So I just finished reading some horror stories over at Reddit (My Switch Seems to Have Been Bricked) about people getting their devices bricked and now I’m a bit worried and wanted to ask you guys for your opinion and if any of you had experience with re-using older SD cards. I have zero knowledge around types speeds and whatnots, I just want to fit my games on it and play casually, with JRPG’s being my main jam.
My current situation is this, I got a 64 GB Steam Deck, and basically, I installed Elden Ring and that’s it Nothing else fits, so I was going through my house and found my sisters PS Vita SD Card, I know that it’s an older model that already had its share of reads and writes, so I’m wondering how safe is it? What should I do beforehand? Just format/wipe it?
Here it is: 😁
We also have a nintendo switch, although since the old PSvita isn't being used anymore, I was thinking of taking the card from that, instead of trying out the other SDcard from the switch. 😅
I was researching the market, and from what I can see both Reddit (SD Cards for Steam Deck) and EsportsHeadlines.com (Best SD Card for Steam Deck) agree that PNY Pro Elite is the way to go, so I’m thinking of getting the 1 TB version sometimes later this year, probs around Christmas, but I have to find a solution in-between.
@Tasuki While that's true for Vita memory cards, that picture is of an unofficial device that lets you use regular MicroSD cards in a modded Vita.
On the main topic, it should be fine to format it and use it (I take it your sister is fine with you doing that to her card btw). Sandisk is a reputable brand so it should be fine, especially if you're planning on getting a brand new card in a few months anyway.
@markmarkmark I've never heard of problems in here with used cards for the Switch since I joined in 2017. These days, I believe you have to format a card to the switch, which wipes them.
(I did have a samsung micro sd card go bad in my samsung galaxy smartphone, and the phone kept freezing if I shot video. I later figured it was because my micro sd card was failing. So, cards can go bad, it seems. But nothing bad happened to the phone otherwise)
I don't think I've yet seen a SD card go completely bad.
Some I've had trouble reading I've found that just like old game carts, I needed to wipe the connector pins.
But it wouldn't surprise me if cards do go bad.
@Tasuki Yeah, the PSV memory cards were just insultingly overpriced.
Even with the Memory Sticks in PSP, dumb that the cards in PSP-branded packaging where more expensive than one in more generic packaging (cards Sony marketed for like, their cameras). Was when looking at the same cards at the same Best Buy store back in the day.
It'll prompt you to get it formatted when you add it to the Switch. After that, you're Golden. I've used Micro SD cards that used to belong to my phone and one that was in a Camera and once formatted, they were grand and still work fine to this day.
Also, Sandisk work perfectly with the Switch as they match pretty well with the read/write speeds that the Switch actually works with. You don't really need the fastest cards on the market for Switch but I don't know much about the Steam Deck to pass any comment on what that one uses best
It really depends on the way you use them. SD cards are good for a ludicrous number of reads but only a relatively small number of writes, so anything that's going to thrash them by constantly writing large amounts of data will eventually kill them.
In practice, games consoles generally don't do this. For mobile phones it'll depend a bit on the applications that you're using. I've killed more SD cards with Raspberry Pis than everything else combined though, as they can really thrash them.
Anyway, taking even a fairly old card from a Vita to use in a Switch seems relatively safe to me.
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Topic: What’s your experience with re-using older SD cards?
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