Stevivor’s in the midst of a Xbox Series X preview program, and today’s tests were all about the times it took to transfer data from an external HDD to its internal SSD. We also compared the same with its older brother, the Xbox One X, and its internal HDD.
As we’ve detailed in our Xbox Series X loading time testing, the next-gen console sports sports a 1TB Custom NVME SSD that works as part of its Velocity Architexture, promising blistering speeds when playing and transfering titles.
The timings below begin with minutes, then seconds, then milliseconds. They also list the file sizes of the games transferred. We’ll continue to add to this list as we test more titles.
Data transfer speeds from external HDD to internal HDD/SSD
Today’s tests involved copying games from a single WD Elements 2TB portable USB 3.0 hard drive onto either internal drive.
| Game Name | File Size | Xbox One X transfer time |
Xbox Series X transfer time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alien Isolation | 24.41GB | 10:44:04 | 05:31:24 |
| Doom Eternal | 44.85GB | 14:32:26 | 09:30:37 |
| Forza Horizon 3 | 51.41GB | 24:52:19 | 10:55:35 |
| Gears 4 | 116.8GB | 36:18:12 | 26:21:14 |
| Halo: The Master Chief Collection |
104.93GB | 29:35:24 | 21:53:08 |
| Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice |
15.37GB | 03:44:05 | 02:53:13 |
| Ori and the Will of the Wisps |
5.70GB | 02:07:28 | 01:37:04 |
| Resident Evil 3 | 21.98GB | 07:17:40 | 04:20:49 |
| Resident Evil 5 | 15.95GB | 04:03:15 | 03:19:06 |
| Resident Evil 6 | 17.8GB | 05:21:34 | 04:25:17 |
| Star Trek Online | 20.83GB | 06:37:24 | 04:09:21 |
| Tomb Raider Definitive Edition |
20.96GB | 07:38:27 | 04:03:07 |
From our testing above, we’ve concluded that the Xbox Series X will copy games from an external HDD at an average rate of 1GB per 11.21 seconds as compared to the Xbox One X at 1 GB per 20.57 seconds.
Data transfer speeds from internal SSD to external HDD
We didn’t bother testing Xbox One X speeds here — largely due to time — but because we felt that it was more important to gauge how long it would take to move games from the Xbox Series X’s internal storage to an external HDD when you’re full up.
These timings start with hours, then minutes, then seconds, then miliseconds.
| Game Name | File Size | Xbox Series X transfer time |
|---|---|---|
| Alien Isolation | 24.41GB | 00:14:33:22 |
| Doom Eternal | 44.85GB | 00:28:32:06 |
| Forza Horizon 3 | 51.41GB | 00:40:28:29 |
| Gears 4 | 116.8GB | 01:38:54:21 |
| Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice |
15.37GB | 00:06:26:19 |
| Ori and the Will of the Wisps |
5.70GB | 00:03:45:27 |
| Resident Evil 3 | 21.98GB | 00:09:01:01 |
| Resident Evil 5 | 15.95GB | 00:07:14:17 |
| Resident Evil 6 | 17.8GB | 00:07:45:09 |
| Star Trek Online | 20.83GB | 00:11:45:15 |
| Tomb Raider Definitive Edition |
20.96GB | 00:13:37:11 |
From this testing, we’ve concluded that the Xbox Series X can transfer from its internal drive to a USB 3.0-powered external hard drive at an average rate of 1GB per 34.10 seconds.
Data transfer speeds from the Xbox Series internal SSD to expansion card
Games are large nowadays, and you’ll need to juggle stuff between internal memory, older USB 3.0-powered hard drives and the Xbox Series 1TB expansion card offered through Seagate.
It’s important to note that Xbox, Xbox 360 and Xbox One games can be played from USB 3.0 hard drives and don’t need to be installed inside Xbox Series internal or expansion card storage. While older games won’t see increased loading times from older drives, they’ll still get boosts to framerate, resolution, auto HDR and Quick Resume.
Related: Here’s the Xbox Series Quick Resume functionality at work
With that in mind, here’s how long it takes to transfer games from the internal Xbox Series X memory to a 1TB expansion card.
These timings start with minutes, then seconds, then miliseconds.
| Game Name | File Size | Xbox Series X transfer time |
|---|---|---|
| Avengers | 58.50GB | 01:35:01 |
| Control | 59.40GB | 01:55:02 |
| Destiny 2 | 108.10GB | 02:44:04 |
| Doom Eternal | 44.85GB | 01:08:29 |
| Forza Horizon 3 | 51.12GB | 01:40:02 |
| Gears of War 4 | 117.78GB | 02:55:24 |
| Journey to the Savage Planet |
6.47GB | 00:15:17 |
| The Outer Worlds | 45.08GB | 01:06:16 |
| Resident Evil 3 | 21.98GB | 00:32:20 |
Howzat for fast? Our tests concluded that the average speed of an Xbox Series X internal SSD to 1TB expansion card transfer is 1GB every 1.7 seconds.
The Xbox Series S & X head to store shelves on 10 November.
This article contains affiliate links, meaning we could earn a small commission if you click-through and make a purchase. Stevivor is an independent outlet and our journalism is in no way influenced by any advertiser or commercial initiative.
This article may contain affiliate links, meaning we could earn a small commission if you click-through and make a purchase. Stevivor is an independent outlet and our journalism is in no way influenced by any advertiser or commercial initiative.
