Xbox One teardown reveals replaceable hard drive, off-the-shelf parts

While you're inside the Xbox One, you may also notice the amount of easy to replace, standard hardware. It's true: 64 mm Torx screws hold the Xbox One's internals together and a SATA data connector pairs the Blu-ray/DVD drive to the motherboard.

[ELpork]

Glad to hear Msoft doing something cool with HDD's for once.

[VoiceMale]

Yea sounds cool to me alright

[Maddens Raiders]

Only MS.....smh.

[ZodTheRipper]

Except that it's not confirmed to work in the end. And don't forget that you'll lose your warranty if you do it.

[nveenio]

Yeah, you'd have to have a way to transfer the OS from the original drive to the new one (if that's where it's stored, that is). I would imagine it doesn't work to swap. More likely, Microsoft made it easy to replace at their repair/replace facility in case of failure.

[P0werVR]

Not confirmed. But boy did they make the Xbox One really accessible. No adhesive warranty on the box it'self except for the HDD....hmmmm, pretty interesting.

[Oner]

LMFAO! For a long time there were a couple of people here on N4G talking all this BS about how the PS4 was/is built with off the shelf parts and yet Engadget here specifically states that about the XB1 but NOT about the PS4.

Where you at now?

[frostypants]

@Oner, you don't know what you're talking about. The issue is actually being able to replace the drive and make it work.

[Oner]

I don't know what I am talking about huh? Yeah sure...

1) http://n4g.com/comments/red...

2) http://n4g.com/comments/red...

3) http://n4g.com/comments/red...

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[UltimateMaster]

Nah, it won't work.
It's just like the Xbox 360, the first models you can't upgrade the HDD, then later down the road they'll give you the capacity, but you'll need to buy their overpriced models of HDDs.

Only Microsoft can format the HDDs and if you open your Xbox One you automatically void your warranty.

[Anon1974]

The warranty question was my main concern reading this if it actually worked.

[darthv72]

So what is that extra 8GB of NAND flash memory for?

[Sarcasm]

I'm going to make an estimate that the system costs around $240 to build. Cheap components everywhere. Ugh.

[scott182]

This makes me love how easily you can swap HDD's on the ps4, no hassle.

[Delive]

Does this mean ms has no plans to increase the hdd storage in the system (like the 360 with the replacement drives), but instead opting for allowing you to increase storage by way of external drives only? If so, thats good that you will not have to overpay for disk space. Not sure which take is better. External usb or replaceable internal disk?

[CarlosX360]

"Off the shelf parts" sounds like they're back to where they started: Original Xbox, it's like they never learned from the original Xbox in the first place!

[BBBirdistheWord]

omg @ oner

wtf dude. They are talking about user replaceable standard hdd, torx screws and sataII adapter that are off the shelf.

I didn't see anything at all in the story about off the shelf APU, audio or gpgpu, which is what was correctly pointed out about the ps4 components.

Can't believe you made a big deal out of standard torx screws.

Do try to relax.

[user5575708]

that fan is huge

[SilentNegotiator]

And all you have to do is simply void the warranty. "Cool" indeed.

/s

At least they can replace a broken one easily.

[Eonjay]

Has anyone actually tried to replace the drive. Is there some sort of encryption on the internal HDD that makes it compatible with Xbox. There is a reason why they insist that its non removable - even though it is removable.

Edit:
It seems that you have to pry the system open and locate the drive underneath other components, including a WiFi antennae. This may make it difficult to access the drive and inexperienced modders may incur damage to their systems; thus Microsoft saw fit to void the warranty.

[kneon]

It may look like a standard HDD but for all we know it may have modified firmware to prevent people from plugging in just any old hard drive.

Even if you are willing to void your warranty I'd wait until some other sucker tries it first and proves whether you can upgrade the drive.

[bligmerk]

Microsoft already said during the Wired teardown that the hard drive is not consumer replaceable. They require the unit be returned for any hard drive repair and it isn't designed to be replaced with any generic hard drive. It's going to be encrypted. Notice the connector is not a simple SATA connector, it is a module. Something going on in that.

[FITgamer]

I'm sure they have some kind of encryption to prevent swapping the internal HDD. Knowing Microsoft the only supported external HDD will be Xbox One branded at ridiculously inflated prices.

[Alsybub]

If it's anything like the 360 then you would need to get a model of drive that has been used in a One and then install the firmware cloned from one of these drives.

So, if you wanted a 1TB drive a 1TB One would need to already exist in order to clone the firmware, partitioning and formatting.

That is precisely what I did to get a 120GB drive for my 20GB launch 360. While I could have purchased an official drive I much preferred spending a quarter of the price on a drive I already knew was used in the official drive housing.

[malokevi]

I wouldn't replace it until someone else tried. Even then, I PERSONALLY wouldn't replace it, anyways. I'm just going to go the external HDD route.

I used to mod my original Xbox, and you could get banned if you logged into Xbox Live with modded hardware. You can be sure that MS has protocols in place to ensure that the stock hardware remains untouched.

Though, modders always find a way around these things. Only a matter of time!

[nukeitall]

@FITgamer:

MS already stated that any external hard drive will work via USB.

[Hozi]

That is very stupid, don't you think? Why would M$ LIMIT the amount of storage we can hold when all next gen games are huge and will fill up 300GB, 500GB with the help of media?(movies) in no time

Here are the launch games' install sizes:

Angry Birds Star Wars: 1.81 GB
Assassin’s Creed 4: 20.25GB
Battlefield 4: 33.66GB
Battlefield 4 Premium: 8.18MB
Call of Duty: Ghosts: 39.5GB
Crimson Dragon: 6.88GB –
Dead Rising 3: 19.9GB
Dead Rising 3: Day One Premium Edition: no size
FIFA 14: 8.7GB
Fighter Within: 9.22 GB
Forza 5: 31.76 GB
Just Dance 2014: 22.97GB
Killer Instinct: 3.25GB
Killer Instinct Ultra Edition: 3.25GB + 7.51MB
Kinect Sports Rivals Preseason: 3.09GB
Lego Marvel Super Heroes: 6.48GB
LocoCyle: 13.17GB
Madden NFL 25: 12.51GB
NBA 2K14: 43.14GB
NBA Live 14: 9GB
Need for Speed: Rivals: 15.35GB
Powerstar Golf: 3.92GB
Ryse: 34.94GB
Skylanders Swap Force: 15.72GB
Xbox Fitness: 252.13MB
Zoo Tycoon: 2.62 GB
Zumba Fitness World Party: 24.14GB

[esemce]

The Xbone probably still uses a hard drive with the fatx format and unique firmware.

Yes the HDD is just a standard SATA hardrive but it has been modified by MS and will not work in a PC nor a PC drive work in the Xbone (without modifiying/hacking).

Not only will you void your warranty but you could risk getting your console banned.

I had one of my 360's banned from live when my DVD drive died and before I replaced it I played on live without it plugged in to the motherboard. I guess MS assumed It was something to do with piracy anyway it gave a error code and was flagged by ms and banned.

You have been warned.

[nypifisel]

Huh? Seems like a hassle to replace it and you void your warranty, easier on my PC.

[Killa78]

If you buy a pre-built pc, changing the internals voids your warranty anyway.

But still, easier to change on pc even though I don't understand why it's a valid comparison.

[Soldierone]

@killa, not if your are certified to work on computers :P

[nypifisel]

It's a valid comparison cause one of the main points of consoles (apparently) is the ease of use. I'm a PC guy and don't really get that having build PCs since the 90s but ye. So it's very much valid.

[jacksons98]

Cool until they find out you changed it and ban your console.

[assdan]

How is it cool that a very simple (and cheap) addition would have made the drive removable, but they chose not to do it?

[RjK311jR]

Most likely phase 2 xbox 1's probably will have replaceable drives hell we'd rebut the new system too and they know it... Give it a lil time like 1.5 yrs new thinner, standing, and maybe just maybe $50 price cut

[assdan]

Yeah, and that makes me more mad. It would be a ploy to get people to rebuy something they already own.

[SL1M DADDY]

Cool how? That they used off the shelf items or that they put the HDD in a place that you would have to void your warranty out and remove internals to get to it? Do they have a program built into the console so that you can swap out the drive without losing any of the OS or data saved from your games? Doesn't sound that cool if you ask me...

[NeloAnjelo]

Not recommend by MS though... And prob voids your warranty, unlike the competition.

[ziggurcat]

@ ELpork:

not sure how "cool" it is to have a normal, readily available HDD installed in the console, and not be allowed to upgrade it if you wanted unless you really wanted to void your warranty.

[ELpork]

RIGHT! Forgot, I can't be even remotely positive on this site.

[FamilyGuy]

It sounds cheap actually, off the shelf parts = them paying a really low price from buying in bulk. This tells me 2 things:
1. You can service your own X1 if it's faulty, that's kinda cool.
2. The X1 is even more overpriced than originally assumed.

[Godmars290]

Did you miss the part where you have to break warranty to switch out the HDD?

[tagan8tr]

@oner that was awesome bubble up sir..

[trancefreak]

I wonder if a noctua fan would fit in there. I don't know the dimensions but it looks like a 90mm to 120mm CPU-GPU heatsink fan.

Would be nice if it is easy to clone the original drive and swap it with a larger or faster drive.

[AlexanderNevermind]

Is there anyone willing to void the warranty and swap out the hdd?

[GentlemenRUs]

That's the catch!

E.G. Buy our OFFICIAL HDD's or face voiding the warranty! *evil laughs followed by middle finger*

[Mr-Dude]

Yeah, that was my question also... The X1 has no slide like the PS4, so you have to open it up, wich will void the warrenty...

[forcefullpower]

Thats even if you are able to change the drive at all. As you may not be able replicate the drive or reinstall the firmware as its tied to the HDD serial number which I wouldn't be surprised.

[Killa78]

Wouldn't every xbox need to be opened to change the HDD regardless of whether you purchased it from Microsoft or not?

[GentlemenRUs]

Guess they make you use one of the USB slots for an Official HDD.

[GraveLord]

stupid people

[Belking]

lol..i would hardly call that a tear down.

[rdgneoz3]

It's like a preview of a review. They're dissecting the system right now, but wanting to bring a few interesting notes to people's attention.

[gazgriff2k12]

OFF THE SHELF LOL (build ya own xbone)

[ELCUCO]

That's definitely voiding warranty

[BG11579]

As they say, change the hdd at your own risk.

[Funantic1]

This was a pointless article if they haven't fully disassembled the X1 and listed the parts. What are they going to do, write an article for each part?

[LordDhampire]

Im digging that big fan, like it better thans the ps4s at least

Will the xbox work with a bigger harddrive tho? The os might not support it

[OrangePowerz]

Well bigger fan doesn't necessarily mean that more air is moved around. The smaller fans often run faster and can move air more efficient compared to the bigger and slower fans.

[kewlkat007]

BS.. The bigger the fan the less it needs to run at higher rpms to cool, moves more are and is more quiet.

Trying to equate what I just wrote to smaller fans is absurd.

You people build computers?

[torchic]

@kewlkat

there really is no better, it depends on the application, motor used for turning fan etc.

bigger fans sweep more air, but require more power to be driven at higher speeds, smaller fans sweep less area of air away but require less power to be driven at higher speeds.

in the end both are probably best for their respective application but I'd trust Sony more as they have a better track record. I remember my friend's environmental physics practical and how he basically got the same results no matter what kind of fan he used.

[GameSpawn]

The difference is one uses a fan the other uses a blower.

The average joe may say a blower is a fan, but it just isn't. The physics of how each moves air is different due to the blade geometry and arrangement.

Blowers will always move CFM of air per RPM than fans purely because of how much air is being captured and "thrown".

It is true that the larger a fan is the less RPMs are required to move the same CFM, but that is if were are talking apples to apples and fans to fans, but we are not.

[Sarcasm]

^Kewlkat, Orange is right though. The size of the fan doesn't mean more air is moved. Static pressure is a variable too. Basically the way the Xbone fan is designed is like a cheap desktop PC, just a standard heatsink and a standard fan. Pretty lame.

On the PS4 it has an elaborate cooling solution similar to that of a thin laptop which takes much more engineering to make efficient.

[Hicken]

Yeah, sorry. But the PS4's fan definitely looks capable of moving more air, more efficiently. The fan on the XB1 looks like something out of a PC I bought at Circuit City back in 2004.

[DJ]

PS4 has two fans, one on top of the motherboard and one on the bottom. They're also tightly integrated into the system design.

The Xbox one fan looks like something i could buy off Newegg, haha.

[KYU2130]

Its likely that MS doesn't want to release a firmware download setup a replaced hard drive. We will probably see usb based hard drive solutions. MS wants to keep the OS inaccessible.

[Kayant]

Yep it makes sense now the only way they want you to have access to XB1 FW is through XBL. They have recently removed instructions & the support link on updating it offline.

[DestinyHeroDoomlord]

So... cheap repairs?

[KYU2130]

cheap repairs, maybe.. but the final repairs cost will probably be contingent on how MS makes the firmware accessible if the drive needs to be replaced or refreshed.

[Cerbus]

Just like the 360 HDD it will have encryption.

[Pogue1906]

The article mention that its a couple of things on top of the hard drive that would need to be removed that i would be scared of fooling with, and the other off the shelf items, besides the hard drive, that the article talks about are the screws used to hold everything together. Reading that took 2 min of my life that i can never get back. What a waste of time

[strigoi814]

warranty void..isnt it clear who wants more money from their consumers?

[Convas]

#NOPE. USB 3.0 external HDD for me, not messing around with that.

[Shakengandulf]

Good move.

[ziggurcat]

you probably won't be able to access the entire drive. it's MS we're talking about here - we've just seen that it's a standard HDD inside the xbone, but they're not letting people upgrade if they wanted.

yes, i know they've said that xbone supports the use of external media... but X360 also technically "supports" external media, and how much space is accessible if, say, you plug in a 1TB drive? 32GB at most. so, yeah... i wouldn't get too excited about plugging in that huge external drive of yours. they have never even mentioned how much "support" xbone has for these devices.

[ziggurcat]

if they put in a replaceable HDD then why are they telling people that it's not repla... oh, i get it - they're sleazy.

and off-the-shelf parts? bu-bu-but i thought that xbone was all custom?

[DestinyHeroDoomlord]

Troll mimic begone

[pyramidshead]

Show me the DGPU.

[ziggurcat]

there was never any dGPU.

[MasterCornholio]

Yes there is and i have proof.

http://s1.ibtimes.com/sites...

[kewlkat007]

Can you replace that heatsink fan

[gamingisnotacrime]

since they made the hdd hard to replace, 500Gb is too little in this digital era

[Soldierone]

The One is basically huge because of that giant arse fan. Making a slim should be easy for them.

[MRMagoo123]

its running hotter than the ps4 as is, what if they made it smaller and didnt put in the best fan for the job aka being cheap.

[Soldierone]

A fan is just there for air flow. You can get smaller fans and have good air flow.

The only real positive side to the larger fan is that it will be much more quiet than small ones.

But in terms of air flow, it'd be better to have small fans pushing cool air in, then other small fans pushing the hot air out. By the time they make a slim, they should also be able to make it more efficient with the heat as is.

[IRNMUNKEY]

Looks a lot more complicated than the PS4 motherboard.

[ironmonkey]

Looks like a mess to me. ps4 has a slide top to pop out then pop in done.

[sprinterboy]

Warranty will be void too opening xbone to replace hdd like that I'm sure?

[iCaruth]

So it's a microATX PC with XboxOne slapped onto the case. Lmaooo I'm still going to get one just now now...

[Strange_Days]

I'd much rather get something like this to accompany my XB1....

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sea...

[SITH]

I have a 2 TB western digital external hard drive for my xbox one when external drives are enabled.

[quenomamen]

So where's the final production PS4 VS X1 hardware comparisons ? Past 6 months have been nothing but CPU speed bump this, Second GPU that. Can we put these to bed already ?

[ziggurcat]

they're *still* going on about xbone secret sauce at the misterx delusioblog. even claiming that xbone has 2014 PC tech...

[duli14]

DAT SECRET SAUCE MAN...

[pyramidshead]

Keep it secret...........keep it safe.
http://images.wikia.com/lot...

[Sarcasm]

The only confirmed specs are on the GPU side. The CPU side is all conjecture.

PS4:
800mhz
1.84Tflops
1152 Stream Processors
18 CU's
32 ROPS

X1:
830mhz
1.3Tflops
768 Stream Processors
12 CU's
16 ROPS

[XboxFun]

Interesting, even though you can hook up an external HDD I am still curious if another bigger internal HDD will work.

But I am guessing NO, one of my only gripes about the Xbox One is why didn't that choose to have a swappable HDD like the PS4.

[solidboss07]

Idiots. Claiming easily replaceable parts - that aren't. If they had even done it themselves and proven the concept of replacing them, then tech heads could think 'maybe'. Why put up that article?

[kewlkat007]

Like somebody said, they should easily be able to slim this device down in the future iterations.

[WitWolfy]

Why buy a bigger hdd when there is THE CLOUD!!!

[SITH]

That is one thing I admire about sony, they allow such easy access to the Ps4. I think MS is being overly protective when it comes to the hard drive. I want an SSD in my xbox one. I have two in my gaming pc running in Raid0 and it is total bliss.

[Kyur4ThePain]

Sorry - if it voids your warranty you can't refer to it as replaceable.
Don't add untrue features.

[LetoAtreides82]

Silly rabbits this is M$ we're talking about here, the hdd is encrypted and are not user-replaceable, you'd have to send it in to MS to get it replaced.

[SilentGuard]

If it is just a standard hdd that can be easily replaced without any wierd proprietary connections, why did MS decide to not make it swappable? Any serious explanation for this other than they want you to buy their own external drives for expansion or send the whole console in for repair when it fails.

[NarcolepZZZZZZ]

Perhaps they say it's not replaceable in the sense the battery on my LG Optimus G or an iPhone isn't replaceable . I had to remove some components to get to it but I was able to replace it.

[cell989]

but compared to say.... the PS4, this aint no walk in the park son

[NarcolepZZZZZZ]

I didn't say it was easy. Its not easy to replace my phones battery either. I just said maybe its not meant to be removable for the average Joe. I'm not your son, son.

[mochachino]

I think it was a really dumb move on MS's part not to allow upgradable Hard Drives. 500 gig's will be nothing in a few years and xone owners will have no option to increase their space.

But of course MS, in it's infinite cheapness, is probably hoping people unsatisfied with their HD space will simply buy their new TB model.

[cell989]

kids dont worry about xbone HDD space, Im sure Microsoft will announce a proprietary external USB HDD for all your gaming needs.

[Ma1nframe]

Not true. the hard drive is not replaceable on the x BONE. It's a custom proprietary hard drive same as the 360. Another WIN for SONY.

[DJ]

How is this $100 more than a PS4? Half of the innards is just empty space.

[KiLLeRCLaM]

the teardown of the PS4 shows just how beautiful it is inside and how well thought out and compressed everything is in there without it having to look like a vcr from the 90's look at that HUGE fan? Wtf is it so damn BIG?

[Mogwai]

and right now us aussies have this piece of crap, we have to wait till the 29th for greatness :(

[Orionsangel]

I'm waiting for the Xbox One Slim that allows easier access to the HDD and doesn't come bundled with a Kinect.

[dennett316]

Even if you do replace it - will you be able to load the OS onto it? And even if you can do that, will MS ban you for altering the hardware? Plus, you lose your warranty.

In short, just wait for a few weeks and external hard drives will be available for games.

[LeCreuset]

Here's what I don't hear anyone talking about: The quality of that specific model of HDD. This is something that is irreplaceable. The HDD fails and it's just as good as the console failing. The console life is as long as that of the HDD. What would be even worse is a failure of the HDD outside of the warranty period. That's stuff you have to think about with an irreplaceable HDD.

[CuddlyREDRUM]

Even the insides look ugly.

[qzp]

MS: Hard drive only 1GB ? Fear not, DA POWA OF DA CLOUD will save you.

[R00bot]

Well if the Xbox One has off-the-shelf parts as well as the PS4, does that mean the Wii U is the most heavily customised of the 3 next-gen consoles?

[SnakeCQC]

That looks soo hard to get to no way would most people do it either as they like their warranty!