With storage prices climbing faster than game install sizes, gamers are getting creative and a little rebellious. The latest “hack”? Turning unused Xbox expansion cards into external SSDs for PCs.

Originally designed for the Xbox Series X|S, these cards are basically NVMe storage in disguise, wrapped in a CFexpress Type B form factor. One curious Reddit user, “u/Dramatic-Shape5574,” decided to test the limits and plugged the card into a CFexpress reader, and Windows recognized it like a regular drive. Suddenly, that “console-only” storage wasn’t so exclusive anymore.

Performance is surprisingly decent. You’re looking at speeds around 1000–1500 MB/s, nowhere near top-tier NVMe drives, but comfortably faster than SATA SSDs. That’s enough to run games, store files, and feel like you’ve outsmarted the system.

But before you go digging out your wallet, here’s the catch. You’ll need to format the card, which means saying goodbye to Xbox compatibility. Also, these cards are overpriced compared to standard SSDs, so buying one just for this hack makes no sense.

Other Similar Workarounds

Gamers have been experimenting with all sorts of storage hacks for years. Many repurpose old laptop SSDs by placing them into USB enclosures and using them as portable drives. Others install PS5-compatible NVMe SSDs into PCs when upgrading consoles, effectively recycling high-speed storage. Even traditional internal hard drives and SSDs often get a second life as external drives through simple adapters, showing how flexible storage hardware can be when you think beyond default use cases.

Pros & Cons

This hack is great if you already own an unused expansion card, letting you reuse hardware with performance better than SATA SSDs, but it quickly loses appeal due to high costs, the need for extra adapters, permanent loss of Xbox compatibility after formatting, and a setup process that isn’t exactly beginner-friendly.

This is peak gamer ingenuity, clever, slightly unnecessary, but undeniably cool. If you already have an unused expansion card lying around, it’s a fun and practical experiment. But if you’re starting from scratch, a standard SSD remains the smarter, cheaper, and far less complicated choice.

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The post Xbox Expansion Cards Are Secretly SSDs? Gamers Think So appeared first on Gizmochina.

Adata has launched the Urban Tapsafe, a portable SSD designed with style, performance, and security in mind. This is the first product in Adata’s new Urban Series, which focuses on lightweight, minimalist designs paired with advanced functionality.

Adata Urban Tapsafe Specifications

The Urban Tapsafe uses a USB 3.2 Gen2 x2 interface, delivering sequential read and write speeds of up to 1900MB/s. Adata offers the device in two storage capacities, 1TB and 2TB, which are ideal for tasks like 4K video editing, large software development projects, or expanding storage for gaming consoles.

The SSD features NFC-supported security via a dedicated mobile app, allowing users to unlock the device by tapping their smartphone. The app supports multi-user access control for up to nine users, with customizable permissions such as read-only or writable. It also ensures data security by automatically locking when disconnected.

The Urban Tapsafe introduces a clip-on mounting system that attaches directly to camera rigs or smartphone cages. This removes the need for extra mounting adapters and makes it easier for creators to use the drive on the go. Adata includes swappable magnetic covers with the Urban Tapsafe. These covers allow users to customize the SSD’s look or organize their work by project.

The Urban Tapsafe offers compatibility with Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, and Linux. The drive also works with modern gaming consoles, providing off-console storage for additional games.

The device features a sleek, portable design measuring 68.68 x 36.18 x 19.18 mm and weighing 72.61g. The SSD is available in black and includes a five-year limited warranty.

In related news, Samsung has recently introduced an 8TB variant of the 870 EVO SSD with a 5-year warranty, while SanDisk has unveiled three new portable SSDs offering up to 4TB of storage and speeds of up to 4,000MB/s.

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(Adata)

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Due to the ongoing RAM and SSD shortages, many are refraining from building a PC altogether and this can be seen in the latest sales data. German Retailer Mindfactory Sales Slow Down Dramatically Amid Ongoing Market Volatility; CPU and Motherboard Sales Dwindle Significantly Compared to Last Year The ongoing DRAM and SSD shortages have contributed to additional prices hikes for components and devices like graphics cards, pre-built PCs, laptops, and many consumer electronics. In some regions CPUs have also been affected, but they still remain one of the few core components that are still selling on usual rates. Despite that, […]

Read full article at https://wccftech.com/cpu-and-motherboard-sales-are-declining-fast/

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The post Fake Samsung 990 PRO SSDs appear in Europe appeared first on OC3D.

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Read full article at https://wccftech.com/nvidia-reportedly-halts-geforce-rtx-5060-ti-8-gb-shipments-for-two-weeks-in-late-april/