this post was submitted on 16 Nov 2025
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Steam Hardware

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[–] Axolotl_cpp@feddit.it 4 points 5 days ago (3 children)

This is peak but at the same time i hate SD cards. Idk how to feel about it 🥀

[–] Kushan@lemmy.world 20 points 4 days ago (1 children)

It's an option that you do not have to use.

[–] Kyrgizion@lemmy.world 14 points 5 days ago (2 children)

My experience with playing games off an SD card in Steam Deck was... lackluster, shall we say (performance-wise).

I share your feelings about SD cards.

[–] prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 13 points 4 days ago

I've had issues with installing games being slow, but I don't think I've ever noticed any difference in performance during actual gameplay.

[–] Axolotl_cpp@feddit.it 4 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (2 children)

I hope someone make something tiny but as good as a SSD in future, SD cards are absolute shit. For me it doesn't even have to be as tiny as SD card, even a credit card sized memory is good

[–] nori@sh.itjust.works 8 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Uh that already exists, MicroSD Express. It’s essentially a PCIe Gen 3 x1 NVMe SSD under the hood

[–] Axolotl_cpp@feddit.it 0 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

Are they as reliable as an SSD? If not then the problem is still there

[–] NightFantom@slrpnk.net 8 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I remember people saying that about SSDs vs HDDs, SSDs were the unreliable newfangled junk. Am I old?

[–] Axolotl_cpp@feddit.it 3 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (3 children)

SSDs are less reliable than an HDD if we speak about lifespan (which is still pretty high) but it's not really a problem for the avarage joe plus they got better in the years and can't be recovered if they break. SD cards are waay less reliable than a SSD and it's a concern for me

[–] squaresinger@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Depends on what metric you look at.

  • Lifetime when stored on a shelf: HDD wins
  • Lifetime while powered: SSD wins
  • Lifetime while constantly writing: HDD wins
  • Lifetime when used in a mobile device that gets thrown around: SSD wins
[–] fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

SSDs also have essentially no wear from reading.

SD cards just die out quickly because people don’t treat them the same as their internal drive. When you’re replacing the main drive to your most important machine do you go to aliexpress and sort by price low to high? Or do you do some research first and see if it’s a well rated drive?

SD cards are tiny so getting one in high capacities, speeds, and high write cycles is a lot harder without paying a lot more money. The SD cards I have in my dashcam have been recording 4k + 1080p video almost continuously for 5+ years and they’re still going strong. But I also bought drives rated for that kind of use.

[–] squaresinger@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

This is exactly it. If you buy a €20 SSD you'll be disappointed as well.

[–] NightFantom@slrpnk.net 2 points 4 days ago

Oh yeah I just found it amusing that the old "unreliable" thing is now being used as a gauge for "reliable enough"

I luckily have no experience with either breaking for me over 15ish years of active computer usage, so I have no fears or trust issues there yet. I also use cloud saves on steam for everything and I'm lucky enough to live in an area with good internet, so worst case I play a different game while my big game is downloading again after I broke something.

[–] Kyrgizion@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago

I've had several die on me in Raspberri pi's after prolonged use.

[–] Kyrgizion@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

There's already small NVMe drives the size of, say, four SD cards with up to 1-2 TB capacity. So it shouldn't be long I reckon.

[–] Axolotl_cpp@feddit.it 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Crazy, i hope that companies start to adopt them instead of SD cards soon

[–] UnbrokenTaco@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago

Xbox series s/x has ssds like this but they're pretty expensive. Not sure if the price is high because of the tech, the specs or the licensing

[–] lavenderleague@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

I feel that. When I got my 512 deck I was worried about SD cards and game performance for my more demanding games. I haven't tried it yet but I've seen those NVME enclosures with PD pass-through. Have you ever considered those before? I know it's capped at what USB-C ports can deliver but I'm pretty sure it's better than an SD card...

[–] Axolotl_cpp@feddit.it 1 points 3 days ago

Seems interessing, i should give a look