Xbox series X will be rocking a custom NVMe SSD. It comes with 802 GB of ‘lightning-fast’ useable storage. Microsoft claims that the new console will be able to load games and the OS instantly as well as render new areas in the game in a flash.
Microsoft has announced the release date of Xbox Series X and Series S to be 10th November. The next generation of consoles offers many upgrades to their predecessors such as 4K 120fps and the SSD. Microsoft says that both of their upcoming consoles will have the same SSD (Series S will have less storage space as compared to series X). Although it is labeled as 1TB of high-speed NVMe storage, users will have access to 820GB only.
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Xbox Series X SSD will load worlds in a flash
Both of the next-gen Xbox consoles are equipped with a PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD. These SSDs have been custom made for the Xbox. To translate it into layman terms, NVMe SSDs are much faster than the traditional SATA SSDs. With higher read and write speeds, they enable the Xbox Series X to load games almost instantly. As you enter newer areas in games, the worlds would be rendered almost instantly in contrast to SATA where you might have to wait for a few seconds. These blazingly fast speeds make this feature the star attraction for the upcoming consoles.
Something to note would be that even though Xbox series X has 1TB storage on paper, only 820GB will be useable. This is because Microsoft has reserved some space for its OS as well as some system files. This storage should be enough for consumers who delete a game once they are done with it. However, if you like to keep your games for longer periods of time, read along as we explain some of your options.
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Expandable storage options
As explained earlier, users will have access to only 820 gigs of storage for their games and other files. This might seem enough on paper but with increasing file sizes for games especially the ones that will support 4K, you might have to look into your expandable storage options. The first one would be Seagate Storage Expansion Card for Xbox Series X|S. This is the 1TB storage card is Microsofts official option. Both consoles have a dedicated PCIe slot that runs straight to the CPU for maximum performance. This custom SSD is attractive but it would feel a little pricey being retailed at $220.
If you don’t want to spend that much money on it, you can consider getting a USB 3.1 hard drive. This is a relatively cheaper option and allows you to transfer games between your console storage and the external hard drive. Unlike the expansion card, the whole process is a little bit more time consuming than just plug and play. However, if you are willing to spare a few minutes in order to save money, this option seems wise.
As far as external hard drives are concerned, this option wouldn’t work perfectly. While it can allow you to play games of the older generation, you can’t play Xbox Series X games on it, This is primarily because these games will be optimized to fully utilize the native NVMe SSD to give you the best speeds.