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Xbox series X

ND40oz said:
PS5 has a 2nd m.2 slot so you can install another internal SSD to play games off of, I would have loved it if Microsoft did the same. Of course the Xbox excels in a lot of areas, but this is the one area they are sorely lacking in and have been so since the 360.



The Seagate expansion card is expensive but it's not like it performs like an PCI-E 4.0 SSD either. It doesn't even perform like other CFExpress devices.

https://www.storagereview.com/review/seagate-storage-expansion-card-for-xbox-series-xs-review

Compared to something like Samsung 980 Pro which you can just pop in your PS5. If it had similar numbers, then they'd be justifying the price.

https://www.storagereview.com/review/samsung-980-pro-pcie-4-0-nvme-ssd-review
Click to expand...

"The Seagate expansion card is expensive but it's not like it performs like an PCI-E 4.0 SSD either. It doesn't even perform like other CFExpress devices."

Right... because it uses Microsoft's Velocity Architecture which is unlike standard SSD storage technology and provides the Xbox specific abilities such as "Quick Resume" among other things. The read/write speeds from storage review don't tell the whole story being that they are trying to read a proprietary device with non-proprietary hardware and software to determine read/write speeds. You said it yourself it doesn't perform like other CFExpress devices or PCI-E 4.0 devices so the metrics for how you achieve the read/write speeds for the Microsoft expansion card can't be gauged in a traditional sense. Microsoft has stated that the expansion card which is built under the proprietary "Velocity Architecture" umbrella matches the internal SSD 1:1 in performance which is 2.4GB/s (Raw), 4.8GB/s (Compressed) according to Digital Foundry... Source.

And I'll say it again... yes you can expand the hard drive space on the PS5 but it's virtually price parity across Series and PS5 regardless of the performance. Also Sony recommends Gen 4 SSDs so I am pretty sure you can't just put in any SSD into a PS5 and play PS5 games from them which is why Sony has said you can't play PS5 games from external hard drives but only from the internal drive which has to meet certain specifications. You get more features with the Xbox solution that directly make it more "next-gen" than the Sony solution. The Verge have also said that it appears Sony throttles the write speed of even it's own internal SSD "It took only 2:26 to send both PS5 and PS4 copies of Final Fantasy VII Remake to the Sabrent SSD, for instance, but 12:47 to go back to the PS5 — over five times longer." Source Which like I mentioned before is a huge pain in the ass when you can't help but stare at the progress window of a game transfer on a PS5 and do nothing else until the transfer is done. Not very "next-gen" to me and with consoles just becoming glorified computers as more time goes on, there has to be more than just "better graphics" to get people excited for new hardware.

I am going to do some calculations myself this weekend of how long it takes to transfer games between the Series X and it's Expansion card and see what I come up with. I have bought the same games across Xbox Series X and PS5 and will test some transfers to see which is faster and times.
 
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zamardii12 said:
"The Seagate expansion card is expensive but it's not like it performs like an PCI-E 4.0 SSD either. It doesn't even perform like other CFExpress devices."

Right... because it uses Microsoft's Velocity Architecture which is unlike standard SSD storage technology and provides the Xbox specific abilities such as "Quick Resume" among other things. The read/write speeds from storage review don't tell the whole story being that they are trying to read a proprietary device with non-proprietary hardware and software to determine read/write speeds. You said it yourself it doesn't perform like other CFExpress devices or PCI-E 4.0 devices so the metrics for how you achieve the read/write speeds for the Microsoft expansion card can't be gauged in a traditional sense. Microsoft has stated that the expansion card which is built under the proprietary "Velocity Architecture" umbrella matches the internal SSD 1:1 in performance which is 2.4GB/s (Raw), 4.8GB/s (Compressed) according to Digital Foundry... Source.
Click to expand...

The only thing different about the "custom" internal SSD in the Series X is they're certifying the speeds for sustained workloads. Like what any other enterprise SSD does all day every day. Just like Sony says your SSD should meet certain requirements for the PS5, Microsoft could have easily done the same with the Series X. Instead they choose to only allow expansion using CFExpress interface and license Seagate to make a "custom" drive for it.

zamardii12 said:
And I'll say it again... yes you can expand the hard drive space on the PS5 but it's virtually price parity across Series and PS5 regardless of the performance. Also Sony recommends Gen 4 SSDs so I am pretty sure you can't just put in any SSD into a PS5 and play PS5 games from them which is why Sony has said you can't play PS5 games from external hard drives but only from the internal drive which has to meet certain specifications. You get more features with the Xbox solution that directly make it more "next-gen" than the Sony solution. The Verge have also said that it appears Sony throttles the write speed of even it's own internal SSD "It took only 2:26 to send both PS5 and PS4 copies of Final Fantasy VII Remake to the Sabrent SSD, for instance, but 12:47 to go back to the PS5 — over five times longer." Source Which like I mentioned before is a huge pain in the ass when you can't help but stare at the progress window of a game transfer on a PS5 and do nothing else until the transfer is done. Not very "next-gen" to me and with consoles just becoming glorified computers as more time goes on, there has to be more than just "better graphics" to get people excited for new hardware.

I am going to do some calculations myself this weekend of how long it takes to transfer games between the Series X and it's Expansion card and see what I come up with. I have bought the same games across Xbox Series X and PS5 and will test some transfers to see which is faster and times.
Click to expand...

I don't want to ever have to transfer a game though, so there would be no waiting around for a transfer to happen anyway. I want to install it once and be done with it. The whole needing to transfer games off and onto different types of storage is asinine which is why I'll buy the overpriced Seagate 2TB card as soon as it's available. But I'd much rather just be able to buy a Samsung 980 Pro like I can for my PS5 and have a piece of commodity hardware that is currently $50 cheaper than the Seagate card and whose price will only get even cheaper over time. Then when I run low on space I can buy a 4TB drive and reuse the 2TB in one of the many other pieces of hardware in my house that uses a standard form factor SSD.
 
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Colonel Sanders said:
so are these still as hard to get a hold of as a ps5?
Click to expand...
I'd say yes and no, they still sell out fast but I don't think they are targeted by scalpers nearly as much as the ps5 so it's mostly just other consumers your fighting with, not bots.

My friends that wanted a xsx have all managed to get one after trying for a few weeks/months but non have been able to get a ps5 except for me without paying scalper prices. Unless your after the xss which are becoming increasingly easy to find in stores.

Of course this is all 100% personal experience as I have no data to prove it lol.
 
Colonel Sanders said:
so are these still as hard to get a hold of as a ps5?
Click to expand...

Harder, MS so far made only about half as much of the new consoles as Sony. Over here in Europe they are very, very rare, I haven't even managed to get a notification from the half a dozen stores I subcribed too since they launched. 1 store has delivered Series X's that were preordered until end of October 2020 !! Shops get at best a couple hundred consoles on new drops.

The series S seems to be plenty available everywhere around here.
 
Colonel Sanders said:
so are these still as hard to get a hold of as a ps5?
Click to expand...

I’d say so in my experience. I did just see about 10 S models at my local Walmart yesterday morning. Previously had only seen a couple at a time outside of Costco. And also tend to be more readily available for shipping during the drops.
 
Denpepe said:
Harder, MS so far made only about half as much of the new consoles as Sony. Over here in Europe they are very, very rare, I haven't even managed to get a notification from the half a dozen stores I subcribed too since they launched. 1 store has delivered Series X's that were preordered until end of October 2020 !! Shops get at best a couple hundred consoles on new drops.

The series S seems to be plenty available everywhere around here.
Click to expand...
Probably so in the EU since MS has not been as popular over their. They are probably sending majority of their units to the US. They probably sent like 2 to Japan lol.
 
grifter_66 said:
Much harder. I've gotten 3 PS5s and 5 GTX3080Ti's at MSRP and I have yet to be able to get my hands on a single Series X.
Click to expand...
Very different experience than me. I’ve had 3 series x consoles and a whopping. Zero ps5’s or 3000 series cards.
 
After thinking the new Xbox controllers had fixed the bumper snapping issues with previous versions, I had my first bumper casualty over the weekend. Same issue as with the Series X controllers - the little tab that holds 'em in place clearly snapped off at some point.
 
Domingo said:
After thinking the new Xbox controllers had fixed the bumper snapping issues with previous versions, I had my first bumper casualty over the weekend. Same issue as with the Series X controllers - the little tab that holds 'em in place clearly snapped off at some point.
Click to expand...
Crazy, haven't had a Xbox controller fail yet but I could just be lucky. My ps5 controller on the other hand failed a month out of the box lol. Hopefully you can get warranty for it
 
Denpepe said:
Harder, MS so far made only about half as much of the new consoles as Sony. Over here in Europe they are very, very rare, I haven't even managed to get a notification from the half a dozen stores I subcribed too since they launched. 1 store has delivered Series X's that were preordered until end of October 2020 !! Shops get at best a couple hundred consoles on new drops.

The series S seems to be plenty available everywhere around here.
Click to expand...
Anecdotally my friend here in Italy was able to walk into a local GameStop and reserve one in an upcoming shipment that came 5 days later. This was on early November.

My local PX here has had a dozen Series S consoles out on the floor for a couple weeks now. They don't seem to be selling very well. I would consider one if they had disc drives for my old 360 and XBone games.. and if I didn't already have a XBone X and Series X for all that. Here lately though my PS5 and even Switch has seen much more use too.
 
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Domingo said:
After thinking the new Xbox controllers had fixed the bumper snapping issues with previous versions, I had my first bumper casualty over the weekend. Same issue as with the Series X controllers - the little tab that holds 'em in place clearly snapped off at some point.
Click to expand...
WTH are you playing lol that induces a bumber casualty? I didn't know that was a thing and never had a issue with any of my controllers.
 
kaneO said:
WTH are you playing lol that induces a bumber casualty? I didn't know that was a thing and never had a issue with any of my controllers.
Click to expand...

I think it's mainly fighting games and Souls games. Titles where you're using the bumpers as your primary buttons. I've only experienced this issue with the newer Xbox pads (anything past the 360) and the PS3 pad. I've been playing with pads since the early 80's, and this has only been a thing for a short while.
It's not even a dramatic thing, either. I'll just notice that the bumper (usually R1, but occasionally L1) isn't working 1/2 the time. After a few taps, it gets stuck or the plastic feels loose. There are ways to fix them, but it's not exactly easy or convenient. At this point I think I'm just going to get Best Buy to warranty 'em moving forward. I go through one almost every year.
 
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T4rd said:
Anecdotally my friend here in Italy was able to walk into a local GameStop and reserve one in an upcoming shipment that came 5 days later. This was on early November.

My local PX here has had a dozen Series S consoles out on the floor for a couple weeks now. They don't seem to be selling very well. I would consider one of them had disc drives for my old 360 and XBone games.. and if I didn't already have a XBone X and Series X for all that. Here lately though my PS5 and even Switch has seen much more use too.
Click to expand...

I think it's kind of sad that MS wasted a lot of resources making 2 very different consoles unlike Sony and that the cheaper one is not selling out in a global chip shortage where the other consoles sell out in seconds.
 
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Microsoft didn’t make two console chips, they made two server chips. Only Sony developed a console.
 
Domingo said:
I think it's mainly fighting games and Souls games. Titles where you're using the bumpers as your primary buttons. I've only experienced this issue with the newer Xbox pads (anything past the 360) and the PS3 pad. I've been playing with pads since the early 80's, and this has only been a thing for a short while.
It's not even a dramatic thing, either. I'll just notice that the bumper (usually R1, but occasionally L1) isn't working 1/2 the time. After a few taps, it gets stuck or the plastic feels loose. There are ways to fix them, but it's not exactly easy or convenient. At this point I think I'm just going to get Best Buy to warranty 'em moving forward. I go through one almost every year.
Click to expand...
ooh ok, I didn't realize it before last month but some Microsoft controllers come with a warranty and I utilized it for the elite series 2 because of the thumbstick drift. They paid for shipping both ways too. I think its two years.
 
Domingo said:
I think it's mainly fighting games and Souls games. Titles where you're using the bumpers as your primary buttons. I've only experienced this issue with the newer Xbox pads (anything past the 360) and the PS3 pad. I've been playing with pads since the early 80's, and this has only been a thing for a short while.
It's not even a dramatic thing, either. I'll just notice that the bumper (usually R1, but occasionally L1) isn't working 1/2 the time. After a few taps, it gets stuck or the plastic feels loose. There are ways to fix them, but it's not exactly easy or convenient. At this point I think I'm just going to get Best Buy to warranty 'em moving forward. I go through one almost every year.
Click to expand...
I've probably put more than a thousand hours into all the Souls games on both Xbox and PC, and I've never had a bumper casualty. I think it has to do with the way people hit the bumpers that causes them to break. The way I push them is to leverage my whole finger on the length of the button. Maybe putting stress on a single point is what causes the failures.
 
Armenius said:
I've probably put more than a thousand hours into all the Souls games on both Xbox and PC, and I've never had a bumper casualty. I think it has to do with the way people hit the bumpers that causes them to break. The way I push them is to leverage my whole finger on the length of the button. Maybe putting stress on a single point is what causes the failures.
Click to expand...

It's pretty common amongst fighting game folks and I'm sure it has to do with the specific grip certain people use. I'd hoped the newer pads would alleviate it altogether, but apparently not. Best Buy's 2-year replacement plan is $20, so I figure that's still cheaper than buying a new pad every year. In the case of this one, only 6 months.
 
Out Walmart got a couple of these in for Thanksgiving at that was it not even sure if they were this Gen because I didn't see them myself.
I haven't see a console all this year I asked this Mike guy about 20 times if he sold all the PS5s online and he unloads trucks everyday.
 
I have to imagine that Halo and Forza have probably made Series X machines more scarce than ever. Outside of the Bethesda titles and maybe Gears, those are Microsoft's biggest franchises.
 
The Series S is looking more and more like a smart move by MS but I bet there'll be a flood of Series S on the used market once Series X supply meets demand.
 
SeymourGore said:
The Series S is looking more and more like a smart move by MS but I bet there'll be a flood of Series S on the used market once Series X supply meets demand.
Click to expand...

I would be more inclined to think that the Series S on the used market will really occur when the refresh is pushed out.
 
ManofGod said:
I would be more inclined to think that the Series S on the used market will really occur when the refresh is pushed out.
Click to expand...

Especially since the refresh is expected to have a more powerful APU and more RAM. I can't help but wonder if people are just snapping up all the X models or if Microsoft is turning them all into blades for datacenters.
 
SeymourGore said:
The Series S is looking more and more like a smart move by MS but I bet there'll be a flood of Series S on the used market once Series X supply meets demand.
Click to expand...
It would have been a smarter move to stick to one SKU and only made series X, they would still be in short supply, but at least all their consoles would have sold out, Series S is still almost everywhere available. How bad a dedision have you made when almost everything with a chip in sells out in seconds and you launch a game console that's in stock everywhere
 
SeymourGore said:
The Series S is looking more and more like a smart move by MS but I bet there'll be a flood of Series S on the used market once Series X supply meets demand.
Click to expand...

I’d rather they had taken the PS5 digital approach. I probably would have still bought the X for the UHD and backwards compatible with discs I still own. But the S was non-starter due to resolution support.
 
Denpepe said:
How bad a dedision have you made when almost everything with a chip in sells out in seconds and you launch a game console that's in stock everywhere
Click to expand...

These chips weren't designed for consoles, they were designed for servers. The leftovers are being turned into consoles.
 
I’ve got a buddy who’s a botter/scalper. He sold me an x at retail. I like it for the game pass stuff. I have no idea what to play though.
 
TheToE! said:
I’ve got a buddy who’s a botter/scalper. He sold me an x at retail. I like it for the game pass stuff. I have no idea what to play though.
Click to expand...
There is a button in the library, and I think also in Game Pass, that says "Surprise Me!" It will pick a random game to play/download. If you've logged a lot of hours on the console and/or through the PC app the algorithm will better choose a game that fits your tastes.
 
Anybody been playing around with the ability to have a controller synced to two sources? Have some questions if anybody has.
 
TheGardenTool said:
Anybody been playing around with the ability to have a controller synced to two sources? Have some questions if anybody has.
Click to expand...

it only applies to Bluetooth / Xbox , ie. you cant toggle between syncing two Xboxes , I tried.
you toggle between mode with double pressing the sync button iirc
 
Ragenrok said:
I use it alot to swap between my Xbox and my nvidia shield and it works great
Click to expand...

Similar to what I’m trying. Got it synced to TV running on Android to use with Moonlight. Although I can’t figure out how to turn on controller without turning on Xbox and also turn it off.
 
This has been a wild two weeks of tech over here. Went full Linux, so I had to switch from an iPod for the gym to something more compatible. While checking out at Best Buy, saw a Series X sitting on the counter. Someone had returned it and the employee was slow-rolling putting it on the sales floor. Since I (the customer) asked about it, he had to sell it to me. Not your at the checkout normal impulse buy I guess.

So far, I am very happy I picked this up. Game Pass is impressive. My home office TV is the last of the good 65" Panasonic Viera plasmas, so although 1080p, the picture is gorgeous and I assume performance will be buttery at 1080p.

What have you been playing so far? So many choices. Oddly, I gravitated toward NHL 21 and got hooked. Halo Infinite is really solid too (although I need a LOT of practice).
 
maxinflixion said:
This has been a wild two weeks of tech over here. Went full Linux, so I had to switch from an iPod for the gym to something more compatible. While checking out at Best Buy, saw a Series X sitting on the counter. Someone had returned it and the employee was slow-rolling putting it on the sales floor. Since I (the customer) asked about it, he had to sell it to me. Not your at the checkout normal impulse buy I guess.

So far, I am very happy I picked this up. Game Pass is impressive. My home office TV is the last of the good 65" Panasonic Viera plasmas, so although 1080p, the picture is gorgeous and I assume performance will be buttery at 1080p.

What have you been playing so far? So many choices. Oddly, I gravitated toward NHL 21 and got hooked. Halo Infinite is really solid too (although I need a LOT of practice).
Click to expand...

I've had a lot of fun with Halo Infinite. I finished the campaign and have done a little multiplayer. I don't know if you're into racing, but I'd recommend checking out Forza Horizon 5. I'm also playing some of the Gears of War games, Microsoft Flight Simulator, and Minecraft Dungeons. It's hard to decide what to play, with all the stuff there.
 
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