addlink Addgame PS5 Compatible A95 4TB Up to 7200 MB/s Read Speed Internal Solid State Drive - M.2 2280 PCIe NVMe 1.4 Gen4X4 3D TLC with Dram NAND SSD w/Heatsink (aUK4TBA95M2P)

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Microsoft's expansion SSD should be a lot cheaper. This may be a big problem for Sony until prices come down.

Removing the Addlink A95 Heatsink was NOT easy. I cannot stress enough how well attached this heatsink was! I nearly snapped the SSD in two trying to remove it. The SSD uses a adhesive coated silica gel that covered the entirety of the M.2 NVMe SSD, but also slightly envelopes each chip on the drive. It doesn’t smother them (so no touching the PCB) but it does surround the edges of each component to cover a greater physical density, whilst still remaining tidy. No drop in performance (comparable to the more expensive Samsung "pro" models not the "EVO" models). Taking the time to clean a little of the silica gel away, you can see that the A95’s controller is much lower on the board than many other SSDs (where it will more often be located directly beneath the m.2 key connector.

I'd that were true then it would prove that Microsoft storage solution makes more sense and would invalidate all the hype Sony been putting into their only leading spec.

If you choose the latter, you'll have to add your own. However, they are reasonable inexpensive and easy to fit. The fastest SSD in this roundup (and the fastest in the PCIe 4.0 category overall, alongside the Samsung 990 Pro), the SN850x doesn't come with a heatsink but scores highly when it comes to load times and overall value. It comes from one of the most respected component makers in the world and also has one of the best heatsinks attached. As such, you really do just have to take the drive out of its box and slot it into the PS5 – installation really is that simple. I would wait as Long as possible to buy expansion, not only will PCIe 4 prices drop but expect speeds to increase a lot over the next year or two. The terabytes-written spec is a manufacturer's estimate of how much data can be written to a drive before some cells begin to fail and get taken out of service. Addlink warranties the A93 for five years or until you hit the rated TBW figure in data writes, whichever comes first.The most convenient option, this 4TB SSD comes with a PS5-specific heatsink cover that works brilliantly. Finally, there is the M.2 NVMe connection. Not all m.2 SSDs are created equal and although M.2 SATA and M.2 NVMe look similar, they provide massively different performance and connectivity. However, the Addlink A95 takes it one step further, by using a newer generation of PCIe Connectivity. In short, M.2 NVMe SSDs are connected to the host PC/Console system via PCIe protocol (think of those slots that you almost always use for your graphics cards, but a much, MUCH smaller connector). These allow much larger bandwidth (ie maximum speed) for the connected storage media, Much like regular PCIe slots, they have different versions (i.E PCIe Gen 1, 2, 3, 4, etc) and also a multiplying factor (x1, x2, x4, etc). Up until around 18 months ago, the best M.2 NVMes were M.2 PCIe Gen 3×4 (so a maximum 4,000MB/s possible). However, never generation SSD like the Addlink A95 use PCIe Gen 4×4 (a potential 8,000MB/s possible) and it is only now that SSD controllers and NAND production has reached a point where it can catch up and fully saturate (i.e fill) this connection. Next, although the ATTO tests were quite good, but not what I would have hoped from this SSD, so I moved on to the Crystal Disk Mark testing to see how well it would handle our lasts barrage of tests. The first test was the 1GB file testing, which measured both sequential and random, as well as the read and write IOPS. Test were conducted on a 1GB, 4GB and 16GB Test File. I also included a mixed 70/30 read and write task to give a little bit more of a realistic balanced workload. These tests were conducted with 1-minute cooling break in between

So that is the physical design of the Addlink A95 SSD. But what about the hardware components themselves? Does the Addlink A95 cut the mustard in terms of current generation hardware and protocols? Let’s find out. Addlink A95 SSD Review – PS5 Benchmark

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Looking at the Addlink A95 at an angle shows that, despite the aggressive nature of the heatsink, it is actually not very tall. In fact, the Low-Profile designed heatsink is only has a 9.1 mm height, with the total Heatsink+silica+SSD coming to just under 11.25mm. With space being at a premium in the PS5 M.2 SSD slot (and users wanting a little space around/above their SSD+HS to promote any airflow, this is particularly impressive.