PlayStation®3 Support

[Tru_Drew18]

My family has a 120gb PS3 and we're running low on memory, right now we have almost 7gb left and I know it'll go by fast from my brothers downloading dlcs all of the time. I want to know how to backup and upgrade the hard drive to have more memory and keep all of our game saves, data, trophies, dlcs and everything we downloaded from the PS Store. I would really be happy with something like 400 or 500 gigs, especially since new games and dlcs are coming and not to mention PS3 games take up more memory due to the fact that they're blue ray. Is it possible to have a 500gb hard drive and if so what kind do I get and how much will it cost? I would really appreciate it help and specific details on what and how. Thanks.

[Logical_Dolphin]

Here is a guide that shows you how to replace your hard drive:
http://us.playstation.com/support/answer/index.htm?a_id=362

Before you do that you need to back up your existing content on your current hard drive, and that usually requires you to purchase an external hard drive (this is in addition to your replacement hard drive).

Hard drive prices can vary, you just need to make sure that it is a 2.5" Serial ATA Notebook HDD. Newegg is a good place to shop for those...

[Tru_Drew18]

Thanks for the link and info. I just have one question, do certain specifications matter for larger memory hard drives? Because I've been looking and noticed that, even though they the same amount of memory, they will have different specs like RPM, cache, Gb/s, I don't know what any of that is, does any of that effect it anyway?

It's a shame I don't know any of this and I want to get into the gaming industry. I guess that means more school for me lol.

[Logical_Dolphin]

RPM means rotations per minute on the spin of the HDD disc, there is a 5000 & 7000 speeds. Usually the higher speeds mean better performance, but in the PS3's case it really doesn't matter because the performance is about the same.

Cache is memory attached to the HDD to act as a swapfile for performance enhancement. Again the larger the cache the better the performance, but I don't really know if there would be a noticeable difference in the PS3.

So I suggest you don't really worry too much about RPM and cache so much, since the PS3 was designed for hard drives that are on the slower side of the scale...

[Bulletpainpills]

Well since Logical Dolphin helped you with how to install one, heres a great HDD to use!

http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-WD10JPVT-Internal-Notebook/dp/B005DVJJWQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qi...

All the free space you should ever use, and it works perfectly! Hell, any 2.5" HDD from Western Digital works well!

[Tru_Drew18]

Thanks guys for all of the help. We'll hopefully be buying a new HDD soon, I just have one last question. I found 1 terabyte HDDs and they are a lot cheaper than I thought they were, and when I showed my mother she wanted to get that instead of the 500gb. My question is, the amount of memory doesn't matter right, you can have as much as you like? Or the PS3 can only go up to 500gbs? Like the system recognizes it as the highest and can't take anymore. I know it's a weird question but it came in my head and I'm trying to cover everything before we go and buy one.

[vfr_800_rider]

Last time I checked a 1TB drive it was too thick to fit in a PS3.  Check the dimensions (don't remember the number offhand).

[Logical_Dolphin]

There are some 1TB hard drives that will fit in the PS3, but you do need to check the dimensions to be sure...

[Mattmoore76]

I bout a WD 500 gb sata II 5400rpm. When I put it in, the only screen I saw said to plug in a controller and push the ps button. The screen was jumpy like the Hemingway wasn't working correctly. Is the drive bad or did I do something wrong?

[Mattmoore76]

HDMI. Not Hemingway sorry