PNY’s CS2341 SSD drops into a PS5 with its heatsink on

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A PS5 storage upgrade usually comes with homework. Buy the drive, buy a heatsink, check the measurements, hope the bay cover still closes. PNY’s CS2341 skips all of that. The M.2 2280 NVMe drive ships with its extruded aluminum heatsink already fitted, reads at up to 7,100 MB/s, and drops straight into the console’s expansion bay or any Gen4 PC slot.

Price: $205.98
Where to buy: Amazon

Built for the PS5 bay

Sony recommends a Gen4 x4 drive with sequential reads of 5,500 MB/s or better, and it wants a cooling structure on the drive. The CS2341 clears the speed bar with 1,600 MB/s to spare. The heatsink is part of the drive, so there’s nothing separate to size, stick on, and squeeze under the cover.

PNY lists the whole drive at 82 x 24.6 x 5.8mm. Sony’s limit is 25mm wide and 11.25mm thick, so it fits with room left over. Don’t stack a second heatsink on top, since Sony says a built-in one should run alone. The same drive also works in an external enclosure if you move a game library between machines.

Speeds and capacity

The Gen4 x4 interface is rated for sequential reads up to 7,100 MB/s and writes up to 6,200 MB/s. That’s near the top of what Gen4 drives actually deliver, so the SSD won’t be what holds back a PS5 or a current PC board.

Capacity tops out at 1TB. A launch PS5 gives you about 667GB of usable space out of the box, so this more than doubles it. That’s a working library of current games without the delete-and-redownload cycle. PNY backs the drive with a five-year limited warranty, capped by its TBW rating.

Price and availability

PNY’s UK price is GBP 199.99. PNY hasn’t announced a US release date, but the 1TB drive is already listed on Amazon in the US at $205.98.

If you need a PS5 drive today

Two drives own this slot right now, and both ship in the US today. The WD Black SN850X is the default pick for PS5 owners, and its heatsink model is built to fit the console’s bay.

WD Black SN850X 1TB with heatsink
Price: $267.99
Where to buy: Amazon

The Samsung 990 Pro is the faster drive on paper, rated for reads up to 7,450 MB/s. Get the heatsink model for a PS5. It costs more than the SN850X, so it’s the one to buy when its price dips.

Samsung 990 Pro 1TB with heatsink
Price: $303.97
Where to buy: Amazon

The CS2341 or the SN850X

Price: $205.98
Where to buy: Amazon

The CS2341 has the right spec sheet for a PS5 upgrade: Gen4 speed past Sony’s bar, a heatsink fitted at the factory, and a 2280 board that also works in a PC build. At $205.98 it costs $62 less than the SN850X. Unless you want the 990 Pro’s extra read speed, the CS2341 is the one to buy.

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