What SSDs should I use with Blackmagic HyperDeck recorders (April 2018)?

Certified SSDs

SSDs which are qualified for Uncompressed 10-bit video capture will also work well for compressed video capture. There are some SSDs which Blackmagic has tested and found to drop frames when capturing Uncompressed 10-bit video. However, they still work well when capturing compressed video. New in the list are the Angelbird AV PRO XT models, new Kingston KC400 SSDs, Samsung 850 PRO 2TB, as well as new Sony G series Professional SSDs coming in 480GB (Model: SONY SSD SV-GS48) and 960GB (Model: SONY SSD SV-GS96) sizes.

The following SSDs are recommended for Uncompressed 10-bit or compressed video capture:

ADATA XPG SX900 256 GB (ASX900S3-256GM-C)

Angelbird 250 GB AV Pro (not compatible with HyperDeck Shuttle)

Angelbird 500 GB AV Pro (not compatible with HyperDeck Shuttle)
Angelbird AVP250MK3 AP2A4CT 250 GB

Angelbird AVP500MK3 A2GMX52 500 GB

Angelbird AV PRO XT 500GB

Angelbird AV PRO XT 1T

Angelbird AV PRO XT 2T

Digistor 1TB SSD 4K Professional Video Series (DIG-PVD1000, pre-formatted ExFat) - not compatible with HyperDeck Shuttle

Digistor 240 GB SSD Professional Video Series (DIG-PVD240S, pre-formatted ExFat)

Digistor 480 GB SSD Professional Video Series (DIG-PVD480S, pre-formatted ExFat)

Intel 335 Series 240 GB SSD (SSDSC2CT240A4K5)

Intel 520 Series 240 GB SSD (SSDSC2CW240A310)

Intel 520 Series 480 GB SSD (SSDSC2CW480A310)

Intel 530 Series 180 GB SSD (SSDSC2BW180A401)

Intel 530 Series 240 GB SSD (SSDSC2BW240A401)

Kingston 240 GB HyperX 3K (SH103S3/240G)

Kingston 240 GB SSD Now KC300 (SKC300S37A/240G)

Kingston 480 GB HyperX 3K (SH103S3/480G)

Kingston 480 GB SSD Now KC300 (SKC300S37A/480G)

Kingston HyperX Savage 120 GB (SHSS37A/120G)

Kingston HyperX Savage 240 GB (SHSS37A/240G)

Kingston HyperX Savage 480 GB (SHSS37A/480G)

Kingston HyperX Savage 960 GB (SHSS37A/960G)

Kingston KC400 128 GB

Kingston KC400 256 GB

OWC 120 GB Mercury Extreme Pro 6G (OWCSSD7P6G120)

OWC 240 GB Mercury Extreme Pro 6G (OWCSSD7P6G240)

OWC 480 GB Mercury Extreme Pro 6G (OWCSSD7P6G480)

PNY Prevail 240 GB (SSD9SC240GCDA-PB)

PNY Prevail 480 GB (SSD9SC480GCDA-PB)

PNY XLR8 480 GB (SSD9SC480GMDA-RB)

Samsung 1TB 850 Pro (MZ-1T0BW, spacer required) - not compatible with HyperDeck Shuttle

Samsung 256 GB 850 Pro (MZ-7KE256BW, spacer required)

Samsung 512 GB 850 Pro (MZ-7KE512BW, spacer required)

Samsung 850 PRO 2TB

Sandisk Extreme 240 GB (SDSSDX-240G-G25)

Sandisk Extreme 480 GB (SDSSDX-480G-G25)

Sandisk Extreme Pro 240 GB (SDSSDXPS-240G-G25)

Sandisk Extreme Pro 480 GB (SDSSDXPS-480G-G25)

Sandisk Extreme Pro 960 GB (SDSSDXPS-960G-G25)

Sony G series Professional SSD 480GB (Model: SONY SSD SV-GS48)

Sony G series Professional SSD 960GB (Model: SONY SSD SV-GS96)

Transcend 256 GB SSD370 (TS256GSSD370BM)

In addition to the above, these SSDs work ONLY for compressed video capture:

Crucial 256 GB M4 (firmware 000F) (CT256M4SSD2)

OCZ Agility 3 240 GB (AGT3-25SAT3-240G)

Sandisk Extreme 120 GB (SDSSDX-120G-G25)

The following SSDs are either discontinued or only supported as part of a legacy configuration and may no longer be available with the required firmware:

Crucial 256 GB C300 (CTFDDAC256MAG-1G1) - (discontinued)

Digistor 128 GB SSD Professional Video Extreme (DIG-PVD128E, pre-formatted ExFat)

Kingston 120 GB SSD Now V+200 (SVP200S3/120G) - (discontinued)

Kingston 128 GB SSD Now V+100 (SVP100S2/128G) - (discontinued)

Kingston 240 GB SSD Now V+200 (SVP200S3/240G) - (discontinued)

Kingston 480 GB SSD Now KC300 (SKC300S37A/480G)
Kingston 512 GB SSD Now V+100 (SVP100S2/512G) - (discontinued)

Kingston 64 GB SSD Now V+100 (SVP100S2/64G) - (discontinued)

Kingston HyperX 240 GB (SH100S3/240G) - (discontinued)

OCZ 240 GB Deneva 2 (firmware 2.22) (D2CSTK251M21-0240) - (discontinued)

OCZ 240 GB Vertex 3 (VTX3-25SAT3-240G) - (discontinued)

OCZ 480 GB Vertex 3 (VTX3-25SAT3-480G) - (discontinued)

OWC 120 GB Mercury Extreme Pro 6G (Firmware Rev 5.0.7) (OWCSSDMX6G120T) - (discontinued)

OWC 240 GB Mercury Extreme Pro 6G (Firmware Rev 5.0.6) (OWCSSDMX6G240T) - (discontinued)

OWC 480 GB Mercury Extreme Pro 6G (Firmware Rev 5.0.6) (OWCSSDMX6G480) - (discontinued)

OWC Mercury Extreme Pro 6G SSD (firmware 5.0.2) (OWCSSDMX6G240T) - (discontinued)

Sandisk Extreme Pro 240 GB (SDSSDXPS-240G-G25)

Sandisk Extreme Pro 480 GB (SDSSDXPS-480G-G25)

Sandisk Extreme Pro 960 GB (SDSSDXPS-960G-G25)

The following SSDs are known only to work with specific firmware versions:

Crucial 512 GB M4 (firmware 009 only) (CT512M4SSD2)

Important Notes About SSD Speed

Some models of SSD can’t save video data at the speed the manufacturer claims. This is due to the disk using hidden data compression to attain higher write speeds. This data compression can only save data at the manufacturer’s claimed speed when storing data such as blank data or simple files. Video data includes video noise and pixels which are more random so compression will not help, therefore revealing the true speed of the disk.

Some SSDs can have up to 50% lower write speed than the manufacturer’s claimed speed. So even though the disk specifications claim an SSD has speeds fast enough to handle video, in reality the disk isn’t fast enough when used to store video data for real time capture. However, this mostly affects HD capture and often these disks can still be used for playback.

Use Blackmagic Disk Speed Test to accurately measure whether your SSD will be able to handle uncompressed video capture and playback. Blackmagic Disk Speed Test uses data to simulate the storage of video so you get results similar to what you’ll see when capturing video to a disk. During Blackmagic testing, we have found newer, larger models of SSD and larger capacity SSDs are generally faster.