Would an SSD improve my PS3's performance?

just as the title states. does anyone have any experience upgrading their console's hard drive? i was thinkin about pickin up a cheap sub-$100 SSD to throw in my PS3 if it was possible to speed up my load times, and in-game load lags.

example: OEM PS3 would load a gran turismo 5 race in 2 mins. would an SSD-equipped PS3 load the same race in 1 min?

 

Not really a laptop question, but here's what i think.

I remember IGN tried it back in 2009 and they didn't really see that much of an improvement s a 7.2K HDD. Add to that the fact that most SSDs need TRIM for proper garbage collection and you can see where i'm going.

I would however do the switch to a 7200RPM HDD, this is one upgrade that i can confirm improves load times. A SSD in a PS3 would be a waste imo.

 

I would guess that (just like tijo..) you would be needing to re-install repeatedly to keep up the high speeds - with a SE or at least a format in a Win7 SP1 machine inbetween re-installs - I'm not sure it would make a 2x improvement, but I'm sure initially, it would seem like a good idea.

I'm guessing that this would be an ideal application for an XT Hybrid 750GB. You may want/need to re-install it once again when the firmware that will enable write caching is released, but this would seem like the better investment, imo, than an SSD here (even if the HDD initially costs 2x the $$).

See:
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX36731

 

I have to agree with Tiller, it's tempting to get one for my PS3 too . If you have a fat model like me, it came with an old 5.4K RPM Fujitsu HDD with little space. If that is indeed the case, the passage to a decent 500GB 7200RPM drive will make quite a difference. You don't have to worry about heat either.

 

Husband tried it, go with the hybrid or fast 7200 drive, it was faster but the drive got garbaged up VERY fast ( couple weeks I think ) since the PS3 doesnt have trim or any kind of native SSD support

Tiller ...... thought I was the only person on NBR who linked to moron express

 

Just get an SSD without TRIM support...old Intel and Samsung controllers deal with GC without the use of TRIM.

I got 2 x 80 GB G1 on eBay for 106 shipped..

 

Yes, yes it would very much




PS3 SSD Performance - SSD vs HDD on Playstation 3







Gran Turismo 5 loading times slashed with SSD install | Joystiq
Gran Turismo 5 Load Times Significantly Reduced by PS3 SSD Upgrade

 

I stand quite corrected, ty for the charts

 

Interesting, well the data i saw on SSDs on th PS3 were for MGS4 and were done a few years ago. You would still need a SSD that can do garbage collection without TRIM though and i still consider it to be a waste of money to put a SSD inside a PS3.

 

Like I mentioned, the intial results will be very positive.

Anything on long term usage though?

If this must be done, I would get the highest WA and most aggressive GC SSD available: the Kingston V+100 256GB and not fill it past 50%.

There goes the 'around $100' budget though.

 

@CloudFire: nice chart! appreciate it.

i'm not 100% sure about the whole TRIM thing yet, but would one of these, older model, SSD's solve the TRIM problem for the ps3?

i'm definitely interested after seeing CloudFire's post. my greatest concern, though, is longevity and reliability. space won't really be a concern because the drive will never get filled up with much content. the only thing i do on my PS3 is play games. if i watch a movie, it'll be from a blu ray disc.

i don't have a budget at all. i'd be willing to spend upwards of $200-$300 if there was indeed an SSD model that could provide me with the performance AND reliability.

 

Problem is most data from games is on the disc anyway, very few games install much to the HDD.

 

What happens is an eventual performance decrease during WRITE operations. What TRIM does is "clean out" deleted data found within NAND pages. W/ out TRIM, the only other mechanism to keep an SSD healthy is left up to the drive's garbage collection (GC) routine to do similar operations.

The problem is with GC, is it is up to the drive's [FW] to decide when it can be done and how aggressive or passive it will be in trying to move things around to clean NAND pages containing deleted data.

 

With no pre-determined budget here is what I would be doing for around $600 (and pay before you play 'special order' status):

See:
Kingston SSDNow V+100 Series 2.5in Solid State Drive, 256GB at Memory Express

 

so would getting an older model, that doesn't support TRIM, solve that problem? would the GC be sufficient enough to insure longevity in my PS3?

again, i don't need alot of GB because i don't upload or download any content onto my PS3. i only play games and watch movies on it, so the load times are the only thing important to me.

is there any reason why u recommend this particular drive? i don't need the 256GB. i could probably settle with a 80GB-120GB drive.

 

Since GC firmware is proprietary info, there's no real way to tell. My *guess* is it would be the same or possibly worse, as I would think manufacturers would have improved their GC routines in 2nd generation of SSDs - timeframe: drives released since late '10 til today. You'll have to do your homework to know for certain.

 

This is the reason:

See:
AnandTech - Kingston SSDNow V+100 Review

The reason you need the 256GB version is to only use up to 120GB (exactly as you need...) to be able to keep the WA low and enough free space (unallocated capacity, via partitioning, not simply free, unused space - there is a difference to the SSD) for the SSD to do it's GC cleaning as efficiently as possible with the longest possible longetivity for your usage.

 

I don't normally make recommendations on things I haven't tried first hand, but based on AnandTech's article, I second tiller's suggestion.

 

I have a 96GB Kingston V+100 and GC is very aggressive. I picked it up on sale for about $100. It doesn't require TRIM (although makes use of it). As a matter of fact no drives *require* TRIM, they just need idle time to do their own GC. TRIM just improves the process. Problem is most SSD's don't tell you what *idle* state is for the drive. And even in that article they recommend minimum 20% free space. If you don't do a lot of writing to the SSD, which if you only play a handful of games, it probably won't be an issue.

 

Is it so agressive that it collects the garbage from the recycle bin without permission? Maybe go through recent history and decides to delete a bunch of programs that was used 1 year ago

 

Not that kind of GC...