All the major consoles have undergone price hikes, but compared to PC gamers, console owners have been relatively sheltered from the rise in tech component costs. If you’re a PlayStation 5 user who is looking to upgrade your console’s memory storage, though, the artificial intelligence-driven component shortage is about to feel more real than ever.
SanDisk just announced the Optimus GX PRO 850P NVMe, which is the PS5’s officially licensed storage option formerly sold under the WD_Black label. Here’s the price breakdown for the new SSD:
- 1 TB — $379.99
- 2 TB — $759.99
- 4 TB — $1,499.99
- 8 TB — $2,959.99
Incredibly, SanDisk’s page suggests that each of these models is discounted from their true price. Most people probably won’t be shelling out for the top-of-the line 8 TB option that can comfortably fit around 200 games, according to The Verge. It’s still absolutely wild to know that the 8 TB drive is fully priced at $3,699.99.
In 2025, that same SSD would have only set you back $639.99, according to PCPartPicker. The lowest-end SSD option costs about half the price of a PS5; the highest-end option is more expensive than purchasing multiple PS5s. Every single storage option has seen a price hike of well over 100%.
The kicker? It’s just going to get worse. The world continues to brace itself for Valve’s eventual Steam Machine price announcement.
For now, you might be wondering if a PS5 SSD upgrade is even worth it. Personally, I enjoyed seeing all my PS5 games load faster with a 2 TB SSD upgrade. It’s also nice not to have to constantly delete games to make room for new ones. Notably, I only paid a meager $249.99 (!) for my PS5’s internal SSD back in 2022. If you’re a PS5 Digital Edition owner with only 825 GB of storage, your pricing calculus is inherently more complicated.
The way things are going, I won’t be shocked when, a year from now, we’ll all look back on these prices with a tinge of nostalgia over how good things used to be.
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