SATA II vs SATA III Solid State Drive in PS4 Pro

[Derb]

Here are 13 random games I selected to test out the increase or in some cases decreases in load times using data I collected on the original PS4 with an SSD. Then using same time stamps on those same games with same files on the Pro.

These games actually took longer to load. GTA not that big of a deal.

COD: MW Remastered
GTA V
Watch Dogs 1

Test Speed,

SATA II - SSD - Pro - SATA III

(Title / Title Screen / SP Game playable / MP, Map load to physically being in-game)

SATA II - SSD
Battlefield 1 / 45.90 / 28.00 / 55.33
(SP total = 1m 13.9s MP total = 1m 41.23s)
Pro,
SATA III - SSD
Battlefield 1 / 42.66 / 21.71 / 30.18
(SP total = 1m 4.37s MP total = 1m 12.84s)
SP = 9.53 seconds faster.
MP = 28.39 seconds faster.

SATA II - SSD
COD MW Remaster / 10.18 / 29.93
(SP total = 40.11s)
Pro,
SATA III - SSD
COD MW Remaster / 6.78 / 35.27
(SP total = 42.05s)
SP = 1.94 seconds slower.

SATA II - SSD
Deus Ex / 33.15 / 14.66
(SP total = 47.81s)
Pro,
SATA III - SSD
Deus Ex / 29.25 / 12.91
(SP total = 42.16s)
SP = 5.65 seconds faster.

SATA II - SSD
DriveClub / 22.13 / 12.70
(SP total = 34.83s)
Pro,
SATA III - SSD
DriveClub / 20.46 / 12.03 /
(SP total = 32.49s)
SP = 2.34 seconds faster.

SATA II - SSD
Fallout 4 / 22.25 / 47.35
(SP total = 1m 9.6s)
Pro,
SATA III - SSD
Fallout 4 / 19.83 / 43.43
(SP total = 1m 3.26s)
SP = 6.34 seconds faster.

SATA II - SSD
GTA V / NA / 1m 5.63s / 31.13s
(SP total = 1m 5.63s MP total = 1m 36.76s)
Pro,
SATA III - SSD
GTA V / 1m 5.65s / 32.05s
(SP total = 1m 5.65 MP total = 1m 37.7s)
SP = 0.02 seconds slower.
MP = 0.94 seconds slower.

SATA II - SSD
Mafia III / 36.90 / 35.52
(SP total = 1m 12.42s)
Pro,
SATA III - SSD
Mafia III / 30.93 / 32.45
(SP total = 1m 3.38s)
SP = 9.04 seconds faster.

SATA II - SSD
Rise of the Tomb Raider / 18.90 / 34.71
(SP total = 53.61s)
Pro,
SATA III - SSD
Rise of the Tomb Raider / 10.81 / 19.46
(SP total = 30.27)
SP = 23.34 seconds faster.

SATA II - SSD
Skyrim / 23.63 / 24.27
(SP total = 47.90s)
Pro,
SATA III - SSD
Skyrim / 16.81 / 18.71
(SP total = 35.52s)
SP = 12.38 seconds faster.

SATA II - SSD
SW Battlefront / 23.91 / 37.95 / 35.52
(SP total = 1m 1.86s MP total = 59.43s)
Pro,
SATA III - SSD
SW Battlefront / 19.47 / 35.37 / 30.45
(SP total = 54.84s MP total = 49.92s)
SP = 7.02 seconds faster.
MP = 9.51 seconds faster.

SATA II - SSD
TitanFall 2 / 26.90 / 9.43 / 32.45
(SP total = 36.33s MP total = 59.35s)
Pro,
SATA III - SSD
TitanFall 2 / 22.01 / 4.48 / 20.98
(SP total = 26.49s MP total = 42.99s)
SP = 9.84 seconds faster.
MP = 16.36 seconds faster.

SATA II - SSD
Witcher 3 / 63.30 / 58.97
(SP total = 2m 2.27s)
Pro,
SATA III - SSD
Witcher 3 / 59.18 / 56.60
(SP total = 1m 55.78s)
SP = 6.49 seconds faster.

SATA II - SSD
Watch Dogs 1 / 35.30 / 36.42
(SP total = 1m 11.72s)
Pro,
SATA III - SSD
Watch Dogs 1 / 34.28 / 39.13
(SP total = 1m 13.41)
SP = 1.69 seconds slower.

[Mavrick]

Do you work for DF? They just so happen to post their SSD findings too

In short, SSD is still throttled with on average just 3 seconds improvement over a stock PS4 running SSD. Full article is here http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/di...e-a-difference

The verdict isn't what many of us wanted, but here's what we're left with. The first point: games do run faster on PS4 Pro with an SSD, but we're talking about a saving of one to three seconds compared to original hardware on the same drive, with some evidence that there are further time-savings for Pro-enabled titles - up to six seconds, albeit on an abnormally long load.

There's no doubt that this is better than sticking to stock, but the margins of improvement aren't that much better when comparing to the launch PS4, when moving from stock to SSD there. You're not getting the most out of a solid-state investment, bearing in mind that running the same drive on PC offers dramatic improvements that aren't replicated on any home console.

But there is some good news, albeit unexpected. We're seeing some games load faster in general on the 1TB 5400rpm drive that the PS4 Pro ships with. There are some exceptions but overall, most games load faster than base PS4, and no drive replacement is required. It's not just in these titles where we see an improvement - we saw specific Uncharted 4 loading time reductions in the 26 per cent area. This may well be down to a combination of increased data density on the drive itself, but an increase in bandwidth on the new console.

But while there are some improvements to the loading time experience, the bottom line is that the SATA 3 interface in PS4 Pro still doesn't really make the most of an SSD upgrade - these drives just perform so much better on PC, and bearing in mind some of the loading time results seen on this page, that's a real shame.

PS4 Pro vs PS4 SSD Loading Times: Does SATA 3 Make A Difference? - YouTube

[NARMAK]

So basically save your money and wait till Sony actually bother to properly harness SSDs for consoles.

[CuriousGamer]

Originally Posted by NARMAK

So basically save your money and wait till Sony actually bother to properly harness SSDs for consoles.

I doubt they ever will

[Derb]

Originally Posted by Mavrick

Do you work for DF? They just so happen to post their SSD findings too

lol

They do I know this. I also know they use cheap stock drives when comparing tests. They also count idle time in their tests. I don't.

That said they are a nice quick reference site to get an idea of improvements or non-improvements with most PS4 related tests.

In case you missed it, look at Rise of the Tomb Raider again.