSD with included Heatsink is just $65. You are paying a little more for this heatsink version of the SN850X. Still, for the extra expense, you're getting an SSD that can dissipate heat a little better and will be less likely to encounter any thermal throttling when under load or installed in a warm environment such as a PS5. 

A fantastic Gen 3 drive, the Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2TB is only $88 at Amazon currently. With read and write speeds of 3,500 and 3,300 MB/s, this tried and tested SSD is perfect for extra storage for your games library or for upgrading an older Gen 3 PC setup.

See below for more of today's deals.

TL;DR — Today’s Best Deals

• Acer Nitro 5 (AN515-58-5046) Gaming Laptop: now $799 at Best Buy (was $999)
• 1TB WD Black SN850X SSD with Heatsink: now $65 at Newegg (was $79)
• Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2TB NVMe SSD: now $88 at Amazon (was $99)
• Dell G15 Special Edition Gaming Laptop: now $849 at Dell (was $999)
• Alienware Aurora R13 Desktop Gaming PC: now $1,149 at Dell  (was $1,919)

Today’s best deals in detail

Looking for more deals?

Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart will make its PC debut on Steam from July 26 with a whole host of new features including Microsoft DirectStorage support and GPU decompression technology. 

Using Microsoft DirectStorage 1.2 and GPU decompression technology, and as far as we can tell, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart will be the first game ever to incorporate GPU decompression through the DirectStorage API. DirectStorage support is set to significantly boost game load times and real-time asset streaming.

Unlike previous games that feature GPU decompression technology, like Portal: Prelude RTX which used Nvidia's Vulkan extensions Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart's gameplay requires Microsoft's DirectStorage GPU decompression to run the game at playable frame rates. As players blast their way through interdimensional portals, new game worlds, textures and assets are streamed in real-time, which wouldn't be possible without GPU decompression. For more details be sure to check out our previous coverage here.

• NVIDIA DLSS 3 - AI-powered performance multiplier. At 4K, with all ray tracing effects enabled, and settings maxed, GeForce RTX 4080 and 4090 desktop GPU gamers can experience 140+ FPS gameplay.
• NVIDIA Reflex - reducing system latency in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart by up to 48%.
• NVIDIA RTX IO - GPU-accelerated storage technology enables rapid loading of assets.
• NVIDIA DLAA - an AI-based anti-aliasing mode for users who have spare GPU headroom and want higher levels of image quality.
• Ray tracing - Ray-traced shadows, ambient occlusion and reflections will run at the highest speeds possible on dedicated ray tracing cores on each GeForce RTX GPUs

Besides GPU decompression, the game has received an extensive amount of PC upgrades to differentiate it from the original PS5 version. These upgrades include DLSS 2/3, DLAA, AMD FSR 2, and Intel's XeSS technology integration for boosting performance with image upscaling/downscaling. Support for ultrawide aspect ratios like 21:9, 32:9, and 48:9, and improved ray-traced graphics including RT reflections and RT shadows have also been added.

The game focuses on Ratchet and Clank, a pair of intergalactic adventurers who are focused on taking down an evil power and preventing a dimensional collapse before it destroys their own universe.

Thankfully, if you want a shot at playing the game tomorrow, the game's system requirements are not monstrous, depending on what graphics setting you want to play at. For the bare minimum experience, you don't even need an SSD to play, with the minimum requirement demanding 75GB of hard drive space. But if you want to play the game at any of the higher settings, especially the RT settings, you'll need a modern Intel/AMD hexa core CPU based system with an RTX 3060 Ti/RTX 3070 class GPUs at a minimum to turn most of the eye candy on.

Update 7/24/23 5:40pm PT: Added a statement from Google and also a full list of all impacted processors and the expected dates for patches for each model.

Update 7/24/23 1:30pm PT: AMD has responded with key details and published a security advisory with the expected dates for new firmwares, many of which don't arrive until the end of the year. We have added that information to the original article below. 

Original Article Published 7/24/23 8:45am PT:

Tavis Ormandy, a researcher with Google Information Security, posted today about a new vulnerability he independently found in AMD's Zen 2 processors. The 'Zenbleed' vulnerability spans the entire Zen 2 product stack, including AMD's EPYC data center processors and the Ryzen 3000/4000/5000 CPUs, allowing the theft of protected information from the CPU, such as encryption keys and user logins. The attack does not require physical access to the computer or server and can even be executed via javascript on a webpage.

AMD didn't have an advisory ready at the time of publication, but the company did add the AMD-SB-7008 Bulletin several hours later. AMD has patches ready for its EPYC 7002 'Rome' processors now, but it will not patch its consumer Zen 2 Ryzen 3000, 4000, and some 5000-series chips until November and December of this year. AMD's processors used in the PS5, Xbox Series X and S, and Steam Deck are all also powered by Zen 2 chips, but it remains unclear if those are impacted. We're following up for more details. We have added details further below about mitigation schedules. 

AMD hasn't given specific details of any performance impacts but did issue the following statement to Tom's Hardware: “Any performance impact will vary depending on workload and system configuration. AMD is not aware of any known exploit of the described vulnerability outside the research environment.”

AMD's statement implies there will be some performance impact from the patches, but we'll have to conduct independent benchmarks when the patches arrive for the consumer Ryzen products. In the meantime, we've asked AMD for any ballpark figures it can share.

The Zenbleed vulnerability is filed as CVE-2023-20593 and allows data exfiltration (theft) at a rate of 30kb per core, per second, thus providing adequate throughput to steal sensitive information flowing through the processor. This attack works across all software running on the processor, including virtual machines, sandboxes, containers, and processes. The ability for this attack to read data across virtual machines is particularly threatening for cloud service providers and those who use cloud instances.

The attack can be accomplished via unprivileged arbitrary code execution. Ormandy has posted a security research repository and code for the exploit. The attack works by manipulating the register files to force a mispredicted command (meaning it eploits the speculative execution engine), as described below:

"The bug works like this, first of all you need to trigger something called the XMM Register Merge Optimization2, followed by a register rename and a mispredicted vzeroupper. This all has to happen within a precise window to work.

We now know that basic operations like strlen, memcpy and strcmp will use the vector registers - so we can effectively spy on those operations happening anywhere on the system! It doesn’t matter if they’re happening in other virtual machines, sandboxes, containers, processes, whatever!

This works because the register file is shared by everything on the same physical core. In fact, two hyperthreads even share the same physical register file," says Ormandy.

AMD describes the exploit much more simply, saying, "Under specific microarchitectural circumstances, a register in “Zen 2” CPUs may not be written to 0 correctly. This may cause data from another process and/or thread to be stored in the YMM register, which may allow an attacker to potentially access sensitive information."

Ormandy says the bug can be patched through a software approach for multiple operating systems (e.g., "you can set the chicken bit DE_CFG[9]"), but this might result in a performance penalty. Ormandy says it is highly recommended to get the microcode update, but his post also has examples of software mitigations for other operating systems, too.

Here's a list of the impacted processors, and the schedule for the release of the AGESA versions to OEMs: 

Below, we have a more detailed list with the model number of each impacted chip and the expected data for the new AGESA to arrive. AMD's AGESA is a code foundation upon which the OEMs build BIOS revisions. You will need to update to a BIOS with the above-listed AGESA code, or newer, to patch your system.

“We are aware of the AMD hardware security vulnerability described in CVE-2023-20593, which was discovered by Tavis Ormandy, a Security Researcher at Google, and we have worked with AMD and industry partners closely. We have worked to address the vulnerability across Google platforms.” - Google spokesperson to Tom's Hardware.

Ormandy says he reported the issue to AMD on May 15, 2023. Ormandy also credits his colleagues; "I couldn’t have found it without help from my colleagues, in particular Eduardo Vela Nava and Alexandra Sandulescu. I also had help analyzing the bug from Josh Eads."