Featured Image Credit: Future Publishing- Getty Images
Topics: Xbox, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
Topics: Xbox, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
Xbox Series X/S owners will know what it’s like to fight with storage, as will PC owners. But there’s a fix you might not be seeing.
The price of video games continues to surge but so do the storage requirements to install them.
It feels like you’re always struggling for space nowadays and while there are plenty of savvy storage tips to take advantage of it sometimes feels inescapable.
Storage expansions are your best bet if you plan on having multiple games on the way go and for PC players that’s a nightmare right now due to the shortage, and subsequent price-hike, of SSDs.
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Fear not though as some clever gamers have found a workaround that’ll actually save you hundreds in the long-run and it all starts with your Xbox Series X/S.
Years ago Xbox released a costly expansion device for your Xbox Series X/S console called an SSD expansion card
This was a collaborative product with Seagate that aimed to expand the total storage on your console without it having a negative impact on your games.
The card can be easily inserted into the console to expand the internal hard drive, which is needed to optimise games for Series X/S. For example if you have an Xbox One game that can be enhanced for new-gen consoles you need to install it on the internal hard drive to reap those benefits.
External hard drives are a cheaper solution to more storage but are only good for storing not optimising.
It’s the same story on PC and right now SSDs are ridiculously expensive due to the recent shortages. Supply and demand has really taken its toll.
However if you’re a PC owner who wants to expand their storage who also owns an Xbox Series X/S and an SSD expansion card you actually have everything you need already. You don’t need that £500 SSD.
Gamers have discovered that a CF Express to PCIe adapter will let you turn one of Xbox's SSD expansion cards into a new SSD device for your PC.
Any CF Express Type-B to PCIe or CF Express Type-B to NVMe adapters will do the trick but be wary as they’re starting to become just as hard to find as the SSDs… Turns out a lot of PC owners fancy taking advantage of this hack.
The best part is it doesn’t have a negative impact on processing speed making it a cost-effective solution for those wanting to boost their storage on a budget especially in this economy.
Xbox's SSD expansion cards are just as expensive so if you just so happen to have one lying around that you’re not using you shouldn’t let it go to waste.
If you’re using your PC more than your Xbox too it only makes sense to repurpose it for the system you actually plan to play regularly on, though perhaps that’ll change now that Xbox cut the price of Xbox Game Pass…
READ MORE: Xbox Game Pass Price Drops By 23%, But Day One Games Scaled Back