Xbox Wire: A Primer on the Simple and Custom Storage Options Available for Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S at Launch

[HonestAbe]

They are though. This is a 2.4GB/s drive for £220. A 3.5GB/s NVME drive is £110, half the price.

A 5GB/s PCIe 4.0 NVME drive is £170.

This is a slow, low end drive that's priced higher than the fastest NVME drives on the market. Its blatant price gouging, nothing more, nothing less.

Click to shrink...

I swear you come into all the Series SSD threads and spew the same stuff. You need to realize you are partially paying for speed but also for form factor. This was made to fit inside the console easily and with that design in mind. Not to mention it needs to fit to be cooled properly with in the cooling systems. Similar form factor drives for video equipment with less speed are 2x the price if not more. I'm not justifing the price, I'm just saying it's more than just speed, speed, speed.

 

[Gwarm]

Looks like I'm going to continue doing MS Rewards points and buy one of these in two years.

 

[evilalien]

If it's based on cfexpress as people here said, it could well be just as loss-making as the consoles themselves at this moment in time.

Click to shrink...

It is not based on CFexpress. CFexpress is a PCIe 3.0 standard and can only do 1GB/s per lane (of which there are only 2 here).

 

[nihilence]

Can settings allow you to auto install Series games to internal or card, and older stuff automatically to USB?

 

[JigglesBunny]

2TB cards are literally going to cost more than the Series S, lol.

 

[Gashprex]

I'm fascinated to see what the PS5 expansion slot/cards look like - installing a NVE on a motherboard is a major pain the in the ass with the tiny screws, weird interface on an angle that makes it seem like its about to break, and heatsink.

 

[headspawn]

Ehh. not too jazzed about the price but it's good to see that they are aware of the concern and are bringing in other partners.'

When I get a Series X I'll just stick with my 4TB HDD/2TB SSD as my external storage for a while it seems.

 

[AntiMacro]

Sorry if this has been answered before, but will XBOX ONE games that run off HDD benefit from any upscaling or better framerates on the Series S?

Click to shrink...

They benefit from those things no matter where you run them from. If you run them from the internal they get faster load times as well.

 

[Lowrys]

They benefit from those things no matter where you run them from. If you run them from the internal they get faster load times as well.

Click to shrink...

Though it seems that games optimized for Series X must be run from the SSD.

 

[Teamocil]

Pretty sure they are hot swappable if you put them in a formfactor that supports it. There is nothing preventing NVMe M.2 SSD from being hot swappable other than the form factor. They are made to be internal storage but you can put them in an external enclosure and use them as an external drive if you want.

Click to shrink...

If you read the article you took that image from, you'd see that the drive has to be compatible.

Icy Dock's latest gadget, the ToughArmor MB840M2P-B, is a great way to add an M.2 slot to an older system. But this model also adds another important feature that your motherboard probably doesn't support: Hot-swapability. Provided your SSD and motherboard support it, this feature allows you to pop the M.2 SSD out while your system is still running, enabling true M.2-on-the-go capabilities.

Click to shrink...

Link: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/hot-swap-m2-nvme-ssd-icy-dock

What value does the drive being hot swappable have to anyone? There's a single slot in the console, and it's a $220 accessory, I'm not going to have a stash of them lying around to swap in and out. Even if I did, where's the benefit, a console with an NVME boot drive should be booting up in under 10 seconds. Is saving 10 seconds once in a generation really worth paying double the price of an equivalent NVME drive?

Click to shrink...

I don't know? I didn't design it lmao

 

[Chance_Boudreaux]

I do wonder how long it will take to transfer games from USB to internal

Click to shrink...

I doubt it'll be too long. Even if it is just click transfer, go take a shit and by the time you return you'll be playing!

 

[McFly]

If you read the article you took that image from, you'd see that the drive has to be compatible.

Link: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/hot-swap-m2-nvme-ssd-icy-dock

I don't know? I didn't design it lmao

Click to shrink...

Any m.2 NVMe storage is compatible as long as it fits into the caddy. Any modern OS and motherboard supports hot swapping storage. I still remember back in the day when you had to eject SD cards and flash drives first from within the OS before you removed them.

 

[Pancakes R Us]

£219.99 in the UK

For £30 more you have an entire console 😂

Click to shrink...

Yep, no way am I getting that until it hits sale price or gets a good reduction. Plus no one on this forum seems to have anything good to say about Seagate.

 

[LavaBadger]

I just can't wrap my mind around how expensive that expansion is. It's wild.

 

[Deleted member 56752]

I just can't wrap my mind around how expensive that expansion is. It's wild.

Click to shrink...

Wait until you hear how much money a 120gb hard drive retailed at during the 360 era

 

[baconcow]

This is $309 pre-tax here in Canada! Christ.

I'm sticking to my external HDDs and transferring stuff over.

Click to shrink...

Where are you looking at? BB has it at $299.99.

 

[LavaBadger]

Wait until you hear how much money a 120gb hard drive retailed at during the 360 era

Click to shrink...

Ha, I have zero recollection of it. (I've never been one to be interested in expanded hard drives.) Was it really even more?

 

[TitanicFall]

I swear you come into all the Series SSD threads and spew the same stuff. You need to realize you are partially paying for speed but also for form factor. This was made to fit inside the console easily and with that design in mind. Not to mention it needs to fit to be cooled properly with in the cooling systems. Similar form factor drives for video equipment with less speed are 2x the price if not more. I'm not justifing the price, I'm just saying it's more than just speed, speed, speed.

Click to shrink...

This reminds me of Vita memory cards. No one liked that. At the end of the day this was an intentional design decision by MS. Since the 360, they have been bullish on letting users upgrade the internal storage. It didn't have to be this way.

 

[baconcow]

No idea why Xbox went proprietary memory cards. I guess they figured it would be easier for the consumer to understand and impliment, even though it was braindead easy to hotswap the HDD in a PS4, for example.

Click to shrink...

Because some people (myself) don't want to open their console to swap anything. I suck as hands-on technical tasks and once broke a plastic tab on the inside of an old remote when opening it due to lack of proper tools and knowledge. I wouldn't want to damage a $500 USD console. Plug and play is much simpler.

 

[dep9000]

Xbox is continuing to invest in the Expandable Storage category on Xbox Series X|S with goal of offering choice for Xbox fans, including additional capacities and implementations in the future

Click to shrink...

So it sounds like there will be more options available in the future, which should lead to lower prices. I don't think the vast majority of people are going to need to buy this any time in the near future so hopefully at that point there will be other, cheaper options. It's an early adopter charge. Nothing new.

 

[baconcow]

This is a slow, low end drive that's priced higher than the fastest NVME drives on the market. Its blatant price gouging, nothing more, nothing less.

Click to shrink...

2.4 GB/s is a slow, low-end drive? News to me.

 

[Garrison]

Xbox is continuing to invest in the Expandable Storage category on Xbox Series X|S with goal of offering choice for Xbox fans, including additional capacities and implementations in the future.

Click to shrink...

Interesting. They probably have Seagate doing the first go at these things but I wonder what other implementations they are thinking about. It would be cool if the slot can be used as a connector for even bigger non portable storage.

But then again I like the idea of this being so small that I can take full games with me easily to other consoles.

 

[Jroc]

Here's my big thought:

The Series S and Series X basically have a user-accessable PCIe slot on the back. Any chance it could be leveraged for future add-ons of some sort? (High-speed wireless VR connection?)

I swear you come into all the Series SSD threads and spew the same stuff. You need to realize you are partially paying for speed but also for form factor. This was made to fit inside the console easily and with that design in mind. Not to mention it needs to fit to be cooled properly with in the cooling systems. Similar form factor drives for video equipment with less speed are 2x the price if not more. I'm not justifing the price, I'm just saying it's more than just speed, speed, speed.

Click to shrink...

M.2 drives are already the size of a credit card. I don't understand why they would limit themselves to such an obscure format knowing it would double the cost.

My bet is still on price gouging.

 

[wheely big cheese]

Do any of the new consoles have usb c ports?

 

[Typhon]

Do any of the new consoles have usb c ports?

Click to shrink...

PS5 has one. Series X doesn't from what I can find.

 

[nib95]

£220?! It sucks because the previous rumours had it semi-confirmed as being £159. Even that price I thought was too high, but at least not completely ridiculous. £220 is taking the biscuit. £30 more literally gets you a Series S!

Looks like the Xbox Series 1TB storage expansion is coming in at £159

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/xbox-series-x-s-pre-order-now-available#section-2 Same info is coming from the people in the pre order thread. Seems atm only Smyths in UK has it up. Edit:

www.resetera.com

Why are Microsoft and Sony so damn inconsistent with pricing and currency conversions? On certain things prices seem reasonable or conversions fair (eg on the consoles themselves), on others they just seem off.

This should have been $150 and £135/£140, given similar speed or faster 1TB SSD's can be had for around £120.

Either way, it looks like I may not be getting an additional 1TB top up for either new console for some time.

____

Edit: Source for pricing on those similar speed SSD's.

Western Digital 1TB 2.4GB/s NVMe SSD - £95

Sabrant 1TB 3.2GB/s NVMe SSD - £110

Addlink 1TB 3.4GB/s NVMe SSD - £118

 

[Kasey]

Looks like I'll be deleting games while I wait for this to drop in price.

 

[sjackso3]

I think their only real misstep here is not having a 512GB variant of the expansion card for $99 at launch. It gives the Series S people an affordable way to reach storage parity with the Series X and might be more amenable to other consumers.

I'd be hesitant to jump in on the 1TB right now because I foresee 2 and 4 TB ones being offered in two years or so

Click to shrink...

This is what I was thinking. If you are trying to replicate the Xbox 360 Arcade memory card experience, give me options at 256GB and 512GB costing $50 and $100 respectively. I would jump all over that. At even 256GB, I get to almost where the PS5 is and I still come in paying less at $350.00 if I did decide to expand later. Since they can be hot swapped, that could totally work. That's a much easier pill to swallow for someone who wants to get in the Xbox eco-system on the cheap.

I assume from Jason Ronald's comments, those cards are coming later. My guess is that Seagate wants to see how much they can squeeze out of the early adopters who will likely pay more before giving them a more affordable option down the road.

 

[wheely big cheese]

PS5 has one. Series X doesn't from what I can find.

Click to shrink...

Guess that means S doesn't either :(

 

[Theswweet]

2.4 GB/s is a slow, low-end drive? News to me.

Click to shrink...

Yes, absolutely. Even budget NVMe are faster than the Xbox drives these days.

 

[Tribal24]

Here's my big thought:

The Series S and Series X basically have a user-accessable PCIe slot on the back. Any chance it could be leveraged for future add-ons of some sort? (High-speed wireless VR connection?)

M.2 drives are already the size of a credit card. I don't understand why they would limit themselves to such an obscure format knowing it would double the cost.

My bet is still on price gouging.

Click to shrink...

That is tiny, i'm with you on price gouging. Same shit Sony did with the Vita

 

[DarkenedSoul]

Q: Why _____ ?
A: SEAGATE! VELOCITY!

Still disappointed they went this route. Maybe compatible nvme adapters will be a thing down the line.

 

[Deleted member 79058]

Do you guys know how long would take to transfer a 50GB game from USB to SSD? I'm thinking about buying a Series S, but having to buy an expansion card later would cost a Xbox Series X.

 

[exodus]

Do you guys know how long would take to transfer a 50GB game from USB to SSD? I'm thinking about buying a Series S, but having to buy an expansion card later would cost a Xbox Series X.

Click to shrink...

Roughly 8 minutes at 100MB/s.

 

[Deleted member 79058]

Roughly 8 minutes at 100MB/s.

Click to shrink...

I see. Not bad actually. Better than having to download the games again + I'm able to store Xbox One and 360 games.

If I buy this HDD + a Sata to USB 3.1 adapter, will I have this 100Mb/s speed?

Sorry for bothering and thank you.

 

[Buttonbasher]

I'm cool with big hard drive for cold storage, and transfer whatever I'm playing at the moment over to the SSD. 1TB of active games is more than plenty for me.

 

[rebelcrusader]

Yes, absolutely. Even budget NVMe are faster than the Xbox drives these days.

Click to shrink...

i'm sorry what

 

[Rowsdower]

Where are you looking at? BB has it at $299.99.

Click to shrink...

Microsoft Store.

 

[Theswweet]

i'm sorry what

Click to shrink...

Did I stutter? There are multiple 1TB drives with faster rated speeds for half the cost on Amazon.

 

[Spectromixer]

Have the drives gone up for pre-order anywhere other than Best Buy?

 

[rustyra24]

for a friend can you run the math based on CFExpress which is what this drive is?

it's hot swappable and a card not a drive. I would love to see what CFExpress PCI4 cards go for.

Click to shrink...

They are about $800 bucks for a 1TB card.

 

[Tap In]

okay already knew we could play games off of our existing external hard drives

they mentioned being able to use Quick resume from those older external drives which is great to hear but regarding using fast loading they only reference the internal SSD and the Seagate external proprietary SSD.

does that mean that fast loading will not work with the velocity architecture from the old hard drive?

 

[StereoVSN]

This is awesome! I already have a 3TB external USB HDD connected to the Xbox One X.

Click to shrink...

That is sure convenient. Wonder if Sony will allow the same.

 

[rebelcrusader]

Did I stutter? There are multiple 1TB drives with faster rated speeds for half the cost on Amazon.

Click to shrink...

looking at anandtechs recent ssd rounduplast month they consider a hynix gold p31 to be a high end nvme...it is slower than the Xbox one while also being cheaper

A Samsung 970 pro is also a high end chip though it goes past the Xbox memory to a 3000+ MB/s speeds sequentially...it is 180 dollars for a bare pcb with not the very small form factor or the casing the Xbox card is in

None of the budget nvmes they list get anywhere close

also when you say dumbass stuff like "did I stutter" you come off as an asshole who is proud of his ignorance

edit: also everyone seems to be comparing sale prices on ssds that have been on the market for months to an unreleased ssd's list price

 

[Grazzt]

I'm cool with big hard drive for cold storage, and transfer whatever I'm playing at the moment over to the SSD. 1TB of active games is more than plenty for me.

Click to shrink...

This.

 

[Deleted member 2379]

Yes, absolutely. Even budget NVMe are faster than the Xbox drives these days.

Click to shrink...

PCI 4 CFExpress cost how much again?

the ones that don't require heat sinks and are meant to be removed all the time?

I think 1TB goes for $800

it's a CFExpress drive not a standard nvme.

 

[Theswweet]

T

looking at anandtechs recent ssd rounduplast month they consider a hynix gold p31 to be a high end nvme...it is slower than the Xbox one while also being cheaper

A Samsung 970 pro is also a high end chip though it goes past the Xbox memory to a 3000+ MB/s speeds sequentially...it is 180 dollars for a bare pcb with not the very small form factor or the casing the Xbox card is in

None of the budget nvmes they list get anywhere close

also when you say dumbass stuff like "did I stutter" you come off as an asshole who is proud of his ignorance

Click to shrink...

...The SK Hynix SSD is rated for over 3000 read/write. The Xbox SSD is 2400.

 

[RobbRivers]

Can I buy another Series S and connect it to the initial one? XD

 

[Rurunaki]

If I'm reading this right, did they just confirm that the Series X Velocity Architecture will only work for the proprietary ssd?

 

[evilalien]

PCI 4 CFExpress cost how much again?

the ones that don't require heat sinks and are meant to be removed all the time?

I think 1TB goes for $800

it's a CFExpress drive not a standard nvme.

Click to shrink...

It is not CFexpress; CFExpress is PCIe 3.0 spec and cannot handle more than 2GB/s over 2 channels. There is no PCIe 4.0 CFExpress yet.