Ever since Microsoft launched its Xbox Collection X/S recreation consoles in late 2020, Seagate has been completely promoting storage enlargement playing cards for these programs. However to the chagrin of players all over the place, these single-supplier drives have maintained their excessive costs at the same time as the value of NAND and industry-standard SSDs has plummeted within the final yr. However this may lastly be altering, as Western Digital on Tuesday launched its first WD_Black-branded storage enlargement playing cards for Microsoft’s newest Xbox consoles.
Western Digital’s WD_Black C50 lineup of enlargement playing cards for Microsoft’s Xbox Collection X|S consoles consists of 500 GB and 1 TB fashions. The WD_Black C50 enlargement playing cards are designed to supply related efficiency and options (e.g., Fast Resume) as built-in Xbox Collection X|S inside storage so to supply seamless expertise regardless of the place the video games are put in bodily: on the interior SSD or on an enlargement card.
Western Digital’s WD_Black C50 500 GB is priced at $80, whereas the 1 TB model prices $150. In contrast, Seagate at the moment has 512 GB ($110), 1 TB ($150), and a couple of TB ($280) choices. It’s noteworthy that Seagate is now providing its enlargement drives with a 30% low cost within the U.S., presumably in response to Western Digital’s choices.
The storage enlargement models for Microsoft’s latest Xbox Collection X|S gaming programs are proprietary and solely designed for use with these consoles. Technically, these storage models resemble the CFexpress 1.0 Kind-B design, but they function with a PCIe 4.0 x2 interface, whereas the CFexpress 1.0 Kind-B specification mandates utilization of a PCIe 3.0 x2 interface.
Microsoft is believed to cost a licensing payment from makers of Xbox Collection X|S storage enlargement playing cards, and apparently Seagate was the one firm to agreed to the software program big’s phrases, which is why it was the unique provider of such storage models for over two years.
It’s noteworthy that it’s attainable to DIY a storage enlargement card for the most recent Xbox consoles by utilizing a CFexpress-to-M.2-2230 adapter, initially developed to extend storage capability in cameras utilizing an M.2-2230 SSD. At present, these adapters may be bought from Amazon for $30. Nevertheless, solely a few hard-to-find 2230 drives are literally suitable with this methodology, leaving the official enlargement playing cards as the one sure-fire and dependable method so as to add storage to Microsoft’s consoles.
