Although there is some cooling interference using a 2.5 SATA drive in the bay, the majority of thermal issues have come from actually using hard drives.
HDDs are denser, and create/generate thermal conditions, adding to additional cooling problems. The majority of the 2.5 SATA SSDs are in an aluminum case and generate a minimalistic amount of thermals.
Still, a number of our clients have come up with more advantageous installation solutions to receive 2TB of SATA storage
M.2 NGFF to SATA Adapter Card B Key/B & M Key SSD Converter
The card adapter is both thinner and narrower, allowing it to be positioned for better airflow within the bottom of the case, while having virtually nothing to absorb and retain heat.
This has been the configuration used by many of our clients for some time now, with no problems.
A number of other clients have shucked this model here
Silicon Power Ace A55 2TB SSD Review
With great success.
MaxProAndU Team
So for my Xbox series X i got a WD_BLACK 2TB P50 Game Drive External NVME SSD $339 USD on Amazon and that drive connected to the series x transfers at 2 to 2.4 GB/sec . For my Xbox one X i bought a Western Digital Red 4tb 2.5" SSD and a external enclosure that drive is pricey though at $529 USD on amazon but it offers maximum performance and storage for a One X . A simple SSD solution that i also use with my One X is a Samsung T5 2TB SSD $219.99 USD on Amazon which is plug and play out of the box. The T5 performs beautifully with the One X. And on those SSD's the load times, transfer times and overall game performance is massively improved. There are plenty of videos on you tube showing the differences in load times between the internal HDD and a external SSD. There is also a pretty easy step by step video for replacing the internal HDD with a 2TB 2.5" SSD(any brand would work) which doubles your internal storage and the overall performance of the system.
A good video link that shows a step by step to take apart the xbox one x and swap the internal HDD for an SSD, which is actually fairly simple. https://youtu.be/PtdDjiU_mCU
In this video they install a same size SSD i would recommend getting a 2TB so you can improve the internal storage if you swap it out.
A couple video links for the performance difference are bellow. The second video link also shows how to swap the drive out:
An external SSD will still improve game operation but swapping the internal will improve the entire systems operation. In the end the choice is yours of course. A note for the internal option, don't buy a SSD larger than 2tb as that is the largest it will accept.
I did use a 4tb Seagate game drive, not the one you linked that lights up, the one that is all green and says xbox on it. As an external drive it performed exactly like the internal HDD. If you can gather up the extra money to get the 2tb Samsung T5 you won't be disappointed.
2tb Crucial MX500 for internal swap.
2tb Samsung 870 QVO for internal swap.
2tb Silicon Power SSD for internal swap(cheapest i could find on amazon)
Final note, you can use 2 external drives at the same time and play games from both of them which gives you the possibility for crazy amounts of storage.
Just buy a 2.5" sata ssd. They are a lot cheaper than nvme.
$62 for a Silicon Power 2TB 2.5" ssd. https://www.amazon.com/Silicon-Power-Performance-Internal-SP002TBSS3A55S25/dp/B07Q37V1C9/ or $150 for a 4tb.
A number of our clients have started using a M.2 NGFF SATA SSD adapter double-sided taped at the end or creating a mounting solution
Which takes up approximately half the surface area with less restrictions airflow. It also provides the advantage of cooling the SSD better. At that point, they just choose
Silicon Power 1TB A55 M.2 SSD SATA III Internal Solid State Drive 2280 SU001TBSS3A55M28AB
Other clients have just started shucking a drive altogether, and creating a mounting solution for the card.
Silicon Power 1TB SSD 3D NAND A55 SLC Cache Performance Boost SATA III 2.5" 7mm (0.28") (SP001TBSS3A55S25) or Silicon Power 2TB SSD 3D NAND A55 SLC Cache Performance Boost SATA III 2.5" 7mm (0.28") (SP002TBSS3A55S25)
Either direction, they have found the airflow is noticeably different.
MaxProAndU Team
