I highly recommend an SSD, it really improves gameplay on the PS3 and is 100% noticeable. You won't regret it at all. Also the PS3 uses the HDD for a lot of things, for example rendering time is significantly better with a faster HDD (SSD). SATA doesn't really make a difference, people say it does but either way it's a huge difference just having an SSD over whatever they give you as standard, so it's really not worth worrying about the port you're using. There are places where you can find a bargain so you don't always have to pay full price for them.