I am aware I was throwing out Megabits and Megabytes all willie nillie. Apologies. It's all Megabytes and I have since sacked myself for the terrible oversite. I had to rehire myself, because we still need to make videos. Forgive me!
This will be soooooo helpful. Now I don't have to actually spend on the high speeds but instead could spend on increasing the size of the cards! Thanks for the super helpful video!!
Thank you SO much! I just bought the standard Kingston for my steam deck and you have dispelled the slightest doubt I had. Thank you again for this video ❤
Thanks bro! You just saved me a hundred bucks 😆 I just got my Steam Deck today and ripped out the 1tb card I had in my Switch. I was kinda worried that I’d be missing out on performance because it’s a year or two old and caps at 120mb but it sounds like it’ll do the same job a newer card would anyway 👍🏽
This is a fantastic video, and am so glad you not only covered a diverse set of microSD cards but also drove home as to what specifically to look out for and which features will be utilized and which won't For my use case, I'll be going for a 1 TB SanDisk or at least the 512 GB Samsung microSD card after also getting the $649 512 GB Steam Deck as well since I play a lot of different games most of the time
You can upgrade the 64gb model to 1tb for around 150 putting total price to 549. Add on a sandisk 1tb for 126 and thats 675. All that you loose is the etched screen which can be done with a screen protector. Way better value.
@@WillParker322 Hadn't thought of that option, and saves a good amount of money even if buying a screen protector. Plus no reservations anymore and official dock availability makes your advice clutch for many, thanks
The read speed is usually similar on all these cards due to Steam deck limitations however I can tell you the cheaper cards don't have good sustained write speeds. I totally saw a noticeable difference using different cards particularly on the game install.
This was such a good video and very specific. I think the only questions I have are about the random read/write performance and how much the write performance differs. I am planning on using my steam deck to transfer games to my PC. Now I have a starting point though. Great video.
I've had several Samsung cards fail on me in just a few months. I don't remember a SanDisk card ever failing on me whether it was in my phone, dslr or other device. That's just my experience. That's too bad that the speed is capped on the Deck.
This video came in clutch, because I soon realized that games take a whole lot of space on the deck... specially AAA titles... I only have a handful and it's full already... serves me right for buying the 64gb version lol
Thanks for the review. Everybody was telling me to buy sandisk but kingston sd cards are on sale in my country right now. So I just bought kingston instead
Follow up on my kingston512gb sd card after 12 days it failed😢 and yes I bought it at the official store so it is authentic . And now they are giving me a hard time returning it.
the results you got were pretty much what i was seeing from other videos, so when i got my steam deck i got a 512gb silicon power card for $40. same one i got for my switch (but 128gb) about 6 months ago. both cards have been doing fine. with the cloud saves and having all the os files on the main drive, i really don't see an issue with using cheap storage for gaming intalls. same on my pc, i got the cheapest 512gb ssd about 2 years ago as a game drive.
I got a Samsung Evo Select 512gb card and it's plenty fast, though I am spoiled on my desktop since I store games on a speedy m.2 SSD! aha but on handheld IDC much so this is fine with me
Just about any SD made today will hit the Deck limitations. The only things you have to watch out for (which I got burned on) are refurb brands. I bought Newegg's brand and it was hacked to report the wrong capacity. My Deck just refused to format it. On a side note, I really hope Valve eases up on the filesystem requirements. The filesystem they use is just plain unreadable in other machines, and the Deck simply won't mount cards in any other filesystem unless you do it manually in desktop mode. This utterly defeats the purpose of removable storage.
You misunderstand. If the use of the SD card is for gaming then the card has to be formated to the same as the rest of the OS. This is because the card is being used as an extension of the storage. But if what you want to use the SD card is for storing files only like a USB flash drive, then like you said, use desktop mode to have the flexibility you are asking. What you are complaining is not a problem exclusive to the Steam Deck or Linux for that matter. On Windows you have the same problem depending if you format the card with different file systems (fat32, NTFS, exFAT) for different purposes. You'll encounter the same problem if you use a Mac only file system (APFS, HFS+) and want to use the storage on a Windows computer.
@@sproid Incorrect. I can format any portable drive to NTFS in Windows, add a Steam folder, and that Steam folder can be readable in other machines. I can format a card in my Android phone, plug it in my desktop, copy MP3s and videos and ROMs to it, put in back in my phone, and access all those files in VLC or Retroarch.
Ohhhhh thanks a lot for the video. Don't have a steamdeck but got myself a ayin Odin 2 and was probably going to buy an expensive sd card for nothing 😮
it doesn't talk about sustained write performance. Makes a massive difference for downloading and transferring. Writes speeds are largely different between sd cards. Looking at other reviews, the best writes are the Sandisk Extreme. Samsung Evo select is a close second, and much cheaper. The Sandisk ultra is half the write speed of the Extreme. So don't go cheap essentially.
wow...wasn't aware of the limitation on the Steamdeck Read/Write. I bought the expensive SanDisk. At least it has great durability. I'll br purchasing a cheaper 100MB 1TB SD card!!
Would like to see value brands tested, for example Silicon Power which I feel is the best bang for the buck you can get... but they have many variations. Would like to know how their $30 512gb "Superior" works, for example.
Perfect timing I just bought my steam deck and was deciding between a £30 SD card and a £45 card with the only difference being write speed. Glad to know I can just buy the cheaper 100mbs version.
I just just got a steam deck for my birthday and I wanted to know what sd card should I use on it cause I was going to buy a PNY 512 ? Is that good enough? Can pls get back with on some helpful info?? Pls thx u very much ..
How about download speeds there has to be a difference or it’s capped at 100 mbs? So a2 cards aren’t worth it just go for a1? I really want a 1tb but the a2 are really expensive compared to an a1.
hey not trying to rain on your parade but i swear i saw another video about this very subject and they spoke to the fact that the higher rated cards can eb loaded with roms or games from a host pc and benefit from the speeds as well as i swear i saw someone talk about how it more effected the installation and update times of the games not so much the performance/load times. just something to consider i know steam updates games in an odd method and its slow compared to other platforms even on my main rig this is noticed with a hdd over an ssd. on the hdd games take forever to update compared to installing sometimes, maybe its a per game issue but this might be something to watch out for. also i toke alot so may not be fully accurate lol
I just bought Forza 5 on steam deck. How to I cross play with my Xbox friends? I know that Forza 5 can cross play between steam and xbox. I cannot get my game invites? Pls help, I hope I did not waste 60 bucks on Forza just to play solo.
Had a 1tb Sandisk extreme corrupt and lock down my deck, after back and forth with Valve they told me those super high cards weren’t tested fully and had higher chance for data loss… I’m returning the card and I think I’m going to give the 512 PNY a shot
@@robotkirby85 but they are one of the largest storage manufacturers, if they aint not making 1 tb sd cards despite the demand for it that tells something
So for any other people new to the deck like me. DO NOT COMPLETELY MAX OUT YOUR GB. DO NOT PLUG ANY OTHER CHARGER THATS NOT THE ONE THAT CAME WITH IT, OR APPROVED EXTERNAL BATTERY. DO NOT DO THESE THINGS AND LET IT GO TO ZERO. all this equals the black screen of death. And if your unlucky enough to get the worst case like myself it becomes a damn brick. Steam was amazing at fixing it for me but it took 2 weeks. I'm sure most of you are smarter than myself. I've only gamed on PC for a year prior to getting this. So it's been a major learning lesson for me through out.
Have you try any SD cards in real? I do, and they all fail so soon. SanDisk, Lexar, Kingston and anything. There are so cheap cards that in real outlife these premium cards. I have Sandisk Endurance SD card fail after some mounts of use just on phone and tablet. I have 4 failed SD cards in all brands and now tyring Samsung cards. Please do not read how much these cards are tough. It's not true. And last thing - if you'r SD card fail, then manyfacture will replace it right? But what about you'r precious information on that card? Yes, you will lost it. Not very often, but you have 10% chance that data on you'r card will be unreadable.
I am aware I was throwing out Megabits and Megabytes all willie nillie. Apologies. It's all Megabytes and I have since sacked myself for the terrible oversite. I had to rehire myself, because we still need to make videos. Forgive me!
I don't know if I missed it but why didn't you use Samsung?
@@GameTimeWhy they didn’t provide a card to test
@@robeytech so did you rehire Robeytech Live, Robeytech?
99oo9oo99o9
This will be soooooo helpful. Now I don't have to actually spend on the high speeds but instead could spend on increasing the size of the cards! Thanks for the super helpful video!!
Thank you SO much! I just bought the standard Kingston for my steam deck and you have dispelled the slightest doubt I had. Thank you again for this video ❤
Getting my dream Deck hopefully next. Thank for the very informative video guys.
Thanks bro! You just saved me a hundred bucks 😆
I just got my Steam Deck today and ripped out the 1tb card I had in my Switch. I was kinda worried that I’d be missing out on performance because it’s a year or two old and caps at 120mb but it sounds like it’ll do the same job a newer card would anyway 👍🏽
This is a fantastic video, and am so glad you not only covered a diverse set of microSD cards but also drove home as to what specifically to look out for and which features will be utilized and which won't
For my use case, I'll be going for a 1 TB SanDisk or at least the 512 GB Samsung microSD card after also getting the $649 512 GB Steam Deck as well since I play a lot of different games most of the time
You can upgrade the 64gb model to 1tb for around 150 putting total price to 549. Add on a sandisk 1tb for 126 and thats 675. All that you loose is the etched screen which can be done with a screen protector. Way better value.
@@WillParker322 Hadn't thought of that option, and saves a good amount of money even if buying a screen protector. Plus no reservations anymore and official dock availability makes your advice clutch for many, thanks
The read speed is usually similar on all these cards due to Steam deck limitations however I can tell you the cheaper cards don't have good sustained write speeds. I totally saw a noticeable difference using different cards particularly on the game install.
This was such a good video and very specific. I think the only questions I have are about the random read/write performance and how much the write performance differs. I am planning on using my steam deck to transfer games to my PC. Now I have a starting point though. Great video.
Loading screen times are effected, thats it!
Surpsied you guys didn't test big open world games like Cyberpunk, Witcher and Elden Ring
That's what in saying, SD cards do more for games like loading up the actual word, all that matters
This is helpful for sure. Hopefully my SD comes in soon.
I've had several Samsung cards fail on me in just a few months. I don't remember a SanDisk card ever failing on me whether it was in my phone, dslr or other device. That's just my experience.
That's too bad that the speed is capped on the Deck.
Great Video. Very informative.
That's a really nice looking thumbnail
I just bought a SanDisk 512gb extreme pro SD card for $65 in the Philippines. Easily one of the best buys I made in 2023.
ty for the video, answered all my questions.
Thanks. Very helpful and informative.
Awesome video. I was suspecting the same thing. Subed, liked and switched on notification.
This video came in clutch, because I soon realized that games take a whole lot of space on the deck... specially AAA titles... I only have a handful and it's full already... serves me right for buying the 64gb version lol
Thanks for the review. Everybody was telling me to buy sandisk but kingston sd cards are on sale in my country right now. So I just bought kingston instead
Follow up on my kingston512gb sd card after 12 days it failed😢 and yes I bought it at the official store so it is authentic . And now they are giving me a hard time returning it.
Great video!
would have love a test on the difference on writing to the sd cards been told buy a2 not a1 if suing a steam deck?
the results you got were pretty much what i was seeing from other videos, so when i got my steam deck i got a 512gb silicon power card for $40. same one i got for my switch (but 128gb) about 6 months ago. both cards have been doing fine.
with the cloud saves and having all the os files on the main drive, i really don't see an issue with using cheap storage for gaming intalls. same on my pc, i got the cheapest 512gb ssd about 2 years ago as a game drive.
I tent to buy Sandisk Only. But it’s good to know how others compare.
Thanks, this video just saved me $20.
Knowing that the Deck has a cap on card speed is definitely a huge advantage!
1st Guy who tells me what max speed can steamdeck hand. Ty
This is helpful!
I got a Samsung Evo Select 512gb card and it's plenty fast, though I am spoiled on my desktop since I store games on a speedy m.2 SSD! aha
but on handheld IDC much so this is fine with me
I have that card for my retroid
What about installation time? We might have to install games often so it would be usefull to analyse this part. Nobody does it.
Just about any SD made today will hit the Deck limitations. The only things you have to watch out for (which I got burned on) are refurb brands. I bought Newegg's brand and it was hacked to report the wrong capacity. My Deck just refused to format it.
On a side note, I really hope Valve eases up on the filesystem requirements. The filesystem they use is just plain unreadable in other machines, and the Deck simply won't mount cards in any other filesystem unless you do it manually in desktop mode. This utterly defeats the purpose of removable storage.
Is it valve or is it a Linux limitation?
You misunderstand. If the use of the SD card is for gaming then the card has to be formated to the same as the rest of the OS. This is because the card is being used as an extension of the storage. But if what you want to use the SD card is for storing files only like a USB flash drive, then like you said, use desktop mode to have the flexibility you are asking. What you are complaining is not a problem exclusive to the Steam Deck or Linux for that matter. On Windows you have the same problem depending if you format the card with different file systems (fat32, NTFS, exFAT) for different purposes. You'll encounter the same problem if you use a Mac only file system (APFS, HFS+) and want to use the storage on a Windows computer.
@@sproid Incorrect. I can format any portable drive to NTFS in Windows, add a Steam folder, and that Steam folder can be readable in other machines. I can format a card in my Android phone, plug it in my desktop, copy MP3s and videos and ROMs to it, put in back in my phone, and access all those files in VLC or Retroarch.
U- usefull! Thank you!
I had a San Disk Extreme Pro lying around from my GoPro and it works great. I just need a larger one now.
Ohhhhh thanks a lot for the video. Don't have a steamdeck but got myself a ayin Odin 2 and was probably going to buy an expensive sd card for nothing 😮
thanks allot!!
it doesn't talk about sustained write performance. Makes a massive difference for downloading and transferring. Writes speeds are largely different between sd cards.
Looking at other reviews, the best writes are the Sandisk Extreme. Samsung Evo select is a close second, and much cheaper.
The Sandisk ultra is half the write speed of the Extreme. So don't go cheap essentially.
I bought a SanDisk extreme 512g card for my deck but I guess I'll be getting cheaper cards from now on
The 1TB Sandisk is what I would prefer.
wow...wasn't aware of the limitation on the Steamdeck Read/Write. I bought the expensive SanDisk. At least it has great durability. I'll br purchasing a cheaper 100MB 1TB SD card!!
They will last longer than the Deck *if the manufacturer claimed endurance is trustworthy*
They will replace your card *but not your data*
Would like to see value brands tested, for example Silicon Power which I feel is the best bang for the buck you can get... but they have many variations. Would like to know how their $30 512gb "Superior" works, for example.
Perfect timing I just bought my steam deck and was deciding between a £30 SD card and a £45 card with the only difference being write speed. Glad to know I can just buy the cheaper 100mbs version.
If I was to get a deck, I'm thinking of going to currys and getting a PNY 1tb, I want to download so many games for out and about, how did yours go
Ordered sundisk terabyte today hope it would work good and long
Need more info about A1 vs A2 sd cards which was not mentioned.
What about the lexor 1tb micro sd card? Looking for the good deal for my steam deck since I'm running out of room? Saw it on amazon.
I don't use sd card for gaming since steam deck has 1TB but use it to store game capture.
Who cares?
Thanks for the info breh. Im buying a 64 gb steam deck as i type this.
I've had enough SD cards fail to say that my Steam Deck is not going to fail before the cards do.
Well the ones I listed are lifetime warranty so hope you got it replaced
I just just got a steam deck for my birthday and I wanted to know what sd card should I use on it cause I was going to buy a PNY 512 ? Is that good enough? Can pls get back with on some helpful info?? Pls thx u very much ..
That card is fine!
Looking for advice, what would be the best 1tb card to get that dont cost me loads
How about download speeds there has to be a difference or it’s capped at 100 mbs? So a2 cards aren’t worth it just go for a1? I really want a 1tb but the a2 are really expensive compared to an a1.
I have SanDisk Ultra microSDXC Class 10 UHS-I U1 A1 120 MB/s 1TB
I am fine with that
Glad i didint waste the 60% more on sandisk extreme
hey not trying to rain on your parade but i swear i saw another video about this very subject and they spoke to the fact that the higher rated cards can eb loaded with roms or games from a host pc and benefit from the speeds as well as i swear i saw someone talk about how it more effected the installation and update times of the games not so much the performance/load times. just something to consider i know steam updates games in an odd method and its slow compared to other platforms even on my main rig this is noticed with a hdd over an ssd. on the hdd games take forever to update compared to installing sometimes, maybe its a per game issue but this might be something to watch out for. also i toke alot so may not be fully accurate lol
MB stands for Megabytes not Megabits.
I love this, best takeaway don't trust IGN. 😂
I need one but maybe not I don't even play the thing
I just bought Forza 5 on steam deck. How to I cross play with my Xbox friends? I know that Forza 5 can cross play between steam and xbox. I cannot get my game invites? Pls help, I hope I did not waste 60 bucks on Forza just to play solo.
what about the terabytes ?😢😢😢 i’m looking for that
The only one id avoid is the Lexar, as it has a miserable 10mbps write. Using the card will be great, but installing games onto it, will be a slog.
1tb is max in micro SD cards at this point in market anyway.
Seriously could have covered write speed, for actually downloading games on these cards.
You keep saying Megabit. But they are actually Megabytes
Transfers and shader caching matters you need an a2 card that’s all that matters
What about write speed though?
Had a 1tb Sandisk extreme corrupt and lock down my deck, after back and forth with Valve they told me those super high cards weren’t tested fully and had higher chance for data loss… I’m returning the card and I think I’m going to give the 512 PNY a shot
the thing that samsung and other big companies doesnt produce 1 tb sd cards should be already suspicious bro :D No wonder why
@@johnnyhun1 didn’t say anything about Samsung, bro
@@robotkirby85 but they are one of the largest storage manufacturers, if they aint not making 1 tb sd cards despite the demand for it that tells something
@@johnnyhun1 sandisk is the largest manufacturer and has been making them for a couple years now
@@johnnyhun1Samsung phones malfunction aswell blow up lol
I got the 40 400 gig a1 and load time are Negligible
The cheapest is king
Its Lexar Good?
From what I heard the write dies off hard as it overheats
So for any other people new to the deck like me.
DO NOT COMPLETELY MAX OUT YOUR GB.
DO NOT PLUG ANY OTHER CHARGER THATS NOT THE ONE THAT CAME WITH IT, OR APPROVED EXTERNAL BATTERY.
DO NOT DO THESE THINGS AND LET IT GO TO ZERO.
all this equals the black screen of death. And if your unlucky enough to get the worst case like myself it becomes a damn brick. Steam was amazing at fixing it for me but it took 2 weeks.
I'm sure most of you are smarter than myself. I've only gamed on PC for a year prior to getting this. So it's been a major learning lesson for me through out.
IGN gets paid to grift the expensive cards that people don’t actually need.
Mfs still gunna get sum no name cards frm sum shady site hoping there decks go brrrr lmao
The Steam Decks SD slot is limited to 100mbps so there’s really not point in getting anything faster than that.
Also steam deck does not like most of SD cards. They need to be a right specs and brand to get pass format from Deck.
Have you try any SD cards in real? I do, and they all fail so soon. SanDisk, Lexar, Kingston and anything. There are so cheap cards that in real outlife these premium cards.
I have Sandisk Endurance SD card fail after some mounts of use just on phone and tablet.
I have 4 failed SD cards in all brands and now tyring Samsung cards.
Please do not read how much these cards are tough. It's not true.
And last thing - if you'r SD card fail, then manyfacture will replace it right? But what about you'r precious information on that card? Yes, you will lost it. Not very often, but you have 10% chance that data on you'r card will be unreadable.