After putting solid-state drive in my first gen PlayStation 4 it's a totally different console. It amazed me how fast it became and I knew speeds would increase but not this fast.
same, i just put one in my ps4 pro. menu interface runs a lot smoother with zero lags or delays. console starts fast, games load fast. textures load in better. its really good. what kind of ssd did you use? I used a 1TB Samsung EVO 860
Replaced my firecuda 2TB sshd with a sandisk ssd plus 1TB ssd. Loading from the start screen of NFS Payback is 13 seconds faster, and textures load a lot faster. Instantaneously. Turning on the ps4 pro from rest mode is hella fast, too.
I put a 1tb Samsung QVO 870 into my PS4 Pro and the UI certainly feels snappy, texture pop-in is greatly improved and I'm finding it loads save files quite quickly. Seeing as PS5 stocks are so unavailable, it also means it's viable for a bit longer
@@billytk1225that wouldn't actually matter in 99.99999% of cases, and there's more pertinent areas where drives can differ, such as sustained write speeds or 4K random read/write the PS4's cpu is garbage and would bottleneck the speeds to the point where the difference is inconsequential
@@johnpsy4129 lol what? the jaguar cpus 100% bottlenecked SSD speed; you can't decompress as fast as the drive allows as well as general load speeds (e.g loading games) being hampered by said slow cpu
@@Bruzewane I'm not even going to explain all the technicalities, read/write, random, sequential etc are all effected primarily by the drive specs, motherboard, not ur CPU. Even old CPUs can make full use of an SSD without limiting its speed. U don't know what ur talking about
I've got a Samsung 850 Evo SSD in mine. Load times are crazy fast. I'm always the first person in the lobby on Battlefield. Have to wait about 30 seconds before people start joining.
Next Test: Do a comparison video of using PS4's 4.50 beta firmware feature; a 3.0 external SSD drive vs. an internal SSD on PS4 load speeds. USB 3.0 boasts a potential throughput of 5Gbps (equal to 640MBps) which is plenty to fully utilize today's usual SSD's. Please do this, I'm interested in the results.
@Digital Foundry, now that it is nearly June of 2019, and the PS4 has been updated to OFW 6.50+, could you re-run some tests using some of the faster SSD's of today? I saw a video from someone else that was testing the loading speeds from older models of PS4 firmware's vs today's newer firmwares, and the firmware's alone were loading and booting the console up faster. I would like to see what the difference is for today's best SSD's and the newest firmwares combined, please. If there is a decent difference, I would finally like to upgrade. Also, is there any difference from loading games on the PS4 Pro with the newest firmware using USB 3.0 HDD's and SSD's? Would be nice to see a re-test, all things considered. Technology moves at a steady pace, and this video of yours is a few years old now.
You are only comparing load times for games in the Pro's compatibility mode. Maybe the SATA controller gets throttled down in that mode? Try it with games that have a Pro mode, like Rise of the Tomb Raider (but set it to 1080p60 so it's still loading the same data).
Loading it's not just storage, the cpu is doing a huge bottleneck. Same happens with me and my friend when loading Android Studio for example: My SSD + i3 @2.00Ghz aren't much faster loading than his 5400rpm HDD + i7 w/ 3.1Ghz turbo. Just a few seconds. CPU on the PS4 is the main issue.
Sorry digital foundry, that was an incomplete test. 1- Putting the same 1TB on the PS4 base model results on the same results? 2- As the PS4 is sata 2 we expected that games will only be optmized for sata 2, probably only games with the PRO enhancements will be able to take advantage of the sata 3 optimizations. 3- How texture streaming differs when using ssd on open world games, The diference between them with pro features "on" and off.
The game isn't programmed for SATA 2 or 3. It is just code. The hardware determines how quickly the data is read, whether it wanta to read it fast or slow. That is why you can get streaming issues with certain games on PC if you have a slow antiquated hard drive. If the code wasn't compatible with the hard drive then the game wouldn't run at all. But it does, proving that the game wasn't programmed for SATA 3 if SATA 2 can run it.
First: universal knowledge, every and each hardware can be optimized to take advantage of its strenghts. between hdds there is a vast performance variance, random access read and writes, buffer caches, sequential with and without the cache being complete etc... Sata 3 introduce some improvements on random access too other than just allowing higher troughtput, even wikipedia can provide some info for you. You can always optimize code for diferent hardware be sure of that. Sometimes makes little diference, sometimes greater diference. Testing the 1TB on the ps4 base would allow to know better if the performance is only related to the harddrive or no. btw, there were games like RAGE on PS3 that took advantage of ssds, Digital Foundry made a review about it, ope world games could possibly benefit from it, like FFXV, Witcher 3, Just Cause 3, etc... But to my understanding, the games that will benefit most will be the one with pro enhancements with high textures, shadow maps, shaders cache.
I am using a 480gb Kingston ssd as an external drive, and I have gotta say, that thing moves. I was waiting minutes before, now it is half loaded, before I get to the load screen. It is amazing!!
I subscribed to you because I thought this video was very well done. Your thoughts (I felt) were very well organised and conveyed. Your tests really did make an impact on my decision on purchasing a Samsung EVO 860 1TB SSD. At first I really wanted to (also because there's a really great deal on Amazon -40% off) but now I'm not sure anymore, I was expecting at least a 30-50% decrease in game load times (though I don't play the same games). Job well done!
Just got a sandisk 1tb external ssd and its day and night for me. Loading your saved character in Monster hunter world for exemple used to take me 1 min, now its 15 sec, every loading times in bloodborne easily got cut in half. Borderlands used to have heavy texture loading issues, now its fixed! Personally i would highly recommend one!
When considering the system is constantly capturing at 1080p, can run downloads and installs in the background and manage many other services at reasonable speeds while playing extremely demanding games, it's really not too bad FOR A 5400rpm drive. The system is a little disappointing overall however. It would have been nice to see a faster stock drive, maybe a 7200rpm or hybrid drive would have been a very noticable improvment, and the missing 4K BR support is another thing that makes the system seem a bit of a half measure
Nothing has changed about how you should approach hardware revisions. If you already have a PS4, there's no need to get rid of it just to buy a new version of it. It's still a PS4. The same has been true since the dawn of Playstation. It is true however that the Pro does offer advantages over the base and Slim models, and I agree they should be much more enticing for those who don't own a PS4 in the first place, given the price point.
Appreciate the consistency of PS4 analysis and news from you guys seeing as not many other outlets really are giving it a fair look or even talking about it.
-Games run at lower frame-rates -Does 1800p for 90% of games, not 4K -Runs very hot and can melt plastic -Lots of issues with TVs and HDR support -No 4K Blu-Ray -Supports SSDs but makes little improvement This thing is not "PRO" in any sense of the word
Samuel Herrera 1400p is sweat spot The. melting plastic thing was fake. The sdd is being used on games originally made for PS4 if you even watched the video Pc fanboys these days.
Man, even though I'm all for master race, I really miss console convenience sometimes. I miss just turning on a game and having it all up and ready to go. Without having to tweak graphics settings, and deal with bugs from bad PC ports. And despite what everyone says, these new consoles really don't look half bad. Probably a good 75% in quality compared to a maxed out PC version. But eh, I couldn't ever go back to anything less then 60 fps. I'm so used to hitting 100 now consistently that you really notice the console stutters and 30fps games .-.
It'd be interesting to see if the PS4 Pro update allows for better speeds on games that support it. Maybe compare the difference between games without the patch (maybe on both the base and Pro models) and the ones that received the patch (or were made with the Pro in mind).
While old. It’s good see next gen consoles will actually focus on proper Fast storage controller. As we know both consoles are using zen 2 apus. The questions is will next gen use custom x570 chipset or motherboard, while using PCI express 4.0 and M.2 ssd? Can’t wait see what next gen is. And really hope Sony ps5 will allow some kind storage upgrade and/or port plug in External SSD with either SATA 3 connection or option upgrade nvme drives We know PS4 SATA II was bottleneck and didn’t take full advanced of SDD, as goes for same PS4 Pro SATA III, but still neither one or OS were optimizes properly to take advanced of SDD hardware.
The bottleneck is elsewhere, but im happy they went sata 3 because at least there is an improvement and the potential is there for even more in the future with os updates hopefully. Im happy for any amount of time saved at loading screens.
My guess is that the bottleneck is the CPU, if the data loaded from the drive need decompressing or other form of processing. This would also explain the improvement in loading time for the Pro over the standard PS4 with the same stockdrive!
SSD game loading speeds have always been a bit of a disappointment, even on PC where NVME crushes SATA on large file transfers but makes little to no difference with games. We'll have to see if the new consoles and their custom solutions will finally take advantage of the bandwidth these drives offer.
I think both CPUs and developers need to catch up with the speed of current SSD. The highest SSD usage I've seen so far was Alan Wake II with a peak load of 2740 MB/s and even that is well within GEN 3 speeds. However this doesn't mean that loading screens are very short but this game has this mechanic where you can instantly switch between 2 completely different realities. Also sequential speeds are one thing but SSDs themselves also need big improvements in random speeds.
@@valentinvas6454 Highest I’ve seen is Forza Motorsport (over 6 gb/s on one test) but it had no tangible impact on loading or performance (there was slightly less vram usage though). There has been some progress as sata is starting to noticeably lag behind nvme in some titles, but I’ve yet to see a real world difference between a lowly 3.0 nvme and a top end 4.0 nvme, even in direct storage titles (I’ve tested all 3 direct storage games on said nvme drives-no difference).
@@Keivz 6 GB in Forza?? What the hell I'd have never expected that in a racing game. Maybe it needs to load lots of assets quickly when your car is moving very fast I guess but it's still weird.
I want a PS4 Pro and a Samsung 850 Pro 2TB SSD. I suspect that things will improve once games get patched properly use the updates from the Pro hardware and firmware updates to the PS4 to use the SATAIII properly.
xxnike629xx i'm not so sure. when developing, you don't specify a speed when loading assets, you just say load them now, then move on to the next task. something other than the sata bus appears to be bottlenecking the pro, which is surprising/disappointing. potentially, yes, a firmware fix may resolve this issue though, in which case, all games will immediately benefit from an ssd.
I have a 2TB SSD in my Pro, and it's much more responsive. Everything loads instantly, downloads are faster, and in online games, I load maps and areas much faster than friends. For example in Destiny 2, we would load into a planet or strike and I would load in much sooner and have to wait almost a minute before teammates show up.
the 7200 model go from 1,5 mins loading the horizont zero dawn to 20 secs or so (disc version) detroit about 30 secons from 2 mins more or less ,also when the game is loaded time between load screens decrease a lot im using 1tb ssd from micron and work like a charm
I have a PS4 Pro with a 1TB Sandisk SSD in it. I have not noticed any slow load times on the stuff I have played so far. Everything seems to take 12-15 seconds to load. I could not be happier with the combination.
What about PRO patched/enhanced games that have the CPU/GPU clocks higher than the PS4? Any speed increase on those compared to PS4 regular equipped with SSD?
Hi Tom, hope you read this... You've tested 4 games which (to my knowledge) do NOT have PS4 Pro patches, this is actually very good and very bad. The PS4 Pro, in "PS4 regular" mode has exactly the same CPU clock speed as the original, as Richard tested That CPU in 'regular' mode, being identical, is perhaps less capable of processing the data fast enough from the SSD, it can't shuffle the data to where it needs to go, any faster. Furthermore, it's been revealed the PS4 regular, uses a very weird "USB Bridge" chip on the motherboard, to talk to the SATA drive. It's possible they still use the same technology in the Pro, a USB Bridge but USB3 instead. I would be quite curious to see a PS4 Pro enhanced game, with the extra 100mhz of clock speed for loading. This could be an interesting test (and may finally reveal the cause of the poor SSD performance in the PS4 in general)
Very quick. I have a 4tb samsung ssd internally in my pro. 100% worth it. Especially with my adhd mind flipping from one game to the next. Comes in just under a minute. Gtav loads in a minute 5 seconds. Which is wild compared to hdd over 2 minute load on the stock hdd..
Hands down the biggest benefit is the background recording / screens hot. The system is snappy and when I accidentally press share its done in half a second and not lagging my game like it used to with the hdd.
Wow. So something else in there is still bottlenecking it to below SATA II speeds. The SATA over USB bridge chip is gone, but maybe it's just in the southbridge now, causing it to be that slow. Or maybe the slow ARM I/O chip.
No i dont think they should conclude it based on those tests, on pc games are optmized for SATA3 and above, PS4 games have to be optimized for SATA2, SATA3 is not only about higher troughput.
Marcelo Tezza A SATA revision isn't something a developer has to code against. They could optimize it for HDDs vs SSDs if that's what you mean, but both see gains there.
tipoomaster SATA revision 3.0 (6 Gbit/s, 600 MB/s)[edit] Serial ATA International Organization (SATA-IO) presented the draft specification of SATA 6 Gbit/s physical layer in July 2008,[14] and ratified its physical layer specification on August 18, 2008.[15] The full 3.0 standard was released on May 27, 2009.[16] Third-generation SATA interfaces run with a native transfer rate of 6.0 Gbit/s; taking 8b/10b encoding into account, the maximum uncoded transfer rate is 4.8 Gbit/s (600 MB/s). The theoretical burst throughput of SATA 6.0 Gbit/s is double that of SATA revision 2.0. It is backward compatible with SATA 3 Gbit/s.[13] The SATA 3.0 specification contains the following changes: 6 Gbit/s for scalable performance Continued compatibility with SAS, including SAS 6 Gbit/s, as per "a SAS domain may support attachment to and control of unmodified SATA devices connected directly into the SAS domain using the Serial ATA Tunneled Protocol (STP)" from the SATA Revision 3.0 Gold specification Isochronous Native Command Queuing (NCQ) streaming command to enable isochronous quality of service data transfers for streaming digital content applications An NCQ management feature that helps optimize performance by enabling host processing and management of outstanding NCQ commands Improved power management capabilities A small low insertion force (LIF) connector for more compact 1.8-inch storage devices A 7 mm optical disk drive profile for the slimline SATA connector (in addition to the existing 12.7 mm and 9.5 mm profiles) Alignment with the INCITS ATA8-ACS standard In general, the enhancements are aimed at improving quality of service for video streaming and high-priority interrupts. In addition, the standard continues to support distances up to one meter. The newer speeds may require higher power consumption for supporting chips, though improved process technologies and power management techniques may mitigate this. The later specification can use existing SATA cables and connectors, though it was reported in 2008 that some OEMs were expected to upgrade host connectors for the higher speeds.[17] SATA revision 3.1[edit] Released in July 2011, SATA revision 3.1 introduced or changed the following features:[18][19] mSATA, SATA for solid-state drives in mobile computing devices, a PCI Express Mini Card-like connector that is electrically SATA.[20] Zero-power optical disk drive, idle SATA optical drive draws no power. Queued TRIM Command, improves solid-state drive performance. Required Link Power Management, reduces overall system power demand of several SATA devices. Hardware Control Features, enable host identification of device capabilities. Universal Storage Module (USM), a new standard for cableless plug-in (slot) powered storage for consumer electronics devices.[21][22]
Marcelo Tezza The specifications you quoted don't prove the point you think they do...That says nothing about a software program having to explicitly optimize for a SATA revision. The OS, sure, but not the game itself, which is what you said. Optimizing a game load for HDD vs SDD is the only possibility I see there, but again, both do see substantially faster loads on SSD, just not as much as one would expect.
How can this guy say that 31 sec s not a big difference especially. I used Samsung evo 860 500gb and I see huge difference on FFXV when it comes to loading time but as well as texture. The whole gaming experience is positively changed after I replaced the slow stock drive. Anyone saying different is a noob or a liar.
This is my last chance to get more out of my last gen. I play in 1080 p on a nice 4k gaming tv and sometimes i wish i could turn back the time to invest in a gaming pc Setup. I was hyped by the press blabla 4k hdr...
CPU isn't good enough to really push load times down. SSDs are great but half of the reason PC games tend to have wildly better loading is due to the fact that their CPUs are monstrously faster than console ones. Hopefully the Ryzen chip in the PS5 and Xbox 4 are a little more up to snuff.
PC guys always talk about their gaming experience , but it always looks like they are the 1st ones to comment on every console video that is being uploaded to RUclips to promote their amazing gaming experience they had
They're just good samaritans trying to get people to switch and experience the glory there is in playing games on a decent PC. I recently got a ps4 slim to play BF1 with my best friend (as well as to play the few exclusive games that interest me), and I can't begin to tell you how horrible the experience is... constant frame drops, terrible load times, precision aiming with a controller, controller's battery life, and how bloody expensive the console is in the long run. Still, I believe a decent gaming PC + a PS4 (maybe a Switch if it ends up getting more good games) is the best way to go.
As a PC, PS4 and Xbone owner i end up playing games on PC and i really see the difference between loading times with Rocket League. I get bored waiting for the PS4 users to enter a match because of the loading times. The loading times are not that bad, but on PC (5 year old build with new SSD) it`s damn fast.
I really hope next gen consoles are equipped with SSDs from stock and with the ability to install NVMes because some of these loading times are atrocious for 2018!
Keep in mind that FF XV (demo disk?) has been reported to get about 60/s for new game load on the stock HDD, where as it gets 17/s on an undisclosed SSD, in a vid here from a japanese channel.
Why did you pick one of the WORST SSD's to run these tests? Run it again with a 2017 SSD, or even THE TRION 150, which came out 9 MONTHS before your review! People who replace their HDD with an SSD, especially on a PS4 Pro, are willing to pay for the best, so don't even think about giving us the 'cost' argument - it's fallacious. WE WANT MAXIMUM SPEED TESTS DESIGNED FOR GODS, NOT MERE MORTALS.
No console can fully use the speed that a SSD can provide, not even the XBOX ONE X and I got one, it's better sure, but best performance increase in with a XBOX ONE X due to having better performance in all areas compared to Pro
Stick a SSD in a netbook with an Atom or AMD Jaguar processor and you"ll notice barely any performance increase over a regular HDD. The bottleneck you're desperately seeking is plain simply the processor and not some magical bandwidth restraint.
@@EliasReda Nice of you to be still interested in this 7 year old comment but I have more years professional experience in IT hardware than the reviewers age.
1 area I found to really benefit from the SSD is live streaming data from ssd to ram. Games like Days Gone with huge dense world pulls information from their source drive.. disk, hdd, or ssd. SSD helps the stability tremendously.
@@lateapex9420 I noticed slight improvement with texture loading and overall load times. Worth it to me. I store all my games on the drive. So the quickest transfer the better 🙂
Thanks DF for looking into this so quickly! Disappointing but not surprising to find out it doesn't make much of a difference. One request though, I believe all the games tested do not support the Pro and hence run in compatibility mode. This means the CPU is downclocked to the base PS4 speeds. It would be interesting to run this test with a Pro supported game where it gets to use the additional CPU clockspeed. Probably won't make a difference but would be nice to confirm whether the CPU is bottlenecking the load times or not and hence whether Pro supported games might see a bigger advantage with SSD load times...
What I'm getting from this: The difference between the loading speeds of the consoles with the SSDs is minimal when comparing the models, but is not minimal when upgrading from a 5400 RPM drive to a SSD. Basically: If you want to spend the money to increase the speed of the console, better to just get an SSD as opposed to just upgrading to the Pro altogether.
There is also the intrinsic performance delta of different hard disk capacities itself, as the bigger it is the faster it gets (eg 500GB Vs. 1TB). And perhaps the loading times on the console may be aggravated by a lack of CPU power and/or slow optical drives. Dosn't make much sense to take so long when you have a total of 8GiB of system memory, they could use some kind of "pre-loading" mechanism where whenever a game is booted half of the game engine is automatically loaded into memory, kinda similar to "branch prediction" in modern x86 CPUs.
Seems like a limited test. I've done some testing myself, and although the results aren't universal across games, I did find that the standard PS4 with an SSD is about %27 slower than a Pro with an SSD in some of the results. Also in a lot of cases the difference between an SSD and an HDD are a lot more pronounced than what is suggested here. For example, it takes 18 seconds to load in Final Fantasy 15 demo right after the tutorial with an SSD on Pro, where on the other hand it takes about 44 seconds to load the same section on a stock Pro HDD.
Something definitely must be holding back the HDD and SSD on the PS4&PS4 Pro. This desktop's Seagate ST3200822AS (2TB, 7200RPM) loads Fallout 4 saves faster than the SSD in the PS4 Pro. And on an old Sandisk 100U 128GB (recently salvaged from a 2012 laptop, and dedicated to the Fallout and Elder scrolls series, and mod organiser) I see similar loading times as well. Still, its a better loading time improvement than my old Xbox had going from its original Seagate 10GB 5400RPM HDD to a 250GB Samsung Spinpoint HA250JC. It was limited to 33MB/sec due to the way IDE works with devices of multiple speeds.
Really bad SSD choice in these tests! Try again DigitalFoundry! I have a Sandisk 480 SSD in my original PS4 and Skyrim Special Edition load times are lightning quick.
What about PS4 menu/store performance? I can't find any videos comparing SSD vs HDD for the sake of a better menu experience. I stresses me out trying to pull up menus on PS4, and often is the reason I just stick to PC over PS4.
I found these with a simple search on amazon www.amazon.com/Seagate-Laptop-2-5-Inch-Internal-ST2000LM007/dp/B01C4W2P18/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1479328386&sr=1-1&keywords=2tb+hard+drive+2.5 www.amazon.com/Seagate-Barracuda-2-5-Inch-Internal-ST2000LM015/dp/B01LX13P71/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1479328386&sr=1-2&keywords=2tb+hard+drive+2.5 www.amazon.com/Seagate-Laptop-2-5-Inch-Internal-ST2000LM003/dp/B00I8O6OQ4/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1479328386&sr=1-3&keywords=2tb+hard+drive+2.5
justin halen Well... that's normal. The way HHDD work is that the first time you start a software from it, it completely loads from the HDD part like a standard HDD. Then, when you start the same software again, it will have put some data on its cache to load it slightly faster. If you start it again, it will have put even more data in the cache to load it slightly faster yet again. You have to start the same game like 3-4 times in a row to gain maximum cache speed. If you change software often, then the cache will empty itself often. So it's optimal when you only play one game at a time for a while. That's why I don't like it. It's great on paper, but in practice, it just makes you want the fastest speed all the time so it's just irritating when you don't.
DeadPhoenix86 No... but on my PC, which is where I have a HHDD, I do use multiple programs per day, in addition to whatever game I might play that day. I also turn my PC on to use it, which loads data... On PS4, you might use Netflix, then the PS Store, then a game, then internet, then whatever, and it all fucks up your very limited cache basically. You'll rarely have maximum speed in a game, unless you do nothing else on it and never turn it off.
Would pop-in on open world games be decreased with an SSD in the Pro? Driving very fast in GTA V for example sometimes makes things just pop in or even worse, pop in late while you're right at them.
The speed increase between PS4 and Pro is "the same" with SSD or mechanical drives -- in both cases the Pro loads in about 88% of the time of the base model (give or take a percent). The only reason the mechanical drive increase *looks* more impressive is that the overall time is longer.
Just a minor correction, the hard drive on the original PS4 is internally connected through USB (using an onboard adapter), for reference look at fail0verflow presentation at CCC (I think it was 36C3) about PS4 hacking
So once again it just proves for the money, size of drive and speed that the new 1TB and 2TB Seagate FireCuda SSD Hybrid Drives are the best for your consoles. 7200rpm + 8GB SSD
Did you watch the video? 1 minute + was on an SSD, not a 5400RPM mechanical drive. I mean it was _also_ on the mechanical drive too, but that's not the point. The point is, why is SSD performance so poor on the PS4 Pro?!
***** Dude anything even close to under 1 min is not something I'm used to anymore. I'm not trying to be high and mighty pc master race here, but when you're used to 10 secs max for games to load up, it would be very frustrating to go back to waiting that long. I may still get one next year sometime, but I completly forgot about that side of console gaming tbh.
There can't be much difference as the game is played on the Bluray, I would like to see a video of the same game but Bluray VS Downloaded (HDD) VS downloaded game (SSD) now there would be a significant difference!
Apparently the controller on the inside is sata 2.x. That’s what I read in a Japanese article by one of the developers of the PS4. Also, I read that usb 3 quote doesn’t preform like it would on pc. They both run at about sata 2 speeds at max
DF you need to test games that have been patched for Pro, apparently those are showing significant improvements with SSD compared to base PS4 with SSD.
This is one of the shoddiest comparisons I have ever seen. They don't even compare Pro games. The old PS4 games are running on downclocked CPU and GPU Pro frequencies like the original PS4. Not only that they have no top of the line SSDs to test things out. I'm not mad either way my SSD kicks the shit out of my previous PS4. But this comparison is not even a Pro game comparison lol.
SSD doesn't even make much of a difference on PC for game loading times. The biggest advantage i gained from an SSD was overall OS performance (on PC).
I'd disagree on the load times thing. The difference between loading Fallout 4 on my HDD, and my Samsung 850 evo is insane, it's like 20% of the time on the HDD. Absolutely worth it.
Jamie Robert cool, but since the video isn't talking about a hybrid, not am I. since I'm poor, can you buy me one? they go for about 600$ for a 1TB. thx :)
There's one additional factor to consider - an example from a PS3 game that was released not long ago for the PS4. Defiance - a Third Person Shooter RPG MMMORPG loaded a lot of it's assets on the fly during gameplay - which was an issue when traveling at high speed because some of the terrain would not load fast enough from the HDD and make the player hit invisible (not yet loaded) obstackles or even drive through an empty world in borderline cases waiting for the environment to load properly. Would that be solved by using an SSD ?
I will state from first hand Experience.. an SSD in a PS4 Pro will indeed have noticeably Faster Load times especially on Games like GTAV, Skyrim and RDR2 etc. I have a PS4 Pro (one of the Later models) I had previously upgraded the stock 1TB HD to a 2TB Western Digital Blue Hard Drive strictly for the Storage increase.. In 2018 when I was pricing 2TB SSD's even used ones were $350+ Far too much.. I happened to check on on Ebay a month ago.. and made a lowball offer and got a Crucial MX 2TB SSD for $115! So I swapped them out..and at the time I was putting in serious hours with RDR2 which would take awhile to load.. with the SSD its at least twice maybe 3 X Faster at the initial load screen... WOW!.. Son anyone on the Fence about upgrading.. If youre able to find a 2TB SSD for good Price go for it. Couple notes.. I was unsuccessful in trying to Clone the HD from the PS4 to the SSD.. I have heard there are ways of doing but different software other than Cloning Software is needed.. So you will need to install the new SSD and re-initialize from the beginning. ALl your games will need to be loaded/Installed but if you are a PS + member all your games saves are backed up and you can download them once the game is installed. Good Luck
As the pro is a very nice price (especially for the hardware that's inside). I will wait for a true generational lead with PS5. My PS4 will serve me well for the next 4-5 years.
Pro with 1TB Samsung 860 EVO firmware 6.72. Those slow loading fast travels in The Division 2 have dropped down to around 5 sec. flat and more importantly, the annoying texture streaming issues that plague the PS4 version are gone completely!
it looks like the small difference is all due to a bit faster CPU, (my loadding times were cut in half replacing a phenom for a i5) and there was no sata 2 bottleneck on the ps4 after all
After putting solid-state drive in my first gen PlayStation 4 it's a totally different console. It amazed me how fast it became and I knew speeds would increase but not this fast.
same, i just put one in my ps4 pro. menu interface runs a lot smoother with zero lags or delays. console starts fast, games load fast. textures load in better. its really good. what kind of ssd did you use? I used a 1TB Samsung EVO 860
@@BrwrFan806 I did the same it's awesome! Got one for $99 bucks!
@@BrwrFan806 I used a 870 QVO 2tb in my PS4 slim. Made a world of difference
@@unity454 big ups🙌🙌
It's like installing new RAM i know that feeling. Still haven't upgraded mine yet.
Replaced my firecuda 2TB sshd with a sandisk ssd plus 1TB ssd.
Loading from the start screen of NFS Payback is 13 seconds faster, and textures load a lot faster. Instantaneously.
Turning on the ps4 pro from rest mode is hella fast, too.
I put a 1tb Samsung QVO 870 into my PS4 Pro and the UI certainly feels snappy, texture pop-in is greatly improved and I'm finding it loads save files quite quickly. Seeing as PS5 stocks are so unavailable, it also means it's viable for a bit longer
@@billytk1225that wouldn't actually matter in 99.99999% of cases, and there's more pertinent areas where drives can differ, such as sustained write speeds or 4K random read/write
the PS4's cpu is garbage and would bottleneck the speeds to the point where the difference is inconsequential
@@Bruzewane An ssd's speed is not bottlenecked by cpu power at all
@@johnpsy4129 lol what?
the jaguar cpus 100% bottlenecked SSD speed; you can't decompress as fast as the drive allows as well as general load speeds (e.g loading games) being hampered by said slow cpu
@@Bruzewane I'm not even going to explain all the technicalities, read/write, random, sequential etc are all effected primarily by the drive specs, motherboard, not ur CPU. Even old CPUs can make full use of an SSD without limiting its speed. U don't know what ur talking about
@@johnpsy4129 ...where are you getting this info from?
it's objectively a fact that a CPU as slow as the jaguar cores can slow down an SSD lol
I've got a Samsung 850 Evo SSD in mine. Load times are crazy fast. I'm always the first person in the lobby on Battlefield. Have to wait about 30 seconds before people start joining.
I am often the first too. Have the 840 Evo. :D
Putting rims on a Civic
So upgrade and wait?...
C. L. K better than putting them on a Chevy Aveo..... (xbone, cough cough)
steve m that's amazing dude, yet you still gotta wait for others before you can spawn, great upgrade, money well spent.
My main reason to use ssd on Ps4 or Xbox one is the UI speed. It just feels way more snappier
God how time flies
Feels like I watched this yesterday
Next Test:
Do a comparison video of using PS4's 4.50 beta firmware feature; a 3.0 external SSD drive vs. an internal SSD on PS4 load speeds. USB 3.0 boasts a potential throughput of 5Gbps (equal to 640MBps) which is plenty to fully utilize today's usual SSD's. Please do this, I'm interested in the results.
@Digital Foundry, now that it is nearly June of 2019, and the PS4 has been updated to OFW 6.50+, could you re-run some tests using some of the faster SSD's of today? I saw a video from someone else that was testing the loading speeds from older models of PS4 firmware's vs today's newer firmwares, and the firmware's alone were loading and booting the console up faster. I would like to see what the difference is for today's best SSD's and the newest firmwares combined, please. If there is a decent difference, I would finally like to upgrade.
Also, is there any difference from loading games on the PS4 Pro with the newest firmware using USB 3.0 HDD's and SSD's? Would be nice to see a re-test, all things considered. Technology moves at a steady pace, and this video of yours is a few years old now.
Hence the "using some of the faster SSD's of today?" early in his post.
@@cptcosmic dumbass maybe read before posting.
I agree. I have a Samsung Evo 860 in my Pro and the Witcher 3 has basically no loading. I can fast travel anywhere and it's lightning quick.
@@Console_Gaming_Vids agree man. It was worth it. I buyed mine evo for 65$
@@Console_Gaming_Vids I have same samsung ssd in my pro, and I load gta5 in just over half the original drives time.
Why on earth would you test this using an SSD with such low CACHE? An SSD btw with known problems with speed?
Yes, kind of strange choice.
But on PC, it delivers less than half the load times of PS4/Pro so it isn't that bad considering something like Samsung 850 series would be ~$270.
It would of been better if they tested multiple SSD's
1boshow *would have
Yeah he definitely should've used the Samsung SSD
You are only comparing load times for games in the Pro's compatibility mode. Maybe the SATA controller gets throttled down in that mode? Try it with games that have a Pro mode, like Rise of the Tomb Raider (but set it to 1080p60 so it's still loading the same data).
Loading it's not just storage, the cpu is doing a huge bottleneck. Same happens with me and my friend when loading Android Studio for example: My SSD + i3 @2.00Ghz aren't much faster loading than his 5400rpm HDD + i7 w/ 3.1Ghz turbo. Just a few seconds.
CPU on the PS4 is the main issue.
Sorry digital foundry, that was an incomplete test.
1- Putting the same 1TB on the PS4 base model results on the same results?
2- As the PS4 is sata 2 we expected that games will only be optmized for sata 2, probably only games with the PRO enhancements will be able to take advantage of the sata 3 optimizations.
3- How texture streaming differs when using ssd on open world games, The diference between them with pro features "on" and off.
That's not how it works dude.
how it works then?
The game isn't programmed for SATA 2 or 3. It is just code. The hardware determines how quickly the data is read, whether it wanta to read it fast or slow. That is why you can get streaming issues with certain games on PC if you have a slow antiquated hard drive. If the code wasn't compatible with the hard drive then the game wouldn't run at all. But it does, proving that the game wasn't programmed for SATA 3 if SATA 2 can run it.
First: universal knowledge, every and each hardware can be optimized to take advantage of its strenghts. between hdds there is a vast performance variance, random access read and writes, buffer caches, sequential with and without the cache being complete etc...
Sata 3 introduce some improvements on random access too other than just allowing higher troughtput, even wikipedia can provide some info for you.
You can always optimize code for diferent hardware be sure of that. Sometimes makes little diference, sometimes greater diference.
Testing the 1TB on the ps4 base would allow to know better if the performance is only related to the harddrive or no.
btw, there were games like RAGE on PS3 that took advantage of ssds, Digital Foundry made a review about it, ope world games could possibly benefit from it, like FFXV, Witcher 3, Just Cause 3, etc...
But to my understanding, the games that will benefit most will be the one with pro enhancements with high textures, shadow maps, shaders cache.
Marcelo Tezza
Fair enough, I wont argue with you. You seem knowledgeable and I have learned something.
This was excellently done. Succinct, informative, and well-organized. Got a subscriber for it. Cheers!
I am using a 480gb Kingston ssd as an external drive, and I have gotta say, that thing moves. I was waiting minutes before, now it is half loaded, before I get to the load screen. It is amazing!!
I subscribed to you because I thought this video was very well done. Your thoughts (I felt) were very well organised and conveyed. Your tests really did make an impact on my decision on purchasing a Samsung EVO 860 1TB SSD. At first I really wanted to (also because there's a really great deal on Amazon -40% off) but now I'm not sure anymore, I was expecting at least a 30-50% decrease in game load times (though I don't play the same games). Job well done!
Just got a sandisk 1tb external ssd and its day and night for me. Loading your saved character in Monster hunter world for exemple used to take me 1 min, now its 15 sec, every loading times in bloodborne easily got cut in half. Borderlands used to have heavy texture loading issues, now its fixed!
Personally i would highly recommend one!
When considering the system is constantly capturing at 1080p, can run downloads and installs in the background and manage many other services at reasonable speeds while playing extremely demanding games, it's really not too bad FOR A 5400rpm drive. The system is a little disappointing overall however. It would have been nice to see a faster stock drive, maybe a 7200rpm or hybrid drive would have been a very noticable improvment, and the missing 4K BR support is another thing that makes the system seem a bit of a half measure
Bit late i know, but it would be nice to have the option to switch off game footage recording if it meant faster load times.
The PS4 pro doesn't look all that pro to me. It is a good price for a new comer getting a PS4 for the first time though.
All fanboys Are retards Yea where are the USB C ports
All fanboys Are retards I agree with both your comment and name.
All fanboys Are retards looks more of a triple cheeseburger
Nothing has changed about how you should approach hardware revisions. If you already have a PS4, there's no need to get rid of it just to buy a new version of it. It's still a PS4. The same has been true since the dawn of Playstation. It is true however that the Pro does offer advantages over the base and Slim models, and I agree they should be much more enticing for those who don't own a PS4 in the first place, given the price point.
All fanboys Are retards n
Appreciate the consistency of PS4 analysis and news from you guys seeing as not many other outlets really are giving it a fair look or even talking about it.
-Games run at lower frame-rates
-Does 1800p for 90% of games, not 4K
-Runs very hot and can melt plastic
-Lots of issues with TVs and HDR support
-No 4K Blu-Ray
-Supports SSDs but makes little improvement
This thing is not "PRO" in any sense of the word
Samuel Herrera 1400p is sweat spot
The. melting plastic thing was fake.
The sdd is being used on games originally made for PS4 if you even watched the video
Pc fanboys these days.
Samuel Herrera no one uses movies on discs either.
Yea, nobody does. Not one person on Earth prefers to use physical media. That's a true statement.
Samuel Herrera does it really overheat? i just bought it and i even bought a new tv for it :( y u do dis
Mike NA no one gives a shit. This is a gaming console. Not a fucking media center.
Man, even though I'm all for master race, I really miss console convenience sometimes. I miss just turning on a game and having it all up and ready to go. Without having to tweak graphics settings, and deal with bugs from bad PC ports. And despite what everyone says, these new consoles really don't look half bad. Probably a good 75% in quality compared to a maxed out PC version.
But eh, I couldn't ever go back to anything less then 60 fps. I'm so used to hitting 100 now consistently that you really notice the console stutters and 30fps games .-.
It'd be interesting to see if the PS4 Pro update allows for better speeds on games that support it. Maybe compare the difference between games without the patch (maybe on both the base and Pro models) and the ones that received the patch (or were made with the Pro in mind).
While old. It’s good see next gen consoles will actually focus on proper Fast storage controller. As we know both consoles are using zen 2 apus. The questions is will next gen use custom x570 chipset or motherboard, while using PCI express 4.0 and M.2 ssd? Can’t wait see what next gen is. And really hope Sony ps5 will allow some kind storage upgrade and/or port plug in External SSD with either SATA 3 connection or option upgrade nvme drives
We know PS4 SATA II was bottleneck and didn’t take full advanced of SDD, as goes for same PS4 Pro SATA III, but still neither one or OS were optimizes properly to take advanced of SDD hardware.
I found on my old PS4 that the SSD cut my load times in XCOM 2 in half which was quite nice.
The bottleneck is elsewhere, but im happy they went sata 3 because at least there is an improvement and the potential is there for even more in the future with os updates hopefully. Im happy for any amount of time saved at loading screens.
My guess is that the bottleneck is the CPU, if the data loaded from the drive need decompressing or other form of processing.
This would also explain the improvement in loading time for the Pro over the standard PS4 with the same stockdrive!
If you come to the comment section about PS4 Pro... well this is the wrong place. PCNoLifeRace is here to cry
SSD game loading speeds have always been a bit of a disappointment, even on PC where NVME crushes SATA on large file transfers but makes little to no difference with games. We'll have to see if the new consoles and their custom solutions will finally take advantage of the bandwidth these drives offer.
I think both CPUs and developers need to catch up with the speed of current SSD. The highest SSD usage I've seen so far was Alan Wake II with a peak load of 2740 MB/s and even that is well within GEN 3 speeds. However this doesn't mean that loading screens are very short but this game has this mechanic where you can instantly switch between 2 completely different realities.
Also sequential speeds are one thing but SSDs themselves also need big improvements in random speeds.
@@valentinvas6454 Highest I’ve seen is Forza Motorsport (over 6 gb/s on one test) but it had no tangible impact on loading or performance (there was slightly less vram usage though).
There has been some progress as sata is starting to noticeably lag behind nvme in some titles, but I’ve yet to see a real world difference between a lowly 3.0 nvme and a top end 4.0 nvme, even in direct storage titles (I’ve tested all 3 direct storage games on said nvme drives-no difference).
@@Keivz 6 GB in Forza?? What the hell I'd have never expected that in a racing game. Maybe it needs to load lots of assets quickly when your car is moving very fast I guess but it's still weird.
@@valentinvas6454 It was 5 gb/s actually. There’s a RUclips video by Compusemble that demonstrates it.
Saving me money, thanks digitalfoundry
I want a PS4 Pro and a Samsung 850 Pro 2TB SSD.
I suspect that things will improve once games get patched properly use the updates from the Pro hardware and firmware updates to the PS4 to use the SATAIII properly.
xxnike629xx i'm not so sure. when developing, you don't specify a speed when loading assets, you just say load them now, then move on to the next task. something other than the sata bus appears to be bottlenecking the pro, which is surprising/disappointing. potentially, yes, a firmware fix may resolve this issue though, in which case, all games will immediately benefit from an ssd.
I have a 2TB SSD in my Pro, and it's much more responsive. Everything loads instantly, downloads are faster, and in online games, I load maps and areas much faster than friends. For example in Destiny 2, we would load into a planet or strike and I would load in much sooner and have to wait almost a minute before teammates show up.
the 7200 model go from 1,5 mins loading the horizont zero dawn to 20 secs or so (disc version) detroit about 30 secons from 2 mins more or less ,also when the game is loaded time between load screens decrease a lot im using 1tb ssd from micron and work like a charm
I have a PS4 Pro with a 1TB Sandisk SSD in it. I have not noticed any slow load times on the stuff I have played so far. Everything seems to take 12-15 seconds to load. I could not be happier with the combination.
What about PRO patched/enhanced games that have the CPU/GPU clocks higher than the PS4? Any speed increase on those compared to PS4 regular equipped with SSD?
Hi Tom, hope you read this...
You've tested 4 games which (to my knowledge) do NOT have PS4 Pro patches, this is actually very good and very bad.
The PS4 Pro, in "PS4 regular" mode has exactly the same CPU clock speed as the original, as Richard tested
That CPU in 'regular' mode, being identical, is perhaps less capable of processing the data fast enough from the SSD, it can't shuffle the data to where it needs to go, any faster.
Furthermore, it's been revealed the PS4 regular, uses a very weird "USB Bridge" chip on the motherboard, to talk to the SATA drive. It's possible they still use the same technology in the Pro, a USB Bridge but USB3 instead.
I would be quite curious to see a PS4 Pro enhanced game, with the extra 100mhz of clock speed for loading. This could be an interesting test (and may finally reveal the cause of the poor SSD performance in the PS4 in general)
I would be interested to see how fast the Witcher would load with SSD and Boost mode enabled.
Very quick. I have a 4tb samsung ssd internally in my pro. 100% worth it. Especially with my adhd mind flipping from one game to the next. Comes in just under a minute. Gtav loads in a minute 5 seconds. Which is wild compared to hdd over 2 minute load on the stock hdd..
Hands down the biggest benefit is the background recording / screens hot. The system is snappy and when I accidentally press share its done in half a second and not lagging my game like it used to with the hdd.
Wow. So something else in there is still bottlenecking it to below SATA II speeds. The SATA over USB bridge chip is gone, but maybe it's just in the southbridge now, causing it to be that slow. Or maybe the slow ARM I/O chip.
No i dont think they should conclude it based on those tests, on pc games are optmized for SATA3 and above, PS4 games have to be optimized for SATA2, SATA3 is not only about higher troughput.
Marcelo Tezza A SATA revision isn't something a developer has to code against. They could optimize it for HDDs vs SSDs if that's what you mean, but both see gains there.
tipoomaster SATA revision 3.0 (6 Gbit/s, 600 MB/s)[edit]
Serial ATA International Organization (SATA-IO) presented the draft specification of SATA 6 Gbit/s physical layer in July 2008,[14] and ratified its physical layer specification on August 18, 2008.[15] The full 3.0 standard was released on May 27, 2009.[16]
Third-generation SATA interfaces run with a native transfer rate of 6.0 Gbit/s; taking 8b/10b encoding into account, the maximum uncoded transfer rate is 4.8 Gbit/s (600 MB/s). The theoretical burst throughput of SATA 6.0 Gbit/s is double that of SATA revision 2.0. It is backward compatible with SATA 3 Gbit/s.[13]
The SATA 3.0 specification contains the following changes:
6 Gbit/s for scalable performance
Continued compatibility with SAS, including SAS 6 Gbit/s, as per "a SAS domain may support attachment to and control of unmodified SATA devices connected directly into the SAS domain using the Serial ATA Tunneled Protocol (STP)" from the SATA Revision 3.0 Gold specification
Isochronous Native Command Queuing (NCQ) streaming command to enable isochronous quality of service data transfers for streaming digital content applications
An NCQ management feature that helps optimize performance by enabling host processing and management of outstanding NCQ commands
Improved power management capabilities
A small low insertion force (LIF) connector for more compact 1.8-inch storage devices
A 7 mm optical disk drive profile for the slimline SATA connector (in addition to the existing 12.7 mm and 9.5 mm profiles)
Alignment with the INCITS ATA8-ACS standard
In general, the enhancements are aimed at improving quality of service for video streaming and high-priority interrupts. In addition, the standard continues to support distances up to one meter. The newer speeds may require higher power consumption for supporting chips, though improved process technologies and power management techniques may mitigate this. The later specification can use existing SATA cables and connectors, though it was reported in 2008 that some OEMs were expected to upgrade host connectors for the higher speeds.[17]
SATA revision 3.1[edit]
Released in July 2011, SATA revision 3.1 introduced or changed the following features:[18][19]
mSATA, SATA for solid-state drives in mobile computing devices, a PCI Express Mini Card-like connector that is electrically SATA.[20]
Zero-power optical disk drive, idle SATA optical drive draws no power.
Queued TRIM Command, improves solid-state drive performance.
Required Link Power Management, reduces overall system power demand of several SATA devices.
Hardware Control Features, enable host identification of device capabilities.
Universal Storage Module (USM), a new standard for cableless plug-in (slot) powered storage for consumer electronics devices.[21][22]
tipoomaster i disagree...
Marcelo Tezza The specifications you quoted don't prove the point you think they do...That says nothing about a software program having to explicitly optimize for a SATA revision. The OS, sure, but not the game itself, which is what you said. Optimizing a game load for HDD vs SDD is the only possibility I see there, but again, both do see substantially faster loads on SSD, just not as much as one would expect.
How can this guy say that 31 sec s not a big difference especially. I used Samsung evo 860 500gb and I see huge difference on FFXV when it comes to loading time but as well as texture. The whole gaming experience is positively changed after I replaced the slow stock drive. Anyone saying different is a noob or a liar.
Did you tried red dead redemption 2? Is it running faster?
@@ro420spega it does texture n loading times are much better. I reccomend the switch to ssd
@@ergman85 did you change to an internal or just external on usb 3?
This is my last chance to get more out of my last gen. I play in 1080 p on a nice 4k gaming tv and sometimes i wish i could turn back the time to invest in a gaming pc Setup. I was hyped by the press blabla 4k hdr...
@@LarrysWelt internal ssd
1:08 the PS4 can redownload the software if reboot it in safe mode and connect to the internet then there’s a option then let’s download it
Where's our nigga Witchard from Witchardtal Foundry?
CPU isn't good enough to really push load times down. SSDs are great but half of the reason PC games tend to have wildly better loading is due to the fact that their CPUs are monstrously faster than console ones. Hopefully the Ryzen chip in the PS5 and Xbox 4 are a little more up to snuff.
PC guys always talk about their gaming experience , but it always looks like they are the 1st ones to comment on every console video that is being uploaded to RUclips to promote their amazing gaming experience they had
im a pc gamer that also plays console but i really cant stand those pc master race dicks lol console is great too
They're just good samaritans trying to get people to switch and experience the glory there is in playing games on a decent PC. I recently got a ps4 slim to play BF1 with my best friend (as well as to play the few exclusive games that interest me), and I can't begin to tell you how horrible the experience is... constant frame drops, terrible load times, precision aiming with a controller, controller's battery life, and how bloody expensive the console is in the long run.
Still, I believe a decent gaming PC + a PS4 (maybe a Switch if it ends up getting more good games) is the best way to go.
Could someone tell me if the Samsung 850 Pro 256GB SSD works with the PS4 PRO?
z10111213 Yes. Any storage device with SATA connectors that fits in the 2.5" drive bay works. All hard drives, all SSDs.
THANK YOUUUUUUUUUUUU
As a PC, PS4 and Xbone owner i end up playing games on PC and i really see the difference between loading times with Rocket League. I get bored waiting for the PS4 users to enter a match because of the loading times. The loading times are not that bad, but on PC (5 year old build with new SSD) it`s damn fast.
I really hope next gen consoles are equipped with SSDs from stock and with the ability to install NVMes because some of these loading times are atrocious for 2018!
Don't say "Games do run Faster".....when you mean to say games do load faster, including eliminating alot of texture pop in.
Texture pop-in is a v-ram problem.
WHAT THE HELL??! /: I was waiting for SATA 3.
Keep in mind that FF XV (demo disk?) has been reported to get about 60/s for new game load on the stock HDD, where as it gets 17/s on an undisclosed SSD, in a vid here from a japanese channel.
Why did you pick one of the WORST SSD's to run these tests? Run it again with a 2017 SSD, or even THE TRION 150, which came out 9 MONTHS before your review!
People who replace their HDD with an SSD, especially on a PS4 Pro, are willing to pay for the best, so don't even think about giving us the 'cost' argument - it's fallacious. WE WANT MAXIMUM SPEED TESTS DESIGNED FOR GODS, NOT MERE MORTALS.
No console can fully use the speed that a SSD can provide, not even the XBOX ONE X and I got one, it's better sure, but best performance increase in with a XBOX ONE X due to having better performance in all areas compared to Pro
@Hybrid Theory your forgetting that they have shit CPU's so cannot do so, CPU is bottlenecking the potential bandwidth
I've been waiting for this to get addressed lol. Good video, good channel =-)
Stick a SSD in a netbook with an Atom or AMD Jaguar processor and you"ll notice barely any performance increase over a regular HDD. The bottleneck you're desperately seeking is plain simply the processor and not some magical bandwidth restraint.
Sorry but he knows what he is talking about. The bottleneck is not the processor of the console.
@@EliasReda Nice of you to be still interested in this 7 year old comment but I have more years professional experience in IT hardware than the reviewers age.
Love the xperia play and the spot it got, on the top shelf ofc!!!!
1 area I found to really benefit from the SSD is live streaming data from ssd to ram. Games like Days Gone with huge dense world pulls information from their source drive.. disk, hdd, or ssd. SSD helps the stability tremendously.
Exactly what I'm looking for. Did you notice the pop-in improved with the SSD in Days Gone?
@@lateapex9420 I noticed slight improvement with texture loading and overall load times. Worth it to me. I store all my games on the drive. So the quickest transfer the better 🙂
Thanks for the great review and coverage of the PS4 pro
Witcher 3 loads in about 20 seconds on my PC, on the hard drive mind you not my SSD. I wonder why that is.
You have much faster Cpus than a ps4....Mr. Noob.
Thanks DF for looking into this so quickly! Disappointing but not surprising to find out it doesn't make much of a difference.
One request though, I believe all the games tested do not support the Pro and hence run in compatibility mode. This means the CPU is downclocked to the base PS4 speeds. It would be interesting to run this test with a Pro supported game where it gets to use the additional CPU clockspeed. Probably won't make a difference but would be nice to confirm whether the CPU is bottlenecking the load times or not and hence whether Pro supported games might see a bigger advantage with SSD load times...
And just like that you've included Pro-enabled titles BF1 and Skyrim on the article at eurogamer! =) Thanks for all the great work!
What I'm getting from this:
The difference between the loading speeds of the consoles with the SSDs is minimal when comparing the models, but is not minimal when upgrading from a 5400 RPM drive to a SSD.
Basically: If you want to spend the money to increase the speed of the console, better to just get an SSD as opposed to just upgrading to the Pro altogether.
Liked and Subbed. Appreciate getting a straight answer to this question.
can you do those R9 390 vs GTX 970 Vids again please? Like 1060 vs. RX 480?
no. We console boys now.
but I am both ;)
I own an R9 390 and we still make up a lot of the market
cheer up mate!
There is also the intrinsic performance delta of different hard disk capacities itself, as the bigger it is the faster it gets (eg 500GB Vs. 1TB). And perhaps the loading times on the console may be aggravated by a lack of CPU power and/or slow optical drives. Dosn't make much sense to take so long when you have a total of 8GiB of system memory, they could use some kind of "pre-loading" mechanism where whenever a game is booted half of the game engine is automatically loaded into memory, kinda similar to "branch prediction" in modern x86 CPUs.
Seems like a limited test. I've done some testing myself, and although the results aren't universal across games, I did find that the standard PS4 with an SSD is about %27 slower than a Pro with an SSD in some of the results.
Also in a lot of cases the difference between an SSD and an HDD are a lot more pronounced than what is suggested here. For example, it takes 18 seconds to load in Final Fantasy 15 demo right after the tutorial with an SSD on Pro, where on the other hand it takes about 44 seconds to load the same section on a stock Pro HDD.
Something definitely must be holding back the HDD and SSD on the PS4&PS4 Pro. This desktop's Seagate ST3200822AS (2TB, 7200RPM) loads Fallout 4 saves faster than the SSD in the PS4 Pro.
And on an old Sandisk 100U 128GB (recently salvaged from a 2012 laptop, and dedicated to the Fallout and Elder scrolls series, and mod organiser) I see similar loading times as well.
Still, its a better loading time improvement than my old Xbox had going from its original Seagate 10GB 5400RPM HDD to a 250GB Samsung Spinpoint HA250JC. It was limited to 33MB/sec due to the way IDE works with devices of multiple speeds.
Really bad SSD choice in these tests! Try again DigitalFoundry! I have a Sandisk 480 SSD in my original PS4 and Skyrim Special Edition load times are lightning quick.
I don't think you get it.
What about PS4 menu/store performance? I can't find any videos comparing SSD vs HDD for the sake of a better menu experience. I stresses me out trying to pull up menus on PS4, and often is the reason I just stick to PC over PS4.
It’s butter smooth on an ssd
It's more due to the limited processing power of the older system. Hard drives, even SSDs can only work as fast as the processor and OS can use them.
base ps4 with ssd load times are quite impressive
2TB Hybrid Drives are still the way to go then...
check newegg, www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822179110
currently in back order
I found these with a simple search on amazon
www.amazon.com/Seagate-Laptop-2-5-Inch-Internal-ST2000LM007/dp/B01C4W2P18/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1479328386&sr=1-1&keywords=2tb+hard+drive+2.5
www.amazon.com/Seagate-Barracuda-2-5-Inch-Internal-ST2000LM015/dp/B01LX13P71/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1479328386&sr=1-2&keywords=2tb+hard+drive+2.5
www.amazon.com/Seagate-Laptop-2-5-Inch-Internal-ST2000LM003/dp/B00I8O6OQ4/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1479328386&sr=1-3&keywords=2tb+hard+drive+2.5
I've had a Hybrid Drive in my PC for a while and I don't like the inconsistency. I'd rather have all 7200rpm, or all SSD.
justin halen Well... that's normal. The way HHDD work is that the first time you start a software from it, it completely loads from the HDD part like a standard HDD. Then, when you start the same software again, it will have put some data on its cache to load it slightly faster. If you start it again, it will have put even more data in the cache to load it slightly faster yet again. You have to start the same game like 3-4 times in a row to gain maximum cache speed. If you change software often, then the cache will empty itself often. So it's optimal when you only play one game at a time for a while.
That's why I don't like it. It's great on paper, but in practice, it just makes you want the fastest speed all the time so it's just irritating when you don't.
DeadPhoenix86 No... but on my PC, which is where I have a HHDD, I do use multiple programs per day, in addition to whatever game I might play that day. I also turn my PC on to use it, which loads data... On PS4, you might use Netflix, then the PS Store, then a game, then internet, then whatever, and it all fucks up your very limited cache basically. You'll rarely have maximum speed in a game, unless you do nothing else on it and never turn it off.
3:14 Maybe the non-Pro is loading in lower res textures which are smaller?
oh wow ps4 pro moving into 2010 with sata 3!
No, we have M.2 PCI-E.
Good informative video - exactly the answers I wanted.
I think ps4 pro titles potentially could make difference.
Would pop-in on open world games be decreased with an SSD in the Pro? Driving very fast in GTA V for example sometimes makes things just pop in or even worse, pop in late while you're right at them.
It should help,it did with ps4 regular size. Eve better on pc
Good video, just disappointed by the results
(and I own a pro)
6 year old video still relevant for a bloke like me getting my 1st ps4 for $60 driveless 😂😂.
Shitstation, loading is the most annoying thing ever
YEH BRUH EVERY1 I KNOW HAS A PC, WE INSTALL GAMES WITH RAM-DRIVE... FUCKSTATION LOLOLOL XD xD XD STUPID CONSOLE PLAYERS XHEHEHEHEhehEHEHE !!!111oneone
TheRealNaxos Great meme, im adding it to my collection.
TheRealNaxos what age is your turd? shithead 💩
The speed increase between PS4 and Pro is "the same" with SSD or mechanical drives -- in both cases the Pro loads in about 88% of the time of the base model (give or take a percent). The only reason the mechanical drive increase *looks* more impressive is that the overall time is longer.
ocz trion ist the crappiest ssd i ever used
I noticed considerable improvements in Bloodborne, it is a real shame you missed that one out since you included it last time!
And... the list of disappointments for the Pro continues to grow. smh
Just a minor correction, the hard drive on the original PS4 is internally connected through USB (using an onboard adapter), for reference look at fail0verflow presentation at CCC (I think it was 36C3) about PS4 hacking
The witcher 3 installed on my ssd just take 15 seconds to load...
Ellypsis 63 Well, I can load Fallout 4 in 3 seconds. See? Anyone can say anything on the internet without proof
German Lehmann it's just the truth...
DeadPhoenix86 i load on cities most of the time ( novigrad ) so yeah 15 to 20 seconds...
***** Then show us some proof mate...
CPU makes a difference between loading times. Maybe DF dont take the best to test.
(W3 take on my PC 15 seconds too)
Simply put:
Upgrade to SSD: 1.9x speed increase
Difference between both after upgrade: 2 secs
Probably that crap ssd you decided to use. Theres much better and faster ssds
Bro this video is from 2016
Lmfao
This video is so old dude
So once again it just proves for the money, size of drive and speed that the new 1TB and 2TB Seagate FireCuda SSD Hybrid Drives are the best for your consoles. 7200rpm + 8GB SSD
As a pc gamer I was seriously considering buying a pro...till I saw this. 1 minute+ to load a game? Whaaaat?
Dave Bonski thats basically how it is on all consoles
Rudis XCOM 2. Takes ages
Did you watch the video? 1 minute + was on an SSD, not a 5400RPM mechanical drive.
I mean it was _also_ on the mechanical drive too, but that's not the point. The point is, why is SSD performance so poor on the PS4 Pro?!
***** Dude anything even close to under 1 min is not something I'm used to anymore. I'm not trying to be high and mighty pc master race here, but when you're used to 10 secs max for games to load up, it would be very frustrating to go back to waiting that long.
I may still get one next year sometime, but I completly forgot about that side of console gaming tbh.
Dave Bonski just use your phone for 1 minute then continue.
There can't be much difference as the game is played on the Bluray, I would like to see a video of the same game but Bluray VS Downloaded (HDD) VS downloaded game (SSD) now there would be a significant difference!
All games run from the hard drive, the disc just verifies that you own it.
the best thing I've seen in this comment section "putting rims on a civic"
💀💀💀
Apparently the controller on the inside is sata 2.x. That’s what I read in a Japanese article by one of the developers of the PS4. Also, I read that usb 3 quote doesn’t preform like it would on pc. They both run at about sata 2 speeds at max
wow witcher 3 was loading at about 10 seconds on my pc
DF you need to test games that have been patched for Pro, apparently those are showing significant improvements with SSD compared to base PS4 with SSD.
This is one of the shoddiest comparisons I have ever seen. They don't even compare Pro games. The old PS4 games are running on downclocked CPU and GPU Pro frequencies like the original PS4.
Not only that they have no top of the line SSDs to test things out. I'm not mad either way my SSD kicks the shit out of my previous PS4. But this comparison is not even a Pro game comparison lol.
SSD doesn't even make much of a difference on PC for game loading times. The biggest advantage i gained from an SSD was overall OS performance (on PC).
Tell us of these"os performances" sure you did
Keepskatin The operating system is much faster to load programs, boot, open files etc. Not a hard concept, kid.
I'd disagree on the load times thing. The difference between loading Fallout 4 on my HDD, and my Samsung 850 evo is insane, it's like 20% of the time on the HDD. Absolutely worth it.
not worth the super expensive price tag at all
Lol are you kidding or are you just poor
Jamie Robert I am poor, but can you afford a 1TB or 2TB SSD?
All Kindz of Gainz yeah no problem
Or buy a hybrid instead
Jamie Robert cool, but since the video isn't talking about a hybrid, not am I. since I'm poor, can you buy me one? they go for about 600$ for a 1TB. thx :)
There's one additional factor to consider - an example from a PS3 game that was released not long ago for the PS4. Defiance - a Third Person Shooter RPG MMMORPG loaded a lot of it's assets on the fly during gameplay - which was an issue when traveling at high speed because some of the terrain would not load fast enough from the HDD and make the player hit invisible (not yet loaded) obstackles or even drive through an empty world in borderline cases waiting for the environment to load properly. Would that be solved by using an SSD ?
Ja ganz sicher
Guess there isn't enough CPU power to make a difference.
No just Capped to jts Limits
I will state from first hand Experience.. an SSD in a PS4 Pro will indeed have noticeably Faster Load times especially on Games like GTAV, Skyrim and RDR2 etc. I have a PS4 Pro (one of the Later models) I had previously upgraded the stock 1TB HD to a 2TB Western Digital Blue Hard Drive strictly for the Storage increase.. In 2018 when I was pricing 2TB SSD's even used ones were $350+ Far too much.. I happened to check on on Ebay a month ago.. and made a lowball offer and got a Crucial MX 2TB SSD for $115! So I swapped them out..and at the time I was putting in serious hours with RDR2 which would take awhile to load.. with the SSD its at least twice maybe 3 X Faster at the initial load screen... WOW!.. Son anyone on the Fence about upgrading.. If youre able to find a 2TB SSD for good Price go for it.
Couple notes.. I was unsuccessful in trying to Clone the HD from the PS4 to the SSD.. I have heard there are ways of doing but different software other than Cloning Software is needed.. So you will need to install the new SSD and re-initialize from the beginning. ALl your games will need to be loaded/Installed but if you are a PS + member all your games saves are backed up and you can download them once the game is installed. Good Luck
Everything is faster when you get SSD. Even my sex got faster since i've got SSD!!!
Wait.... that can't be right.
As the pro is a very nice price (especially for the hardware that's inside). I will wait for a true generational lead with PS5. My PS4 will serve me well for the next 4-5 years.
As expected.
Pro with 1TB Samsung 860 EVO firmware 6.72. Those slow loading fast travels in The Division 2 have dropped down to around 5 sec. flat and more importantly, the annoying texture streaming issues that plague the PS4 version are gone completely!
lmao fallout 4 takes 5 secs to load on pc with ssd
it looks like the small difference is all due to a bit faster CPU, (my loadding times were cut in half replacing a phenom for a i5) and there was no sata 2 bottleneck on the ps4 after all