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SD Card and USB C Cord Suggestions for Switch

N

nico1982

Member
Deepo said:
That card says "Performance/speed:Up to 90MB/s read speed, write speed lower)", so 300MB/s sounds a bit unlikely, unless I've misunderstood something.
Click to expand...
The issue is that those are sequential read speed for large amount of data. It is important for high-resolution high-speed video recording, but with little impact on loading times. You want a card with fast random performance on much smaller data size. It is usually noted as "4k random" or similar in reviews and benchmarks. Bad cards might achieve 90 MB/s in sequential read, but crawl to 0.05 MB/s in random 4k writes. They are basically useless as application storage. Very good cards like the Samsung EVO+ or the SanDisk Extreme are in the order of 8-9 MB/s read and 2-3 MB/s write depending on capacity, while still providing great sequential performances.
 
L

LaserHawk

Member
amrod said:
I am hoping nintendo or some company will release something like this

11640.jpg
Click to expand...

I imagine we're almost guaranteed to see something like that from at least the usual accessories companies like Nyko. They'd be leaving money on the table if they didn't.
 
J

J_ToSaveTheDay

Member
Got myself a Samsung EVO+ 256GB card ready for the Switch. I had to buy multiple SD cards over the lifespan of my 3DS to keep my storage demands up, trying to future proof right out of the gate this time.

I wish Nintendo would pack in a separate on-the-go AC adapter for the Switch for charging -- the one that's included also doubles as the dock's power, and my setup doesn't really provide easy access to the power strip (I try to keep cables hidden as much as possible) to be swapping it back and forth, not to mention the dock itself has that panel that hides cables, too.

Ah well, can't cost that much to buy a separate one, though I would prefer if it were much smaller (seems kinda large).
 
I

inpHilltr8r

Member
StereoVsn said:
I would hold off on buying MicroSD cards until it's known how fast is the internal reader. Some of the cards being quoted in this thread have terrible write speeds, not sure how that would affect things but something to keep in mind.
Click to expand...
Write speed isn't going to be the problem. These things are going to be pretending to be ROM most of the time. Read speed however, that's big.
 
SystemUser

SystemUser

Member
CazTGG said:
Do we know if there will be any capability of installing any sort of internal memory like a laptop HDD/2.5 7mm/9.5mm/m.2 SSD?
Click to expand...


It's a tablet. How would you fit an internal hard drive in it? Have you not seen the pictures of the Nintendo Switch? It is smaller than an iPad mini.


jaxapollo said:
Probably the wrong thread for this but since I'm juniored I can't make a thread.

What would be the best method of streaming/recording the Switch on the go? Small PC? android phone? A Mac?
Click to expand...


Probably a small PC. I have never heard of video capture unit that is android compatible. You would need something with an hdmi input (not hdmi out). The problem is that you would also need a TV. The video capture preview window is going to have massive lag. Most capture units pass through to a TV so that you can still play without lag.

The hdmi capture units that I have used all require that they are plugged into the wall.


A PC, a TV, a hdmi capture unit, and power supplies for all of them. If you wanted to stream you would also need a wifi hotspot.
 
J

japtor

Member
SystemUser said:
Probably a small PC. I have never heard of video capture unit that is android compatible. You would need something with an hdmi input (not hdmi out). The problem is that you would also need a TV. The video capture preview window is going to have massive lag. Most capture units pass through to a TV so that you can still play without lag.

The hdmi capture units that I have used all require that they are plugged into the wall.


A PC, a TV, a hdmi capture unit, and power supplies for all of them. If you wanted to stream you would also need a wifi hotspot.
Click to expand...
Yeah there's not a great solution for portable capturing that I can think of. And to get the HDMI out of the Switch I'm guessing you'd need to go into docked mode, which means (another reason of) needing another screen to play on.

There's USB powered HDMI capture units at least, but still the feed to the computer screen is too laggy to play with as mentioned. There's standalone capture units that record to a memory card, but I don't know if any can do streaming, and you're still left with needing a display to play on.

...the best option might be some super ghetto rig that holds a phone with the tablet at the right distance while you try to look around it and play with joycons/controller separately. You can record/stream from the phone and not need to mess with extra power and displays and crap.
 
D

Digital Savior

Member
I think most cards from SanDisk or Samsung will be fine. Find the best price. I'll probably get an Anker cable myself unless someone has a better idea.
 
S

salamander150

Member
I just got a usb c-usb c cable with a power block from buying my Pixel from Google. Anyone wouldn't happen to know if that will be able to charge the switch at a reasonable rate?
 
Toadthemushroom

Toadthemushroom

Member
Broken Hope said:
No you're correct, 300MB/s is the max for the UHS-1 bus, but no cards have flash memory that fast, the fastest I've seen is 95MB/s read and write on the Sandisk Extreme Plus cards.
Click to expand...

Thanks for clearing that up. Still, if Nintendo actually has a good storage controller on the thing you'd be getting read speeds 10x faster than what Wii U seemed to achieve from its disc drive in practise.

It's a shame those UFS cards announced a year ago still aren't on the market. But I'm hoping the internal NAND in Switch is UFS for Galaxy S6/7-like read speeds (I'm not expecting anything close to 2015's iPhone 6s and its SSD-like storage controller...)

80589.png


80590.png
 
A

Apparition

Member
Nintendo hasn't provided any details on whether they support UHS-II. To make full use of this spec, the hardware has to be able to read the 2nd row of pins.

Regular and UHS-I cards

uhs-i-card.png


UHS-II Cards

uhs-ii-card.png


While the prices of UHS-II cards are currently high, it would be nice for future compatibility when the prices come down. Until we know fore sure, it would be safer to stick with regular or UHS-I cards.
 
Pagusas

Pagusas

Elden Member
Apparition said:
Nintendo hasn't provided any details on whether they support UHS-II. To make full use of this spec, the hardware has to be able to read the 2nd row of pins.

Regular and UHS-I cards

uhs-i-card.png


UHS-II Cards

uhs-ii-card.png


While the prices of UHS-II cards are currently high, it would be nice for future compatibility when the prices come down. Until we know fore sure, it would be safer to stick with regular or UHS-I cards.
Click to expand...

Given how cheap Nintendo is, plus their hatred for anything that smells of fresh and current, I'd put the odds at 99.9% its a regular card reader with the minimal possible capabilities.
 
B

BraXzy

Member
Question: If I'm mainly planning on going physical with games, is there any point in buying a big SD card? I assume the only things that will use internal memory is the odd didigtal indie download?
 
F

foltzie1

Member
BraXzy said:
Question: If I'm mainly planning on going physical with games, is there any point in buying a big SD card? I assume the only things that will use internal memory is the odd didigtal indie download?
Click to expand...

Roll with just the internal storage for a while. You always pick up a microSD at an Amazon sale if you need it.
 
A

Apparition

Member
Pagusas said:
Given how cheap Nintendo is, plus their hatred for anything that smells of fresh and current, I'd put the odds at 99.9% its a regular card reader with the minimal possible capabilities.
Click to expand...

Yeah, most probably they won't but they went with USB-C so it remains a minuscule possibility.
 
Leatherface

Leatherface

Member
What's everyones opinion of Lexar? I bought a few of these for my GoPro and have had zero issues. I was thinking about sticking with them. Is there an advantage to the higher speeds when used in a Switch?

http://a.co/bWvZZ8M
 
Toadthemushroom

Toadthemushroom

Member
Pagusas said:
Given how cheap Nintendo is, plus their hatred for anything that smells of fresh and current, I'd put the odds at 99.9% its a regular card reader with the minimal possible capabilities.
Click to expand...

You do realise you're posting this in a thread with "USB-C" in the title, right :p

But yeah, I'm not holding my breath for it, since UHS-II doesn't even represent a reasonable chunk of the microSD market right now. Doesn't even seem worth it unless Switch game cards have better read speeds than UHS-I cards.

I just hope iterations of the Switch focus on storage performance. It's important, and it's a shame the New 3DS's "increased speed" didn't include a better storage controller to maximise the read speed from microSD cards.
 
J

japtor

Member
Pyrokai said:
So will I be able to use my USB-C charger from my phone or does it have to be the special Nintendo one?
Click to expand...
shiyrley said:
Do you guys think this powerbank will work with the Switch using the official Google USB A to USB C cable?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01B645YYK/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Both ports are 2.4A, one of them with Qualcomm QuickCharge and the other one without it but that doesn't really matter
Click to expand...
No one knows.

We can take guesses, but until we actually know the power specs it's all a mystery.

Ok well phone charger probably not, that battery pack, maybe. Again depends entirely on what the Switch wants/needs to pull power wise.
 
SystemUser

SystemUser

Member
Inspectah_Deck said:
Snakebyte PowerKit AC Adapter
https://www.mediamarkt.de/de/product/_snakebyte-power-kit™-ladekabel-2219005.html

On the back of the box it says 5V/2.4A output.
That should be a good indicator for whats needed.
Click to expand...



So that charger is the same as the current iPad charger at 12W. It looks like an unlicensed third party power adapter though. I am not sure if this should be taken as confirmation. I have never heard of that brand.

The unlicensed third party NES Advantage Classic was not actually compatible with the NES Classic.
 
I

Inspectah_Deck

Member
Snakebyte does a lot of thirdparty accessoires in Europe.
On the box Switch is mentioned multiple times, but I don't know if that's an indicator for proper licensed stuff.
 
J

japtor

Member
SystemUser said:
So that charger is the same as the current iPad charger at 12W. It looks like an unlicensed third party power adapter though. I am not sure if this should be taken as confirmation. I have never heard of that brand.

The unlicensed third party NES Advantage Classic was not actually compatible with the NES Classic.
Click to expand...
Yeah, possible good sign but wouldn't take it as confirmation yet.

Hell specs on the official one could differ from a standalone/portable only one and both work (albeit different charging speeds) cause the Switch will be operating on different power profiles itself in docked/handheld modes.
 
T

ThatsMytrunks

Member
256gb MicroSD Cards will drop in price dramatically in the next year or so. I say get a 32 or 64 gig card for 10-20 bucks to tide you over until then.

I'd be interested in knowing how hot-swappable Micro SD cards are. Like can I install Puyo Puyo Tetris to a Micro SD card, remove it, stick in a different Micro SD card with a different game installed on it, and go? If so, not a TON of reason for investing in a massive card.
 
K

KennyLinder

Member
ThatsMytrunks said:
256gb MicroSD Cards will drop in price dramatically in the next year or so. I say get a 32 or 64 gig card for 10-20 bucks to tide you over until then.

I'd be interested in knowing how hot-swappable Micro SD cards are. Like can I install Puyo Puyo Tetris to a Micro SD card, remove it, stick in a different Micro SD card with a different game installed on it, and go? If so, not a TON of reason for investing in a massive card.
Click to expand...

Can you do that with 3DS?
 
Shrike Alvaron

Shrike Alvaron

Member
brad-t said:
I know it needs to be USB-C. I just can't imagine that Nintendo would release this huge AC adapter with the system if they could've just bundled in a USB cord and an outlet adapter instead. Even third parties are making them:

hyperkin-ac-adapter-for-nintendo-switch.jpg


I confess I am totally clueless on the subject.
Click to expand...

An old post but I feel I need to reply to it to clarify something. There's no electrical difference between an AC Adapter as the Switch comes with and a USB cable+wall adapter. The only difference is that an AC adapter has the cable permanently attached, while with adapter as come with phones and stuff the cable can be detached from the wall adapter to allow the phone to plug into a PC, laptop, etc. When it comes to the electricity provided it's all up to what the adapter can provide; a USB wall adapter can provide the same power as full AC adapter can.

Now, people keep saying to wait because USB doesn't indicate a single current rating. The amperage devices need can and do vary, with larger devices such as the Switch recurring higher amps (current) in order to properly charge. If you use an adapter or other charging source that is too low current, it'll either charge slowly or even not charge at all. Once the specs of the Switch's AC adapter are known, then we will know the proper type of USB wall adapter or battery pack that should be recommended for it. There's that third-party one shown above that may provide an indication of the Switch's power draw but it's still unofficial.
 
L

Luigi87

Member
Well I just got an Anker 20100 with Type-C out. If it works with Switch, awesome. If it doesn't, I still have it for my phone and other devices.
 
Shrike Alvaron

Shrike Alvaron

Member
While I would still recommend anyone wait until the Switch launches before picking anything up for it just to be on the safe side so things can be tested (particularly when it comes to power), I've done some looking around and reading up on stuff and think I know what accessories I'll be getting for it.

You could get away with just the wall charger and not the power bank, but I want it so that I can play handheld without being tethered to an outlet as happens too often with my 3DS. ...While I'm at it, I'll buy a USB cable for the 3DS too. Such as this one? I really don't need a 6ft cable for that though so may look for a good quality shorter one.
 
F

frankie_baby

Member
R

Rodin

Member
Stabby McSter said:
been eyeing this for awhile https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00V62XBQQ/?tag=neogaf0e-20

200GB, price has been fluctuating from 65 to 69 now
Click to expand...
Yeah this is the one. Cheap (i paid 50 bucks for it at Black Friday), large capacity and pretty fast (90MB/s).

Garou said:
https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01N4P9L14/
Specs of the officially licensed Car adapter output: 5V & up to 3.0A


Also officially licensed microSD-card:
https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01N5QKCB1/

Supports Class 10, UHS 1, read up to 80MB/s and write up to 15MB/s.
Click to expand...
Perfect, this means that mine is faster than the licensed one so it will work flawlessly with every game.

About the car adapter, that should answer people thinking that the console used 2.0 to charge, right?
 
SystemUser

SystemUser

Member
timshundo said:
Someone snapped a photo of the back of the switch and the power rating says input: 15V = 2.6A

Does anyone know what this tells us? None of the USB chargers in my house say they go above 5V...
Click to expand...


That is 39W that is more juice than the weakest Macbook USB-C charger (29W) provides and way more then the Google Pixel (18W). I bet you need to hit 39W to get into docked mode.
 
W

wiibomb

Member
Do we know if the switch comes with any kind of wall charger to go while away from the dock?

Garou said:
https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01N4P9L14/
Specs of the officially licensed Car adapter output: 5V & up to 3.0A


Also officially licensed microSD-card:
https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B01N5QKCB1/

Supports Class 10, UHS 1, read up to 80MB/s and write up to 15MB/s.
Click to expand...

I would advice people to check the chargers they are about to buy as well as the portable batteries, if it isn't about the same amps as this one, you will have problems charging the switch, most probably problems with discharging while playing and charging

I had the same issue with my Nvidia Shield tablet, and that one is similar to a switch.
 
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