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[LectureMaster]

https://www.windowscentral.com/gami...solutely-did-better-than-the-xbox-series-xors

SSD prices are crashing, for everyone except Xbox fans​

At launch, the PS5 lacked an expandable storage solution and was heavily criticized for it. Given that many games are now frequently hitting anywhere between 50 and 100 GB in size, this presented Xbox with something of an advantage. Microsoft launched the Xbox Series X|S with proprietary SSD expansion cards built by Seagate that seamlessly expand your console's storage footprint. It wouldn't be until a few months later that Sony caught up, offering players the ability to incorporate practically any high-speed NVME M.2 SSD into the PS5 for storing and running games.

It turns out Sony's solution was absolutely and unequivocally the better choice, but what's the full story?

Indeed, as the global chip shortages receded and the pandemic demand waned, SSD prices have dropped more than 30%, following accurate predictions from analysts back in 2022. The same analysts predict that SSD prices could drop anywhere up to 50% in price by the end of the summer of 2023. This chart from Tom's Guide below gives you a glimpse at just how hard prices are falling right now, and it's for basically all storage solutions except Microsoft's.

Drive	Price	Jan Price	Price Cut
WD Black SN770	$59.99	$89.99	33.34%
Crucial P3 Plus	$54.99	$79.99	31.25%
Intel 670p	$49.99	$69.99	28.58%
Samsung 870 Evo	$64.98	$89.99	27.79%
Crucial MX500	$51.99	$69.99	25.72%
Solidigm P41 Plus	$52.99	$69.99	24.29%
WD Blue SN570	$52.99	$69.99	24.29%
Samsung 980 Pro	$99.99	$129.99	23.08%
Silicon Power UD90	$57.99	$74.99	22.67%
Samsung 980	$69.98	$89.99	22.24%
Crucial P3	$49.99	$63.99	21.88%
SK hynix Gold P31	$107.99	$136.99	21.17%
Samsug 970 Evo Plus	$79.98	$99.99	20.01%
Kingston KC3000	$86.75	$106.99	18.92%
Kingston Fury Renegade	$91.76	$111.99	18.06%
Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus	$99.99	$119.99	16.67%
Crucial P5 Plus	$89.99	$99.99	10.00%
Sabrent Rocket Q	$79.99	$79.99	0.00%
Samsung 990 Pro	$169.99	$169.99	0.00%
SK hynix Platinum P41	$149.99	$149.99	0.00%
WD Black SN850X	$99.99	$99.99	0.00%

Not all of the above drives meet PS5's minimum requirements, but many do. The fact I can hop onto Amazon or Walmart and find PS5 1TB SSDs for around $90, compared to the Xbox Series X|S's $180 to $200, is difficult to explain to people asking. And sure, cheaper off-brand parts are likely to be more prone to failures, but even premium brands like Samsung et al. are offering prices far below what Microsoft wants for an equivalent amount of storage.

The price on these cards just hasn't shifted in two years of availability, owing to the expensive CFExpress interfacing standard Microsoft opted for. Why they chose this method boils down to a bet on how markets would move with regard to storage, and it was ultimately a bet that didn't pan out the way Microsoft would have hope

There are more analyses in the article. Did you expand your console storage? How much you paid?

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People are derailing the thread saying "one thing? lol", let's not. Don't want it to end up being locked.

 

[Deerock71]

Well if they're not crashing for Xbox fans, then I did well upgrading when they first came out.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

I prefer the ease of the Xbox solution but the cost is stupid

 

[93xfan]

Did a 5TB external hard drive for my XSX. Don’t mind transferring games back and forth every now and then. Mostly use it for many BC games though.

 

[Panajev2001a]

I prefer the ease of the Xbox solution but the cost is stupid

True, but when you can add 2-4 TB relatively affordably the ease of plugging storage in and buying multiple 1 TB cards at those prices… well…

 

[Kilau]

I added 2TB to my PS5 for about $180 same thing for my XSX would be $360 (perm price drop?) and that's sad. Yes the Xbox drive can just be plugged in with no case removal or dreaded screw stripping, but I only have the one Series console so it's not useful to me.

I've opted for external drives on the Xbox and they work great and at least the times when I need to swap games, it's fast.

 

[Panajev2001a]

Did a 5TB external hard drive for my XSX. Don’t mind transferring games back and forth every now and then

Did the same for PS5, storing most of my PS4 games and backing up some of my PS5 titles (which I may not have if I had gotten a 2 TB SSD expansion instead of the 1 TB one).

 

[kyliethicc]

"one thing" lol

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

True, but when you can add 2-4 TB relatively affordably the ease of plugging storage in and buying multiple 1 TB cards at those prices… well…

Yeah I have a 2 TB in my PS5 but I do wish Xbox had better pricing on their SSDs

 

[Trogdor1123]

I think the Xbox way is just fine. I like the ps5 one a better but it’s not a big difference.

 

[adamsapple]

I have an external SSD for backwards compatible games and as cold storage for New Gen games, it's been working out good so far, but the proprietary prices are absolute bull.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

MS has an easy fix for this:
Create an adapter that will accept Gen4 NVME drives. Problem solved.

 

[SlimySnake]

Yeah, those of us who lived through MS nickle and diming us on the 360 know exactly what they were doing when they went with proprietary storage this gen. It's really lame and am glad they are being called out on it.

 

[scarlet0pimp]

I've bought 2 1 Gb cards for the xbox got and s and X. Paid £160 for each of them on offers. They do need to drop the prices though, don't mind them being more expensive as they are decent but the prices look very steep now.
Having said that though I do find them really useful, I take my consoles out with me fairly often fter to friends houses or they bring consoles with them for lan gaming, and the ability to remove the card and insert into friends xbox has saved many a lan night when some forgets to update a game or doesn't have it installed at all. Copying between these cards is much faster than copying to usb drive and then moving to friends console.

 

[mckmas8808]

Can anybody let me know what are the top 2 or 3 options in the PS5 list? With PSVR2, I'm looking to upgrade my storage since none of those games will ever be purchases via physical media.

 

[Rocco Schiavone]

Installed a 2TB Western Digital SN850.

It was really hard.

(Just kidding)

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

sony does learn from their mistakes it seems.

 

[Hobbygaming]

I think the Xbox way is just fine. I like the ps5 one a better but it’s not a big difference.

The difference:

 

[Gamerguy84]

Have an assortment of externals, no did not upgrade internal because I have fiber, no data caps, and my gaming habits tend to stick with a few games at a time.

 

[graywolf323]

I upgraded both but really only the reason I upgraded my Xbox Series X was because Target happened to clearance out the 512GB cards for like $70

 

[mrmustard]

No need, i never haver more than two or three games installed.

 

[coffinbirth]

People like to pretend there aren't 3rd party solutions for Xbox as well.
I got a 1TB drive and an adapter for $120 shipped last year. The 2TB drives in that form factor are just still expensive even for OEM.

 

[IFireflyl]

MS has an easy fix for this:
Create an adapter that will accept Gen4 NVME drives. Problem solved.

Conversion Adapter Lets You Install Short M.2 SSDs Into Xbox Series X, S

Cheap Xbox Series X|S storage upgrades possible with conversion adapter.

www.tomshardware.com

 

[SSfox]

"The one"? Lmao

There are much more than "one": Exclusives, Much faster SSD and pretty much everything

The one thing that Xbox did better than PS is full BC.

 

[JaksGhost]

sony does learn from their mistakes it seems.

I don't get this sentiment in regards to their consoles since I can upgrade my PS3 and PS4 using the same methods. It's not expandable internally like the PS5 but they do offer non-proprietary solutions. The Vita is the only system where they botched the storage by making it proprietary.

 

[Rusty Shackelford]

Paid $25 for the 512GB Series X expansion at Target when they were on clearance last year.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

http://[URL]https://www.tomshardware.com/news/coversion-adapter-for-m2-2230-ssds-for-xbox-series-xs

[/URL]

Those are unofficial and can't do much.

The adaptor has a major limitation, though. While it can house any short M.2-2230 drive with a PCIe interface, the consoles are only compatible with select SSDs featuring a specific firmware and internal format. For example, Western Digital's WD Blue CH SN530 is naturally compatible with Microsoft's consoles, but the WD Blue PC SN530 is not. This could be why you can't use typical CFexpress 1.0 Type-B cards to expand the storage in Microsoft's consoles. Unfortunately, it's currently unclear how many SSDs are on the market that fit these specific requirements.

 

[nowhat]

Can anybody let me know what are the top 2 or 3 options in the PS5 list? With PSVR2, I'm looking to upgrade my storage since none of those games will ever be purchases via physical media.

Samsung 980 Pro is a quite safe bet. Just make sure you get the version with the heatsink (or install one afterwards).

 

[DarkMage619]

I prefer the ease of the Xbox solution but the cost is stupid

Price is really the only advantage the PS5 solution has. I will never be able to remove my PS5 internal storage and take it to a friend's to play. At least Xbox saves me money on games so the one time cost of the expensive drive isn't the end of the world.

 

[soulbait]

People like to pretend there aren't 3rd party solutions for Xbox as well.
I got a 1TB drive and an adapter for $120 shipped last year. The 2TB drives in that form factor are just still expensive even for OEM.

Those are not official though and if they brick your console, you have no warranty. So yes, there are no official third-party options for the expansion card for the Xbox.

 

[Mr Moose]

Price is really the only advantage the PS5 solution has. I will never be able to remove my PS5 internal storage and take it to a friend's to play. At least Xbox saves me money on games so the one time cost of the expensive drive isn't the end of the world.

Price and speed.

 

[damidu]

duuhhh! it was obvious from day one to everyone but most stupid of fanboys.

 

[3liteDragon]

“One thing” lol, there’s a lot of things they did better but the proprietary storage vs free market debate was settled before it even started. For the poll, upgraded my PS5 storage with a 1TB SN850X.

 

[Pelta88]

I bought a 1TB expansion and heat sink. It's been working so well I don't even remember the brand. It could be WD Black?

Point is the fact that I don't even remember that it's there is the win here.

 

[lh032]

one thing? lmao

 

[LectureMaster]

Forgot to mention the fact if you are having both a PS5 and a PC, the upgrade utility is really neat - you can easily swap the M.2 ssd between the two platforms.

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

I remember people freaking out earlier when PS5 was released that you risked breaking the console or voiding insurance by trying to open the console to switch out the storage. That seems to have died off but people were taking that issue seriously for some time.

 

[cireza]

Xbox solution is super convenient and I got the 1 TB card at a decent price. It is plug'n play, takes no space at all etc... It was also available why sooner than PS5 solutions, if I remember correctly.

But great for PS5 gamers if they prefer their solution I guess !

 

[K' Dash]

Did a 5TB external hard drive for my XSX. Don’t mind transferring games back and forth every now and then

same here.

 

[LectureMaster]

I remember people freaking out earlier when PS5 was released that you risked breaking the console or voiding insurance by trying to open the console to switch out the storage. That seems to have died off but people were taking that issue seriously for some time.

What? On my observation each GAF on average built 2.35 PCs, we could change a M.2 ssd asleep! lol.

 

[Slicker than your average]

Price is really the only advantage the PS5 solution has. I will never be able to remove my PS5 internal storage and take it to a friend's to play. At least Xbox saves me money on games so the one time cost of the expensive drive isn't the end of the world.

You clowns will spin anything.

'take my harddrive to my friend's house' seriously who does this? I bet you and Riky have never done it.

 

[Ezekiel_]

Yeah, those of us who lived through MS nickle and diming us on the 360 know exactly what they were doing when they went with proprietary storage this gen. It's really lame and am glad they are being called out on it.

Yep, this was their plan all along. I'm not expecting price cuts anytime soon.

 

[Calverz]

The simple plug and play of the Xbox storage is brilliant. It’s great for those households with multiple Xboxes (children etc). The cost is just ridiculous. They should have come down by now.

I can’t comment on ps5 solution. When I had one, I just stuck with the internal

 

[Corndog]

I prefer the ease of the Xbox solution but the cost is stupid

Yep. They need to allow third parties to make expansion drives.

 

[Desless1]

Storage isn't really a problem, if you plan and do smart choices. But the price for the Seagate SSD for Xbox is a bit too pricey, and way too small in size.

Have three 5TB wd blacks attached to the series x. One with bc and 360 games, one for one/one x games and last is cold storage for series x games.

 

[Beechos]

Ms can always change course. They can easily open it up. They or a 3rd party can introduce an enclosure or dongle to put your own ssd in. Im surprised they didn't go this route. Margins prob higher selling a dongle and less risk involved with unsold ssd stock.

 

[Roberts]

The price is terrible and I hope they fix this shit and offer more affordable options soon but I never thought about buying it anyway. I usually play 3-4 games, daughter plays 2, max. We always have at least 100GB available.

 

[Paulxo87]

cerny got his way over japan regarding this. You would think it would be SONY(who has a known history of this) that would shove a expensive proprietary solution down your throats instead of an open approach.

 

[THE DUCK]

I was on team MS for this one at first, but I think over time the Sony solution won me over, despite the fact that I can see some consumers putting in jam sandwiches instead of SSD drives. MS needs to do something about the pricing to fix the issue.

 

[StereoVsn]

I got a 2TB internal NVME for PS5 plus an external 2TB SATA SSD for PS4 games on it.

Just got the 2TB for XSX. Not going to pay the stupid proprietary storage prices.