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When the Xbox Series X|S launched, there was only one official option for expanding your storage: the 1TB Seagate expansion card. While standard external drives can be used for extra storage, the Seagate storage expansion card was designed to match the exact specifications of the Series X|S, and was the only external storage option that you could play next-gen games directly from. Now, two new expansion cards are joining the Seagate lineup: a 512GB model and a 2TB model. These will function exactly like the original expansion cards, plugging into the bespoke port on the back of the console and allowing next-gen games to run directly from it.

One controversial point when the 1TB card released was the price. It launched at 219.99, just $80 short of an Xbox Series S, for just under double the storage that console came with. These two new cards are similarly expensive, however, as the 512GB card comes in at $139.99, and the 2TB card launches at $399.99.

The 512GB card will release in November and is currently available for pre-order from Wal-Mart. The 2TB card will launch in December with pre-orders going live next month.

Source

 

[eyeliner]

Oh, my behind on a stick!
Greedy puercos.

 

[tech3475]

I’m going to assume a 1:1 cost for the UK like the 1TB (£220 rrp), although normally ~£200 on Amazon.

This is my biggest problem with the Series, I recently picked up a 1TB 980 Pro for just £140 with a heatsink. It’s a shame they couldn’t even just use a caddy of some kind, presuming it’s possible.

 

[lokomelo]

It is expansive, true, but the value do not surprised me. Specially in this day and age.

 

[Kioku]

$400 for 2TB.. The mad lads are back at it again.

 

[Xzi]

No idea what Microsoft was thinking handing exclusive control of their storage options to Seagate. Every single drive I've bought from them has failed in relatively short order. And they think 512GB is worth $140? What a joke. Cost me only $90 for a PS5-compatible SSD of the same size (Western Digital).

 

[Scarlet]

I was gonna feel bad about getting the 1TB one buuuuuut..... Yeaaaaaah I ain't putting the money out for the 2TB any time soon lol

 

[rdurbin]

Crazy price. The 2tb card is more expensive than the series S.

 

[CloudStrife1901]

No thanks. Over priced just like how the psvita memory cards were!

 

[Kioku]

Crazy price. The 2tb card is more expensive than the series S.

With this in context, Microsoft is even more insane. Can't imagine the thought process behind this. Aside from their "proprietary connection"... Which just takes the m.2 format and makes it accessible via an external slot. Is it worth the mark up? Lol no

 

[tech3475]

With this in context, Microsoft is even more insane. Can't imagine the thought process behind this. Aside from their "proprietary connection"... Which just takes the m.2 format and makes it accessible via an external slot. Is it worth the mark up? Lol no

The prices actually aren’t too bad compared to M.2 drives I’ve seen….at RRP.

The problem is that with M.2 being ‘open’, I expect it to be more likely to see price drops, such as the SN850 2TB for $340 on Amazon right now but an RRP of $530.

I still find funny the arguments I’ve had with people who thought this could never happen and that MS would always keep it in line.

 

[osaka35]

How comparible is it to similarly speedy m.2 drives you can buy at newegg or something? It was my understanding they basically just resold them at cost, or close to. those super fast high-TB m.2 drives that are this tiny are too pricey for me. I'm fine with a external hdd backup and swapping out games every now and then for the speed. not ideal, but definitely the cheaper option.

 

[GBADWB]

I’m going to assume a 1:1 cost for the UK like the 1TB (£220 rrp), although normally ~£200 on Amazon.

This is my biggest problem with the Series, I recently picked up a 1TB 980 Pro for just £140 with a heatsink. It’s a shame they couldn’t even just use a caddy of some kind, presuming it’s possible.

You are aware that the connection isn't proprietary right? The CF Express slot is a publically used form factor and has adapters for it. Games Radar has reported on one working one, as well as VideoGamesChronicle . PC Gamer reports that there has been one that hasn't worked, but the idea is that the products already exist in the market, its just a matter of finding out which pair of adapters/ssds work and which dont

 

[Kioku]

The prices actually aren’t too bad compared to M.2 drives I’ve seen….at RRP.

The problem is that with M.2 being ‘open’, I expect it to be more likely to see price drops, such as the SN850 2TB for $340 on Amazon right now but an RRP of $530.

I still find funny the arguments I’ve had with people who thought this could never happen and that MS would always keep it in line.

Are these running the same speeds as the SN850 or 980 Pros? If MB for MB, they're comparable, then the price isn't TOO bad. Just funny to me that Microsoft and Sony are trying to convince us that we need the fastest of the fast, so we spend more.

Another thing to note is that these drives are for storing games only. If I buy a comparable NVME drive for my PC, I can get more use out of it. Just not very cost effective. I guess that's my argument.

 

[Guggimon]

This is the day i died (and also my wallet) because $400 for 2TB, Alright Screw this, Screw Microsoft. $100 more and i have a Series X. Btw if let's say you want to buy the 2TB one and a Series X and one game, That would be ALMOST a $1000 FUCKING DOLLARS. MS is Crazy fr. hell no ain't buy that shit unless they make the price the same as the 512GB because Normal 2TB drives cost around that. And I know this can play games, But that same shitty 2TB drive (The normal one) can run EVERY game if its in a PC (So why can't a Normal 2tb run games on xbox series but a SPECIAL Memory Card looking mofo can) It doesn't make sense...

 

[Foxi4]

I’m not entirely sure why people were surprised by the price point of those expansion cards - an acceptable quality 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe stick that’d offer comparable throughput costs in the neighbourhood of £150, slightly less if you score a sale, and those are made using multiple smaller chips - the Xbox expansion cards pack that capacity on one, and they’re custom, so of course they’re sold at a slight premium. I still don’t like them because all I can see is a custom Compact Flash Express-style card with DRM, but the price was understandable. Good to see more affordable options on the way, they should’ve started with that.

If you’re in two minds about giving money to Seagate, apparently Chinese cloners have already figured out how the Xbox expansion cards work and released adapters which work on the Series S and Series X, but it seems the consoles are quite picky - only select short NVMe’s are recognised.

https://www.tomshardware.com/amp/news/coversion-adapter-for-m2-2230-ssds-for-xbox-series-xs

It would be cool to test one of those - once you have an adapter handy, capacity can always be increased without shelling out on custom, Xbox-specific hardware.

 

[tech3475]

You are aware that the connection isn't proprietary right? The CF Express slot is a publically used form factor and has adapters for it. Games Radar has reported on one working one, as well as VideoGamesChronicle . PC Gamer reports that there has been one that hasn't worked, but the idea is that the products already exist in the market, its just a matter of finding out which pair of adapters/ssds work and which dont

Yes I am aware, however it’s still not ‘official’ until stated otherwise and I wouldn’t be surprised if MS block unlicensed options like they did on the 360.

Are these running the same speeds as the SN850 or 980 Pros? If MB for MB, they're comparable, then the price isn't TOO bad. Just funny to me that Microsoft and Sony are trying to convince us that we need the fastest of the fast, so we spend more.

Another thing to note is that these drives are for storing games only. If I buy a comparable NVME drive for my PC, I can get more use out of it. Just not very cost effective. I guess that's my argument.

It‘s late so please excuse/correct any mistakes, but according to Eurogramer the internal storage has:

• The ability for the console to access 2.4 GB/s of data per second - or 4.8GB/s uncompressed - which is around 40 times than what's possible on Xbox One currently.

And they also say this about the expansion:

and offers the same performance as the internal SSD included with every Xbox Series X and S.

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/xbox-series-ssd-expansion-card-size-speed-price-6300

So that’s 2400MB/s and 4800MB/s, in comparison, the 980 Pro in a PS5 is reported at least 5500MB/s from what I’ve seen (The PS5’s recommended minimum). Note my tests on a PC reported much higher.

Of course there may be other factors involved e.g. different types of reads/writes.

 

[ZeroFX]

lol what a piece of trash, 2021 and ms discovered the memory card.

 

[Sonic Angel Knight]

Ah, those memory cards return. Just like old times. been missing something to plug into my controller... or console.

 

[SG854]

MICROSOFT IS THE MOST CONSUMER FRIENDLY COMPANY!!!