Hardware 32GB vs 64GB - Which one should I go for?

[CrazyBlergh]

I'm waiting for further homebrew and hacking developments so I can decide between a9lh or sighax or whatever else there is at the time. I don't plan on pirating much at all, but I'm definitely interested in VC injection of most good titles.
I know Nintendo only 'officially supports' up to 32GB cards for various reason. I also know at if you properly format a card it'll work regardless of size, but apparently GBA emulation can be problematic with certain very large SD cards and reading speeds may suffer as well.
Now I'm torn between 32GB and 64GB. Obviously more is better but I'd feel safer somehow with 32GB - provided the space is sufficient, I'll be happy with it, but who knows what I'll decide to put on it in the end?
plailect's 3ds.guide mentions that cards should be formatted with 32k clusters but somewhere ese I've read that you might have to use 64k clusters for 64GB cards.

Also, what should I look out of regardless? Class 10 cards? Any brands to avoid? Micro vs standard sd?

 

[zoogie]

I'm waiting for further homebrew and hacking developments so I can decide between a9lh or sighax or whatever else there is at the time. I don't plan on pirating much at all, but I'm definitely interested in VC injection of most good titles.
I know Nintendo only 'officially supports' up to 32GB cards for various reason. I also know at if you properly format a card it'll work regardless of size, but apparently GBA emulation can be problematic with certain very large SD cards and reading speeds may suffer as well.
Now I'm torn between 32GB and 64GB. Obviously more is better but I'd feel safer somehow with 32GB - provided the space is sufficient, I'll be happy with it, but who knows what I'll decide to put on it in the end?
plailect's 3ds.guide mentions that cards should be formatted with 32k clusters but somewhere ese I've read that you might have to use 64k clusters for 64GB cards.

Also, what should I look out of regardless? Class 10 cards? Any brands to avoid? Micro vs standard sd?

If you're not a big pirate, I would suggest the 32Gb. It's easier to deal with and I find larger cards to be slower. The largest 3ds game currently is about 3.6GB. The retail games average about 1GB and eshop only games about 200MB.

 

[Harsky]

I went for 64gb because there was a sale at my local supermarket for the Sandisk Ultra ones. Loaded it up with almost all the Virtual Console library. Takes up less than 1.5gb. Throwing in the 3DS games can take you over the 32gb limit but by that point, you'll be asking, "am I even going to play through all of these games?" Anyways, I've never run into any loading/technical problems with a 64gb one and it can definately pay itself off.

Also, avoid Ebay for SD cards. It's not worth it to save money.

 

[The Catboy]

I went for 64GB because I love RPGs and Monster Hunter. So I needed a lot of space for not that many games.

 

[Hayleia]

If you're using an Old 3DS, then maybe you don't need a lot of space. I'm using a 128GB in my New XL because it's too annoying to get the card out everytime I'd like to move a NAND backup on my PC, so that's why I have tons of stuff that could move out of it but still stays here. But on an Old 3DS, you can manage your memory space without too many problems so even 32GB can be enough (except if you want to install all Pokemon games and all MH games).

 

[CrazyBlergh]

Thank you.
Should I try to get ones tested here: http://en-americas-support.nintendo...n-tested-to-work-with-the-new-nintendo-3ds-xl ?
No idea if Extreme Pros are better than Ultra Whatvers.

 

[FliP0x]

I went for a 64GB Micro SD Class 10 U1 and so far had no issues with it. I am currently still trying to test its potential and loading a bunch of games on it.

If you won't pirate much and if apparently larger SD cards mess with GBA emulation, then go for a 32GB. The price difference shouldn't be high and you get twice the size and 64GB is confirmed working (if formated to FAT32).

I would go for 64GB because you might appreciate the larger size at some point.

 

[CrazyBlergh]

I went for a 64GB Micro SD Class 10 U1 and so far had no issues with it. I am currently still trying to test its potential and loading a bunch of games on it.

If you won't pirate much and if apparently larger SD cards mess with GBA emulation, then go for a 32GB. The price difference shouldn't be high and you get twice the size and 64GB is confirmed working (if formated to FAT32).

I would go for 64GB because you might appreciate the larger size at some point.

To clarify: 64GB AFAIK didn't give emulation errors. It was a 128GB or 200GB Card IIRC.

 

[FliP0x]

To clarify: 64GB AFAIK didn't give emulation errors. It was a 128GB or 200GB Card IIRC.

64GB should be the best option then. I don't see why you would need more than that. You can pretty much store most of the "interesting" games (not talking about Nintendogs and those girly games) as well as thousands of GBA, SNES and other ROMs.
The few euros you'd pay more for a 64GB Card are well worth it, and you could re-use the card in the future once you no longer need it in a 3DS, while 32GB is already "below standard" nowadays.

 

[BORTZ]

I dont think you are going to run into many errors with a 64GB card. Bigger is better imo and you are going to end up running out of space faster with a smaller one.

 

[CrazyBlergh]

I'm leaning towards 64GB now. But what's the best model and do I even need the best since I'm 'just' gonna use it for my 3DS? Considering any possible hardware limitations regarding read- and write speed, what's the most cost-effective solution?

 

[Durelle]

I'm leaning towards 64GB now. But what's the best model and do I even need the best since I'm 'just' gonna use it for my 3DS? Considering any possible hardware limitations regarding read- and write speed, what's the most cost-effective solution?

Anything with thats at least class 10, which is most of them nowadays.

Also keep in mind when i bought mine (samsung 64GB) i had to format it using 3rd party software and had to make sure it was as a PRIMARY PARTITION using COMMADN PROMPT. i used this guide and it worked, any other guides didnt have the few extra details with windows.
http://lofi-gaming.org.uk/blog/2013...-upgrade-your-3ds-sd-card-to-64gb-and-beyond/

 

[Evilengine]

From my research I can say that Toshiba EXCERIA M302-EA Micro SDXC 128G
is one of the better 128gb cards. There is also a 64gb version, should be similar. Price is not too high, Sandisk may be 5€ cheaper or so.

 

[biggan1]

I went for 64gb, now I feel I need a 128, so id say go with that!
Gonna give my 64gb to my bro whom uses a 32gb card. =)

 

[Mikemk]

I can say that the Samsung EVO series is abhorrently slow. It gets 10-15 MB/s.

On the bright side, it's still faster than the reader in the 3DS.

 

[biggan1]

I can say that the Samsung EVO series is abhorrently slow. It gets 10-15 MB/s.

On the bright side, it's still faster than the reader in the 3DS.

Hm on the specs it looks faster then other 128gb sd cards. I was thinking getting this one...do you think I should or go with another?
It says it have 20mb/s on the box but yeah always slower hehe.

 

[Mikemk]

Hm on the specs it looks faster then other 128gb sd cards. I was thinking getting this one...do you think I should or go with another?
It says it have 20mb/s on the box but yeah always slower hehe.

Well, my 64 GB card was 85 MB/s, so imagine my surprise. For the 3DS it'll be fine, but don't expect to reuse it for anything that needs some inkling of speed.

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Anything with thats at least class 10, which is most of them nowadays.

Also keep in mind when i bought mine (samsung 64GB) i had to format it using 3rd party software and had to make sure it was as a PRIMARY PARTITION using COMMADN PROMPT. i used this guide and it worked, any other guides didnt have the few extra details with windows.
http://lofi-gaming.org.uk/blog/2013...-upgrade-your-3ds-sd-card-to-64gb-and-beyond/

There's no need for that, just use guiformat.
Also, there's really no need for scaremongering with caps and misspelled words

 

[Durelle]

Well, my 64 GB card was 85 MB/s, so imagine my surprise. For the 3DS it'll be fine, but don't expect to reuse it for anything that needs some inkling of speed.

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There's no need for that, just use guiformat.
Also, there's really no need for scaremongering with caps and misspelled words

Ah but I tried guiformat on my sdxc 64 GB card and it wouldn't work on my 3ds till I did what I mentioned

 

[GilgameshArcher]

64

 

[noX1609]

Ah but I tried guiformat on my sdxc 64 GB card and it wouldn't work on my 3ds till I did what I mentioned

It deoends on the amount of titles / games you would like to install on your SD.

I first bought an 64 GB Sundisk Extreme (i's way faster when copying files from your PC / Mac!) but after installing not the half of my cartcridges the card was full.

Now i use a 128GB Sundisk ultra with ~10 GB left and don't habe any problems with it.

I know many oeple say that the start time is very show with a 128 GB cart but i can't confirm that.
Ok it's maybe 1-2secounds skower but thats abolutly ok for me because i have double the size of momoy

You could only try to use 2x 32 GB Cards and switch them every time but especially if you are on travel the one card is very better

Personally would buy a 256GB or 512GB (is there already one?) because you can't have enough space only less space. That's my opinion