Upgrade Your PS3's Hard Drive

I'll go over the steps involved in replacing the stock hard drive in a Playstation 3 with a larger one. I avoided doing this for a long time because I was under the assumption that it would void my warranty. Surprisingly, Sony not only allows such modifications, they implore it.

The PS3, aside from being a game console, is also a pretty powerful media center. But a media center with limited memory would be pretty pointless, so I yanked that tawdry little 80gb drive and replaced it with a hulking 250gb drive. There are a few things to consider before moving forward...

Step 1 A few things, first...

There are a few things to think about before jumping right in.

What about the stuff on my PS3? Can I keep it?

The PS3 has a back up function that will save everything on it...as long as you've got a storage device big enough to hold it all. An external hard drive makes things pretty easy. Before you upgrade, just plug in your hard drive via USB, select System Settings>Backup Utility>Back Up and follow the onscreen directions.

If, however, you're like me and don't have an external hard drive, you have to take a different approach. Just use a memory card or usb flash drive and save your game saves. Everything else can be easily re-acquired. Anything you download from the Playstation Store is infinitely available to re-download. Installed game data can be re-installed. Game patches and updates can be re-downloaded. Time consuming, but a viable option.

What kind of hard drive do I need?

Pretty much any 2.5" SATA hard drive will do. I picked up a 250gb drive for around $70. Hard drives have come down in price significantly, so a huge drive is pretty affordable. Its worth noting, all that you need is a drive capable of 5400rpm and 1.5gb/s. You could spend more money on a drive that's capable of 7200rpm and 3.0gb/s, but the PS3 will only utilize it at the aforementioned speeds, so its pretty useless.

Can this brick my PS3?!

Nope. All of the PS3's system data is stored away safe and sound, far away from your shaky, nervous hands. Of course, common sense is a prerequisite here. If you use the correct tools, take your time, and follow directions, it'll be fine. If you use a butter knife for a screwdriver and rush through it....yeah, you'll probably screw something up.

Comments

[bittjose]

will this work on a new slim PS3?

[paperclip32]

 WHAT!?!?I can't change my toaster's hard drive?!?

[silentassasin21]

I did some research and the ps3s can only hold up to a 750gb drive but if you get the very brand new one that comes with the 120gigabite drive it can hold a tb just some info for you modders

[Kaldea]

does Cache size matter? o_o;;

[cornflake_81]

I don't believe so.

[yeaulman]

I looked on Comp USA and couldn't find a 1TB. any chance you can post the link?

[R1Ch0]

hmmm, SSD, could be expensive unnecessary fun

[jason-2590]

Wikid instructable m8, me and my brother have done this, I recommend the Western Digital Scorpio my brother used this one, 320GB 2.5" Internal SATA then i had to beat him and go for this bigger one
500GB 2.5" Internal SATA

[Ashinka]

If I upgrade to a 1TB 7200rpm. will it destroy my ps3? Or is a 5400rpm 320GB better?

[cornflake_81]

Going above 5400rpm won't harm your PS3 at all, but the PS3 will only spin it up to 5400rpm. I haven't seen any 1TB 2.5" drives....that's a lot of storage.

[itsaidhi]

1TB is at Comp USA for $109

[Ashinka]

ahh my bad. I didnt look at the size, lol I was planning on buying a 3.5" thanks for the info. I'll try it with a 320/250.160 then..

[Ashinka]

(removed by author or community request)

[Ashinka]

And if I upgrade a 60GB premium version will it lose its backwards compatibility?

[cornflake_81]

Nope.

[Ashinka]

thanks. your a great guy

[durnsy1126]

can I gain backwards compatibility if i do this to my 40Gb?

[cornflake_81]

No, HDD space has nothing to do with backwards compatibility.

[durnsy1126]

Really?... Damn... well it'll still be nice to have all the room

[Tjoy]

Does this work on only the 80g or can you upgrade the 20,40,60g as well. I am trying to save money and am looking at buying used and then upgrading the memory.

[itsaidhi]

any PS3 buddy, buy a 20gb, because they also come with the memory card storage system. Then go buy a nice hard drive (1 terabyte, 1000gb harddrive at comp usa for $109) then install it in. So, then your PS3 will rise in value, and you can store more stuff.

[cornflake_81]

Yep, it'll work on any of them.

[emantheseeker]

Is it okay to do this with a completely new PS3? Or should I use it for a while first?

[cornflake_81]

I wouldn't see why not.

[yeaitskimmel]

when i plug the original 80 gig into the computer it does not recognize it how do reformat it or something so it appears in "my computer"

[cornflake_81]

Go to start, right click My Computer, click Manage, and go to Disk Management. Does it show up there?

[yeaitskimmel]

no thats the issue

[BYoung]

I did this with my PS3 5 months back. I put in a 200gb HDD and couldn't be more happy with how simple the upgrade is. Great write up on this! Side note: that "shiney blue screw" isn't the nicest thing to remove. Mine was a complete pain, it had blue lock-tight on it so it took some "convincing" to remove.

[natebman]

i got the same screwdriver set go harbor freight

[Sneaky Chopsticks]

I have a Macbook and i've got a 160 gb hard drive that i will later upgrade. can i use this one?

[cornflake_81]

As long as its a 2.5" SATA hard drive, it will work. I'm not particularly familiar with Macs, so I dunno what yours has in it.

[nicknack171]

nice job by the way

[cornflake_81]

Thanks. =)

[nicknack171]

does this void the warrenty?

[cornflake_81]

Nope, won't void the warranty. However its a good idea to keep the old hard drive so if you do send it in for repair, pop the old one back in. That way if they deem your machine irreparable and send you a new one, you still have your new drive(they won't remove it and send it back to you).