Upgrading the Xbox One HDD – What to Consider?

G4TE writes - So I finally was at that point between new games and Games with Gold on the Xbox One that my 500GB drive was at 81% full and I still had yet to download the August Games with Gold. The question for me was what to get and what information was out there? I knew the Xbox One could add on any USB 3.0 External HDD but beyond that I really wasn't sure. So I did some digging and found that information specifically addressing recommendations for the Xbox One wasn't exactly bountiful.

[oneluckybullet]

i use the toshiba 2tb external drive. works great and runs my games faster than the stock hd

[Darkstares]

I believe the system allows up to 16TB of external hard drive space which is quite amazing.

[xDHAV0K24x]

5TB Seagate

[ToxicSushi]

Ditto on the 5TB Segate external. Works great and the external drive turns off when the system goes into sleep/low power mode (see settings to configure). Obviously it will also turn off if you configure the X1 system to shut down completely. Very happy camper and should provide enough space for the next 3+ years of gaming.

[greenyboi]

I have a Samsung 2TB works great and relatively cheap aswell .

[GUTZnPAPERCUTZ]

Im looking into them, What is the difference in how fast games load than the stock HDD?

[gamegenieny]

The xb1 internal drive runs at 5400 rpm i think. Where as the externals are running at 7200rpm. I'm sure if this is wrong someone will correct it.

[Kryptonite42O]

This depends entirely on the hard drive you are buying as some run at 5400rpm and some at 7200rpm. Do some digging before making your purchase because some don't specify the speed. You may need to do a little research first.

[Orbertron]

Dude go for it your games will load much much faster because your X1 HDD is connected by SATA 2 and transfers data 3GB p/s but your USB 3.0 portable HDD transfers data 6-5GB p/s. plus it will easier to move all your digital games around, take your potable HDD to your friends house sign into your gamertag plug and play its really handy.

[gamegenieny]

Is there anything specific when doing this that you have to look out for ? I see many external USB 3.0 drives listed as "portable". Does something like that matter ?

Edit: Is it just a plain external type drive that works, or would something like the Western digital passport series of drives also work with this?

[Wikkid666]

You have to use a USB 3.0 drive and there is limit on capacity. I think it's pretty high like 8TB. But you can use 2 drives.

[Dinkis]

Dude its 16x2TB
usb 3.0

[Orbertron]

As long it is an USB 3.0 and larger than 256GB your golden, connect your portable HDD then your X1 will walk you though the setup.

[gamegenieny]

Yeah i've been hearing about the difference it makes and i'm going to jump in soon. Thanks for the info guys :D

[n4rc]

I may be wrong... But "portable" drives generally refer to small 2.5" 5400rpm drives.. And it likely doesn't require a ac cable.

You'd want a "desktop" drive.. It'll use a 3.5" 7200rpm (in most cases)

[Kryptonite42O]

You might also want to make sure that a usb 3.0 cable is included, as the article states... its not always included and you would need to get one in order for your hard drive to work with your XB1. Most should come with it.. but better safe than sorry right?

[n4rc]

Ya.. Buying a oem drive might seem like a good idea, save a few bucks..

Then find a bare drive in a bag with no cables lol..

[Shield]

Fantom Gforce3 3TB 7200RPM, works great.

[optimus]

Funny, I just was wondering about this in another article. Wasn't aware you could play games off of an external drive since the 360 doesn't let you.... anyhow, I wish this article would have talked about solid state drives or hybrids as I‘m more interested in one of those. Does anyone in here know if they work as well?

[Bigpappy]

Yes they will. As long as they are larger than 256GB and USB 3.o. Solid state is the fastest, but people are saying the 7200RPM, USB 3.0 drives work very well. So that is a cost savings with out a huge trade off.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

Hey Optimus, they do work as well. The main criteria is has be larger than 256mb and USB 3.0 external HDD. They are much more expensive hence why I hadn't looked at them but I may make an append to the article to include that talking point.

An example for you a 256GB Seagate Solid State Drive is running $250 on Amazon right now. It's just really expensive give the amount of storage you get.

[optimus]

I know they worked for the PS3 and that they tend to be more expensive with less storage for the price but I have seen the hybrids come down in price with increased storage and also with 7200rpm speeds which might be a good option giving you the best of both worlds.

[hollabox]

Not really worried about space right now so I installed Crucial M500 480GB to speed up my loading time. Installed my SSD externally with Inateck external enclosure. Links below if interested

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/pr...

[strangeaeon]

Anybody use an external SSD yet? Just wondering if it is worth the added cost.

[hollabox]

Yes!

I installed Crucial M500 480GB to speed up my loading time. Installed my SSD externally with Inateck external enclosure. Links below if interested
I've noticed a difference in Dead Rising 3 loading times, but Killer Instinct its still buffers characters at the character selection screen. The levels do load quicker in KI, besides the character buffering its feel snappier. Anywho for the XB1 I wouldn't go balls out on a top of the line SSD given the USB limitation. Crucial has good performance to price ratio, I would get the M550 instead of the M500. Sorry ass Newegg wouldn't let me take back my M500 480GB after ordering it in error so I connected it to my Xbox One, and recently installed Samsung Pro 850 in my main desktop PC. Seagate 480GB SSD is pretty fast as well if you don't want to break the bank.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/pr...

http://www.amazon.com/Cruci...

http://www.amazon.com/Seaga...

[strangeaeon]

Thanks! Although I really wish HDD's would go away so the ssd prices would drop.

[ichizon]

The article is wrong. Edit: The creator corrected these parts now, but I'll leave my comment otherwise as it was.

"The internal HDD of the Xbox One is a 3.5inch 500GB 5400 RPM drive."

There's a 2.5" 500GB 5400RPM SATA II Samsung HDD. And changing it requires opening the Xbox One and voiding the warranty, which I wouldn't do so soon. In contrast, the PS4 allows swapping the internal HDD.

"Almost all external USB 3.0 HDD from what I could tell are 2.5 inch drives so by size alone they will be slightly faster than the internal drive of the Xbox One."

Many external drives are 3.5". They are often regular HDDs enclosed in a proprietary box with USB connection and a power supply. USB powered drives are often 2.5" 5400RPM HDDs though, as these require less power to run.

External hard drives can be slower if they go into idle mode and have to spin up before they can be accessed. SSDs do not have this issue. The real choices, ranging from slower and cheaper to faster and more expensive are 3.5" HDD (higher RPM better), 2.5" HDD (higher RPM better), SSHD, 2.5" SSD.

They also need to utilize USB3.0 to achieve any higher speeds than ~30 MB/s. This is important, even though USB3.0 is more expensive. Also, the better NAND flash controllers the drives use, the faster it will perform. The fastest drives send data through four or more NAND channels.

If you want cheap space, go for a 4-5TB 3.5" USB3.0 HDD with external power supply. If you want discrete space, go for a 2TB 2.5" USB3.0-powered HDD. If you want fast speeds, go for a 0.5-1TB 2.5" USB3.0 SSD with quality NAND flash controllers.

[gamegenieny]

I'm wondering now how much of and advantage (if any) that people will get using an external drive over the included xb1 drive for multiplayer. Items/people loading in faster would lead to an edge multiplayer wise wouldn't it ? Guess it depends on the type of multiplayer and if the game needs to load in things constantly.

[pingthing]

HGST Touro Pro, £55, 7200rpm, USB 3, USB powered, 1TB, plug and play. Ticked all boxes for me. By the time I fill it, hopefully prices of the bigger ones will drop. However this is the only 7200rpm drive I could find that didn't need an external power supply.

[gamertk421]

Got one. Get one.

[Rocky5]

Yup only 7200rpm 2.5" external USB bus powered HDD you can buy.

I bought 2 of the HDDs they use inside this enclosure (HGST Travelstar 7K1000 HTS721010A9E630 ) so I could use them in a Raid0 configuration for maximum speed.

I bought a cheap raid enclosure (MicroStorage 3U2B2A - 2 Bay / RAID Enclosure) to use in Raid0 & had to mod it as the two 7200rmp drive were get vey hot :-/ so added a fan to the side :-) that's powered via the hubs 3.3v.

Some images of my modifications.
http://is.gd/EcZoar

[mr233]

I picked up a Seagate 4 TB drive for $130 and it works great. Setup is easy.

[n4rc]

Using a Seagate 3tb backup plus

[Rob Hornecker]

I'm glad to hear that there are alot of you out there that are having good luck with your external HDD's. I WAS one of you!

I bought a western digital 3TB external HDD from Walmarts the 1st week of june and WAS very happy with it. It formated and transfered my internal drive contents over with NO issues. I just loved how fast games loaded and seem to look alot better played from the EHDD.

A little over a month of use the EHDD DIED after a BF4 update ( this was a few days after the dragons teeth patch and dlc came out ) my EHDD became unuseable. It wouldn't let me access any of my games on it.

I tried everything I could find info on the web to fix it,I even reset the XB1 back to factory settings,but alas NOTHING worked. We tried the EHDD on another xb1,still NOTHING!

The really sad part of my story is that walmarts only honors in-store replacement for the first 15 days after sale. I will be calling microsoft and western digital to see what to do next. Otherwise i now have $130.00 doorstop!!

I would recommend taking any extended in-store replacement plans if offered for your EHDD...I know I will be when I buy the next EHDD!!! And I doubt it will be from walmarts!