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Since the arrival of Microsoft’s Xbox Series S and X, gamers have been handcuffed into using proprietary SSD’s for their expansion needs. However, thanks to a discovery made by a modder, that may no longer be the case.
The discovery was made by a member of the Chinese website BiliBili, stating that you may be able to utilize any SSD for Xbox Series X and S if used in tandem with a unique adapter. Whilst this may not be big news to some, it may see future SSDs for Xbox reduce in price – alongside a wider variety of options become available.
Modder Uses Adapter To Add Non-proprietary SSD To Next-Gen Xbox
The BiliBili member writes an in-depth blog over on the site explaining his findings alongside speculation regarding potential other SSDs to come. In the post, he discusses how he discovered in a teardown video that the console used two PCIe 4.0 X2 slots – one for the internal SSD and one for the Seagate expansion.
Furthermore, they established that a CFExpress card was used, equipped with the NVMe protocol – all he needed to do was find the correct PCIe 4.0 SSD and he should be able to utilize an adapter at the rear.
In the end, the modder made use of a 1TB Western Digital SN530 M.2 2230 – speculated to be the same SSD used by Xbox themselves for the internal device. He goes on to connect the 1TB SSD to the CFe to NVMe adapter, plugging it into the expansion slot on the console itself. After doing so, it didn’t take long to realise that the experiment was a success – with the menu clearly recognizing the device and adding 867GB to the console’s storage capactiy.
Whilst this is good news for third-party SSDs and their compatibility with Xbox consoles, the user does stress that they have only tested the process with one SSD. At this stage, there is no evidence to suggest that any other SSD would work.
He goes on to say :“If there are experts out there who can try other NVMe PCIe 4.0 solid state drives, especially the 2280 length, which can be expanded to 4T or more, then the value of this discovery will be great,” they said (VGC’s translation). “I hope someone can give feedback if they test it.”
If any SSD is compatible with the next-gen consoles, it could see a tonne of business go to budget-oriented SSD manufacturers.
