Both Sony and Microsoft promised a faster console with AMD Zen 2-based CPU, 16GB GDDR6 running 256-bit and to drive the speed of the game, storage is important.
Unlike previous consoles like the PS4 or XB1, they moved away from HDD to a “better” technology and got me curious how “better” can it be?
PS5 comes with 825 GB by default. The decision Sony went with the PS5’s internals is to it soldered to the motherboard and there is no way of replacing it. However Sony is offering M2 SSD size 2280 for replacement and accept PCIe Gen 4 M.2 NVMe type SSD.
With Series X, it comes with 802 GB of internal storage by default. Actually the internals are just a half sized M2 using the 2230 format. Not sure if is upgradable.
When comes to external storage, Microsoft partnered with Seagate to deal with the storage. Segate is the biggest player when comes to storage, they even teamed up with Nintendo and Sony in the past to do their storage.
However the so called “expansion cards” Microsoft is using is actually just CFExpress according to a teardown from VentureBeat. I’m not sure if this is easily replaceable by just removing the shell from the CFExpress card and put it into the shell of the expansion?
Nevertheless, CFExpress are mostly used by videographers or photographers. Compared to M2 for instance, the highest capacity I could find is 2 TB and they are not the cheapest.
Over at Reddit however, a user named klipseracer was able to do some fun project with the “CFExpress” expansion cards by doing a CFExpress to NVMe.
Will be interesting to see what mods will be available down the near future.