Xbox Series X And Xbox Series S SSD Storage Explained

@illegal_peanut: why do you need 2 when all they have to do is just increase the size from 1 to 2TB and sell it to you for 400 bucks. I think we will definitely see a 2TB option somewhere in the near future. probably some 2 or 3 years when the 1TB price decrease to 150 or lower they will sell you the 2TB for at least 250

@illegal_peanut: I wonder if it's a hardware type issue and they only had room on the board for one expansion slot. Seems like they would want a few more to take our hard earned cash.

@systemoverload: it won't be that much more and definitely more bang for your dollar. For example the Samsung ssd that just released is only $10 More. This application that MS is a much worse value when comparing speed's. That's the downside of proprietary.

@systemoverload: if its cheaper than Xbonex will you admit your failed attempt at misinformation?

@tsunami2311: Prices have fallen by a large margin for SSD NVME m.2 pcie 3 and 4th gen sticks at a point that 500-1tb is 60-120$, 100-180 for gen4.. Compare to just 2 years ago when these started hitting the market were 300-400 % higher in price. With predictions that these forms of storage will actually outpace even traditional HDD in total storage.

So actually, size, speed, an price of NVME is a much better option now, and future. https://www.howtogeek.com/404627/what-are-nvme-drives-and-should-you-buy-one/

Luckily both 9th gen consoles let us have a mix of nvme, hdd, and cloud support that a common gamer will not care one way about larger storage, heavy gamers can pay more for not only size but speed, and hoarders can have cheap access to just total size.

But as a gamer and consumer, I am much happier with the future minded NVME then the HDD.

Two things though: I really wish that all consoles gave free subscription less cloud storage (upto a reasonable amount). For saves and other stuff.

Also wish xbox allowed the hot swap, like sony of a straight nvme,- either 3 or 4th gen instead of proprietary. The 220$ gen 4 is higher then current equivalents, like https://www.amazon.com/GIGABYTE-PCI-Express-Interface-Performance-GP-ASM2NE6100TTTD/dp/B07TJWZGL9 @ 180 @170 . I am fine with them drawing a line at gen 4 because these are out with many manufacturers, seem durable, and prices are falling, by this time next year the prices should be down to near $100. Or instead of the proprietary unit above, is to sale us a dongle that would allow us to swap any brand and any size. Like some people will do just fine with a 500gb.

So far ps5 has not announced what storage they are using, probably gen 4 NVME, which is crazy considered how soon the launch is.

@rsiebelink: not as long as the Xbox series s exists.

@jbreez00: That was the whole point of the story above was that this is a 'proprietary' drive by one manufacturer. Hence the term, proprietary.

I mean yeah, a few years down the road, xbox could open it up to other brand (there are already dozens of manufacturers of nvme 4th gen at comparable or faster speeds for $170+ and prices if following the curve are quickly getting cheaper every single month) but the thing is, if you make a proprietary deal to create a pluggable card like one above, then they are going to write into the deal a strong time limit to protect their investment. I would bet years.

@Spartan_418:Both the PS5 and Xbox use a custom system delivering more priority lanes among other dedicated hardware like a custom I/O unit and flash controller (I don't remember if Sony named their system but the Xbox one is going by Velocity). Standard NVMe drive arhcitecture uses only 2 true priority levels, but the Xbox/PS5 use 6 priority levels.

Which means standard NVMe drives need extra speed to make up for that difference. You basically need to brute force the difference by using a faster drive. This is why despite a 5.5Gb/s speed on the PS5, Sony expects you will need approximately a 7Gb/s NVME drive to compensate for that difference between priority levels.

As Cerny puts it, its an Apples to Oranges comparison but in short, you basically need to be comparing it to a faster NVMe, not one of the same speed.

@Spartan_418: or twice that uncompressed, and the PS5's will be even faster. Plus it's plug-and-play.

It's in the same general ballpark so I really expect to see similar prices on PS5-certified SSDs down the line.