Sometimes all we need is some space. For my PlayStation 5, specifically, I wanted 2TB more space. There were plenty of brands to consider, but ultimately I landed on the Seagate FireCuda 530 2TB with Heatsink. We’ll just call it Firecuda530 from here on out for brevity.

Seagate is a brand that’s trusted when it comes to expanding storage. And the Firecuda530 meets all the requirements that PlayStation laid out for compatible m.2 solid state drive (SSD) options. 

In case you were wondering, these are the requirements:

• Interface — PCI-Express Gen4x4 supported M.2 NVMe SSD (Key M)
• Storage — 1TB, 2TB, and 4TB* *(4TB available upon pre-order)
• Supported Sizes — 2230, 2242, 2260, 2280, 22110
• Size including heat-dissipation mechanism — Width: up to 25 mm / Length: 30/40/6080/110 mm / Thickness: up to 11.25 mm (up to 8.0 mm
• from above the board, up to 2.45 mm from below the board)
• Sequential read speed — 5500 MB/s or faster is recommended
• Socket Type — Socket 3 (Key M)

Seagate’s offering even exceeds this as it promises up to 7,300mb/s of speed and performance. They also claim to have transfer rates that are two times faster than PCIeGen3 NVMe SSDs. 

Rescue Data

On top of that, you also get Rescue Data Recovery Services for the ultimate peace of mind on your precious files. Personally, I think this is one of the biggest value adds from Seagate. I have encountered my fair share of hardware data getting corrupted with only a small fraction of them recovered. 

With this, Seagate offers the services of world-class data recovery experts with an industry-leading 95% success rate for in-house SSD and HDD data recovery. You get one in-lab data recovery attempt. And your recovered data will be stored in an encrypted storage device.

Alright, enough of that, let’s put this thing inside the PS5. 

Installing the FireCuda 530 2TB with Heatsink 

First we have to take off the faceplate. Make sure the side with the PS5 logo is the one that’s faced down. You want to remove the plate that’s on the other side. 

To remove it, you have to pull up from the top side and then slide down from the bottom. 

Once removed, you’ll see a plate covering the storage expansion slot. Unscrew and then remove the plate. Don’t lose the screw! 

Inside, there are multiple screw slots, with the safety screw placed up top at the 110 slot. Remove it, and then place it loosely on the 80 slot. 

Now, take the Firecuda530 and slide it into the slot diagonally. You’ll know it’s in when you hear a click. 

Afterwards, screw it in place and put back the protective plate. 

I also took this opportunity to replace the faceplates to black and added some personal touch. 

TWICE chibi stickers c/o @arts423

Formatting and testing

After installation, the next time you fire up your PS5, you’ll be asked to format the expansion drive. Do it by simply following the prompts. It should take less than 10 minutes.

After that, you can proceed to transferring your files to the Firecuda530. Transfer rates will vary depending on the file size. 

The first time I did it, I transferred nearly 100GB and it took only around three minutes. 

Before I transferred, I recorded how long it’ll take for me to load a few games. I did this for when they were on the main drive and when they were transferred. 

Here are the results:

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot (PS4 Game)

• PS5 Storage: 31.47 seconds
• M.2 Storage: 27.77seconds

Final Fantasy VII Remake (PS5 Game)

• PS5 Storage: 3.67 seconds
• M.2 Storage: 2.49 seconds 

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (PS5 Game)

• PS5 Storage: 2.61 seconds
• M.2 Storage: 2.17 seconds 

These are insane results as the Firecuda530 loaded the games faster than the PS5’s internal storage. Safe to say, the promised transfer speed and performance delivered as advertised.

Just playing 

In the week since I moved most of my library to the Firecuda530, I’ve spent most of my time trophy hunting on the same games I mentioned earlier. So far, everything has been running great. 

In terms of load times, there’s no discernable difference between the PS5’s internal storage and the expansion storage. I didn’t bother timing them anymore so this is just based on my natural internal timer. Native PS5 games load blazingly fast and PS4 games installed on the PS5 load just about as fast as one can expect.

Rivet and Clank

Same thing is true during actual gameplay. The expansion storage simply matches, if not exceeds, the performance of the built-in one, you wouldn’t know the difference unless you have your timer out to really see the milliseconds or sometimes even seconds of difference.

The biggest benefit, of course, is I’m now able to increase the number of my installed games from a measly eight all the way up to 20. And that’s with plenty of room to spare. That is simply incredible and extremely convenient.

Price and availability 

The specific version I installed, as mentioned earlier, has a 2TB capacity. It has an SRP of PhP 25,895. The FireCuda 530 Heatsink also comes in 1TB and 4TB. The SRP is PhP 13,760 and 56,789 respectively. You can purchase these on Shopee, Lazada, or any of their authorized sellers. Find out more about Firecuda here.

This feature is a collaboration between GadgetMatch and Seagate.