Hardware Faster Load Times on SD Card or External HDD?

[mrtimotei]

With Xenoblade Chronicles X's release next month, I remembered that there's going to be an option to install certain parts of the game onto the Wii U to improve load times. However, I know my Wii U is beginning to run low on space, and I will need external storage.

Is there a difference between the loading times of an external hard drive and an SD card? I would imagine an external HDD has quicker speeds through USB, but having another box that needs to be powered next to the Wii U seems less ideal than SD cards, which are generally cheaper, and you just simply plug them in. But SD cards have varying read/write speeds, so I'm not sure if they're capable of being as fast as an external HDD.

So would it be better to use an external HDD or an SD card?
(I'm trying to go for the cheaper option that works.)

 

[uyjulian]

You can only load Wii U downloaded content to USB...

 

[RemixDeluxe]

You can only load Wii U downloaded content to USB...

I recently learned you can only load Wii U content from the USB ports. Why not have all storage formats work? I would of loved to use SD instead so I dont have something intrusive sticking out from my game console.

 

[Sick Wario]

other than smash bros and wii data transfer, is there any other game or use for the SD card on wii u?

 

[uyjulian]

other than smash bros and wii data transfer, is there any other game or use for the SD card on wii u?

mii maker

 

[sarkwalvein]

other than smash bros and wii data transfer, is there any other game or use for the SD card on wii u?

loadiine

 

[mrtimotei]

Ugh. Really? So I'm stuck with having to use an HDD? That's rather annoying...
Well, anyways, thanks for the answers!

 

[osaka35]

Ugh. Really? So I'm stuck with having to use an HDD? That's rather annoying...
Well, anyways, thanks for the answers!

Yup. And since the Wii U uses usb 2.0, a SSD won't improve speed either. a 7200RPM HDD will about match the speed of usb 2.0, so your best bet is to back up some of what you've got on the Wii U to that HDD and let Xenoblade install stuff to the internal flash. I'm not sure of the specifics, but I'd rather hope the internal flash of the Wii U is faster than USB 2.0.

 

[uyjulian]

Yup. And since the Wii U uses usb 2.0, a SSD won't improve speed either. a 7200RPM HDD will about match the speed of usb 2.0, so your best bet is to back up some of what you've got on the Wii U to that HDD and let Xenoblade install stuff to the internal flash. I'm not sure of the specifics, but I'd rather hope the internal flash of the Wii U is faster than USB 2.0.

yes, it is a lot faster.
Too bad you only have 8GB/32GB of it.