Hacking Maximum Micro SD Card?

[BruceJackieJetLeeLiChan]

Googling brings up a maximum of 32 GB, told by other people and Nintendo officially. I'm using a 64GB right now and it works. I want to get the 200GB MicroSD that is on sale right now, wondering if 128 or 200 GB works.

 

[Nyap]

any size works I think, you just have to format it to fat32 if its 64gb or larger

 

[Shadowfied]

The reason they say 32 is "max" is because they aren't usually formatted as Fat32, even though they actually can be. Unless you're running Linux, you'll have to get a third party tool such as GUIFormat.
You can use any MicroSD, the largest microSD that exists are 128 200 gig. I use a 128 gig SanDisk and it works perfectly.

 

[DarkGabbz]

The reason they say 32 is "max" is because they aren't usually formatted as Fat32, even though they actually can be. Unless you're running Linux, you'll have to get a third party tool such as GUIFormat.
You can use any MicroSD, the largest microSD that exists are 128 gig. I use a 128 gig SanDisk and it works perfectly.

https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Ultra-200GB-Micro-SDSDQUAN-200G-G4A/dp/B00V62XBQQ

 

[Shadowfied]

https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Ultra-200GB-Micro-SDSDQUAN-200G-G4A/dp/B00V62XBQQ

Huh, that must be relatively new, right?

 

[DarkGabbz]

Huh, that must be relatively new, right?

It got released on 13 of March 2015

 

[aos10]

there is actually a 256GB micro SD card from Samsung.
but you may have to break a leg or a bank to buy it.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01G7L03OS

it's yours only for $229.99.
It's very new.
Samsung EVO Select Micro SDXC Memory Card, 256GB, 95MB/s.

 

[Quantumcat]

there is actually a 256GB micro SD card from Samsung.
but you may have to break a leg or a bank to buy it.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01G7L03OS

it's yours only for $229.99.
It's very new.
Samsung EVO Select Micro SDXC Memory Card, 256GB, 95MB/s.

How crazy is it that it feels like yesterday I was saving my school assignments on floppy disks with 1.44MB each. Now we can fit 256GB on a chip the size of my little finger nail.

 

[aos10]

How crazy is it that it feels like yesterday I was saving my school assignments on floppy disks with 1.44MB each. Now we can fit 256GB on a chip the size of my little finger nail.

You should read about UFS cards by Samsung
it's a new type wish will come cheaper after it will released and it's faster then class 10 micro SD cards.

 

[Originality]

UFS is supposed to be as fast as most SSDs of today in read speed, with write speed being about 170MB/s.

 

[cooroxd]

Anything over 128gb is overkill, also don't forget the 300 game limit

 

[Quantumcat]

Anything over 128gb is overkill, also don't forget the 300 game limit

True, but maybe it'll be able to be used with the NX too :-)

 

[aos10]

Anything over 128gb is overkill, also don't forget the 300 game limit

But you can use the size for retroarch emulator and put every playable game on the 3DS.

 

[urherenow]

Anything over 128gb is overkill, also don't forget the 300 game limit

But... there's no limit to amount of 3D porn you can add to your card

 

[Kibido]

Do higher cards lower performance? Don't know where I heard that.

 

[NekoMichi]

Do higher cards lower performance? Don't know where I heard that.

That does seem to be the case. A 128GB mSD takes longer to boot than a 64GB mSD of the same brand (both SanDisk Ultra, on similar console setups). I heard it has something to do with having more space for the system to search through before it can find what it's looking for. In addition to slower boot times, I also noticed that icons take slightly longer to appear on the Home Menu and sometimes the cursor becomes less responsive on the 128GB than the 64GB. Game load and save times don't seem to be affected, though.

 

[weatMod]

How crazy is it that it feels like yesterday I was saving my school assignments on floppy disks with 1.44MB each. Now we can fit 256GB on a chip the size of my little finger nail.

what is crazy is that the stated limit for XC micro sd is 2TB and they filed patents for those years ago
and also the prices i remember not so long ago it was $1 a GB then 50 cents a GB now you can get a decent 128GB card for like $31 on gearbest
or even amazon not on prime day for like 33$
i forgot what he prime day price was for 200GB but i think it was only like $58

 

[MelonGx]

2TB for theory.
200GB for the real.

To be noticed that Devmenu & BigBlueMenu will freeze when they're detecting 99GB or more free space.
Use FBI or other instead.

 

[Osmosis]

Do higher cards lower performance? Don't know where I heard that.

I went through Plailect Guide trying to use my 128GB at first. I lost a lot of time to formatting/crashing/reformatting. Eventually I went to a 32GB did all the dirty work in a day. Then I just copied the files over to my 128GB after A9LH CFW was complete. It's not the speed that slows it down, it's the amount of time it takes to read/load all 128GB. Also has to do with having to FAT32 128GB. You lose the UHS-1 speeds when you do that. It drops down to Class 10 at that point.

If you're going to do Plailect Guide, use a Class 10 FAT32 32GB SD. It's much more reliable. Then copy over to the 128GB mSD for all that space. You'll save time. And yes, Use FBI when 128GB or higher. You will crash BBM and DevMenu. Did it, done it, am now using JK's SaveData app & FBI.

The FAT32 thing also applied to the Sky3DS. If you tried to use any mSD that didn't default to FAT32 the scroll feature would slow down when it reformatted to the custom FAT system. Which is why Class 10 is more important than UHS-1 speeds. You go lower than class 10 and I promise you'll notice a difference in loading times/response.

Final verdict? Get a 200GB if you want. Just make sure it is Class 10. There is a game limit, but there aren't enough games to really make that an issue. Best bet is 128GB. Load all the .CIA roms you want onto it, then use your R4i or DSTwo for NES/SNES/DS games and slap a 64GB mSD into those.

Actually, that's a better question, is there a mSD size limit for those cartridges? I thought there was... Didn't GW Blue/RedCarts have a size limit? The Sky3DS (blue button) had a game limit of 30 (no matter what size mSD) but the new firmware on the Sky3DS+ fixed that (as I understand from their website).

As for the 3DS... your only limit is Class-10. 8/16/32/64/128/200/256GB... just make sure it's Class-10. UHS isn't going to matter once you FAT32 them. The bigger, the longer it'll take. Performance speeds... you'll be fine.

Do be warned that FAT32 has a file size transfer limit of 4GB:
https://www.genie9.com/support/KB/KnowledgeArticle.aspx?KBID=113

All about SD cards and UHS, etc.:
http://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2520/~/sd/sdhc/sdxc-specifications-and-compatibility

So yeah, if you FAT32, you lose UHS and it reverts back to SD speeds of Class 10. So don't pay extra for UHS-3 mSD cards for your 3DS. UHS mostly applies to exFAT and NTFS speeds.

This also applies to a lot of phones out there. The new HTC 10 is fully equipped for 2TB mSD's. They just don't exist... yet. Well, not on retail market at least. That doesn't stop Android from formatting the mSD and thus you gain space, but lose performance. Also, your phone will take a little longer to load up because it has to go through all the space. So even if you NTFS the mSD, it will still have to read the entire card at bootup.

It's more for storage than it is for performance.
Want a lot of games? Get a 128GB+ m/SD.
Want better performance? Stick to 32GB SD.
Make sure they are Class 10.
Fin.

 

[DjoeN]

I tried 32GB, 64GB and 128GB.

My conclusion, stick to 64GB, no trouble and lotsa games. If you don't install alot of games, use a 32GB. I had to fill my 128GB with 60GB of junk before my 3ds would read anything from it, so i reverted back to my 64GB, so 64GB is my recommandation.