Can a PS3 12gb HDD be upgraded? 19 August 2014 at 2:43PM edited 30 November -1 at 1:00AM in Gaming MoneySaving 9 replies 1.3K views

ferry

Seems like my son's 12gb unit is just not enough for him these days so wonder if there is any way I can upgrade the HDD to say 80 or even 120gb?
If so could I please have a type/ spec on the HDD I need and how to install it please?

Many thanks as usual
F

PenguinJim

Almost. You cannot upgrade the 12GB internal memory. When you install a HDD, you will no longer be able to access that 12GB. So back everything up first. Some save games are copy-protected so you can never transfer them, in a stroke of astounding genius by Sony.

But yes, you can lob in pretty much any 2.5" HDD as long as you have a screwdriver. You'll probably be able to get a 1TB HDD for roughly the same price as a 120GB HDD!

Be careful not to get a 3.5" HDD as it will be too big and require too much power to be supported.

ferry

Thanks
Does it need to be SATA or do the 2.5 hdd only come in one type?

PenguinJim

I'd be extremely surprised if you could find an IDE 2.5" drive still for sale, but you're right, it should be SATA. Any SATA, 1, 2 or 3 is fine.

Edit: if you're not in a mad rush, I'll keep an eye out for a good price for a drive for you between now and Friday. Window shopping is fun!

PenguinJim

I think this 2.5" 500GB Momentus Thin for £33.56 delivered should fit the bill pretty well. The PS3 can take 7mm or 9.5mm drives, and this is 7mm. It's a bit faster than its 9.5mm M8 cousin, too - probably due to its 16MB cache (compared to 8 on the M8), and it should be near-silent in operation.

You're looking at £46+ for 1TB. 500GB should be more than enough for a PS3, though. However... if you're feeling confident (and possibly own a rotary multi-tool ) you could open up the case on this external 2.5" drive and have a 1TB drive for £30.24. Cut it carefully and you could use the USB interface for other drives in future! It will probably be slightly slower than the above Momentus, though.

ferry

Thanks for getting back to me on this.
I'll take a look at your recommendations

F

Chickabiddybex

This should help: http://uk.playstation.com/upgrade-ps3/

freebiekingfred

Interesting thread,i was also curious about this topic, thanks for sharing guys.

ferry

Sorry to drag up an old thread-would anyone know if once I instal the new hard drive I can transfer everything from the flash drive to the new one without any loss of data?

Thanks again
F

PenguinJim

No, you cannot. You will lose access to the 12GB once you have a hard drive in there. You will need to copy everything onto a USB drive or back up to the Cloud first.