PS3 Hard Drive Query.

[BoardBonobo]

Does anybody know what make and models of internal HDs are PS3 compatible?

Also in terms of external storage, do any USB drives work? I have a Lacie 600GB on my PC to backup with. Would it be worth purchasing one for the PS3? Obviously 600GB is slightly overkill at the moment, but I get a feeling that won't be for long.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Does anybody know what make and models of internal HDs are PS3 compatible?

All of them, at least in theory. It's a standard 2.5" SATA interface. I dunno if there's any rare quirks that prevent some drives from running, but you should be confident any suitable drive put in there will work.

I also think all USB drives work, flash and HDD, but don't quote me on that! Obviously you'll need a compatible file-format for the USB HDD.

 

[Gradthrawn]

Does anybody know what make and models of internal HDs are PS3 compatible?

Also in terms of external storage, do any USB drives work? I have a Lacie 600GB on my PC to backup with. Would it be worth purchasing one for the PS3? Obviously 600GB is slightly overkill at the moment, but I get a feeling that won't be for long.

They're all Seagates, as far as I know. 5,400 RPM drives, with 8MB of cache for the 60GBs (and I assume the 80). 2MB of cache for the old 20GB. Based on early testing results, cache made the biggest difference in performance for load times with early PS3 games.

Yes, USB drives work, as long as they're not formatted with NTFS. FAT works, but I'm not sure about other file formats (such as Macs). If your 600GB Lacie isn't formatted with NTFS, I would use that to back-up your PS3. The built-in back-up utility makes it easy. I'm not sure purchasing 1 just for the PS3 would be worth it, however.

EDIT

Oops, you were asking the make and model that are compatible, not whats in them. In that case, Shifty is right, 2.5" SATA drives. I wouldn't buy a drive with less than 8MB of cache (based on testing). Some caution the use of drives higher than 5,400RPM, but there's no data to support that, that I'm aware of (only general concerns about heat and noise).

 

[Todd33]

External drives cannot save demos, just media.

As far as I know any 2.5" SATA drive will work, I'd like to get a 250GB when I need to expand.

 

[djskribbles]

yeah, all should work... i just went with seagate because the ps3 comes with a seagate 8mb 5400rpm drive, i like seagate, and they also have 5-year warranty.

 

[BoardBonobo]

Thanks for the replies! I had it in my head that some drives were incompatible for some reason, but if it's a straight swap for a larger drive then I might as well do that.

I presume all the downloaded games and stuff would have to be downloaded again and that things like save games could be just transfered via CF card or some such.

 

[patsu]

Yes, use the built-in Backup function to copy your game saves, accounts, preferences etc. to a USB drive/stick at one go. Then restore your backup to the new disk when it's installed.

I deleted all my media before the backup so that the backup set can fit into my thumbdrive.

When in doubt, check the online manual. It went very smooth for me. You can re-download all your purchased PSN content from the "Download List" link.

When booting with the new HDD for the first time (before the restore), I created a temporary user account "User1". My original account "patsu" (and other secondary ones) will appear after the restore. Then I deleted "User1".

I also tried creating "patsu" on the new HDD first, and then restore. It simply overwrites the new "patsu" with the old settings. The other accounts get added all the same.

 

[itch]

BTW, anyone know what file system the internal drive uses? Is it Sony's own? Is there any info about it? I'm just curious. I've seen the question come up a few times but no definitive answers.

 

[D3B]

Here is some good info.

http://boardsus.playstation.com/pla...thread.id=32840&view=by_date_ascending&page=1