# Samsung 980 PRO Heatsink 2TB Review: PS5 Install, PC Fit and Who Should Skip It > Samsung 980 PRO Heatsink 2TB: 7,000MB/s reads, 1,200TBW, PS5-ready. Install tips, PCIe 3.0 limits and firmware checks. Tags: nvme, pcie-4-0, ps5, m2-2280, samsung, heatsink-ssd Source: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B09G6HVRL6 Article page: https://web-autoai.com/articles/samsung-980-pro-2tb-ps5?lang=en Prices and ratings change over time — check the article page for the current values. --- ## Overview It is a PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe M.2 SSD that ships with an aluminum heatsink already fitted. Sequential speeds are 7,000MB/s read and 5,100MB/s write, and it goes straight into the PS5 expansion slot. Bottom line: if you want to fix a full PS5 in one purchase without choosing a heatsink yourself, it is still a strong pick. It makes much less sense in a PC that only supports PCIe 3.0, or on a motherboard that has its own M.2 heatsink. There, the extra height is a drawback and you pay for speed and cooling you cannot use. This article looks at PS5 and PC use separately and covers when the drive is worth buying and where people run into trouble. The 980 PRO series is Samsung's top PCIe 4.0 SSD, first released in 2020. The heatsink version was added in 2021 to fit the PS5 expansion slot, and ITG Marketing lists it as PS5-verified. PCIe 5.0 drives now exist, so it is no longer the fastest SSD. It is still well above the PS5's recommended 5,500MB/s read speed, and 2TB is a practical size, so it remains a very capable PS5 upgrade. ## Key Specs and How to Read Them | Item | Value | |---|---| | Interface | NVMe (PCIe Gen 4.0 x4) | | Form factor | M.2 2280 | | Controller | Samsung Elpis | | NAND | Samsung 128-layer TLC V-NAND | | Sequential read | 7,000MB/s | | Sequential write | 5,100MB/s | | TBW | 1,200TB | | Dimensions | 25mm x 80.15mm x 8.88mm (with heatsink) | | Weight | 30.5g | The numbers that matter most are the 8.88mm height and 25mm width. According to Sony's guidance, a drive for the PS5 slot must be no wider than 25mm and no taller than 11.25mm including its heatsink. This drive is built to fit those limits. If you add your own heatsink to a bare drive, you have to find one that fits. Not having to do that is the main reason to buy the heatsink version. The 7,000MB/s figure almost uses up all the bandwidth of PCIe 4.0 x4. But it is the top speed for reading large files in one continuous stream. Game loading and everyday use depend more on how fast the drive reads many small pieces of data (random access). Moving from a SATA SSD or a hard drive, you will clearly feel the difference. Moving from a PCIe 3.0 NVMe drive, load times improve far less than the spec sheet suggests. The NAND is TLC, and Samsung makes the controller and the DRAM cache itself. Because one company makes all the key parts, firmware updates and the Samsung Magician management software come from a single source. ## Compatibility Guide ### On a PS5 The drive fits the PS5's M.2 expansion slot, and the pre-installed heatsink means you need no extra cooling. Update the PS5 system software before you install it, because M.2 expansion support was added in a system update. Before you put the cover back on, make sure the drive is held firmly by its screw. ### On a desktop PC The drive is M.2 2280 and fits standard desktop M.2 slots. For full speed, both the CPU and the motherboard must support PCIe 4.0. As a rough guide, that means Ryzen 3000 or newer (except some APUs) with a B550/X570 or newer board on AMD. On Intel, it means 11th-gen Core or newer with a 500-series or newer board. On many boards, such as B550, only the M.2 slot wired to the CPU runs at PCIe 4.0 and the others run at PCIe 3.0. Check your motherboard manual to see which slot to use. The drive also works in a PCIe 3.0 slot, but speed is limited to about 3,500MB/s. That is the limit of the standard, not a fault. ### Physical clearance on a PC Many recent motherboards come with their own M.2 heat spreaders. You cannot use one together with this drive's built-in heatsink, so you would leave the board's cover off. An M.2 slot right under the graphics card can also be a problem: the 8.88mm heatsink may come close to the card's backplate. If you have a large graphics card, check the slot position and the gap first. ### On a laptop Because of the heatsink's height, it will almost never fit in a thin laptop. For a laptop, the non-heatsink 980 PRO or another drive is the safer choice. ## Product Info rmation This article covers the 2TB heatsink version. The 2TB figure uses decimal units. The PS5 and Windows count storage in binary units, so the capacity shows as about 1.8TB on screen. Nothing is missing; the two systems simply count differently. Price checks: Amazon. co. Both prices are from those dates only, and SSD prices move a lot with sales and NAND market prices. Check the current price on the product page before you buy. On marketplaces like eBay, condition and warranty depend on the seller, so also confirm the drive is new. On Amazon. co. The warranty lasts 5 years or until 1,200TB has been written (TBW), whichever comes first. Writing 1TB every day would reach the TBW limit in about 3.3 years, but that is an extreme workload. At 50GB a day for gaming, the TBW would last about 65 years; at 100GB a day for video editing, about 32 years. In normal use, the 5-year period runs out long before the TBW does. The spec data only lists the DRAM cache for the 1TB model (1024MB). The 2TB model also has a DRAM cache, but check the exact size on Samsung's product page. ## What You Will and Won't Notice You will notice the speed when copying or opening large files. Moving tens of gigabytes of video footage or a game folder on this drive is far faster than on a SATA SSD, which tops out around 550MB/s. On a PS5, moving games between the internal storage and the expansion slot also takes less time. Game load times, on the other hand, are usually limited by how the game itself is built. The gap to a PCIe 3.0 NVMe drive is usually small, so do not expect loads to take half as long just because the read speed is double. One more thing to know: the 980 PRO uses part of its NAND as a fast write area (an SLC cache) to keep writes fast. If you write enough data in one go to fill that area, write speed drops partway through. Installing games or everyday use will rarely hit this. Copying hundreds of gigabytes at once, though, can feel slower toward the end. ## PS5 Installation Steps (Overview) 1. Update the PS5 system software. 2. Shut the console down fully (not Rest Mode), unplug every cable, and let it cool. 3. Remove the console cover, then unscrew the expansion slot cover. 4. Insert the SSD at an angle, press the end down and fix it with the screw. When fitting a drive with a heatsink, follow the PS5's own instructions. 5. Put the covers back and power on. The console asks you to format the drive; after that, you can choose it as an install location. Formatting erases everything on the drive, so move any data off it first if it was used in a PC. After formatting, the PS5 shows a read speed test result, which is a useful sign that the drive is installed correctly. ## Competitor Comparison | Product | Read | Write | Heatsink | Notes | |---|---|---|---|---| | Samsung 980 PRO Heatsink 2TB | 7,000MB/s | 5,100MB/s | Included | PS5-verified, 1,200TBW | | WD SN850X | 7,300MB/s | - | Sold with or without | Slightly faster reads | | Seagate FireCuda 530 | 7,300MB/s | 6,900MB/s | Heatsink version available | Faster writes, usually pricier | The SN850X reads a little faster at 7,300MB/s, but it is also sold without a heatsink, so for a PS5 you need to pick the heatsink version. The FireCuda 530 writes faster at 6,900MB/s but usually costs more. For PS5 and gaming, you will barely feel any difference among the three. Choose on the current price, whether a heatsink is included, and the warranty and software support. A PCIe 5.0 SSD in a PS5 only runs at PCIe 4.0 speed, so paying extra for one gains you almost nothing there. On a PC with a PCIe 5.0 motherboard, faster drives than this one are available. ## Recommended Users - **PS5 owners who are out of space.** A few large games fill the internal storage quickly. With 2TB, you can keep many games that are tens of gigabytes to over 100GB each without swapping them in and out. The heatsink is already fitted and the size meets the PS5 limits, so there is little to get wrong on a first upgrade. - **PCIe 4.0 gaming PC owners who want a 2TB main drive.** It works well for holding Windows and your main games in one place. On a board without an M.2 heat spreader, the built-in heatsink is a real benefit. - **Video editors and photographers working with large files.** 4K footage and RAW files load and export faster, which cuts waiting time. The 1,200TB TBW gives plenty of headroom for heavy writing. ## Before You Buy **It is wasted on PCIe 3.0. ** Speed is capped at about 3,500MB/s, so you end up paying for a heatsink model without the speed to match. On a PCIe 3.0 PC, a PCIe 3.0 NVMe drive is usually all you need. **If your board has an M.2 heat spreader, get the non-heatsink version. ** The built-in heatsink is not designed to be taken off. If you want to use your motherboard's cooler, the bare 980 PRO is the simpler choice. **It does not fit most laptops or small PCs. ** At 8.88mm tall, it will not fit thin laptops or M.2 slots on the back of a motherboard. **Check the firmware. ** Some earlier 980 PRO firmware had a reported bug that made the drive's health reading drop quickly, and Samsung released a fixed version. You cannot update the firmware while the drive is in a PS5. If you can connect it to a Windows PC, update it with Samsung Magician first, then install it in the PS5. **The price changes a lot. Check the retailer's page for the latest price. The price follows NAND market prices, so if you are not in a hurry, wait for a sale or compare it with other drives. **Some listing details do not match. ** The spec data for this article included entries that do not fit the 2TB heatsink model, such as a capacity of 250GB, the model name Samsung Samsung 980 PRO, and a release date of September 2020. The real capacity is 2TB, and the release date most likely refers to the whole 980 PRO series. Store pages, including Amazon, can also mix in details from other sizes or the non-heatsink version. Before you order, check the product images and title to confirm it says both heatsink and 2TB. ## FAQ **Q. Do I need to remove the heatsink for the PS5? ** A. No. The drive is built to fit the slot's limits (25mm wide and no more than 11.25mm tall), so you install it as it is. **Q. How much space will I have on the PS5? ** A. About 1.8TB after formatting. The drive is not faulty; decimal and binary units simply count capacity differently. **Q. Will it work on a PCIe 3.0 motherboard? ** A. Yes, but it tops out at about 3,500MB/s. On PCIe 3.0, a cheaper drive will feel almost the same. **Q. Will I hit the 1,200TB TBW limit soon? ** A. Almost certainly not in normal use. Even 100GB a day would last about 32 years, so the 5-year warranty period ends first. **Q. How much faster will games load? ** A. Coming from a hard drive or a SATA SSD, loads get clearly faster. Coming from a PCIe 3.0 NVMe drive, the gain is usually small. It depends on the game, so do not expect loads to take half as long. ### Product Disclosure (Amazon) - Manufacturer: サムスン(SAMSUNG) - ASIN: B09G6HVRL6 - Note: This article covers a manufacturer-made product based on Amazon listing details.