The TEAMGROUP T-Force CARDEA A440 is a M.2 solid state drive that is compatible with the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Digital Edition systems.
To see how you can install and format this storage drive so that you can store and play PS5 games directly off of it, you can take a look at this tutorial from Seeking Tech.
Before we begin, it should be noted that this guide will be based on the following solid state drives:
- 1 TB TEAMGROUP T-Force CARDEA A440 M.2 SSD with Graphene & Aluminum Heatsink (TM8FPZ001T0C327)
- 2 TB TEAMGROUP T-Force CARDEA A440 M.2 SSD with Graphene & Aluminum Heatsink (TM8FPZ002T0C327)
Both of these products use the PCI-Express Gen4x4 interface and have a sequential reading speed of up to 7000 MB per second, which meets the requirements of the PS5 and PS5 Digital Edition.
These M.2 SSDs also come with graphene and aluminum heatsinks. The graphene heatsink should fit easily into the docking bay of the PlayStation 5 console. With the aluminum heatsink, you will need to keep the metal cover off of the PS5’s docking bay in order to fit the storage drive.
How to insert the T-Force CARDEA A440 to PS5
In order to insert the T-Force CARDEA A440 to your PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Digital Edition system, you need to take the following steps:
1. If you previously used your T-Force CARDEA A440 to store files, then we recommend that your move any important data you have on the solid state drive before starting. This is because you will need to format the SSD for PlayStation 5, which will erase all the current data stored on it.
2. You should also make sure that you either have the graphene heatsink or aluminum heatsink installed on your A440.
To see how you can install these, you can take a look at the instructional video from the TEAMGROUP YouTube channel below:
3. Once you are ready, turn off your console and then remove the cables, stand as well as any other accessories you have attached to it.
4. Next, you need to lay your console down so that the side with the PS logo is at the bottom.
5. You then need to make sure that the backside of your PS5 is facing towards you.
6. From your perspective, you then need to put you left hand on the top left corner of the outer case and then your right hand on the bottom right corner of the outer case.
7. Lift the bottom right corner of the outer case to unlock it and then slide the case off to the left.
8. With the outer case removed, you should see the metal cover of the M.2 docking bay. Use a crosshead screwdriver to remove the screw holding the metal cover in place and then remove the metal cover.
9. With the docking bay opened, you need to use a crosshead screwdriver again to remove the screw and spacer inside.
10. Take the spacer you removed in the previous step and put it in the “80” hole.
11. Now you need to insert your T-Force CARDEA A440 into the M.2 SSD slot in the docking bay starting from a diagonally upwards position.
12. After inserting the storage drive, use a crosshead screwdriver and the screw you previously removed in Step #9 to fasten the other end of the SSD down to the “80” hole.
13. If you installed the graphene heatsink to your T-Force CARDEA A440, then you also need to screw back in the metal cover of the docking bay.
If you installed the aluminum heatsink to your T-Force CARDEA A440, then you need to leave the metal cover off.
14. Finally, slide the outer case of your PlayStation 5 back in starting from the left.
How to format the T-Force CARDEA A440 to PS5
After inserting the T-Force CARDEA A440 into the M.2 slot of your PlayStation 5 or PlayStation 5 Digital Edition system, you then need to format the drive by taking the following steps:
1. Reattach the stand, cables and other accessories you previously removed from the system if you haven’t done so already.
2. Turn on your game console.
3. During the boot up process, you will eventually arrive to the M.2 SSD Storage screen.
4. Plug in your DualSense controller via the USB port of your PS5 system.
5. Press the PS button on the gamepad.
6. Now that you have control, select the Format M.2 SSD option.
7. Once the formatting process has been completed, you will see a sequential reading speed test result page. Here, you need to select the OK option to go to the home screen.
Where to find T-Force CARDEA A440 in the PS5 menus
After formatting your T-Force CARDEA A440, you will be able to find the storage drive in the system menus of your PlayStation 5 by taking the following steps:
1. From the home screen menu, select the gear icon that appear on the top right side.
2. After getting to the Settings menu, you need to select Storage.
3. In the Storage menu, you first need select M.2 SSD Storage from the left column.
4. On the right side of the same Storage menu, you should see the information for your T-Force CARDEA A440.
5. You can also use the Storage menu to transfer games between the T-Force CARDEA A440 and the internal SSD storage. Furthermore, you can also reformat the M.2 SSD as well as change the default location when it comes to installing a new game.