Ever since the days of sorting my PlayStation 1 memory cards by genre, I’ve been slightly obsessive about data. So if a console gives me access to its hard drive, I’m gonna swap it.

Stock Drive Data Bank Bloodborne (Install Time) 42.08 seconds 43.40 seconds Bloodborne (Load Time) 39.46 seconds 40.24 seconds Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition (Boot Time) 8.17 seconds 10.27 seconds Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition (Save Time) 20 seconds 26 seconds Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Install Time) 37.82 seconds 78.59 seconds Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Load Time) 49.78 seconds 56.37 seconds

But even when I’ve already voided my warranty, I worry about random slipups during the process. My PlayStation 4 is already in dire need of a storage upgrade, and compared to the Xbox One and Wii U, which you can just plug external hard drives into, switching out its internal hard drive is a more complicated process. (It doesn't void your warranty, but it requires tools. See how to swap your PS4 hard drive here .)Nyko wants to make that task easier with its Data Bank—as well as make hard drives larger than 2TB an option. The accessory, which mounts on the left side of your PS4, gives you the space to exchange the 2.5-inch laptop hard drive inside the console for a 3.5-inch desktop hard drive. It adds about two inches of bulk atop the left side of the PlayStation 4 and draws power from the outlet via a passthrough AC adaptor (if you were hoping to use other products that do the same thing, like Nyko's Intercooler, you won’t be able to), and it has the same angled finish and reflective black plastic as the protective cover, so it blends in with the rest of your PS4.Installation is actually pretty easy: you first remove the PS4’s protective left-side cover, then its stock 500GB hard drive using the included screwdriver. Next, you slide the Data Bank’s adapter in its place and secure it with screws. After that, you place the Bank over the adapter, attach a small cable to the top of the adapter, and then slip in a 3.5-inch drive. If that sounds complicated, it’s actually not. Even if you've never touched a hard drive before, the detailed step-by-step instructions included with the Data Bank clearly walk you through the process.(One thing to note: While it's not likely you'll need to do it, removing the Data Bank is a little tougher, as it attaches very tightly to the system. When I removed it as part of taking photos for this review, I worried about permanently breaking a connection between the Data Bank and my PlayStation 4. The included screwdriver is also somewhat easy to lose, as the quarter-sized black-colored head can blend into your accessory pile or toolbox.)Performance, on the other hand, is a bit more of a mixed deal. On the solidly positive side of things, once I restarted the system with a 3.5-inch 2TB Seagate hard drive in the Data Bank, I found that the Data Bank is just as quiet and runs at the same temperature as the stock drive (both max out at around 85°F). The times for installing games from a disc and loading games, on the other hand, had some variances in how well the Data Bank drive did against the stock drive. The stock drive was roughly a second faster at installing Bloodborne and then loading the transition from Hunter’s Dream to Central Yarnham, but two seconds quicker starting up my downloaded copy of Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition. It loaded my Tomb Raider save faster, too (taking 20 seconds vs. the Data Bank’s 26 seconds).The biggest difference came when I popped in my disc copy of Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. The one-time install jumped from 38 seconds on the stock drive to 79 seconds with the Data Bank, while loading the campaign level "Traffic" took six seconds longer. Even though the hard drive I used in the Data Bank is rated at a faster speed than the stock drive (7200RPM vs. 5400RPM), its interface seems to slows it down enough for the stock drive to retain a tiny edge over it. In practice, the difference in installation and load time shouldn’t affect your experience too much, but it’s still a little disappointing.As for value—the Data Bank is only a better option than replacing the stock drive with another 2.5-inch hard drive when you want to upgrade to 3TB or more of storage. At 2TB, a 3.5-inch drive is only about $25 cheaper than a 2.5-inch drive, which makes it hard to justify the $40 Data Bank (particularly given the slight downgrade in hard drive performance that goes with it). But once you hit 3TB, you’re going to have a very hard time finding any 2.5-inch hard drives (much less affordable ones), making the Data Bank your only real choice if you want to put a lot of games on your console. It’s also easy to replace that 3.5-inch drive if you manage to fill it quickly: you simply slide off the Data Bank’s cover, pull out the old drive, and slip in the new one.