Storage is everything. I remember when I had to use multiple floppy disks just to save a document and now we have portable hard drives that are the size of a deck of cards that can store terabytes of data. Last fall, I was lucky enough to snag an Xbox Series X console system and I just recently subscribed to the Game Pass system that Microsoft provides for users. I found several older games that I’ve always enjoyed and even though I invested in a larger hard drive in my console, I was concerned about running out of system space with all of these downloads. That’s why this WD_Black P10 hard drive comes in handy. This hard drive is designed specifically with gamers in mind. The hard drive can reach speeds up to 130 MB/s read/write. It’s a mechanical 2.5-inch hard drive and works through a USB 3.2 G 1 interface. The hard drive comes with a cable and instruction manual for operation. It also comes with a promo code for 2 months of Xbox Game Pass, which does come in handy. WD includes a 3-year manufacturer’s warranty for parts and labor. The hard drive is black with white trim and it looks great with the Xbox Series X console. It is offered in different capacity sizes up to 5TB, but I chose the 4TB version. The hard drive is a 5400RPM drive, but performs quite well for a mechanical drive. When you plug the hard drive into your console, a message will pop up automatically to ask if you would like to format the hard drive. You have the option to use it for media or for game backups. It you want to use it for game backups, you will need to format it. As a word of warning, once you format it, the hard drive won’t be readable by other computer systems. When the drive is connected, you can manage it later through System Settings. The drive seems to load games pretty fast and with a 4TB HDD, it will certainly have plenty of space to store saved games. It’s very easy to operate and other than the special compatibility with console systems, it’s not much different from a standard HDD when it comes to function. The speeds won’t be as fast as the internal storage on the console simply because the WD_Black isn’t an SSD. Overall, it’s a good hard drive though and I’ve trusted WD for years with data storage. I love that I have this as an option for additional storage for gaming.

Great little drive, but a little disappointed it is only a 5400 rpm drive. Before connecting to my actual Xbox Series X - I connected it to a windows 10 computer and ran it thru it’s paces in CrystalDiskMark, a hard drive benchmarking software. The drive was already formatted as a NTFS formatted windows drive. CrystalDiskMark revealed the drive to actually be a slower speed 5400 RPM drive. This for general game storage is not too bad, and read and write speeds were actually very good on both Windows 10 and also when tested further on my Xbox Series X - moving games over from the Series X internal SSD. The drive did hit about 39 degrees celsius when connected to my Windows 10 machine for benchmarking, via copying around 3.5 terabytes of game data to it. CrystalDiskMark information: Enclosure : WD Game Drive USB Device (V=1058, P=2638, sa1) - wd Model : WDC WD40NMZW-59A8NS1 Firmware : 01.01A01 Disk Size : 4000.7 GB (8.4/137.4/4000.7/4000.7) Buffer Size : Unknown Queue Depth : 32 # of Sectors : 7813971632 Rotation Rate : 5400 RPM Interface : USB (Serial ATA) Major Version : ACS-3 Minor Version : ACS-3 Revision 4 Transfer Mode : SATA/600 | SATA/600 Power On Hours : 12 hours Power On Count : 4 count Temperature : 28 C (82 F) Health Status : Good Features : S.M.A.R.T., APM, 48bit LBA, NCQ, TRIM APM Level : 0080h [ON] Now... on to my Xbox Series X part of review. it loads most old games pretty fast for a mechanical 5400rpm drive. However, this drive will absolutely fit the bill holding tons of those older generation games, particularly for those that have access to Xbox Game Pass. The drive itself also comes with a 2 month free game pass Ultimate code in the box. Ultimate, is the version of Xbox Game Pass that also gives Windows 10 gamers access to Windows games. I was already a Game Pass Ultimate member for about a year now, and this is an added bonus, and great way to get your feet wet, with tons of games, on both Xbox consoles, and Windows 10 gaming computers. I recommend you get this drive if you need to really hold that many games on your xbox library. Even if you just use it to temporarily move games from your Xbox Series X or S, from the SSD, so that you don’t have to re-download huge games. This is a big deal for those in parts of the United States that are on monthly data caps with their internet service provider. It is also just no fun to have to redownload some of these huge games in recent years.

So I already had an external solid state drive that I was using with my Xbox One X but I do not like to remove games so the 2 TB drive was close to getting full. Rather than by another generic drive I decided to try buying a larger HD that is built specifically for gaming; where the HD is constantly on and actively reading and writing. I picked up this WD drive. I did not notice anything too great about it compared to the generic external HD I was using. I performed a speed test and the WD read/write speeds were actually slightly lower than my old drive. I have not noticed the difference myself when playing games as load time seems identical to me. I am hoping that it lasts and that the failure rate is low but that is something only time will tell.

Increased my xbox one s storage. Connected to xbox and setup came right up, simple to use. The white and black design looks great with my xbox. Doesn't include a usb-c cable, but it's labeled for xbox and that's what I'm using it on,not a problem for me. No power connector or plug to deal with, one cable. Got on sale so got 4gb instead of 5gb.

Just unpack and plug in. Remember you can't run series x or s games on this. Works great for what I wanted.