WD Storage Expansion Card for the Xbox Series NOW Best Option?

Finally, after an exclusivity period for Seagate that seemed to last forever.. Western Digital becomes the second manufacturer of Xbox Storage Expansion Cards. With the release of the WD Black C50, Xbox users finally have a choice between two different brands of Storage Expansion Cards for the Xbox Series consoles. While the performance specifications of the cards are governed by the Xbox Series Velocity Architecture, the difference for most will come down to price and the physical design of the card. While WD has decided for the time being to stick with a 500GB and 1TB offering, we can only hope that bigger cards are in the works. Let's take a look at the C50 and see if it is truly the best option right now for Xbox console owners. #xbox #wdblackC50 #wd #westerndigital #storageexpansioncard #C50

[@michael88h]

This has become a joke. They scamming us with these high prices.

[@marlbsmann]

The prices are not good that is for sure. They have improved since WD has come in the game. If the rumors of a third vendor coming in should help push prices down. Thank you for watching!

[@evan5935]

Yes and no. While i agree they are very pricey, they are using accessories as the means to recoup costs on selling a console for less than all the parts and labour involved in its creation. If they didnt do this, the consoles would likely be something like $750+ and $1000+ respectively 🤷‍♂️

[@brandonlee7382]

Great video! Yeah i wouldnt want to own multiple cards because these games get updates and as you said the location on the back and the risk of damaging the port. We need these 4TB and 8TB cards soon so the prices can go down. If they come out with a 4TB this year then that would be excellent. I would upgrade from 1TB card to a newer 8TB card then i could retire my harddrive. I hope we get PS5 SSD prices

[@marlbsmann]

I have to agree. I would prefer long term to have a single Storage Expansion Card rather than having multiple cards. The truth is that most users will not want to shell out the prices that these 2TB and 4TB cards are going to cost. (As you pointed out I did just that, trading my 1TB Seagate toward a 2TB Seagate) While high speed flash will go down in price, I am not sure how quickly that is going to happen. (Microsoft thought that SSD prices would be lower by now but with COVID and supply chain it has not happened, while at the same time some flash has gone down in price!) What I really think we should be pushing for as Xbox owners, is for the next console I would propose two Storage Expansion Card slots... one in the front and a second in the back. We should be able to mount and see both cards. If you end up with multiple cards it sure would be great if we could at least use two of them at the same time.

[@brandonlee7382]

@marlbsmann Yeah or even they should come out with a adapter that makes 4 extra slots

[@vaguedreams]

​@@brandonlee7382 While I would love some kind of multiport adapter for multiple SSDs, I wouldn't hold my breath. One of the key features of the Series consoles for developers, and by proxy, consumers is consistency of performance. They got real down to the nitty gritty about it, even to the distance between SSDs and SOC. Then there is the heat dissipation built into the port that ensures the expansion cards are properly cooled to maintain the same performance as the internal SSD. The level of detail is pretty damned fascinating. Digital Foundry has a series of videos about the design, build, and engineering that went into it.

[@user-zs2ng8ib6w]

@@marlbsmann really ssds are cheap now these ssds are the expensive one i get 4tb nvme for my pc in canada i am but only 299cdn

[@user-zs2ng8ib6w]

ps5 uses standard gen 4 nvme drive

[@PassBluntBoss]

I just recently bought a 1TB seagate for my series s It is used in original packaging and i only paid 134 total from a trusted ebay seller glad i waited for the price drop

[@marlbsmann]

That is a good deal! Be glad you waited and you were not like me having to have the Seagate 2TB card as soon as it was announced. Just a word of caution about buying these cards used or on Ebay that are marked as used/demo/refirb/open box - In general most "used" should have SSDs have plenty of life in them but the lifespan of any SSD is limited. I would just remind folks to be careful and know what you are buying and what the return policy is. As far as I am aware, at this time I know of no way to check the actual usage life and powered on hours of the Xbox Storage Expansion Card. If anyone does know how we can check these values of the SSD on Xbox, please chime in an let us know. Thank you for your Question!

[@akaredcrossbow]

There’s absolutely no reason Microsoft couldn’t have included a 4-8TB SSD in that extremely large Xbox Series X. It’s a bit insulting to the gaming community.

[@marlbsmann]

Sure it would have been possible for Microsoft to offer a different Series X with a larger Internal SSD. The real problem is not the technology but the price. The higher speed SSD chips that Microsoft uses in the Xbox Series consoles is more expensive than the cheap of 4TB SSDs which in most cases uses SSD chips that would not be able to run a speed fast enough for the Xbox Series Consoles. It would raise the price of the console at least $150+ if not more depending on the deal Microsoft could get. While I could see Microsoft offering a Xbox Series X Special Edition perhaps with a bigger Internal SSD, the reality is the cost and I just don't see a world where Microsoft is selling $600 Xbox Series consoles with 4TB SSDs in them. The cost of the 4TB SSD is still just too high right now, but a Special or Limited Edition Console for $100 more for example with a 2TB SSD I do think is VERY possible and something Microsoft has done before in the Xbox One Era with the 2TB hard drives in the Limited Edition Gears Of War consoles so maybe a 2TB offering in the next Limited Edition console is perhaps possible. - Thanks for watching!

[@akaredcrossbow]

@@marlbsmann I definitely understand your point. But it’s all play money, pick a number and stick it on the product. It’s just like Seagate did in the beginning with the 1TB ssd, it was extremely expensive, but look how much money they took off of it. Sell it for any price, because they will buy it no matter what. There’s absolutely no reason Microsoft couldn’t have included at least 2TB ssd in the series X for the same amount of money it’s selling for right now. The console imo is already way overpriced for the lack of storage and options. You can find other 2TB cards out there, not for the Xbox, but priced much cheaper. It’s not the technology that goes into it, it’s the greed.

[@Sound9ine]

​@@akaredcrossbowyou do realize that they loose money with these consoles? And yet you want them to loose more money just to give you more storage?😂

[@ThomasRhin]

Thank you for this detailed video explaining the Xbox expansion SSDs. I personally feel that if someone can dig out exactly what kind of NAND(QLC or TLC) these expansion SSDs coming with, that would be a solved myth. The manufacturers seem to intentionally cover up this part in the spec chart, which suggests that someday they can literally change the spec of NAND when considering the cost. No one likes QLC expansion SSD at this price.

[@marlbsmann]

Thank you for the feedback! - Thank you for watching!

[@TrendingHeadlinesTV]

I ended up purchasing the Seagate 4TB external storage unit that compliments the Xbox nicely, and just transfer games from the Seagate to the internal storage of my Series S. It’s the cheapest and most cost effective option I can find at the moment.

[@spaceted3977]

It's a good idea to use an SSD Memory Card instead of the internal one. When it fails you can throw it away and buy another card. But when your internal SSD ends its life the whole Console goes in the Dustbin.

[@sunburn7855]

I recently received one for my birthday, and it was $117.

[@RokushoHasashi]

Great video here 👍🏽 I do hope WD releases a 2TB Expansion Card!! 😊

[@marlbsmann]

As I was saying in another question about, I think WD because of the fact they own Sandisk will get with bigger cards, but the I think they will evaluate their position first and see what the sales numbers look like and of course there is the price of the higher speed flash memory that the Xbox Expansion Cards use. So I think, so long as they are not contractually prohibited from making a 2TB card for a certain length of time, we will see a 2TB card from them, but most likely not this year. I think the better question might be, when will the third maker of storage expansion cards join the fray? When that happens I think it will help push the price down a little, maybe $20 or $30 on the 2TB card.

[@CAJ341]

They do at 2x the price

[@joshuabrown3525]

Seagate already did. However, it's expensive at about $270 a pop.

[@spaceted3977]

I've got a Western Digital Black Memory Card 1 TB for £150. I also bought a Seagate 4 TB Hard Drive to Store 360 and X Box One Games. I don't Use the Internal SSD much, because it has a limited life span !!! They all work well on my Series X.

[@marlbsmann]

Yeah, I hear you about the limited life span of the Internal SSD. The management of games and holding them on the hard drive to copy over to the SEC when needed seems to be the best way to go right now. Thanks for watching!

[@spaceted3977]

Yes !!! You can have 2 Save Options. For me it's 1 - Western Digital Card and 2 - Seagate 4 Tb Hard Drive. So the Internal SSD is not used.

[@spaceted3977]

@@marlbsmann You can't store series X enhanced games on the hard drive. They only store on the SSD, but ordinary games will run on the hard Drive. I've bought another 1 tb Western Black SSD for £129.99 from Amazon because I don't want to copy and erase games. I want to keep large games permanently on SSD. I have an X Box 1 S with an 8 tb hard Drive, so I can play my 275 X Box 1 games whenever I want.

[@JarrodLamp]

Your 100% right about the interal SDD in the XSX, the WD 1T can take hit for the games and fater then the 1 in the XSX.

[@adolfoparra4884]

Could achieve the same thing with a external storage card I’m literally holding red dead 2 mw Fortnite fallout 76 and gta 5 and my Xbox series s is only 500 gb not anymore due too seagates fire cuda 1 terabyte external storage cars

[@Xavier-be2mi]

Just picked one up for $120 during the prime days. The original seagate prices were just too high for me

[@marlbsmann]

$120 is a good deal these days for the SEC. I think you will be happy with your purchase! - Thanks for watching!

[@TheGamerGuy1981]

I'm a big Xbox fan, but it's absolutely insane they didn't use standard NVME like Sony did. Hopefully they fix that next generation. That all said I've had better luck with the WD drives. They have worked reliably for me and I've had a Seagate drive fail thus far. Have two WD drives both work great.

[@marlbsmann]

Well a m.2 drive such as they use in the PlayStation is a fixed solution and the SEC in the Xbox is hot swappable which is an advantage over the PlayStation. I have had no issues with the WD C50 SEC for Xbox so far so good. Thanks for watching!

[@TheGamerGuy1981]

​@@marlbsmannVery few use cases for a hot swappable drive over the fact of 3-4X higher cost per GB honestly. Cheers

[@snowboardallday101]

Transferring games isn’t that bad from an old seagate 2tb external. Just a pain when playing with friends and yall want to switch games. Its pretty crazy how much AAA titles want in ways of storage these days.

[@sincere7329]

Great video! You deserve more subs 👍

[@marlbsmann]

I think I deserve more subs too. Have been working on it and will continue to work on it. Thank you! Please tell your friends!

[@cincokees631]

Thank you for sharing

[@marlbsmann]

Thanks for watching!

[@greanmonstamash]

I just went and bought a hdd and now need to return it

[@DepressyDuck]

Can you play games directly from the card or do you need to transfer games over? I don't know all these technical terms.

[@Wakingiants]

Yes you can play games directly from the card 👍

[@marlbsmann]

Yes, you can play "series" games from the Storage Expansion Card no matter if you but the Western Digital or the Seagate branded card. Just make sure that you buy the Storage Expansion Card if expanding the space you have for "Xbox Series" games is what you want to do. - Thank you for watching!

[@dhill9332]

I got one of these and it failed within a week. I could load games on to it, but not play off of it. I’d only get the “reinsert the card. We can see the card but there’s a weak connection”. Nothing I could get to fix it. Also, the card would become quite hot. Not sure if that’s normal. I have pretty fast internet so I guess I’ll just stick to downloading and uninstalling as needed.

[@marlbsmann]

I would agree that it sounds like the connector for the SEC is loose or not installed very well. This is the first that I have heard about this happening, but yeah if the SEC port does not work, your only option is Microsoft for fix or repair. Yes, the design of the SEC both the one from Seagate and the one from Western Digital are designed in the design specs to use the card housing as part of the heat sink for the card, so it will heat up during use and that is normal. - Thank you for watching!

[@sendmoreparamedics0]

Thanks man, just ordered the 1tb

[@marlbsmann]

Hope you enjoy it! - Thank you for watchin!

[@TeejYisrael]

Has a 2tb been released?

[@Ba1ster]

There are sites now that are selling the sea gate one for £149 so both same price

[@marlbsmann]

I have noticed that that recently the Seagate and the WD are very close or the same priced the same. I suspect that it is possible we will see some price reduction for the holiday season, but it will not be much. - Thank you for watching!

[@kaydawgy1999]

Awesome vid. Nice head of hair too

[@marlbsmann]

Thank you for watching! (I will let my hair know too!)

[@brandontyler1754]

You are actually wrong about performance differences. In any video I have seen comparing the cards directly you can transfer games faster to the Western digital then you can to the Seagate card

[@marlbsmann]

That is very interesting. I have run a number of tests between my 1TB WD and my 2TB Seagate with a stopwatch and moving files from the internal to the SEC and back and consistently the times are about the same. Now this could be because I have the 2TB card and not the 1TB card. This may need additional investigation but without a SSD style benchmarking tool on Xbox it makes comparisons difficult. With the possibility of a new vendor here shortly I believe that figuring out a good solid way to test would be helpful to isolate performance differences if there are any. Thanks for watching!

[@cmemix1]

Loving the shirt 👍🏾

[@marlbsmann]

Always try to wear a good shirt. I have a lot of them actually. Thanks for Watching!

[@jdmjon1991]

Sounds like we are going back to 90s 😅

[@strangewayfaringstranger]

Hahaha your shirt is literally what I did to watch your video.

[@marlbsmann]

Perfect!

[@momsspaghetti4064]

You can still use old gen externals to transfer and move new gen over the internal on XSX. You just might have to wait 5 more minutes. 😅 So is spending 200 or more dollars worth it for X? Absolutely not at all.

[@marlbsmann]

I still use USB 3 hard drives for offload and copying back to the SEC. Thanks for Watching!

[@CC-gt3ro]

Why microsoft don’t create a card that is connected to an external box where you can plug multiple normal nvme ssd like samsung 990 pro.? People would buy that like hot bread.

[@marlbsmann]

There are are number of reasons why this might seems like it could be a good idea. However the Velocity architecture is not really designed in this way. In addition many common SSDs do not meet the necessary read/write specs. It would be of more value at this point to add a second SEC slot in the front of the console. Thank you for watching!

[@TheKing4576]

Just bought mines today for my Xbox series s smh 🤦‍♂️ but budget price Black Friday deal

[@marlbsmann]

Yeah I think you are going to see some more deals on Black Friday for the WD C50 1TB but I don't think you will see it below $100 USD. - Enjoy it! Thanks for Watching!

[@Mikey-ym6ok]

What I don’t get is why the ps5 2 tb is almost the same price as the Xbox 1tb

[@marlbsmann]

The cost of the higher speed SSD flash. PS5 requires much higher performance flash memory than Xbox SSDs do. This was a design decision Microsoft made in the name of cost control vs. performance.

[@jollama]

Forgot what proprietary means huh?

[@danborden]

Who's making the 4tb I need to know

[@marlbsmann]

Rumors are indicating that Seagate is closely monitoring the situation and I suspect that they will be the first with a 4TB card to market. The problem is the price of the flash and the margin they want to make it worth it to them. Not sure if we will see 4TB this year, but they know many want it and need it because of the size of these games and slow Internet connections. WD on the other hand just got into the game and I think they will wait before offering bigger cards. I expect them to evaluate the sales numbers before making a decision on if they will offer bigger than 1TB or not. In the end I do expect WD because of their ownership of Sandisk to offer a 2TB card at some point, but I suspect it is a ways off still. Better solution would be a new version of the Series X with a Storage Expansion slot in the front and one in the back and Xbox to allow you to mount two storage expansion cards at once. If everyone has multiple cards and no one wants to make the 4TB card at a reasonable price this would be the next best workable solution. (Changing Storage Expansion Cards on the back of your console is a pain!) Still I continue to hear rumors from trusted sources that a third manufacturer of Xbox Storage Expansion cards is coming in the very hear future. If I had to guess, I would suspect that it would be one of three possibilities: Samsung, Crucial, or Team Group. Thank you for your question.

[@LouieHudson-in9hk]

Can you run X|S games of it

[@radleykave7668]

Yes! These cards are the only option if you want to enjoy series X/S games as the new consoles have a new faster storage system than the previous generations. 100% must have for series X/S iv had my seagate 1tb card for over a year now and it's absolutely flawless and so easy to use. I'm curious how the WD does in the market ov always loved seagates xbox stuff.

[@leoatrulionking7772]

Where'd you get the shirt?

[@marlbsmann]

You know... I normally know the answer to that question, but only answer I can offer is that the wife purchased it for me. I do like my T-Shirts and in the newest videos I have been wearing shirts from Glitch, but most of the time it is whatever my wife picks out. Thanks for watching!

[@UnburdenedByWhatHasBeen]

I paid $124 for my WD black c50 1tb on Amazon

[@marlbsmann]

Keep hearing that WD C50 1TB cards will be $99 on Back Friday. Keep an eye out! Thanks for watching!

[@greanmonstamash]

Nice

[@strangewayfaringstranger]

Wait, so can you actually play Series X games on it?

[@marlbsmann]

Yes - Thank you for watching!

[@francois.m]

That's the hole that Microsoft has dug and gotten the users into. Them going into the "proprietary" route which was basically either a M.2 2230 / CF Express. 🙃

[@marlbsmann]

Well I think there are pros and cons with the Microsoft design. Yes, it is a "semi-proprietary" design but it does have excellent durability, built-in heat sink, a size not too small/not to large, can be hot swapped on the fly, and I think this is all good. I do like the ability to swap the cards without powering down and disassembling to swap or upgrade. Thank you for the comment and thanks for watching.

[@NIGEL-MORGZZ1100]

I’m bout to say fuck it put everything on a 4 tb rig for 100$… idk I can’t believe this I’ve been watching the market every time they sell out on any website they push the price right the fuck up

[@htxflow]

I bought a 4tb external hdd only to discover you cant play Series X games on it. My internal is full. I constantly have to delete a Series X game just download another. Trash!!!

[@JemKegawa]

I didn't realize - do the Xbox Series consoles not allow any external hard drive to be used for game storage like on the One? eep

[@marlbsmann]

SSD storage like what is contained in the internal Xbox Series Console can only be expanded using the Storage Expansion Slot on the back on your Xbox Series Console. Any storage that is connected to the console via USB no matter if it is an External Hard Drive (spinning disk) or external SSD can ONLY run games that are non "SERIES" games or games that can run from USB storage. (Slow storage) In most cases the need for a Xbox Series Storage Expansion Card is great do to the fact you simply can't store that many games on the space left on the internal SSD. While you can offload "Series" titles off to USB storage for holding, it still has to be copies over to fast SSD storage when run.

[@JemKegawa]

@@marlbsmann Aaaah, that's great to know my current Xbox 4TB external would still work for all the 'older' Xbox one games though :D Thanks for that info!

[@perpetualomega]

@@JemKegawa Just move games to the internal when wanting to play SERIES games.

[@akaredcrossbow]

@@perpetualomegait takes so long to do it.

[@ochitokes]

​@@akaredcrossbowwith a 550MB/s rate even gta v 100gb will take like 10 mins

[@anFy81]

I hope bigger drives are in the works 😊

[@marlbsmann]

I will be discussing that topic in my next video. Yes, I think they are on the horizon, but a little ways off. Really need another manufacturer to help push the price down.

[@anFy81]

@@marlbsmann yes, let's be optimistic

[@Baltowulf-lu3re]

Is this card for the Xbox series x/s games

[@marlbsmann]

Yes

[@Baltowulf-lu3re]

@@marlbsmann Thanks

[@jollama]

No shit Sherlock

[@Baltowulf-lu3re]

@@jollama you late as HELL I already got it lol

[@Gunsmoke2220]

This isnt on amazon?

[@marlbsmann]

At first it was not on Amazon, but now it is on Amazon for sale.

[@jollama]

Comments that aged like shit

[@unknownwolf8555]

Gonna get the Western digital SSD 512gb one cheaper option

[@113caleb]

I got the 2 tb segaate I love it on sale at GameStop I love it gamepass here I come

[@marlbsmann]

Once you have the space it goes fast! Thanks for watching!

[@michael88h]

I bought me a 4tb external for 125. And I just move the game. Takes a couple of minutes. Fuck that seagate crap

[@marlbsmann]

A lot of people having issues understanding how to do this. Stay tuned, I have a video coming that should help explain Xbox Storage a little better visually to help folks better understand. Thank you for watching!

[@perpetualomega]

Yeah, erm, nope. When the next Xbox is released i bet the port changes. Atleast with a USB 3.2 nVME you can use it anywhere.

[@marlbsmann]

One can only hope that someone is listening, but I doubt that at least for this generation they will change the interface, but it would be good if you could use these on the next generation as well. Still it would not be the first time that they have abandon a storage format and interface.

[@youaake]

Meehhh, fast internet makes this obsolete. Waaay to expensive still.

[@marlbsmann]

True that fast Internet can make a difference, but not always. Microsoft's download delivery is still some what capped and as near as I can tell it just depends on a lot of factors. For me I hate to re-download and this is although I have 2GB/2GB Fiber Internet. I archive a lot of stuff from the Internal or the SEC off to the hard drive till I want to play it and just copy it back to the Internet or the SEC, still faster than downloading.

[@user-zs2ng8ib6w]

why do you make excuses for the price they are no more expensive than a ssd for your pc actually they are slower being gen 3 ssd and on pc you can get gen 4 and 5 now

[@marlbsmann]

So my question would be... why does a Series S or Series X console need a Gen 4/5 SSD? I think part of Microsoft's decision to use a bit slower SSD was simply the reality that with the bandwidth and design of the console and the design of their storage solution was designed to hit a specific performance vs. price ratio. The price of SSD chips at this speed are going to continue to drop in price which is a good thing for Xbox owners as I suspect we will see prices of the Storage Expansion Card continue to drop. After this holiday season and hopefully once another company joins Seagate and WD as providers of the Storage Expansion Card price should drop even more.

[@marthiousknowledge9]

The stupidity is real! Best to transfer data from 4TB HDD to Expansion SSD and wait until they come out with the bigger compatible SSD Expansion cards than to purchase that $300 very expensive 2TB Expansion SSD card!

[@richardhurr31]

Just bought one of these. It doesn't work at all. 😤 And yes it's inserted properly etc. Brand new as well. Not happy.

[@marlbsmann]

This is only the second time I have heard of this. Very surprised! Is WD taking care of you on this or did you return it to the place of purchase?

[@richardhurr31]

@@marlbsmann exchanged it for another one where I bought it. The replacement works. Was a dud card. Thank god it's not my Xbox 😂

[@glbernini0]

It should be criminal that MS is allowed to use proprietary memory in a game system! GOT TO GIVE A THUMBS UP TO SONY!!!

[@marlbsmann]

Sorry, I do not agree - Have you looked at why they choose to do this? It is to make it easier and to avoid users installing M.2 SSDs. The ability to have a card that I can hot swap into another console is valuable. Something Sony can't do. I think the reality is that it is more of a draw because each has advantages, but cost is the biggest reason Microsoft keeps getting beat up on this subject. Prices will go down as more manufacturers start offering compatible SSDs. - Thanks for watching!

[@glbernini0]

Your response sounds like it was written by a MS PR rep...THAT IS NOT A COMPLIMENT! MS drive is double the price of a PS5 drive. Drive prices will never match because companies want to make more money for their drives that are compatible with the Xbox.@@marlbsmann

[@cdb989]

The whole thing is a joke How to get more money from the consumer 🤔🤔🤔