External Game Storage for the XBox S

[#1]

Does anyone here know of an external drive that supports and allows the playing of games direct from it without the need to move to the internal drive?

We've tried various disks including a Crucial MX500 M.2 whose read speed is 560Mb/ps but even that doesn't work.

The only thing that appears to work a 💩ity 1TB Seagate Storage Expansion Card at a staggering 190 surely this can't be right.

[#2 · Accepted solution]

@Mook 

I know nothing about these devices but suspect that the problem is not the read/write speed of the drive but the interface between the XBox and the drive. For example to transfer 560MB/s (note MX 500 is 560 MB/s not Mb/s) you need a link capable of working in excess of 4.48Gb/s, which is way too close to the theoretical 5Gb/s limit of USB3. It's above SATA2s capability so needs SATA3 or NVMe to make use of it's capability. I don't know about Thunderbolt and other protocols. On the other hand I don't know what transfer speed you really need.

So how are you connecting to the external drive?

[#3]

Ah excellent point @Baldrick1 it is USB3 so what you say might explain why that approach doesn't work. The Seagate unit I mentioned is, it would appear, a custom job as it slides in to the rear of the console like an old style games cartridge.

[#4]

@Mook 

On the other hand I doubt that the Seagate would reach these speeds. I would suspect that it's all about the X Box internal architecture.

[#5]

Seagate claim you can play from the device, which is a proprietary packaged NVMe disk but without the USB3 bottle neck. 

[#6]

The Seagate 1TB storage expansion is the only certified storage device for the Xbox Series S and X.

It's moderately expensive (but the price has dropped £30), but it's faster than anything USB 3 can handle, so Series S and X games can be run directly.  

You will still see two storage units in settings though, so you have to choose where you want to save things, but copying between them is very fast if needed.

On an Xbox Series S, you'll see 1 x 500g storage unit and one 1TB storage unit. 

And on the Xbox Series X, you'll see 2 x 1TB storage units. 

[#7]

I know the official 1 TB drive from MS is preferred, but I refuse on principle to pay £220 for that when for about a third of the price I can nip on Amazon and get a 4 TB drive which works with my Xbox.

[#8]

That's market forces for you. You've made your choice not to buy. Fair enough I say.

[#9]

@MrAllen2021 - Your 4TB drive may well work on your Xbox but you've got to consider the inconvenience of copying games to the internal storage to play them. Not work the price I grant you but tedious all the same.