This Xbox Series X storage adapter could blow open its SSD options

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But not just any SSD will work

Xbox Series X storage expansion adapter
(Image credit: Sintech)

A new third-party accessory for Xbox Series X could let you expand your system's storage without paying extra for one of the official expansion cards.

As spotted by Tom's Hardware and Hermitage Akihabara, the newly announced Sintech DIY CFexpress Card PA-CFEM2-C conversion adapter lets you plug your own M.2-2230 NVMe SSD into the back of your Xbox and use it to expand your system's built-in hardware. While making your own memory setup with the adapter - which is currently listed for $35.99 - could save you money over an official solution, this approach has two big limitations.

First, the adapter only works with short form factor M.2 cards. Second, while the adapter can be used with a range of cards meeting that form factor, Xbox Series X and S are only compatible with a select number of SSD drives that have certain firmware and internal formatting. As Tom's Hardware points out, you could use a Western Digital WD Blue CH SN530 just fine, but not a WD Blue PC SN530. In other words, put some time into researching compatibility before you try to save money on a storage expansion this way, or else you might end up with a card that just doesn't work.

Connor Sheridan
Connor Sheridan

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and was formerly a staff writer at GamesRadar.