PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 harddrive

[90snostalga]

I don't own any new generation console at all but I am thinking of getting a ps3/360 soon.  What is the best recommended hard drive for me to get?  Thanks for any answers

p.s.  I do not plan on doing any online gaming if that helps

[turf]

Do you plan to download games or movies?  If so, you'll need a bigger one. If you just want to play games, any of them will do. If I got an Xbox, I would get a slim though. They last longer.

If you just plan on playing games, you could probably get away with the one without a HDD. You can stick a flash drive in the USB port and add storage that way.

[mkarasch]

I haven't investigated it in a while, but if I recall correctly, it is WAY easier to replace the hard drive on the PS3.  For the xbox, you had to either buy their horribly overpriced drive, or find the EXACT model they used, then hack the drive firmware or something to change the serial number of the drive.  PS3 was pretty much, get a 5400 rpm drive, and...put it in.

Another thing to consider, if you are going to be buying used is that the PS3 uses blu-ray, so the scratch protection is significantly better.  In short, buying used for ps3 is going to be met with less unplayably scratched discs.

[insektmute]

For the PS3, it partially depends on the model you have. I'd also stress not to pay too much, as performance gains between different drives is going to be pretty minimal overall, so your main concerns should be heat, noise, and reliability.

See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3_technical_specifications to identify which specific model you have, and look at the section for yours that indicates the CPU and GPU process.

90nm CPU + 90nm GPU: Older fat models
- Go with a 5400rpm HDD or an SSD, as these models tend to run warmer and suck down more power than later ones.

90nm CPU + 65nm GPU: Early slim models
- I'd still probably go with a 5400rpm HDD or SSD, mainly out of concern for noise. These run more efficiently, but not drastically enough to justify the added heat or noise from a 7200rpm.

65nm CPU + 65nm GPU or better: Later slim models and 'super slim' models
- Go with a 7200rpm or SSD, depending on what your budget can handle.

As far as what to buy among the various types, I'm extremely partial to certain brands, but the ones below are all currently in use here.
5400rpm: Western Digital Scorpio Blue series. I'm using a 500GB with my fat PS3.
7200rpm: Western Digital Scorpio Black series. Two currently in service on my desktop/gaming PC.
SSD: Samsung 800-series.  I'm running a slightly older 840 Pro as the OS drive on my desktop. Probably overkill for a console, and not cheap, as it'll run you around $160 for 250GB and $300'ish for a 500GB.

As for the 360, meh. Microsoft made the whole process into a mess of exploitative nonsense, so you'll pay way too much for an 'official' drive, then go through an idiotic "license transfer" process via the website that may or may not let everything transfer over, and if you don't have an external hard drive to backup to, you'll have to pay for a transfer cable. If you're handy at all with hardware, I'd look to go the DIY route, but if not, try to find a cheap, official 320GB, be done with it, and hope you never have to muck around with that stupid crap again.

[90snostalga]

I haven't investigated it in a while, but if I recall correctly, it is WAY easier to replace the hard drive on the PS3.  For the xbox, you had to either buy their horribly overpriced drive, or find the EXACT model they used, then hack the drive firmware or something to change the serial number of the drive.  PS3 was pretty much, get a 5400 rpm drive, and...put it in.

Another thing to consider, if you are going to be buying used is that the PS3 uses blu-ray, so the scratch protection is significantly better.  In short, buying used for ps3 is going to be met with less unplayably scratched discs.

Thanks for the feedback guys.  I ended up selling my soul yesterday and the 500GB ps3 with gta5 bundle at game stop was catching feelings with me so now its new to my home   Browsing through the ps3 games at game stop, I have no idea what most of them were because Ive only played classic consoles so this is so new to me. 

[90snostalga]

While I'm here, just to make sure I am correct, the PS4 is not backwards compatible correct?

[90snostalga]

For the PS3, it partially depends on the model you have. I'd also stress not to pay too much, as performance gains between different drives is going to be pretty minimal overall, so your main concerns should be heat, noise, and reliability.

See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3_technical_specifications to identify which specific model you have, and look at the section for yours that indicates the CPU and GPU process.

90nm CPU + 90nm GPU: Older fat models
- Go with a 5400rpm HDD or an SSD, as these models tend to run warmer and suck down more power than later ones.

90nm CPU + 65nm GPU: Early slim models
- I'd still probably go with a 5400rpm HDD or SSD, mainly out of concern for noise. These run more efficiently, but not drastically enough to justify the added heat or noise from a 7200rpm.

65nm CPU + 65nm GPU or better: Later slim models and 'super slim' models
- Go with a 7200rpm or SSD, depending on what your budget can handle.

I unfortunately do not understand all the technical terms and numbers.  Do you think the super slim 500GB is a reliable model.  I have not even opened it yet just in case I can take it back.

[insektmute]

I unfortunately do not understand all the technical terms and numbers.  Do you think the super slim 500GB is a reliable model.  I have not even opened it yet just in case I can take it back.

I don't have one myself, but based on the hardware specs, the super slim should be the most reliable of the lot, with the lowest power consumption and least amount of heat generated. I've been tempted to snag one myself, just to have a backup console

You're correct on the PS4, btw - no backwards compatibility. They're apparently planning on some kind of cloud streaming of PS3 games, but I'm not sure how that's going to play out. Pretty certain it will not involve being able to use your disc-based games on the system, though.

[90snostalga]

I unfortunately do not understand all the technical terms and numbers.  Do you think the super slim 500GB is a reliable model.  I have not even opened it yet just in case I can take it back.

I don't have one myself, but based on the hardware specs, the super slim should be the most reliable of the lot, with the lowest power consumption and least amount of heat generated. I've been tempted to snag one myself, just to have a backup console

You're correct on the PS4, btw - no backwards compatibility. They're apparently planning on some kind of cloud streaming of PS3 games, but I'm not sure how that's going to play out. Pretty certain it will not involve being able to use your disc-based games on the system, though.

Excellent glad I got the right console    And a cloud system would not be ideal in my opinion because nothing like a hard copy of a game so you can be sure nothing happens to it. 

 I picked up a few clearance games today for it.  Red dead redemption and white knight chronicles.  I dont anything about them but they looked cool and were only 7 bucks each.  Can you recommend any great free world rpg or action games not internet based??  I'm not a fan of internet gaming and I do not want to connect to the net at all on my consoles.     When i went to game stop, i was so lost because i dont know anything about the new stuff.

[90snostalga]

I'm actually going to start a new topic to get more users to chime in on recommended games if you can respond there