Memory cards are back and they're better (and more expensive) than ever. The Xbox Series X will use special memory cards to expand the console's built-in 1TB solid state drive. External hard drives are still supported, but they offer limited functionality and are locked to older games.
Microsoft has teamed up with Seagate to make special expandable memory cards for the Xbox Series X that plug into that vertical slot in the console's rear side. These cards pack fully-fledged PCIe 4.0 SSDs that're identical copies of the powerful drive used in the console. The Xbox Series X also supports current external HDDs as expandable memory. But things get a bit tricky with legacy HDDs.
Games that're optimized to use the new hardware aren't compatible with HDDs because of the huge performance disparity. Although Xbox Series X won't get exclusive games, it will offer enhancement upgrades of games that use the new high-speed SSD's DirectStorage and Xbox Velocity Architecture. Once a game is upgraded, it can hit high performance like 120FPS with ray tracing, 4K 60FPS, and more, but only if it runs from the internal SSD or the new expandable storage drives.
"You can continue to use your existing USB 3.1+ external hard drives on Xbox Series X and you can run Xbox One, 360 and OG Xbox games directly from the external USB HDD. Games optimized for Xbox Series X and the Velocity Architecture need to be run from the internal SSD or the Expandable Storage Drive," Microsoft told The Verge.
Photo: Austin Walker, YouTube
Read Also: Full Xbox Series X specs: 3.8GHz Zen 2 CPU, 16GB GDDR6, 52CU Navi GPU
So don't expect to move your Xbox Series X-enhanced games to an external HDD and enjoy the same experience. The Xbox Series X enhanced games are depending on the SSD in order to hit higher-end performance.
The cards, which look to be on the CFexpress form factor, can deliver 2.4GB/sec data transfer speeds for uncompressed data. Older games that aren't optimized for the system will use uncompressed data. Remember, it's still possible to download and play legacy games on the Xbox Series X.
The enhanced games that're designed to tap the new Velocity Architecture can hit up to 4.8GB/sec data transfers thanks to the new DirectStorage compression system. That's roughly 40x faster than the slow RPM drives in the Xbox One family. But this isn't something that all games will hit, only those that're optimized for the system.
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Read Also: Xbox Series X SSD is revolutionary, changes Xbox gaming forever
Some of these console upgrades are automatically done by the system. The Xbox Series X can natively boost resolution of select current-gen games to native 4K. The first game to get native 4K boosts is Gears of War 4: Ultimate from 2015.
Other enhancements that push the perf boundaries even further need to be manually issued out by developers via updates and patches. We also got a taste of these new updates with Gears of War 5 running at over 100FPS on Ultra PC presets with ray tracing effects with GeForce RTX 2080 equivalent performance.
These are the kinds of things that won't be available on a HDD. The upgrades are made possible by the enhanced delivery mechanisms and ultra-fast, ultra-efficient capabilities of the customized SSD tech.
Built in partnership with Seagate, this 1 TB custom storage solution expands storage capacity of Xbox Series X with the full speed and performance of the Xbox Velocity Architecture Previous generation Xbox titles can still be played directly from external USB 3.2 hard drives.
However, to receive all the benefits of the Xbox Velocity Architecture and optimal performance, Xbox Series X, optimized games should be played from the internal SSD or Xbox Series X Storage Expansion Card.
External HDDs will instead be storage lockers for legacy titles. I'm curious if the console will be able to natively boost portions of the game even if it's running on an HDD. Probably, but don't expect any crazy effects like native 4K scaling and 120FPS.
The real concern here is cost. CFexpress cards aren't cheap, and we're betting a 1TB NVMe custom card won't be either. Expect to shell out $150 or more on these new memory cards.
Xbox Series X is due out by Holiday 2020. No pricing has been announced.
Check below for confirmed specs and details, and a huge content listing of everything we've heard about Xbox Series X so far:
Xbox Series X confirmed details (Formerly Project Scarlett):
- 8-core, 16-thread Zen 2 CPU
- 12.15 TFLOP Navi GPU on RDNA 2 architecture
- 7nm+ AMD SoC
- 16GB GDDR6 memory
- 2x Xbox One X's 6TFLOPs of GPU perf
- 4x CPU power of Xbox One generation
- Can deliver up to 40x more performance than Xbox One in specific use cases
- Adaptive sync supported
- Super-fast SSD that can be used as VRAM
- Supports 8K resolution (likely media playback)
- 120FPS gaming
- Variable refresh rate (adaptive sync/FreeSync)
- Variable Rate Shading
- Raytracing confirmed with dedicated raytracing cores
- Backward compatible with thousands of Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox One games
- New controller with a dedicated share button
- Compatible with Xbox One accessories
Xbox Series X coverage:
- Xbox Series X SSD is revolutionary, changes Xbox gaming forever
- Full Xbox Series X specs: 3.8GHz Zen 2 CPU, 16GB GDDR6, 52CU Navi GPU
- Gears 5 runs at Ultra PC settings on Xbox Series X
- Xbox Series X's Smart Delivery game upgrades explained by Microsoft
- Xbox Series X may enhance Xbox 360, OG Xbox games too
- Xbox Series X's new Quick Resume function is revolutionary
- Microsoft: Xbox Series X's real magic is hardware and software synergy
- Xbox Series X enhancement patches will upgrade current-gen games
- Microsoft: Xbox Series X's real magic is hardware and software synergy
- Xbox Series X natively plays all Xbox games better
- Xbox Series X 12 TFLOP GPU confirmed, 4x Xbox One CPU and 8x GPU power
- Xbox Series X packs dedicated audio hardware acceleration
- How publishers will approach current-gen on PS5, Xbox Series X
- Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 pricing expected to be $500
- Xbox studio using AI to upscale low-res textures in real-time
- Coronavirus may delay PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X launch past 2020
- Xbox Series X may support CFExpress memory cards
- Xbox Series X might support UltraWide monitors thanks to Samsung
- Xbox Series X CPU is the key to next-gen frame rates, Spencer teases
- China trade tariffs won't directly raise PS5, Xbox Series X prices
- AMD unknown APU: is this the mid-range Xbox Series S chip?
- Xbox Series X SSD: DRAM-less PCIe 4.0 NVMe with up to 3.7GB/sec speeds
- First photo of an Xbox Series X prototype has leaked
- Next-gen console exclusives will be few and far between through 2021
- No, Xbox Series X won't run Steam or the Epic Store
- Ex-Xbox VP won't buy next-gen Xbox, will play exclusives on PC instead
- Xbox Series X HDMI pass-through currently not supported
- New Xbox Series X renders show ventilation and back ports
- Xbox Series X new die shot teases beautiful AMD custom 7nm APU
- Analyst: $500 Xbox Series X will take wind out of Microsoft's sails
- PlayStation 5 to outsell Xbox Series X in 2020, analyst predicts
- Xbox Lockhart going digital-only at launch would be a mistake
- Xbox Series X new die shot teases beautiful AMD custom 7nm APU
- Xbox Series X will destroy PlayStation 5 with its MUCH faster GPU
- Xbox Series X rumor: launching November 22 for $499
- Xbox Series X GPU is better than any Navi GPU released so far
- Xbox Series X may be more powerful, but will third-party devs use it?
- Xbox Series X will boost performance of previous gen Xbox games
- PS5, Xbox Series X SSD may use software-defined flash to boost speeds
- Microsoft to 'virtually eliminate' loading times on Xbox Series X
- How the Xbox Series X will look in your living room
- Clarifying the Xbox Series X name
- Xbox Series X's custom SoC built with backward compatibility in mind
- Next-gen Forza is playable on Xbox Series X, is 'vastly different'
- Xbox Series X size comparison vs Xbox One, PS4 Pro, Switch
- Next-gen Xbox controller has a share button
- Xbox Series X naming scheme leaves door open for Lockhart
- Xbox Series X may allow suspend and resume for multiple games at once
- Microsoft reveals next-gen Xbox console, the Xbox Series X
- Xbox Series X may allow suspend and resume for multiple games at once
- Next-gen Xbox Lockhart has 'significantly less RAM' for 1440p gaming
- Next-gen Xbox Scarlett specs: 12TFLOPs, 16GB RAM, 3.5GHz Zen 2 CPU
- Cheaper next-gen Xbox Lockhart targets 1440p 60FPS
- Cheaper next-gen Xbox Lockhart targets 1440p 60FPS
- Project Scarlett devkits aren't widely available yet
- PS5, Xbox Scarlett SSD may use Optane-like ReRAM to supercharge speeds
- NVIDIA G-Sync monitors to improve PlayStation 5 and Xbox Scarlett
- Project Scarlett won't get VR gaming, Microsoft doesn't care about VR
- Next-gen Xbox Scarlett plays four generations of Xbox games
- Microsoft teases next-gen Xbox: 8K, 120FPS, super-fast SSD
- Xbox Scarlett CPU: 'no compromises', allows for 4K 120FPS gaming
- Microsoft: Xbox Scarlett will kick PlayStation 5's ass in perf/price
- Next-gen Xbox may hit 4K 60FPS in every game
- Project Scarlett to hit 1080p 120FPS gaming
- Project Scarlett trade-in program announced, but there's a big catch
- New Viking Assassin's Creed may be next-gen console launch game
- Next-gen Xbox may get room-scale VR gaming
- PS5 and Xbox Scarlett will both handle ray tracing differently
- Gears 5 developer says Xbox Scarlett has dedicated ray tracing cores
- GTA 6 on PS5, Project Scarlett to have insane hyper-realistic visuals
- AMD 'Flute': Xbox Scarlett SoC: Zen 2 8C/16T @ 3.2GHz on 7nm
- Project Scarlett's price isn't locked in yet
- Project Scarlett isn't the last Xbox console