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Nintendo Switch and memory

Boss Doggie

all my loli wolf companions are so moe
I'll be getting a Switch soon, but I need an opinion with regards to micro SD memory.

So unlike most of GAF users here, I actually don't make a big deal about the size. I remember my 3DS having a 32GB and it does fine. I mostly buy physical (yay for SEA prices!) and the only times I go digital are either eShop only titles (like say, those Picross games or Shovel Knight) or certain 3DS titles I know I will never leave out of my system (Pokemon games and Smash). I do also have other 3DS titles that are digital but are from freebies like the rewards they had before (like Donkey Kong Returns and Star Fox 3D), and they actually don't eat up much space (apparently ARMS is just around 2GB in size even).

Thus I am looking at where I am getting my Switch. They're selling micro SDs with various sizes, though I'm perked about their 64GB since it's affordable (around 18-20 bucks when converted), but at the same time I saw that they're also offering a 128GB and 200GB one. More expensive, but relatively "cheap" with its pricing. They're SanDisk too which hasn't failed me (Kingston and SanDisk are the brands I use).

So I'm wondering if I should buy the 64GB micro SD (I think it's this one) or save up for the 200GB one.

I guess 64GB should carry me until the time comes?
 
Exactly in the same position as you. Picked up a 64gb card until I can spend on a 200+ GB card. When the time comes to upgrade im sure prices will be lower.

On Switch right now I have Disgaea 5 + puyo + shovel knight + MK8 + isaac + thumper digital (have isaac physical as well ofr collection) and Zelda physical along with LEGO City physical for the games I play right now. Setsuna physical etc is just on the shelf right now.
 

TheMoon

Member
I forgot what I was gonna post




...
okay serious time:

Well, with first party efforts, you can usually rest assured that their internal EPD games won't take up too much space. They're nuts with their compression/efficiency. Exceptions are filesize monsters like MonolithSoft's epics.

If you mix and match with only a few retail game DLs, you might be with 64GB for a while but the 200GB will serve you better in the long run.
 

watershed

Banned
I bought a big one 250 ot 200 GB or something for pretty cheap off amazon and I think it's gonna last me the entire Switch's lifetime.
 

spekkeh

Banned
128GB has the best price / MB and should be decently big enough for your use case to last you three years. At that time the larger ones will have come down in price sufficiently.
 

Ninja Dom

Member
I'm running a 64GB card in my Switch.

Good thing with the Switch is that it's like the 3DS with Memory Cards. You can use a computer to copy the contents of one Micro SD card to another and it'll still work on that Switch. So you can buy a larger capacity card in the future and transfer your data onto it.
 

Boss Doggie

all my loli wolf companions are so moe
Also how big are switch carts? are they as big as a 3DS cart? because if so I can use my 3DS game case
Are you all digital or half and half physical and digital?

mostly physical but I tend to enjoy digital only games like say Shovel Knight, and stuff like Smash are digital to me since I can't bare to "remove" them
 
Also how big are switch carts? are they as big as a 3DS cart? because if so I can use my 3DS game case


mostly physical but I tend to enjoy digital only games like say Shovel Knight, and stuff like Smash are digital to me since I can't bare to "remove" them

They are a bit smaller than the 3DS ones.
 
Also how big are switch carts? are they as big as a 3DS cart? because if so I can use my 3DS game case


mostly physical but I tend to enjoy digital only games like say Shovel Knight, and stuff like Smash are digital to me since I can't bare to "remove" them

Slightly thicker Vita carts. Since you're mostly physical, 64 is probably fine, most third party efforts and indies right now don't break 5 gb. Unlike 3DS though, there's a fair amount of third party switch cartridge cases for you to buy on a budget.
 

PKrockin

Member
I think Micro SD cards get discounted pretty aggressively around Black Friday and Christmas if you can get by with something else until then.

What? No, that's a massive hassle. Come into the future, my man.
The future? We're talking about Nintendo.
 

ASaiyan

Banned
I have roughly the same downloading habits as you. I bought a 128GB card at launch for relatively cheap, and after multiple eShop-onlys and multiplayer games (which I prefer to have downloaded) I'm not sure I will ever have to get a bigger one. Many first-party games are also surprisingly small, Zelda notwithstanding; ARMS is only 2.2GB, and I remember the original Splatoon on Wii U being even less than that. So I would go with that size, to cover all your likely future storage needs at a relatively low price.
 
I'd be tempted to recommend the 200GB card, but if you don't plan to fill it up at a gradual rate from here on out you'd be better off getting a cheaper, smaller (but still UHS-1 class) card, and then switching to a larger card in the future when prices fall or better alternatives exist.
 

TheMoon

Member
Also how big are switch carts? are they as big as a 3DS cart? because if so I can use my 3DS game case

They're tiny. You can't use any 3DS/DS cases.

cartsqfuwi.jpg
 
D

Deleted member 125677

Unconfirmed Member
When I checked, 128gig cards seem to be the sweet spot for price/size

So I went with that, and I'm all digital for now, and hope to continue so for at least a good while
 

jts

...hate me...
I first bought a 64GB microSD but even before opening I regretted the decision and decided to return it to Amazon, so I could buy a 128GB instead. Well, Amazon refunded me told me to keep it, so I didn't buy a 128GB after all. Postponed that to when I really need it.

So, this is how my Switch's memory looks like after all this content (all games mentioned are digital):

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (internal memory for faster loading)
Snake Pass
ARMS
ARMS Global Testpunch (dunno why I didn't delete it yet)
Minecraft
1-2-Switch
FAST RMX
Snipperclips
Puyo Puyo demo
Content updates, save data and screenshots


So yeah, I'm pretty sure internal memory + 64GB will last me a long ass time. Especially with the option to archive software, and relatively fast downloads (games are not huge).
 
Also how big are switch carts? are they as big as a 3DS cart? because if so I can use my 3DS game case


mostly physical but I tend to enjoy digital only games like say Shovel Knight, and stuff like Smash are digital to me since I can't bare to "remove" them

Use this case - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MR9RKAT/?tag=neogaf0e-20

it has 2 card cases with a mini case inside for storing micro sd as well. super good case and it looks great. I use the blue sheikah eye one.
 

Boss Doggie

all my loli wolf companions are so moe
They are a bit smaller than the 3DS ones.
Slightly thicker Vita carts. Since you're mostly physical, 64 is probably fine, most third party efforts and indies right now don't break 5 gb. Unlike 3DS though, there's a fair amount of third party switch cartridge cases for you to buy on a budget.
They're tiny. You can't use any 3DS/DS cases.

cartsqfuwi.jpg

Ah rats, I thought I could use my 3DS case since they're not filled up

Also holy shit I didn't realize the switch cart is THAT small

Use this case - https://www.amazon.com/Industries-Ni...01MR9RKAT?th=1

it has 2 card cases with a mini case inside for storing micro sd as well. super good case and it looks great. I use the blue sheikah eye one.
Do HORI pouches have cart cases too?
 
Just a friendly heads up to save the OP confusion in the future: Memory generally refers to RAM whereas "storage" or "disk capacity" are closer to what you mean.
 

choodi

Banned
Memory will naturally become cheaper over time, so my plan is to just wait until I run out of space and then buy the best value/biggest card that is within my price range.

Your buying habits sound just like mine i.e. mostly physical with the odd digital indie title here and there. I've had the switch since launch and am nowhere near the point with the internal memory where I would need to buy a memory card.

My current games list is:
  • Zelda (physical)
  • Mario Kart (physical)
  • ARMS (physical)
  • Has-Been Heroes (physical)
  • Snake Pass (digital)
  • Thumper (digital)
  • Kamiko (digital)
  • Human Resource Machine (digital)

Space available is still 20GB
 

Atreides

Member
If you buy mostly physical, don't buy a micro SD yet. You will be fine with switch internal memory for one year or two (basically you will be fine until you buy a big game like zelda, or lots of smaller games), and in that time the price of micro SD cards will drop.
 
I went for the middle-ground OP! Found a 128Gb card for about $40 and it more than fits the bill. I'm buying games like Zelda, ARMS, MK8D, etc... as physical copies so that memory card will last me for a few years at my current rate.
 

BigBusiness

Neo Member
The way I look at it, there's little to no risk in starting off with a 64GB one, as it'll set you back less than $20 to start.

If, going forward, you realize you're going to run out of memory soon, perhaps then you can decide to upgrade to 128 or even 256 depending upon how quickly the 64 one filled up. That's what I'm doing, at least.
 
Do you need the storage right away? The internal 32 GB has gone a lot further than I thought it would so far. I think i have like 20 GB remaining and I've bough 4 shop games and have 4 physical games and all the data and patches that go along with them.

If you don't need the space just wait till you do, and hopefully SD cards will be larger and cheaper than they are even now.
 
i see you can wait to get a memory card, then just wait for BF/CM sales if you can. amazon usually has a lot of mSD cards on sale the whole year but specially around those dates
 

bumpkin

Member
I went with a 128GB card when Amazon had some on sale for $40, but I only buy games digitally that aren't available physically.
 

Gaspard

Member
I went with 64GB since I dont see myself filling it up when I go mostly physical anyway.

When card prices eventually go down i'll get 200 or maybe 256 to carry my stuff with.
 

Adam Prime

hates soccer, is Mexican
Just a heads up: Don't buy Lexxar. I'm a test subject of one but I've had it corrupt on both my 3DS and Switch now. It's a 64GB MicroSDXC.

I'm just going to go Internal until I fill up the memory and then go for another microSD. Honestly the longer you can hold off and wait the cheaper and cheaper those things get. If you could somehow make it a full calendar year until this point, you're going to be able to get 120GB+ for dirt cheap.

So yeah, don't buy one until you absolutely NEED one. The longer you can wait on buying flash memory the cheaper and cheaper it gets.
 

Genio88

Member
I have a 128gb and still have 100gb available, i have Zelda installed on internal memory, then i have Arms, Mario Kart 8, Metal Slug 3, Fast RMX and pretty much all the demos available right now on the micro SD, and as i said still 200GB free, games on Switch are not as huge as on PC and other console, Arms for example is 2GB, Splatoon 2 will be less than 7...to me 128GB are enough, and if a over 30GB single player game i'm into will be released, i'm gonna get it on cartridges, still cheaper than digital and more convinient than old disks
 
Just a heads up: Don't buy Lexxar. I'm a test subject of one but I've had it corrupt on both my 3DS and Switch now. It's a 64GB MicroSDXC.

I'm just going to go Internal until I fill up the memory and then go for another microSD. Honestly the longer you can hold off and wait the cheaper and cheaper those things get. If you could somehow make it a full calendar year until this point, you're going to be able to get 120GB+ for dirt cheap.

So yeah, don't buy one until you absolutely NEED one. The longer you can wait on buying flash memory the cheaper and cheaper it gets.
I also don't plan on getting extra memory until I absolutely have to. Biggest digital game I currently have is PuyoPuyo Tetris at 1 GB. All my other large games are physical and most indie games don't take up that much room. The internal memory should last a while.

That could change when the Virtual Console begins, however. Whenever that might be.
 

VanWinkle

Member
I was able to procure two 128GB Samsung class 10 cards for $9 each, which I was pretty happy about. They were on clearance at Walmart. So now I'm good with storage!
 
I'll be going 100% digital when I buy a Switch again (sold my previous unit). It just makes more sense for a portable modern device. Gonna have to save up for a 200GB card tho.
 
I decided to go digital so before I bought ARMS yesterday I went out and got a 128 gb Samsung card. It was a bit pricey at $50 but I needed it right there and then cause I wanted arms for father day to play with the family.
 
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