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[VGC] Xbox Series X/S can use standard SSDs in the expansion card slot, it’s claimed

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www.videogameschronicle.com

Xbox Series X/S can use standard SSDs in the expansion card slot, it’s claimed | VGC

User discovers that other drives can be converted to work in the card’s slot…
www.videogameschronicle.com www.videogameschronicle.com

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This isn't really that surprising to me because the internals of the expansion card just looks like a regular 2230 NVMe SSD without the cutout pins. Seems like a CFExpress to M.2 adapter with a PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD will work just fine. Would really like an official CFExpress to M.2 adapter from Xbox when the Seagate exclusivity ends. Could lead to a lot cheaper expansion since you don't need a top of the line Gen4 NVMe. Thoughts?
 
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Skittles

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Oct 25, 2017
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I imagine it's only a matter of time before someone makes an enclosure that spoofs itself to look official
 
DuvalDevil

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Great stuff. I was always under the impression that we'd get more manufacturers in the future which should put pressure on the price tag.

Cool to see that all of this could be done with an adapter.

We don't know when the exclusive contract with Seagate is gonna end, right?
 
Caiusto

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Curious to see what impacts this would have on performance. Xbox was so adamant with delivering consistent performance that I'd guess something that loses performance due to thermals can impact the game.
 

Dis

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Oct 27, 2017
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I said before that they should at least make an enclosure so people can buy other drives that are cheaper if they want to expand instead of relying solely on proprietary stuff that will cause issues down the road.....I'd love this to be a thing we can use
 
Temperance

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Caiusto said:
Curious to see what impacts this would have on performance. Xbox was so adamant with delivering consistent performance that I'd guess something that loses performance due to thermals can impact the game.
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Don't those little official one's get super hot? Would think a larger, unofficial one could be better at staying cool.
 
Lausebub

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Dis said:
I said before that they should at least make an enclosure so people can buy other drives that are cheaper if they want to expand instead of relying solely on proprietary stuff that will cause issues down the road.....I'd love this to be a thing we can use
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They have a exclusivity deal with Seagate until a certain date, so until then there probably won't be anything else official.

Temperance said:
Don't those little official one's get super hot? Would think a larger, unofficial one could be better at staying cool.
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As far as I know it was the heatsinke which was hot and that is completely normal.
 

Dis

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Lausebub said:
They have a exclusivity deal with Seagate until a certain date, so until then there probably won't be anything else official.
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Yeah I just hope it isn't too long or at least hope we don't see an extreme crackdown on anyone who ends up buying and using what I expect to be soon released adapter's like the one in the pics that are designed and sold for xbox consoles by others.

By crackdown I mean don't ban people who use them, if you want to try and stop businesses making them then fine if you have a legal case but just don't ban consumers who use them if they do no harm.
 
wwm0nkey

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Ha! Called that someone was going to make an adapter at some point and I was told it was impossible.
 
PJV3

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I thought the expansion slot used 2 lanes or do x4 cards just flood it with it data?
Nevermind, they havent tried one yet.
 
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-Le Monde-

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Skittles said:
I imagine it's only a matter of time before someone makes an enclosure that spoofs itself to look official
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This is what I'm hoping for. Prices are unreasonable compared to what's available right now.
I wonder if a pcie3 3200GB/s drive would work for playing series x games. It would be faster than the internal drive, but it wouldn't be pcie4.
 
Slayven

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Let me know when i can buy an adapter off aliexpress, and use it in a year because shipping
 
OP
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-Le Monde- said:
This is what I'm hoping for. Prices are unreasonable compared to what's available right now.
I wonder if a 3200GB/s drive would work for playing series x games. It would be faster than the internal slot, but it wouldn't be pcie4.
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There are only two lanes dedicated to the expansion slot on Xbox, compared to four on PC/PS5, so it would cut the 3200MB/s in half. However, I don't imagine it'll make much of a difference with DirectStorage.
 
kubev

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wwm0nkey said:
Ha! Called that someone was going to make an adapter at some point and I was told it was impossible.
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I don't think this should be too surprising. Wasn't it determined that the "expansion card" itself is basically just an adapter for an existing type of SSD? That said, I do wish we'd get more options for expansion on Xbox. I'm less concerned about the price and just more bummed about the limits. 1 TB has been totally fine, but I do miss having all of my games installed, even if I wouldn't realistically play enough of them within any given period of time for it to make sense.
 
Kuro

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Sullivan said:
That one includes a 2TB SSD. It seems like the person from the article used this one from AliExpress. Hopefully with this news, we get cheaper ones, maybe even an official ones after the Seagate deal.
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The Zitay product doesn't contain any SSD, you have to buy one separately although that ESXS product does appear to be $70 cheaper. Not sure what the difference is between the $60 and $150 ones though (besides the enclosure).
 
OP
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Kuro said:
The Zitay product doesn't contain any SSD, you have to buy one separately although that ESXS product does appear to be $70 cheaper. Not sure what the difference is between the $60 and $150 ones though.
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Ah, I misread it. The difference is one is wired and provides an enclosure for your SSD. I do imagine, someone will make an even cheaper one in the near future though.

TZT-For-ESXS-Cfexpress-To-SSD-M-2-NVMe-Wired-Version-Adapter-Used-for-Canon-EOS.jpg_Q90.jpg_.webp

$60 one

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$150 one
 
wwm0nkey

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Ordered the adapter, I really don't think it will be too long before the required files are dumped online somewhere
 
gothi

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This type of spoofing/adapter was the space Datel used to play in with their Codejunkies and Action Replay/Game Shark brands. Really surprised they don't have anything to offer already
 
Fiksi

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Great if it works, hope they don't stop it somehow with an update or anything. I like my expansion card, but even more options down the line will be good if possible.
 
canderous

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For tinkering it's kinda neat. But by the time you buy an adapter you probably aren't saving much money, plus MS could disable non official drives with an update if they wanted to. Adapter specs are also below the SSD speed.

Not to mention that giant thing sticking out the back. The coolest thing about the expansion card is its tiny memory card form factor (IMO). I like the one with the wire and separate enclosure better, but that's even more expensive.
 
OP
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canderous said:
For tinkering it's kinda neat. But by the time you buy an adapter you probably aren't saving much money, plus MS could disable non official drives with an update if they wanted to. Adapter specs are also below the SSD speed.

Not to mention that giant thing sticking out the back. The coolest thing about the expansion card is its tiny memory card form factor (IMO). I like the one with the wire and separate enclosure better, but that's even more expensive.
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I think the big benefit is that you can use the NVMe in a PC or something else whereas with the Xbox expansion card it's restricted to just the consoles. Saves a lot of waste and has more use. I think if this turns out to actually work, we'll get cheaper alternatives.
 
EvilBoris

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It was only a matter of time before we had more 3rd parties making them.
 
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