Anyone installed a bigger PS3 HD?

[JP]

Forgive my thickness (it's inherent, unfortunately )

Lol.

It's been designed to be really simple, there is a facility built into the XMB to do it all for you:
>System settings
>Backup Utility
Then either
>Backup or Restore

I've read a few articles where people have done it and it seems to be a matter of pressing a button and it does it for you.

[Keith]

Ah, perfect. Thank you both. My HDD is on the wrong side of the halfway point now so it's something I've been thinking about.

[in5ane]

Dunno if dabs links will work, but I saw these two:

Fujitsu 300GB 2.5" 4200RPM 8MB S150 8MB http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx...11154,47250000

Western Digital Scorpio 250GB S150 5400RPM 8MB

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4LG3&CategorySelectedId=11154&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11154,47250000

Altho I did see a 100gb 16mb cache one, if it speeds stuff up, I'm all for that and sacrifice the storage.

[Geezer]

I think you're looking at something different.

The largest 2.5 internal drives are 160gb at the moment. Post a link to the drives you're looking at and hopefully somebody will be able to advise you.

200GB is the largest
Here's an example.

EDIT: I'm wrong, it looks like the bar has indeed been raised

[JP]

Accounts don't appear to be stored on the hard drive.

When you first log in with the new hdd, will your main account just auto sign in as usual or do you need to set it that account up again?

I'm tempted not to back everything up but with things like games you only get 5 downloads before you have to buy them again I think?

Does it also back up your PS1/PS2 saves?

[Geezer]

I'm tempted not to back everything up but with things like games you only get 5 downloads before you have to buy them again I think?

You can download them on 5 different machines, you can download them on each of the machines as many times as you want.

[Spatial]

Dunno if dabs links will work, but I saw these two:

Fujitsu 300GB 2.5" 4200RPM 8MB S150 8MB http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx...11154,47250000

Western Digital Scorpio 250GB S150 5400RPM 8MB

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4LG3&CategorySelectedId=11154&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11154,47250000

Altho I did see a 100gb 16mb cache one, if it speeds stuff up, I'm all for that and sacrifice the storage.

The drive that comes with your system is 5400RPM so for maximum compatibility I'd go for one the same. You could go higher or lower (sounds like Play Your Cards Right) but you might suffer performance hits. I read somewhere the heat from the 7200RPM was a cause for concern.

I'm also sure I read somewhere that the system bottlenecks the speed of the cache if it's too high, so 16Mb might not make all that much of a difference. Don't ask me what the size is, but an 8MB one seems plenty and it would be better to go for capacity rather than cache size.

When you first log in with the new hdd, will your main account just auto sign in as usual or do you need to set it that account up again?

Does it also back up your PS1/PS2 saves?

No it's all there and good to go. It auto-signed in straight away.

Saves need to be backed up otherwise they'll be lost.

[JP]

Bloody hell!!!

I didn't know you could get anything near 300gb!?!? You can tell it's been a while since I last looked lol.

Now I have a tough choice, do I really need 300? Probably not. Is it worth paying the extra £60 for an extra 140gb?

Are there any known issues with 2.5 drives of this size yet? Kernow, anybody?

You can download them on 5 different machines, you can download them on each of the machines as many times as you want.

Thanks, that's reassuring to know. I thought it was just 5 times.

EDIT:
The faster drives cause extra heat which could cause problems and the slower drives may have compatibility issues if games stream from them. Everywhere seems to recommend sticking to the same speed.

The extra cache did speed things up a little in some tests that were done on the PS3 sometime ago.

[in5ane]

Cheers for all the help, the 250gb seems ideal size/cache/speed trade off.

[JP]

Cheers for all the help, the 250gb seems ideal size/cache/speed trade off.

I think I'll go for that one too. £107 with free postage...but out of stock at the moment!

I think if they bring Sky to the PS3 like they are to the PSP the extra space will come in useful.

[JP]

They're back in stock so I treated myself to a Scorpio S150 250Gb at just over ?100! It'll be here by the weekend and I'm off for 4 days so I'll be all 250d up by Monday!!!

[Dazzyman]

I bought this one and installed it on Friday mainly due to running out of room on my 20gig model because of MLB 07 and incoming Golf 5(it takes matter of seconds to install) ...

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-131-SE&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=896

I just went for the faster drive as Ive read of countless tweakers who did the same and have suffered no issues. Im glad I have as it has increased my load times no end, especially on installs (ie exploding a file). Also noticed a big increase in the games I have so far played. For example Ninja Gaiden Sigma I used to have to wait around 5-7 seconds when the level loads up after the text and then press O to proceed, now by the time the text comes up it has already loaded. I also noticed that I no longer get loading pauses on first level when I came out of just after the save area (and got none as far as level 2 horses then stopped playing for day). MLB 07 The Show also takes alot less time to decache into the game (as it does it as one preinstall before the game then uses that data ingame to stop pausing). I have checked heat disapation and its no hotter of cooler than my original 20gig model (and it was left on for about 6hours) and Im using a JPN launch 20gig model if anyone wants to compare. I guess at the worst I could have used a cooler fan in a caddy like I have on my tweaked PC but their is just no need for one on the PS3.

For anyone out their dont worry about getting a cheap 20gig model as you just have to unscrew one screw, the drive is connected direct so no SATA cables, you then swap the caddy over to your new drive (4 more screws) and then its back in, takes around 1-3 seconds to unplug the drive thats it (you will spend more time with the screws), once it is installed when you switch on you are automatically asked to format twice (as it wants to double check) and I think it was something daft like 15seconds to format. One word of WARNING though as when I did mine it asked to reset so I did and it went black screen, found out I had to actually powerdown, switch off and then switch on ie hard reset.

I personally didnt have any problems with the screws on mine, they werent that stiff (and Im as weak as a kitten due to disabilites).

[JP]

It's good to hear that we should be able to use the faster drives if needed.

There was a few concerns that the heat may cause difficulties over time but it is quite possible that Sony had catered for the faster speeds/greater heat in the PS3 design anyway.

The difficulties I had with the screws was that they were just far too soft really.

[JP]

Mine 250gb hdd arrived today and the order was only placed on Monday. Well done Dabs for your over enthusiastic 3-4 working days promise!

Decided to delete a load of stuff rather than waiting for the transfer to happen. It told me 1hr 40...2 minutes later it told me 58 minutes lol.

It should all be done and dusted by 10 tonight...