SanDisk announced the Optimus GX PRO 850P series of officially licensed NVMe SSDs designed for the PlayStation 5 and PS5 Pro on June 18, 2026. The lineup offers storage options of 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, and 8TB with premium pricing reflecting the global shortage of memory components and increased demand from AI development sectors [1, 2, 3, 4].
The SSDs use PCIe Gen 4.0 interfaces and reach sequential read speeds up to 7,300 MB/s and write speeds up to 6,600 MB/s. They include integrated heatsinks tailored to the thermal requirements of the PS5 and PS5 Pro consoles [1, 3, 5].
Prices start at about $380 for the 1TB model and rise to roughly $760-$800 for 2TB. The 4TB version is priced around $1,500, while the largest 8TB drive costs about $2,960, discounted from an original MSRP near $3,700. The 8TB capacity can hold approximately 200 PS5 games based on average install sizes [1, 2, 3, 5, 4].
Polygon reported that every storage option for PS5 has seen price increases topping 100%, with some models experiencing more than 360% growth compared to 2025. The prices have more than doubled or tripled over the last year. A Polygon writer said, "Every single storage option has seen a price hike of well over 100%. The kicker? It's just going to get worse" [2, 3].
These new SanDisk SSDs replace the WD_Black branded drives previously available for PS5 storage expansion. SanDisk also offers other high-end gaming SSDs like the Optimus GX 7100X, which starts at $800 for 2TB [2, 5, 4].
While any PCIe Gen 4 M.2 NVMe drive between 250GB and 8TB can technically be used with the PS5, the official licensing mainly provides branding and heatsink design integration for optimal cooling and compatibility [5].
Sony raised the prices of PS5 and PS5 Pro consoles earlier this year in March 2026 amid the same component cost pressures [1, 4].
The series launch comes amid ongoing global supply chain issues affecting storage and memory parts. SanDisk said in its release that users can "store more and play more with confidence" with their new drives [3].
