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Nintendo Switch Micro SD recommendations

E

etking

Banned
For fast speed, the cards should be at least UHS class 3 (U3). Class 10 or U1 cards can be slow and lead to long loading times. The speed numbers given are always maximum numbers and provide zero information how fast the card really is.

U1 cards can be slow, I recently bought a 128GB card for my phone and it is unusable. Apps take up to 10 seconds to start.
 
H

HooYaH

Member
Jaded Alyx said:
Doesn't that depend on whether you're fully digital or not? Zelda alone takes up half the storage.
Click to expand...

Yea, if going digital, I would recommend at least 200GB+. Even if Zelda is small, I imagine Xenoblade 2 will be at least 32GB due to prerendered movies. DQ Heroes is already 32GB too and that's just the start of Switch's life.
 
Minsc

Minsc

Gold Member
etking said:
For fast speed, the cards should be at least UHS class 3 (U3). Class 10 or U1 cards can be slow and lead to long loading times. The speed numbers given are always maximum numbers and provide zero information how fast the card really is.

U1 cards can be slow, I recently bought a 128GB card for my phone and it is unusable. Apps take up to 10 seconds to start.
Click to expand...

Good idea, but it sounds like faster cards will just be used at lower speeds in the Switch:

Apparition said:
Don't know if this has been mentioned yet but Nintendo's Japanese support site says the Switch supports UHS-I Class 1 cards (just like those licensed HORI cards).



"Q: What microSD cards could be used with the Switch?

A: Nintendo Switch can support microSD/microSDHC/microSDXC memory cards.

It also supports the UHS-I standard as well as UHS Speed Class 1."

--------------

On other news, the SD Association has just introduced the UHS-III standard which still utilizes the same layout as UHS-II cards.

bus_speed.jpg
Click to expand...

OmahaG8 said:
Anyone have any opinions on Silicon Power brand?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N3TBAGE/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Interested in above.
Click to expand...

I have an older 128GB one laying around I'm going to use in the Switch until I decide I need a larger card, hopefully not for a year or two. It's been perfectly fine for me, I mean I don't run an OS or Steam or anything on it, but I get a little over 81MB/s read speed (crystaldiskmark bench) out of it which should be about as good as you can hope for in a UHS-1 device like the Switch. Write is slower (around 20MB/s), but that's not going to matter when playing games, mainly just read speed.
 
O

OmahaG8

Member
Minsc said:
Good idea, but it sounds like faster cards will just be used at lower speeds in the Switch:





I have an older 128GB one laying around I'm going to use in the Switch until I decide I need a larger card, hopefully not for a year or two. It's been perfectly fine for me, I mean I don't run an OS or Steam or anything on it, but I get a little over 81MB/s read speed (crystaldiskmark bench) out of it which should be about as good as you can hope for in a UHS-1 device like the Switch. Write is slower (around 20MB/s), but that's not going to matter when playing games, mainly just read speed.
Click to expand...

Excellent, thank you.

Probably overkill with going physical as much as possible but I'd rather play it safe.
 
S

Sir_Crocodile

Member
Javier said:
I went with the 200GB Sandisk as well.

Why is there such a jump in price between 200GB and 256GB?
Click to expand...

200GB is over a year old. Sandisk's 256GB came out around six months ago, and is their cutting edge product for micro sd.

256GB will come down in price when 512GB comes out, whenever that is.
 
J

JonnyKong

Member
I'm really sorry to ask such a stupid question, but in regards to the micro sd card I bought last week to get myself ready for the Switch, do I simply switch out the cards before turning my Switch on for the first time, or shall I turn the console on and go through the set up process first, then swap out? Does it even make a difference? I'm wasting all your time aren't I?
 
G

gogogow

Member
JonnyKong said:
I'm really sorry to ask such a stupid question, but in regards to the micro sd card I bought last week to get myself ready for the Switch, do I simply switch out the cards before turning my Switch on for the first time, or shall I turn the console on and go through the set up process first, then swap out? Does it even make a difference? I'm wasting all your time aren't I?
Click to expand...

There is no card in the Switch, unlike the 3DS, since it comes with internal storage. Just put it in before turning it on, just to be safe. I wonder if there's a "eject SD card" function available in the settings menu, like Android phones.
 
J

JonnyKong

Member
gogogow said:
There is no card in the Switch, unlike the 3DS, since it comes with internal storage. Just put it in before turning it on, just to be safe. I wonder if there's a "eject SD card" function available in the settings menu, like Android phones.
Click to expand...

Cheers dude. For some reason I thought the machine would already have a 32gig card inserted, I don't know why I didn't think that was already internal storage. *slaps forehead*
 
L

Lucifon

Junior Member
Considering how all signs point to Nintendo allowing easy swapping of microsd cards this time I wouldn't advise anyone gets a card over 128gb just yet unless you're going all digital.

By the time you really need more storage the price / gb ratio will have improved. Currently exceeding 128gb is paying noticably more per gb.
 
O

OverdriveOtaku

Member
JB2448 said:
In terms of the best price per gigabyte for microSD cards at the moment, there's a 128 GB Samsung on clearance at Walmart for $34.88. 27.25 cents a gigabyte versus the 200 GB for $72.18 on Walmart.com (36.09 cents a gigabyte), which is the best I found it for at a glance.
Click to expand...

Man, that 128GB looks tempting. I'm not getting my Switch for a few months, but I'm thinking since I have a GCU discount with Best Buy, that most of games I'll buy for Switch are going to be physical, so 128GB should be a safe bet for the odd downloadable title.

Anyone have any opinions on this card, performance wise? Tons of Walmarts around me have this for the time being.
Here's the Walmart product page for it, looks like USH-1.
 
M

mrklaw

MrArseFace
OverdriveOtaku said:
Man, that 128GB looks tempting. I'm not getting my Switch for a few months, but I'm thinking since I have a GCU discount with Best Buy, that most of games I'll buy for Switch are going to be physical, so 128GB should be a safe bet for the odd downloadable title.

Anyone have any opinions on this card, performance wise? Tons of Walmarts around me have this for the time being.
Here's the Walmart product page for it, looks like USH-1.
Click to expand...

Says 48MB/s transfer speed. If that is read speed it might be a bit slow. You can get affordable ones with 80-90MB/s read speeds. I'd go for one of those, as I would guess the physical game cards from Nintendo will be faster even than that, so you might have slower loading times on SD card anyway
 
O

OverdriveOtaku

Member
mrklaw said:
Says 48MB/s transfer speed. If that is read speed it might be a bit slow. You can get affordable ones with 80-90MB/s read speeds. I'd go for one of those, as I would guess the physical game cards from Nintendo will be faster even than that, so you might have slower loading times on SD card anyway
Click to expand...

There's also this Samsung 128GB that's 80MB/s transfer speed for $45, also on Walmart. Would the extra $10 spent on this be worth it?

Edit: This SanDisk 128GB on Amazon is also 80MB/s and $41. Good middle ground?
 
J

Juice

Member
I doubt I'd be able to fill the internal storage at launch so I'm going to wait until at least the second wave of games.

My Wii, Wii U, and each 3DS system have huge cavernous SD cards I never wound up using because it turns out I don't enjoy Nintendo consoles as much as I did in the pre-Wii games.

Fool me four times, I finally learn
 
F

FunkyDealer

Banned
etking said:
For fast speed, the cards should be at least UHS class 3 (U3). Class 10 or U1 cards can be slow and lead to long loading times. The speed numbers given are always maximum numbers and provide zero information how fast the card really is.

U1 cards can be slow, I recently bought a 128GB card for my phone and it is unusable. Apps take up to 10 seconds to start.
Click to expand...

Minsc said:
Good idea, but it sounds like faster cards will just be used at lower speeds in the Switch:
Click to expand...


I believe etking is talking about the sequential readspeed classification, and Minsc is referring to the physical bus connection (the pins). You can have a UHS Class 3 (U3) card (meaning minimum readspeed of 30MBps) with a UH-I connection. A UH-II connection will allow faster maximum speeds.
 
T

traffiktiger

Member
I got a Samsung 128GB 95MB/s PRO Select SDXC Memory Card. I'm not sure if the 90MB write speed will make much of a difference in the Switch than a slower card, so I might use it in my phone instead.
 
J

Jarmel

Banned
So I'm trying to decide between the Samsung Evo+ and the Sandisk Ultra line and was wondering whether it makes any difference. I initially ordered a 128gb Samsung Evo+ but thinking that's overkill and will just go with a 64gb version.
 
R

Rodney McKay

Member
Nearly got a larger SD card the other day, but ended up deciding to wait as long as I can with the internal memory before buying a card (or until a really good sale on SD Cards).

I'll probably buy all the retail games physically like I usually do for Nintendo games (they hold their value so well) and only buy indie games digitally, so I'm hoping I can last 6-12 months before really NEEDING one, so they might get a price drop or sale by then.

If this summer is like last summer, maybe there will be some phone sales where I can get a free 256gb card or something.
 
Darklor01

Darklor01

Might need to stop sniffing glue
Jarmel said:
So I'm trying to decide between the Samsung Evo+ and the Sandisk Ultra line and was wondering whether it makes any difference. I initially ordered a 128gb Samsung Evo+ but thinking that's overkill and will just go with a 64gb version.
Click to expand...

I bought the 128GB Samsung Evo+ from BHPhotoVideo for $39. Works perfectly as I suspect the Sandisk Ultra Line would.

I figure, by the time I'm ready for a 200GB, I'll just buy one and not care.
 
C

Chaotic_Angel

Member
Does anybody know what the process is for upgrading to a larger microsd card at a later date? For example if I put a 64gb card in now and later want or need to upgrade to a 128GB card. Is it possible to transfer my data to the larger card?
 
J

jrcbandit

Member
Tripon said:
You should be looking at UHS I or II at this point.
Click to expand...
I think that SanDisk Ultra is UHS I. At least the SanDisk Ultra 128 GB I got is 80 MB/s UHS I and also listed as Class 10. Zelda seems to load quickly enough on it. Not sure if I'm going digital with future releases other than eShop indies or exclusives.

Dunno what the Plus is though. Mine was a normal Ultra from Amazon that I got for my S7 Edge and removed for the Switch once I decided to buy Zelda digitally.
 
M

mrklaw

MrArseFace
I'm hoping we get a DF comparison of loading times of different SD card types (and vs physical games, and those downloaded to internal memory). Eg a head to head against:
- cheap class 10 card with around 30-40MB read speeds
- 80-90MB read speed decent UHS I card
- UHS II which probably won't be supported but I'd like to know
- downloaded to internal storage
- physical game card

I'm also thinking I might manage with mainly physical games so I'll try and survive as long as possible with the current internal storage at least until we have more information rather than speculation.
 
F

FunkyDealer

Banned
I ordered the Samsung EVO+ 128GB. I've got the 64 GB version in my phone, and it seems capable enough.

I'll probably be upgrading to a 256GB card within a year or so anyway, so it's a good, reasonably priced, temporary card.
 
M

mjc

Member
Trying to decide if I should pony up for a 128 or 200GB sandisk...might hold off and wait for a sale. How easy is it to transfer from the system onboard memory to SD cards?
 
D

Deepo

Member
mrklaw said:
I'm hoping we get a DF comparison of loading times of different SD card types (and vs physical games, and those downloaded to internal memory). Eg a head to head against:
- cheap class 10 card with around 30-40MB read speeds
- 80-90MB read speed decent UHS I card
- UHS II which probably won't be supported but I'd like to know
- downloaded to internal storage
- physical game card

I'm also thinking I might manage with mainly physical games so I'll try and survive as long as possible with the current internal storage at least until we have more information rather than speculation.
Click to expand...

Hoping for this as well, really curious.
 
MrMephistoX

MrMephistoX

Member
L.O.R.D said:
Get the SanDisk 200GB micro SD card for $67

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V62XBQQ/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Don't get the new evo Samsung mSD card,they are slow.
also,the bigger you go,the slower the card will get.

The 128GB on Amazon is cheaper,only $40

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010Q57S62/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Click to expand...


I got the 200gb no complaints so far and I was able to fit Zelda, shovel knight and 1-2 switch on internal,storage so should be enough. I have a 128GB on Vita and it's not terrible.
 
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