If you have questions, check here first as they may have been answered already. Update: Not sure of how recently this has happened but it appears Microsoft offers an offline update option which should bypass the need to run a script. support.xbox.com/help/hardware-network/console/system-update-solution/offline-system-update ✏What SSD did you use? www.sandisk.com/home/ssd/ssd-plus We used the 960GB variant ✏What is the spec of the SSD? SATA 3.0; sequential read up to 535 MB/s; sequential write up to 450 MB/s ✏The Xbox One uses SATA II . . . or is it SATA III Here's what we know . . . kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mNZlorCAx9Wxqn0.html ✏Will this work on (other version of Xbox One)? We have yet to do so, but according to our sources, this process should work the same on all versions of the Xbox One ✏Is there an SSD size limit? Yes. The largest standard size it'll use is 2TB. You can go bigger but after 2 it gets a little wonky. And as far as we know, you can go as low as 500GB. ✏Can I use a (name brand) drive? As far as we understand, any SATA SSD that is within known size limits should work. ✏I heard Microsoft doesn't allow drive swapping. Microsoft allows replacement of the internal storage, they're just not going to make it easy. ✏What if I put something other than the Xbox files on the drive (Windows OS, random files, blank etc.)? Probably nothing? Let us know if you try and we'll do the same. ✏(External/Internal) is better because (X) A valid argument can be made for both methods. It's really a matter of preference. ✏PS4 makes it easier to do this. That seems to be the case. We definitely plan on giving it a go. ✏How would this perform with (other game, 360 game). We can only speak to the performance of the games tested. Though in most cases, you could likely expect similar results. ✏Can you fix my Xbox (or other console, PC, etc..). Sorry, no.. Of course, if you have a question not listed above, we will still do our best to answer them.

Dude. You nailed what actually needed to be tested. Without this I'd be ripping console apart for no good reason. Sending you a free air guitar!

I really appreciate that you waited until you determined stability before following up. And so many tests!

I’m happy that you ran 3 separate tests on each option, how it was presented in the graphs with separate sections. This was a very informational video and has helped make an informed decision

Thanks for doing this. Love my external, and knowing the internal only really impacts boot time reinforces my decision.

this was extremely helpful. the graphs u up. were just what i needed

Extremely Pleased to say that the upgrade process for me has been a huge success. Thanks for the videos and source guide link for xfix's channel for the tear down and powrshell script. The performance of my xbox has dramatically improved with load times even more so than my ps4 pro that also upgraded to an ssd.

Excellent, truly excellent, I watch a lot of tech review/comparison vids on youtube, and this is one of the most clear ever - keep up the good work!

thanks for sharing these interesting results ... I am already using an external SSD and was wondering if I can speed up with an internal as well. Your results showed that it only significantly improves boot times - Thank you so much - you saved me a lot of work :) Kudos to you!

It’s 2021 and I still find this helpful. Thank you! I have a 2GBps USB NVMe and I will stick with the external setup based on this.

Thankful for your contribution boss - Subbed & Fan 4 Ever! 😎🍾🍻🤙🏼🔥

Perfect video dude! Thanks for sharing this :)

I installed an SSD into my Xbox One X early this year and changed the thermal paste (Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut) on the APU. I would like to say that my console runs really quiet even while gaming in some games.

Nice video and easy to follow. Some good information here. Thank you for the upload.

Thank you for this information. Good video!

Swap both my OG ONE and ONE S but got lazy on the X, looks like I'm not missing out anything. Thanks for the video and all the test!

Subbed! Content like this potentially saves us money and forces console manufacturers to improve their products. I hope you do a Series X external SSD test showing game load times and whether or not Quick Play functions. I'll be doing this test myself, but I don't film for KZfaq.

The fact you added the comparison of the external as well.. is a massive help. I’m still going to exchange the internal with an SSD for my OneX because I’ll probably stare my external HDD between OneX and Series X as I’m assuming they will use the same format.

Thanks bruh, this was exactly what I needed to see to make a decision.

I appreciate you doing this i've been thinking about doing it for a while but i didn't know if it was really worth it or not on console.

N7 - ME One of the best games I ever played! Very useful content, thank you!

I know this is an old video but still helpful to me today. Thanks!

great review. for the ones with a short time, go directly to 04:35 so you can compare hdd times vs internal ssd and external ssd.

Watching this after new gen has released, it basically makes it into an Xbox Series S with an optical drive

Great video with detailed test results.

Thanks for this information 👍 and good luck

Thanks for this. I was wondering about internal SSD loadtimes.

I’m a little late to the SSD swap on my XBOX One X, but this video was very insightful. Thanks 👍

I think it's a pretty accurate video and well informative, I will swap the internal hdd with an ssd anyhow to hopefully improve significantly the boot time and the os response time, also I don't want to have an extra device attached to the console that somebody can hit and disconnect while it's on.

I'm very glad you did the 3-way comparison. While I have, in the past, done the difficult sector copies (using DD on the original Xbox back in the day), clones, mods, etc. As I have become lazier in my old age I am totally ok with just doing the USB external.

very helpfull ! thank you for explaining!!

This is neat info. Thanks for making it. Now, did you or could you do a test on stuff like "texture pop in" and similar things where the SSD should really come in hot?

30 seconds might not seem like a lot but throughout a whole game that difference in load time will be noticeable. glad you showed the difference in several games

Appreciate the work you put into this video. I think the only benefit of having an internal ssd would be for the original Xbox One. That thing needed all the help it could get. Sad i had to part with it but getting myself the One X was worth it.

Thanks for this. Glad I went with an external SSD!

Wow thank you ! Best X SSD review on youtube!

Thank you very much good information!

This guys really thorough thanks your the my new tech advisor

THANK YOU !!! great video

A very nice and thorough test indeed. I appreciate the detail and mentioning how you made sure to put it through system updates as people were once very worried about those issues. The only difference I really wanted to see was for download times and speeds, and if there was really a difference there or not when compared to an External SSD. But with the Series X hopefully being better in stock soon, I may just save my money and use it elsewhere instead. Maybe a NVMe for my PC or putting it towards a CPU or GPU upgrade, or even getting a Series X itself. Much appreciated though, definitely earned a sub from me for helping me save my money. 1.5 TB of external SSD storage is plenty for me.

Hats off to ya bud! 👍🏼

Just subscribed too! Good luck with the channel!

Appreciate this, thanks. 👍

You my good sir earned my sub

Upvote for the Mass Effect hoodie!😎 And yes, I cracked my system open and there is a big difference between HDD and an internal SSD!

Thank you great review

Great video! Greetings from Brazil! 🇧🇷🎮

thx for the video, i was thinking about to exchange the internal drive, but know i let my system in the current state, external ssd ;-)

Great video and analysis, thanks for doing the hard work so i dont have to😂👍

just wanted to say this video is ABSOLUTELY PERFECT. please make all of the videos for everyone 🤷🏼‍♂️

I have a xbox one s with 480gb ssd external and the difference is huge nice vídeo!

When you tested the External SSD, did you have the internal SSD installed or the internal HDD installed? I feel like there should be four tests total. An external SSD test for each internal drive, a test for the onboard SSD and a test for the Internal SSD. Did the internal SSD made the dashboard snappier? I'm wondering if it's worth replacing my Internal HDD for an Internal SSD.

Great test. I have all my games on an ext SSD and was wondering if I can get even better improvements with internal SSD. It turns out the diff is only 1-3 secs so I'm fine with that and won't bother.

I've changed the default seagate 1TB from my XB1X with Samsung EVO 860 SSD, and the only bad part seems to be the latency recorded when you do it using the test from the settings menu. Before I was around 45-47 ms and now it's around 200 ms. But overall the OS feels a lot better in responsiveness and transition. The latency seems to be the only issue with an internal SSD.

Easiest way is to simply clone the drive from the Xbox to the new SSD. Put in the cloned SSD and your good to go. If you do not have the docking station there are other ways to clone. That being said you can go to the Xbox website and download the software and put it on a Flash drive and install it that way. Xbox One S and X are easy they just need one download. The Original Xbox One is a little bit more tricky as it requires 2 downloads to complete. Good video I enjoyed it and this info I just posted I learned recently so it was probably not well known at the time of this video:P

First time watching, I must have looked at it backwards. I watched it again and now it makes sense! lol

Hey great video! I'm not planning on upgrading to next gen but I do plan on doing something like this if it improves the general system responsiveness. Did you notice load times between apps and going through the UI snappier and more responsive?

I think I’m gonna do an internal SSD install after seeing these videos. The quieter operation, albeit marginally better performance in some areas over external, and preserving the clean look of the Xbox one x all sell it for me. Also I have a 1TB SSD to spare

Very well done

I'm grateful for the information thanks

I’m Really considering doing this to my 1X as well but I just got a gaming pc with a 1tb ssd. Good video and it makes me still consider doing it just for fun. Would you say it would be a big difference if I just buy an external one and go through the usb3 port?

Good video, thanks

Based on this my plan is to move my games to an external SSD, and just use the internal for the system. Doesn't seem worth voiding the warranty for what amounts to a small difference between internal and external SSD.

Very informative video thank you. What is the best cable to connect the external ssd with the xbox? Thank you

Had to replace a corrupted X HDD a few months ago so swapped in an SSD. Almost 4 months to the day the NEW one corrupted so bad my computer couldn't even read it. The OS is not very robust against failed updates, I have to say. Anyways, luckily the X is fairly easy to open up, so a couple hours was all it took to reformat and reinstall

Great Video, although not much of a difference in SSD connectivity I would much rather do it internally just because I'd like to take apart the console for learning experience.

Hi, cool video! If I have an SSD, how can I connect it to the xbox? Sata to USB 3.0 adapter? Or will that make things a lot slower? THX!

Good info here! Nice pac-man ghost.

Would love to see an updated video comparing this time along side the series s for those debating updating but on the fence bc I think they’ll be similar times

Hello, I would like to install ssd on my xbox one x, just exchange the HD for the SSD or do I need to install any drive on the ssd before?

Do you have the equipment to test the fps in warzone compared the internal HDD to a SSD? Because it loads and feels way better on even an external HDD. Even Textures also loading way faster. I bet there also is a FPS boost too!!

Good video thanks

What if you want to install an internal ssd and use an external ssd as well? Will that help load times even more?

The initial load dumps the games run files into ram. The parts that are all identical in time for SSD vs. HDD are files being run off the ram.

I've been wanting to do a ssd upgarde with all the old generation systems for quite some time as they have better upload time for the games and it will be awhile before I get the new generation systems and I just enjoy playing my games and like doing stuff like this.

Thank you! I've made a lot research and by the datasheet, Xbox does'n have a sata controller, It uses a USB 3.0 to sata bridge, what means that the rate limit of ~280MB/s, instead of ~500MB/s of a regular sata 3 SSD.

I heard Mass Effect style music so I looked up to the screen... Mass Effect hoodie!!

Thanks for the video. I'd be curious to see the difference in load times with Borderlands 3 on an Xbox One X. On the internal HDD it takes over three minutes to load. About 2 mins 50 secs just on the Claptrap loading bar. Does anyone have some load times for internal SSD or external SDD loading BL3? Subnautica even? For me those, two games take the longest to load.

I would love to see the Results for Borderlands 2 and 3. There are some scenarios where you have to close and start the Game on repeat. Farming a Sand hawk as an example.I don't need the comparison just the time you have. In case you own the Games of course. Oh btw i really like this video its more than informative. Good job

I wonder if those spots that are the same are times it is trying to connect to the game's service. That would make sense why the time is the same. There is no local processing really instead its waiting to get a response back from the games server to connect and that wait time is relatively steady.

My launch day Scorpio edition internal drive is faulty, so rather than pay Microsoft around £200 to replace it with whatever is on the shelf, I've decided to keep my mint Scorpio and replace the drive myself with a 500 GB SSD to get it back running and to help it run a little cooler without a mechanical drive. I went for 500 GB to keep the cost down and because I run my games from an external drive, so don't really need the internal storage. Got all the bits I need to do it and just need to make time to get it done now.

Cool video man! I wonder if External SSD’s will be an option for Xbox Series X? I have a Game Drive 4 TB HDD... that for all purposes I think is broken. - I’m not really sure how I’d test it... but what I do know is I can’t run my Xbox One X when it’s plugged in. The console won’t recognize the controller when it’s plugged in, so I can’t even gauge if the console recognizes it. - And if I plug it in after I boot the console, the external drive isn’t recognized. Hoping SSD is more reliable. I had my Game drive for I think just under 2 years and now it doesn’t seem to work. Still powers on, but it’s not usable.

How about heat? The Xbox One S is pretty much a space heater even when idle. Did you notice a difference there?

What is the best sad for the Xbox One 2tb?

I'm wondering if you noticed gameplay being affected. Like, due to the SSD if pop-in is lessened or other graphical things that involved streaming from a local drive.

Hello, can you help me figure this? I've got 2 SanDisk SSD Plus recently and decided to use one to run games on my Xbox One S. I bought a SSD/HDD (2.5) to USB 3.0 adapter from eBay - it does perform well, on computer, compling with the USB 3.0' speeds, however, even while it transferred games really fast from my original Xbox's HDD, the loading speeds aren't much faster. I've used a timer to count the time and, pretty much, the loading takes the same time as on HDD. This happens on all games i've tested yet I'm thinking that, even with the SSD plugged into the USB 3.0 ports, the console is pretty much using the internal HDD to load the game, even if i filter by "SSD" on the dashboard. Did you have to remove the games from internal HDD to make use of the SSD? Thanks for the help!

there is also space usage and speed variable with ssd's rule of thumb your fastest speeds is going to be half and under of your drive storage space being used

Guy's a mass effect lover ♥️😁

Please i have a question if i buy 2 ssd's will i get faster processing? Like if 1 ssd is 500 read and if if i stack em will i get 1000+the already installed one in the xbox? Ty.

I’m new to the channel. I am installing a Samsung Evo 1tb SDD internal (spending a lot of money) did I make a mistake? I see everyone doing external SSD but my HDD failed and I had no choice , it’s in the shop awaiting delivery, please tell me your thoughts (bottlenecking, too much money on a good SDD? Etc.) thanks in advance

Yeah uuh. If I change the internal drive with a SSD. Don't it need like a back up or some sort of date on it to begin with? System wise? Would love to put in a SSD and external SSD. But need to know if a have to do a copy or anything from the main HDD.

Thank you for such a great video "series." Like many here I was looking into the update and going with a larger drive on the XB one X. With your results I don't see the hassle being worth it....now get it to support 4-6 tb internal SSD and I'm all in. With my research I run across some video's that explained games take a compressed file and decompress that using CPU and Memory. So... your equal times between HDD and SSD is that game play area. The HDD, SSD is not the limit and strictly CPU (AKA No difference even with better drive installed). Keep up the great video content! W.

The loading parts where the SSD didn't seem to help is almost certainly when the xbox wasn't reading from the drive like uncompressing textures into RAM or other large files that are compressed to save space.

I've been having regular e105 problems with my one X (have reset it repeatedly to factory). Was thinking of upgrading the internal. (Already have an external SSD). But with the one X only having a SATA II connector to the HD, I wondered whether a 2.5 7200rpm HDD would be more cost effective, an improvement on the 5400rpm stock. Because SSD is system limited?

I fitted a 1TB SSD to a Xbox One X, primarily because the hard drive failed. Being that I'd have to take the old one out before putting it all back together, it made sense to do it. Took the time to clean, change the thermal paste and generally refresh the console. Also fitted one to a One S, but that's because I wanted more internal space and I had a spare 2TB SSD hanging around from a client who wanted a upgrade for the laptop and then cancelled. Simple.

I want to know this is the perfect time to do this all eyes are on the xbox series x or pc gaming you can find a sweet deal on a used upgraded xbox one

Is there any in game benefits?

I really liked the video. I do like dismantling things and putting them back together. However, I could not for the life of me go through the process of cloning the SSD. I wouldn't know the first thing to do if it's not copy and paste. As for upgrading the storage from my perspective, unless I could swap it out with a full 2TB, I don't think I'd go through that whole process of losing 40GB just for slightly faster load times.

Has there been any progress on a definitive answer on the SATA interface? In my own opinion I believe it might actually be an SATA III interface. USB 3.0 performs at 4.8Gb/s while SATA III is 6Gb/s. Although your results were nearly identical between the 2 SSDs, USB 3.0 vs SATA II has a much larger performance gap than USB 3.0 to SATA III. While neither situation explains the near identical results, SATA III seems to me, to lend itself as the more likely candidate. Thoughts?

Have you redone all these tests, since Xbox officially provided firmware from their website for clean installs on new/replacement hard drives , which was this year?