SanDisk has introduced its new Optimus GX PRO 850P NVMe SSDs for Sony PS5 consoles, offering up to 8 TB capacities, but they come at a massive price tag.
Paying For SanDisk's New 8 TB SSD Feels Like Buying Three Sony PS5 Pro Consoles
Today, SanDisk introduced its new SSD lineup, which is officially licensed for the Sony PS5 series consoles. These are the Optimus GX PRO 850P NVMe SSDs, and come in up to 8 TB capacities.
These SSDs are PCIe Gen 4.0 compliant and feature up to 7200 MB/s Read and 6600 MB/s Write speeds with 1.2 Million Random Read and Random Write IOPS. They have an endurance rate of up to 4800 TBW and are the standard 2280 form factor design. The SSDs come with a heatsink that should help cope with the heat when running storage-intensive tasks such as game loading, etc.
The specifications are nothing special and seem fairly standard, as Gen5 SSDs already offer much higher speeds, and we are expecting the first Gen6 SSDs on the PC market as early as next year. But despite the special "Console-Ready" and "Console-Optimized" tags, these SSDs shouldn't cost the way they are priced right now.
SanDisk is listing the 1 TB variant for $379.99 (originally $474.99), the 2 TB variant for $759.99 (originally $949.99), the 4 TB variant for $1499.99 (originally $1874.99), and the 8 TB variant for $2959.99 (originally $3699.99). Just for reference, the PS5 Slim currently retails for $600-$650, while the PS5 Pro retails around $950-$1000 US.
Yes, we are aware that NAND Flash is facing severe shortages, but even then, SanDisk's SSDs are nowhere special enough to warrant a 2x bump in pricing versus already commercially available SSDs.
For example, the WD_Black 1 TB SN850X retails for around $200 with a heatsink, the 2 TB costs around $500, the 4 TB costs around $650, and the 8 TB costs around $1250. And if you look for something even cheaper, then Patriot has its Viper VP4300 1 TB listed for $169, offering 7400 MB/s Read speeds, and is also PS5 compatible. The 2 TB drive costs $290, while the 4 TB variant costs around $600. Most 8 TB SSDs are still retailing at $1000-$1200, less than half the price of what SanDisk has listed its SSD for.
So, in short, make an educated purchase. There are plenty of options to select from. Gen 4 is enough for gamers these days, but it isn't priced the way the Optimus GX series is listed for & gamers (console or PC) can find cheaper options with better specs online.
About the author: A Software Engineer by training and a PC enthusiast by passion, Hassan Mujtaba serves as Wccftech's Senior Editor for hardware section. With years of experience in the industry, he specializes in deep-dive technical analysis of next-generation CPU and GPU architectures, motherboards, and cooling solutions. His work involves not only breaking news on upcoming technologies but also extensive hands-on reviews and benchmarking.
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