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| These are my current collection of PS3 games: MGS4, RE6, Assassin's Creed, Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed, and Ace Combat: Assault Horizon. |
And so, on 26th of March, I bought a hard drive to upgrade my PS3 through Shopee, and it arrived on 28th of March, two days after I ordered it. It is a Sandisk Ultra 3D, a solid-state drive (SSD) with 250GB capacity.
THE SSD
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| The Sandisk Ultra 3D SSD's box. |
As flash chip prices are going down, SSDs are also getting cheaper, but still more expensive than a traditional hard disk drives. This SSD was priced at RM184, which is a limited-time promotion price by the seller. I chose this over a traditional hard drive because of its durability and performance.
These are the contents inside the box: User Manual, a small paper which contains download instructions for Sandisk SSD Dashboard software, and the SSD itself, sealed inside an anti-electrostatic plastic envelope.
This is how the SSD looks like. Simple-looking.
This is the bottom part of the SSD...
...and this 250GB SSD is made in Malaysia.
Now onto the upgrade.
UPGRADING THE PS3
In order to upgrade the PS3, I prepared the PS3 itself, the SSD, an unbranded third-party PS3 Super Slim hard disk bracket (the original SONY one is impossible to find here), and a small screwdriver.
This is the hard drive bracket, along with five screws, four rubber washers and an instruction manual, written in French. The one screw that secures the bracket onto the PS3 is not coloured blue like the original.
My only complaint, however, is the rough metal edges on some areas of the bracket, which can leave cuts on your fingers if held too tight.
Anyway, firstly, I attach the four washers in place.
Secondly, I place the SSD onto the bracket, aligning the four screw holes so that the four screws can be fastened correctly.
Next, I fastened the four screws using the screwdriver, tightening it.
Now, I slide open the hard disk compartment located on the right side of the PS3. The photo above shows the empty space for the hard disk bracket.
Finally, I took the hard disk bracket and slide it into the PS3...
...securing it with a screw, and closed the hard drive bay with the plastic cover.
So, I switched on the PS3 and it detects the SSD, and I also begin transferring the data from the 12GB onboard flash memory to the SSD.
Data transfer begins.
After the transfer was complete, the PS3 rebuilds the data in the SSD.
And finally, after more than an hour of waiting, all done.
Are there any performance improvements after the upgrade? I can say yes, for now at least. I noticed slight improvements in performance when playing Assassin's Creed, where animations appear smoother in some areas of the game when compared to playing it on the 12GB flash memory. However, if I was going to really confirm my findings, I need to play other games I currently have.
And that's all there is to write.
RemainUnknown522 Out.
