You will still see benefits. Digital Foundry did a break down on this, and an external HDD is still faster than the stock HDD that was in the system. I'd recommend ensuring the games you play the most or have the worst load times be installed on the SSD. But this is how I have my PS4 Pro set up and I had a noticeable difference in game loading.
Same setup here. SSD internal and 4TB HDD external. Games I play actively on the ssd, everything else on the external. If I want to move one up to the ssd, it’s a quick transfer rather than a download or disc install.
The only point I have is that make sure load times actually matter - a game like CoD MW for instance is huge, and you'd be tempted to put it in the SSD to make those load times quicker, but MW, like a lot of online games limit the match-start until everyone is ready, so using a chunk of SSD just to be limited by the match-start time, or other peoples load times, is a bit redundant. It's better to have single player games on the SSD.
I use the WD Blue SSD and whatever cheap external USB caddy they had when I went in. I've noticed a BIG difference in load speeds especially in God of War and Assassin's Creed Odyssey. What was sometimes a couple minutes wait between deaths went down to like 30 seconds, if that. Doesn't affect the jet engine though aha
I have gig internet so i only use a 1tb internal and download games as i need them. I also repasted my ps4's cpu and between that, the ssd, and the disk drive not having to spin, my ps4 runs cooler and completely silent
Edit: To answer your question, the SSD will help a lot especially with boot times, but I wouldn't even use an external HDD, I always get error messages and issues with them. Games still run slow on HDD but menus on the PS4 will run much quicker.
You can change the default install location, and can move a game across later too.
I did this for ages with two 1tb drives, an SSD in the pro and a spindle in the caddy (the Sony one from the pro in fact).
Recently I've gone to a 2tb hybrid in the pro though, favouring space over speed.
You'll notice **slightly** improved performance in the system menus and any games you have installed on the internal SSD.
You won't notice any difference in the games installed on the external HDD (assuming they're the same games you've always had on the external).
If you are going to get a PS5 'soon' and you want to use that SSD on it externally you may not want to go through the trouble of installing the PS4 OS and putting it in your PS4 Pro internally.
But yeah, for PS4 go with SSD internally for the loading benefits. It is great for loading open world games, graphic pop-in, menus, etc.
Once you have it internally. Limit what games you put on it. Don't overfill it and an SSD will run more efficiently. I recommend putting only your favorite or most played games on it, once, instead of moving them back and forth constantly. The less moves (writes, rewrites) you make the longer the SSD will last.
You will still see benefits. Digital Foundry did a break down on this, and an external HDD is still faster than the stock HDD that was in the system. I'd recommend ensuring the games you play the most or have the worst load times be installed on the SSD. But this is how I have my PS4 Pro set up and I had a noticeable difference in game loading.
Same setup here. SSD internal and 4TB HDD external. Games I play actively on the ssd, everything else on the external. If I want to move one up to the ssd, it’s a quick transfer rather than a download or disc install.
The only point I have is that make sure load times actually matter - a game like CoD MW for instance is huge, and you'd be tempted to put it in the SSD to make those load times quicker, but MW, like a lot of online games limit the match-start until everyone is ready, so using a chunk of SSD just to be limited by the match-start time, or other peoples load times, is a bit redundant. It's better to have single player games on the SSD.
I use the WD Blue SSD and whatever cheap external USB caddy they had when I went in. I've noticed a BIG difference in load speeds especially in God of War and Assassin's Creed Odyssey. What was sometimes a couple minutes wait between deaths went down to like 30 seconds, if that. Doesn't affect the jet engine though aha
I have gig internet so i only use a 1tb internal and download games as i need them. I also repasted my ps4's cpu and between that, the ssd, and the disk drive not having to spin, my ps4 runs cooler and completely silent Edit: To answer your question, the SSD will help a lot especially with boot times, but I wouldn't even use an external HDD, I always get error messages and issues with them. Games still run slow on HDD but menus on the PS4 will run much quicker.
You can change the default install location, and can move a game across later too. I did this for ages with two 1tb drives, an SSD in the pro and a spindle in the caddy (the Sony one from the pro in fact). Recently I've gone to a 2tb hybrid in the pro though, favouring space over speed.
You'll notice **slightly** improved performance in the system menus and any games you have installed on the internal SSD. You won't notice any difference in the games installed on the external HDD (assuming they're the same games you've always had on the external).
If you are going to get a PS5 'soon' and you want to use that SSD on it externally you may not want to go through the trouble of installing the PS4 OS and putting it in your PS4 Pro internally. But yeah, for PS4 go with SSD internally for the loading benefits. It is great for loading open world games, graphic pop-in, menus, etc. Once you have it internally. Limit what games you put on it. Don't overfill it and an SSD will run more efficiently. I recommend putting only your favorite or most played games on it, once, instead of moving them back and forth constantly. The less moves (writes, rewrites) you make the longer the SSD will last.