Hacking Which MicroSD for the GateWay 3DS?

[LimeWan]

SANDISK all the way. It has always been the go-to brand for most homebrew.

Pick up one of those class 10 microSD cards from sandisk:

http://www.sandisk.com/products/memory-cards/microsd/ultra-class10-with-adapter/?capacity=16GB

That is the exact one that is on sale for $20!

For some reason, it got an okay rating (4/5) on the retailers website, with some reviews saying the card went corrupt, DOA, etc. Reviews on Amazon seem to be good though.

I might just pick up the card for my phone, then put my phone's class 6 card in the GateWay.

 

[elunesgrace]

That is the exact one that is on sale for $20!

For some reason, it got an okay rating (4/5) on the retailers website, with some reviews saying the card went corrupt, DOA, etc. Reviews on Amazon seem to be good though.

I might just pick up the card for my phone, then put my phone's class 6 card in the GateWay.

SANDISK is a very well known brand in flash memory. Of course like all flash memory it can get corrupted or be DOA. That's to be expected.

But I even remember back when we were modding lots of Wiis, only Sandisk would be recommended because their memory is generally very reliable.

 

[KidIce]

SANDISK is a very well known brand in flash memory.

That doesn't make it "good". Sandisk is well recognized because it's in every bricks and mortar store in NA that sells flash media (i.e. the brand name is reinforced because you saw at Best Buy, Walmart, etc.) and they tend to perform OK. OTOH, Sandisk is usually grossly overpriced when compared to the competition at same class and capacity. Sandisk isn't a bad way to go, mind, but your wallet had better be deep.

As far as my experience is a concern w/ a GW. I've been using a couple of AData 8GB class 10's (bought specifically for use w/ the GW) and a handful of various 1GB & 2GB that range from branded (Kingston, Patriot, etc) to generic included-w/-cheap-thing-from-Deal Extreme (and like e-shops) that I have laying around after upgrading to something else for the device I used to use them in or they came w/. So far NONE of them has failed me in any way in the GW that wasn't fixed w/ a contact cleaning or a proper format.

In my experience the GW can use just about any SD that has capacity enough for the ROM image you put on it... Really, some of the SD's I'm using are left over from my DS slot-2 days and stuttered horribly during the Castlevania DS intro and out right crashed certain other problematic games. I genuinely can't understand why others are having problems w/ certain cards (assuming both the cards and the GW are sound) considering the garbage SD's I've used in that thing. Not picking on anyone or calling them liars, mind, I may just be playing the wrong games but my GW just doesn't care how crap the SD you stick in it is.

 

[LimeWan]

That doesn't make it "good". Sandisk is well recognized because it's in every bricks and mortar store in NA that sells flash media (i.e. the brand name is reinforced because you saw at Best Buy, Walmart, etc.) and they tend to perform OK. OTOH, Sandisk is usually grossly overpriced when compared to the competition at same class and capacity. Sandisk isn't a bad way to go, mind, but your wallet had better be deep.

As far as my experience is a concern w/ a GW. I've been using a couple of AData 8GB class 10's (bought specifically for use w/ the GW) and a handful of various 1GB & 2GB that range from branded (Kingston, Patriot, etc) to generic included-w/-cheap-thing-from-Deal Extreme (and like e-shops) that I have laying around after upgrading to something else for the device I used to use them in or they came w/. So far NONE of them has failed me in any way in the GW that wasn't fixed w/ a contact cleaning or a proper format.

In my experience the GW can use just about any SD that has capacity enough for the ROM image you put on it... Really, some of the SD's I'm using are left over from my DS slot-2 days and stuttered horribly during the Castlevania DS intro and out right crashed certain other problematic games. I genuinely can't understand why others are having problems w/ certain cards (assuming both the cards and the GW are sound) considering the garbage SD's I've used in that thing. Not picking on anyone or calling them liars, mind, I may just be playing the wrong games but my GW just doesn't care how crap the SD you stick in it is.

I guess the safest bet for me would just be to get the one that gives me the most peace of mind.

The SanDisk on sale is a good deal to me because A, it is available to buy at a multitude of local stores right now, B, has never failed on me in the past, and C, is a relatively good price for the card that I am getting.

I took a look at the Transcend card that was recommended to me, but after shipping and all other costs (probably only tax), for about the same price, I can pick up a card that I know is reliable, has a good rep, and can pick it up first thing in the morning.

My question it seems was really concerning which cards would not be compatible with the GateWay. Whether Kingston actually does work or not, based on what I have heard now, it is just not worth it, especially since the card isn't even cheaper than the SanDisk in the first place.

 

[Rinnux]

I use pny, they work very well. I even have 3 of them so I would say they are reliable

 

[justln]

I'm using Kingston for my Gateway and had no issues for any game. All were working fine.

 

[MichiS97]

Does a 64GB Micro SDXC by Transcend work?

 

[how_do_i_do_that]

Does a 64GB Micro SDXC by Transcend work?

It is currently a waste of space and money to get anything larger than a 16GB microSDHC.

Why are you wasting space you might say in getting a 64GB, that is because roms are written to the microSD as an image and there is currently no multi rom support through a game manager from the red flashcart.

 

[The Real Jdbye]

The class doesn't really matter all that much, read speed and class rating are only vaguely related.
The general rule is that higher class cards have a faster write speed, but a slower read speed. For the Gateway you really only care about read speed, so a lower class would be better in this situation. That means, pretty much anything but a class 10, but kingston class 4's are rather fast. Sandisks are much slower from the benchmarking I've done, though that benchmarking is limited to a couple of cards of each brand.
If you get a class 10 MicroSD labeled UHS, you can be certain the read and write speeds are both high, the Gateway won't take full advantage of that due to not supporting the UHS standard, but it will give you better speeds than other cards.
However, it's overkill unless you can find them for a really great price (as cheap as a lower class), Amazon has great prices on them sometimes.

I'd suggest a Transcend. Those work really well for me, and I'd suggest looking at a place like Amazon.

I had a transcend. It broke within a few months and the data was not recoverable.
Also, it was rather slow, according to some benchmarks I performed.
Suffice to say I'm never getting another Transcend card.

SANDISK all the way. It has always been the go-to brand for most homebrew.

Pick up one of those class 10 microSD cards from sandisk:

http://www.sandisk.com/products/memory-cards/microsd/ultra-class10-with-adapter/?capacity=16GB

That UHS card is probably overkill, but for the right price, it's a good choice.

 

[Ryukouki]

The class doesn't really matter all that much, read speed and class rating are only vaguely related.
The general rule is that higher class cards have a faster write speed, but a slower read speed. For the Gateway you really only care about read speed, so a lower class would be better in this situation. That means, pretty much anything but a class 10, but kingston class 4's are rather fast. Sandisks are much slower from the benchmarking I've done, though that benchmarking is limited to a couple of cards of each brand.
If you get a class 10 MicroSD labeled UHS, you can be certain the read and write speeds are both high, the Gateway won't take full advantage of that due to not supporting the UHS standard, but it will give you better speeds than other cards.
However, it's overkill unless you can find them for a really great price (as cheap as a lower class), Amazon has great prices on them sometimes.


I had a transcend. It broke within a few months and the data was not recoverable.
Also, it was rather slow, according to some benchmarks I performed.
Suffice to say I'm never getting another Transcend card.


That UHS card is probably overkill, but for the right price, it's a good choice.

Ack, that sucks. They've been brilliant for me.

 

[joshstyle]

does a toshiba 64GB class 10 work well on the gateway?

 

[Luhof]

Got no problem with my 16GB Transcend (class 10). There is not that much difference between 8 and 16 GB, and you never know, if Gateway supports multiple roms on 1 SD someday, you'll be happy to have more storage than needed.

 

[Vipera]

////

 

[Kei00]

I'm using my old MicroSD cards:

Kingston 8GB class 6
Kingston 8GB class 4
Sandisk 4GB class 2 -> Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 (all cups + local multiplayer) completed with this one .

No slowdowns. No errors. No problems.

If you have to buy a new one, then I would recommend you a 8GB class 6 MicroSD card (the price difference between class 4/6 and 4GB/8GB is so small).

 

[LimeWan]

I got the 16gb Class 10 SanDisk for $20. That to me is a good price.

Even if that is overkill, like I mentioned in a previous post, I could use this card in my phone, then use my phone's 16gb class 6 for the GateWay instead.

I also never realized that a 2gb card would have worked so well. I had one laying around from an old BlackBerry (used it to jailbreak wii), and tried Super Mario 3D Land with it. Surprised that it worked as well as it did. Now I don't know if it will 'last' over time, but for now, it seems to be working pretty well.

I would be careful to the people looking at SDXC as I wouldn't think the GateWay would be compatible. This is purely an assumption, as I haven't read about it anywhere, and have not tried one to verify.

 

[IronClouds]

There needs to be a definitive resource with micro SD compatibility for the Gateway. Yes, this thread is only two pages, but trudging through posts is a chore when there are so many factors to consider (class, brand, size, type, etc.). Can someone maintain a post with all collective info, or make a new thread to keep the OP updated frequently?

 

[justln]

There needs to be a definitive resource with micro SD compatibility for the Gateway. Yes, this thread is only two pages, but trudging through posts is a chore when there are so many factors to consider (class, brand, size, type, etc.). Can someone maintain a post with all collective info, or make a new thread to keep the OP updated frequently?

There isn't a need to. Every brand of micro SD card will work with Gateway, even a brandless one from China.

There's only 1 poster who had problems with Kingston cards but I'm using it and it works fine.

 

[IronClouds]

There isn't a need to. Every brand of micro SD card will work with Gateway, even a brandless one from China.

There's only 1 poster who had problems with Kingston cards but I'm using it and it works fine.

Well that's a little more reassuring, then. Thanks

 

[Symbolik]

Would a Integral 8gb class 10 be a good card both for the Gateway and other Nintendo DS flashcarts (R4i gold, Acekard 2.i)? I've found one very cheap near me and was wondering if it's any good.

 

[Lord Nibbler]

does class 2 work?
if so, why would you want to waste money on a higher class?