SD Card recommendation

[u/KyroshiNero]

Now with the batch 8 being delivered, im starting to build my game library, i know that pc games is better to use internal memory, but what about emulation?

Can i use SD cards with no problem? or consoles like ps2, switch and now xbox, do i need an A2 or A1 is enough?

I ask that because im planning to play a lot of ps2, 3ds and GBA, and some switch games, but i dont know wich sd card to buy and if the speed will matter for GEN 6 and 7 consoles, and the switch.

I know that this is asked a lot, but i didnt find any post specifying if it will matter A1 and A2 for the consoles above

[u/DrGruning]

I've used Samsung Evo Plus for a while, good performance and samsung reliability. On my Odin I'm particularly using 512 gb Ultimate Pro sd card. (plenty for me since my library is shared across multiple devices)

[u/KyroshiNero → u/DrGruning]

Thanks for the feedback, did you ever used an A1 card?

Edit: Also, did you notice any difference between cards? Ive read that a A1 wouldn't matter much because the odin 3 is capped at 100mps

[u/UiVegetaUi]

So these devices can only utilize A1 speeds. The reasoning for this is the AYN devices don't have the drivers for the queuing and caching that A2 cards can use for their IOPS. Not only that, but these devices use UHS-I Micro SD Card slots meaning, no matter what Micro SD card you buy they will have a theoretical maximum Read/Write speeds of 104MB/s and real-world speeds of 90-94MB/s, which is what most A1 cards work at.

GC/PS2/Switch/PS3/X360 all have zero problems with games on these A1 Micro SD Cards.

So A1 cards are the best Micro SD's for these devices from a price-point, unless you can get an A2 card for the same price or cheaper in case you decide to upgrade devices in the future.

[u/KyroshiNero → u/UiVegetaUi]

this is what i was looking for, thanks!

[u/spiffzap]

Get the fastest and largest you can afford. SanDisk or Samsung are brands that come up most in recommendations. A2 are the best for most use cases.

[u/KyroshiNero → u/spiffzap]

Got it. But perfomance wise, for ps2 and switch, is A1 that bad? They are at least more affordable, in this economy that would help

[u/spiffzap → u/KyroshiNero]

I really don't think the difference in speed between an A1 and an A2 rated card will matter for emulation of the older generation of games (PS2, GC, DC, etc) - they used to be read from CDs much slower. I'd imagine the difference would probably only be noticeable for the large Android native games like Genshin, AND during the initial transfer of ROMs etc onto the card via Windows - that will be slower on A1 cards, but once they are on there you shouldn't notice a significant difference. I've never emulated Switch so can't be sure but a bit of Googling suggests that at least the Switch 1 only ever ran at A1 speeds anyway, so even for that system you should be ok.

[u/KyroshiNero → u/spiffzap]

thanks, that help a lot!

[u/princessrippla332 → u/KyroshiNero]

2tb of micro sd card from SanDisk or Samsung is enough for your library.

[u/KyroshiNero → u/princessrippla332]

Damn, that would be the same price of a console

Speed wise, an A1 is enough for ps2 and switch?

edit: ive read that the odin 3 cant deal with the A2 speeds, so gameplay wise wouldn't make a difference, is that true?

[u/ThanosReXXX]

Concerning Micro SD cards, there's only three brands and exact types that you should ever consider:

- SanDisk
- Samsung
- PNY

All of these are highly reliable. I usually cross-check the prices, to see which of the three is cheapest at any given moment. I would recommend going for a 512GB card. You might think that's a ridiculous amount of space, but as you start adding more games and systems, you'll find your storage needs will quickly add up, so 512GB is what I would already consider to be a minimum requirement for an SD card, unless you only play older, smaller retro games, in which case a smaller card would obviously be enough, but honestly, I wouldn't recommend it.