So you have your PS5 and now want to upgrade its 825GB storage to something bigger but you can only find M.2 SSDs on the market that don’t come with heatsinks installed out of the box. Keep in mind that Sony requires a heatsink and if you don’t use one, you can cause some major damage to your PS5. Whatever you do, don’t install an SSD without one. You can also save some extra cash by purchasing an SSD without a heatsink and installing it yourself.
Samsung sent over the 980 Pro SSD for us to use for this specific guide. Huge thanks to them for making this possible and allowing me to share a quick guide on how to get it done. The storage device meets all of Sony’s requirements when it comes to speed and size making it perfect for the PS5. The Samsung 980 Pro is also great value for money and one of the cheaper SSDs on the market. If anything, it is the cheapest compatible SSD. You can pick up a 1TB model for R3,999 and a 2TB model for R7,999. That is $269 and $360 dollars.
Check out our video guide below on how this is done
Samsung also plans on releasing a 980 Pro SSD with a heatsink installed already but it will cost you a bit more. If you want to get your own, this is how you can do it.
You will need the Samsung 980 Pro SSD and a compatible heatsink. The heatsink needs to be a specific size to fit into the PS5. The heatsink we went with was 70mm x 20mm x 4mm. If you are looking for the safest option stick to these dimensions. But the heatsink must never be more than 110mm in length by 25mm in width and never more than 11.25mm thick.
You also don’t need anything fancy at all. Even a basic copper heatsink with a thermal pad will do just fine. Remember, the PS5 M.2 slot is hidden away so you won’t see any RGB and logos.
We went with the ICEPC M.2 2280 heatsink. You can grab the heatsink and SSD from Nexus here. Keep in mind that these heatsinks were impossible to find so Nexus imported a few to save you the hassle. The ICEPC heatsink comes with a copper plate, a thermal pad and rubber bands to wrap around the SSD and keep the heatsink on the chip.
Keep in mind that installing your own heatsink on an SSD isn’t difficult but you should be careful regardless. These parts are tiny so try and be careful when handling the SSD.
Unbox your Samsung 980 Pro SSD and put it on a clean surface. It is important to note that you should not remove the vendor sticker on your SSD. It doesn’t impact performance and you might lose your warranty if you do.
Take your thermal pad and unpeel the plastic from one side of the strip. Gently place it down onto the bottom of the heatsink and align it with the edges. Some thermal pads might be slightly larger than the heatsink itself so don’t worry about that. If anything, it helps.
Now, unpeel the other side of the thermal pad revealing its surface and place the heatsink onto the Samsung 980 Pro. You want to place the heatsink across the middle of the SSD. It should cover both the front metal square and the back flash storage block. You also shouldn’t apply pressure when putting the heatsink onto the SSD. The thermal pad is soft enough to form itself onto the drive without pressure.
Once the heatsink is safely secure on the Samsung 980 Pro take two of the rubber bands and stretch them over the upper and lower part of the chip. It should wrap around neatly. I added the third rubber to the heatsink just to be safe but you don’t have to. The rubber bands that came with this heatsink were tough to get around the SSD. They didn’t stretch much so I had to really work them onto the chip. Again, just be careful not to use any metal to stretch them around it.
And you’re done. Your Samsung 980 Pro SSD is now PS5 ready. If you want to know how to install the SSD into the PS5 itself and how it performs, check out our installation guide here.
