Hacking microSD class

[Bryopsis]

Will the performance of a AceKard 2i be the same whether using a class 2, 4, or 6 microSD card? I want to get a 8gb or 16gb microSD, but didn't want to spend the extra $$ for a higher class if I didn't have to.

 

[Kinqdra]

Will the performance of a AceKard 2i be the same whether using a class 2, 4, or 6 microSD card? I want to get a 8gb or 16gb microSD, but didn't want to spend the extra $$ for a higher class if I didn't have to.

well i got some different class microsd cards and they are all the same speed on my acekard so i think you shouldn't really worry about the class(unless you want to xD).

 

[bowlofspiders]

I have a class 6 8gb. Cost about 21.99 with shipping. It will transfer games faster through your computer with a higher class card, but wont effect the acekard any. so lower or higher class is fine for your acekard.

 

[Bryopsis]

Yes, to clarify, I don't care about the transfer speed on my computer. I just care about the playability and stability of the games on the AceKard once in my DSi.

 

[driverzx]

SD Cards and SDHC Cards have Speed Class Ratings defined by the SD Association. The SD Speed Class Ratings specify the following minimum write speeds based on "the best fragmented state where no memory unit is occupied":[9]
Class 2: 2 MByte/s - 13x
Class 4: 4 MByte/s - 26x
Class 6: 6 MByte/s - 40x

The class depends on how fast you can write things from your computer to the SD card. The booting up your AceKard takes a fraction slower, but there are no lags or serious problems with a Class2 card.

 

[tk_saturn]

It's hard to tell the actual speeds from the class because it's the minimum write speed. It's most usefull in Digital cameras because they have to write the images to the cards and if it's not fast enough you won't be able to do continious shooting. AKAIO primarily just reads from the card apart when it's saving the save files. Read speeds are normally much higher than write speeds.

I have 4 8GB OEM Toshiba C08G Class 4 Japan made cards (the same cards that are badged Kingston) and they get minimum write speeds of 8MB/s and read speeds of 20MB/s on files 512KB or larger when copying nds roms in windows explorer, one of them can even get 10.5MB/s write speeds. They are known for example to out perform Sandisk 8GB Class 6 China made cards.

I have a class 2 card although it's slower in AKAIO loading roms it doesn't make a huge difference because most ROMS aren't that large. Presumably trimming a ROM can also improve the load speed, but i've never compared it. The biggest difference is when copying files to and from a PC, and if you regularlly backup your SD card you will benefit from a faster card.

Copying 16GB to a class 2 card which performs at class 2 speeds will take some time.

For smaller sized files such as the skins Random Access Time is probably more important than class.