PS3 HDD replacing/upgradeing

Carl B said:
I had meant an external enclosure to the PS3 though; didn't know whether it would be able to read some of the basic files off of it (audio, video, game saves, etc) - not the actual game installs themselves of course. But of course you're just confirming what I already knew anyway... that unfortunately I'm screwed. :p (there's no way the original PS3 ever sees operation again)
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, PS3 only recognizes USB drives if they're partitioned FAT32.
 
I have decided to upgrade my PS3 internal HDD as the 40 gb is choking with PSN titles now. Everytime a game needs space to install, I have go looking around stuff to delete. last night I deleted all my music and movies too, but could manage only 13 gb free space.

So, I have decided to buy a new HDD and swap the 40gb out.

Which one should I go for? I want maximum space, now that I am going for it.
Please suggest drives that have been tested with the ps3 and work well.


Urgent, i want to buy it by tommorow ! :D Slash it , th eplans are for today ! Whihc one should I go for in 500gb category? Seagate , WD? I heard there were some issues with WD drives in the ps3?
 
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I think any standard size (physical dimensions, especialy height which should be the standard 9.5 mm) 2.5" HDD can be used in a PS3. I'm not sure if it can use all the space of larger 1TB and beyond drives, but anyway, I think those larger drives are the thicker (12.5 mm) variety anyway, so they won't fit at the moment.
A Samsung, Seagate, WD 5400rpm SATA II (7200rpm and SATA III drives will also fit, but the PS3 can't really take advantage of the extra speed in especially SATA III drives) with 8 or 16MB cache. The cache seems to be more important for speed than rotating speed when used in PS3, though 7200rpm drives seem to be more common nowadays, and there isn't really any difference in price, so you might just as well go for a 7200rpm drive, it won't hurt except they might be a bit louder and run a bit warmer, but not really significantly so.

For example these 500GB drives will surely fit:
Seagate ST9500420AS Momentus 7200.4 500GB SATA2 16MB - 2.5"
Samsung SpinPoint M7 Series HM500JI 500GB 5400RPM 8MB SATA 2.5"

I don't know about the WD's, but I too have a feeling that the quality of their drives isn't quite what they used to be. But that's just a feeling I've got, not based on experience or anything, just a feeling that's not based on reality.
 
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patsu said:
I use the WD Scorpio Blue 500Gb. What issues have you heard ?
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No idea! Just something int eh back of my head sayin that.....I can't recall, thats the reason I asked !

So, you are using one with no issues? BoardBonobo is also using it, I can see in his post up there.

Can you give me the exact model number, please? I called a local HW vendor and he says he has a Seagate 500gb 2.5" drive with him as of now. How are those in comaprison to WD? Is there a performance difference? I think Seagate would be cheaper than WD here.
 
rabidrabbit said:
I think any standard size (physical dimensions, especialy height which should be the standard 9.5 mm) 2.5" HDD can be used in a PS3. I'm not sure if it can use all the space of larger 1TB and beyond drives, but anyway, I think those larger drives are the thicker (12.5 mm) variety anyway, so they won't fit at the moment.
A Samsung, Seagate, WD 5400rpm SATA II (7200rpm and SATA III drives will also fit, but the PS3 can't really take advantage of the extra speed in especially SATA III drives) with 8 or 16MB cache. The cache seems to be more important for speed than rotating speed when used in PS3, though 7200rpm drives seem to be more common nowadays, and there isn't really any difference in price, so you might just as well go for a 7200rpm drive, it won't hurt except they might be a bit louder and run a bit warmer, but not really significantly so.

For example these 500GB drives will surely fit:
Seagate ST9500420AS Momentus 7200.4 500GB SATA2 16MB - 2.5"
Samsung SpinPoint M7 Series HM500JI 500GB 5400RPM 8MB SATA 2.5"
Click to expand...

Are SATA 2 drives supported? Are you using a SATA 2 drive in ur ps3? I just need to be sure.
 
RenegadeRocks said:
Are SATA 2 drives supported? Are you using a SATA 2 drive in ur ps3? I just need to be sure.
Click to expand...
Yes, SATA 2 (or II as they're also marked) are supported. I'm not sure if the PS3 takes full advantage of the speed increase compared to older SATA (1) or if the original drive indeed is already a SATAII, but I do have a SATA II drive inside and no problems whatsoever. I have a SATA II Seagate 320GB, 5400 rpm with 8MB cache. If I were to upgrade, I'd go with a Seagate or Samsung 500GB, 16MB cache, 7200rpm (just because they're priced similarily as 5400rpm's, and if I ever were to upgrade again, that 7200rpm would make a nicer external HDD)
You really can't go wrong if the physical size doesn't exceed the 9.5 mm height. The speed also isn't that critical as it is in for example in Windows, so go with any 500GB, preferably with 16 GB cache and 7200rpm.

Edit: Here's some info on PS3 HDD's. Seems like some models already have a SATA II (SATA 300) drive inside, the original models were SATA 150. It also said that the drive should be configured with jumpers for SATAII, but I don't think I did that for my drive and it works just fine. Guess that depend on the drive.
http://www.edepot.com/playstation3.html#PS3_Harddrive
 
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rabidrabbit said:
Yes, SATA 2 (or II as they're also marked) are supported. I'm not sure if the PS3 takes full advantage of the speed increase compared to older SATA (1) or if the original drive indeed is already a SATAII, but I do have a SATA II drive inside and no problems whatsoever. I have a SATA II Seagate 320GB, 5400 rpm with 8MB cache. If I were to upgrade, I'd go with a Seagate or Samsung 500GB, 16MB cache, 7200rpm (just because they're priced similarily as 5400rpm's, and if I ever were to upgrade again, that 7200rpm would make a nicer external HDD)
You really can't go wrong if the physical size doesn't exceed the 9.5 mm height. The speed also isn't that critical as it is in for example in Windows, so go with any 500GB, preferably with 16 GB cache and 7200rpm.

Edit: Here's some info on PS3 HDD's. Seems like some models already have a SATA II (SATA 300) drive inside, the original models were SATA 150. It also said that the drive should be configured with jumpers for SATAII, but I don't think I did that for my drive and it works just fine. Guess that depend on the drive.
http://www.edepot.com/playstation3.html#PS3_Harddrive
Click to expand...

Hmmm...thanx I will go overto the vendor and see what is available !

Considering the part I have hightlighted above, I am also planning to use the 40gb HDD that comes out as an externall HDD. Do I have to do something specific before taking it out of the ps3 or the PC will recognise it as a non-formatted HDD when I connect it to my PC?
 
RenegadeRocks said:
Hmmm...thanx I will go overto the vendor and see what is available !

Considering the part I have hightlighted above, I am also planning to use the 40gb HDD that comes out as an externall HDD. Do I have to do something specific before taking it out of the ps3 or the PC will recognise it as a non-formatted HDD when I connect it to my PC?
Click to expand...
Again, I'm not 100% sure, but I think my WinXP didn't recognice my old 60GB PS3 HDD. I had to download the free Swissknife software to format it in FAT32 or NTFS.
http://www.compuapps.com/index.php?...nife-v322&catid=48:drive-managment&Itemid=193
If you can't format it in Windows, that'll do the trick.
 
I've a WD Scorpio Blue in my laptop and I'm very impressed. Quietest, coolest laptop HDD I've ever known. That'd be my choice if buying a replacement PS3 HDD.
 
I've put 500Gb WD Scorpio Blues in both my PS3 Slim and my laptop.

Both a good thrashing on a daily basis and I've had zero problems with them. They seem to maintain a good data spread so there is no real noticeable slow down through fragmentation and they support SMART which is a real bonus if you're precious about your data!

And on top of that they run very quietly and fairly coolly. I'd recommend it for a PS3 upgrade.
 
29 minute GT5 install with my 7200rpm 320GB drive I took out of my laptop (put an ssd in the laptop) folks...rpm does matter.
 
I remember some tests that were run by some website that installs (game and updates) benefitted the most from the 7200 rpm drive, but loading times were improved by only a second or so.
Definitely, a 7200 rpm is recommended nowadays, as they're really no more expensive than 5400 rpm drives, and there even seem to be more to choose form.
 
rabidrabbit said:
I remember some tests that were run by some website that installs (game and updates) benefitted the most from the 7200 rpm drive, but loading times were improved by only a second or so.
Definitely, a 7200 rpm is recommended nowadays, as they're really no more expensive than 5400 rpm drives, and there even seem to be more to choose form.
Click to expand...

I went to a vendor but he seems to say that the only laptop HDD available in the region is a Seagate 500gb HDD 5400rpm, 8mb Cache. He did not have a model number, but says that thats the only one available.

If all laptop HDDs work with the ps3, should I just buy it? I think I won't be able to find a 16mb cache drive in my city. Finding a 7200 rpm will also be difficult from what it seems.
If it aint' that big a difference, should I just go for the Seagate 500GB 5400rpm 8mb cache? I hope all seagate models work !
 
Yap, that's the one I used. I bought it when it first came out. So there should be better ones on the market today.
 
patsu said:
Yap, that's the one I used. I bought it when it first came out. So there should be better ones on the market today.
Click to expand...

Hmmm...I think I will just go with that considering its a well tested and quiet drive. Anyway, its just a game system, a few minutes more while installing a game isn't really that big a pain. Considering there's a difference of INR 1000 ($20) listed between them, I;ll just go with the cheaper WD Blue one.

Also, I bought a WD Elements SE 500gb external drive today to back up stuff (my work on PC) as well backing up my ps3 before swapping drives. Well, i deleted all game data and demos I had on my PS3, as well as all music n movies. All that is left is some PSN games I bought. It has 19gb free out of the 37 gb capacity of the HDD.

So, somehow it still has 18gb of data which I can't understand !!!! THE PSN games can't be more than a few GBs. They can't be more than 4-5gbs. So, what is hogging rest of the space ?!?!?! :oops:

I couldn't find any answer for it, so I started backing it up, and it says it will take around 4 hours and 20 mins to back it up ! Another shocker ! PS3 sure has its own mysterious ways :rolleyes: !
 
Ok , got a Seagate 500gb HDD. But a big issue has happened:

The backup aint restoring properly :( ! After the complete restoring process, it spewed out an error, i didn't note the number. THen I checked the ps3 and only some of the user accounts were back, and except for my photos, nothing else has been restored :( :( !

As for the user accounts, it said these "unregistered" user accounts have been found: followed by the list, in which two of my accounts were missing.

All my save games, my PSN games are gone !!!!!!!!

I have started the restore process again just hoping it would go right this time :( !
 
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