A "Gaming" SD card?? - $H!T Manufacturers Say
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2019-05-06
·
1,201 words · ~6 min read
0:00
Ever since manufacturers first discovered
0:02
the keyword gaming,
0:05
it feels like we've been on a bit of a slippery slope here.
0:07
You see, at first gaming was used primarily
0:12
to describe products endorsed by professional gamers
0:15
or that had features that were somehow directly related
0:18
to their gaming utility, like headsets
0:21
with noise canceling microphones, for example.
0:24
But then came gaming power supplies, gaming chairs,
0:28
and gaming computer memory,
0:31
none of which perform measurably better
0:34
than their similarly priced non-gaming counterparts.
0:38
So where does this path ultimately lead us?
0:42
To here, today, in this moment,
0:46
to the epitome of bull
0:48
gaming marketing,
0:50
the gaming micro SD card from HyperX.
0:56
Today's video is brought to you by Thermaltake.
0:59
Thermaltake's gaming level 20 cases
1:02
feature radiator mounting for water cooling,
1:05
gaming-focused aesthetics,
1:06
and beautiful tempered glass panels.
1:09
Check them out at the link below.
1:20
Let's begin with an entirely unironic read
1:23
of the press release.
1:24
The HyperX gaming micro SD card
1:27
is an ideal storage solution for gamers
1:30
who love downloadable content.
1:32
Where are they finding these people?
1:34
And downloadable games,
1:36
but don't want to buy multiple cards
1:38
and deal with long load times.
1:40
This card features read speeds of 100 megabytes per second
1:44
and write speeds of 80 megabytes per second
1:46
and capacities up to 256 gaming bytes.
1:49
So you'll get fast access to your games
1:52
and you can download to your heart's content.
1:54
HyperX's senior manager for console business said that,
1:58
our goal was to bring reliable high capacity
2:01
and plug and play storage to mobile gamers.
2:04
And HyperX is excited to make that happen.
2:07
Alrighty then.
2:09
So as usual, there's not a word about exactly
2:13
what makes these cards gaming.
2:15
And the only performance claims are asterisked
2:18
as per the tradition.
2:20
So let's start then by exploring
2:22
just how they came to those numbers.
2:24
We hooked up the 256 gig version to a USB three port
2:29
on our Z370 test bench via a Kingston card reader
2:32
and ran CrystalDiskMark,
2:34
which is what the HyperX rep told us
2:36
that they used for their performance claims.
2:38
Now our results fell well short
2:40
of the 100 read 80 write claims
2:42
coming in at 88.7 megs on sequential reads
2:45
and 66.3 on writes.
2:48
And then when we sanity checked these results
2:50
with a sequential file transfer,
2:51
we ended up with very similar results.
2:54
Now the disclaimer does say the speed may vary
2:57
due to host hardware, software and usage.
2:59
So digging for the truth,
3:00
we tested the card again in all four major platforms.
3:05
As you can see, when paired with an X290,
3:08
we actually came extremely close to the stated claims
3:12
with X470 coming in at a close second.
3:15
All right, fair enough then HyperX.
3:18
Now we move on to our real world testing,
3:20
mobile game loading time, excuse me,
3:23
mobile game loading times, starting with Android.
3:27
So we used a Razer gaming phone
3:29
and PUBG mobile version 0.8.0 to determine how long it took
3:34
from tapping the icon to reaching the login screen.
3:38
And believe it or not,
3:39
the gaming card actually managed to match
3:43
our onboard storage on the phone,
3:45
which I guess kind of makes sense
3:47
given that it's got the fancy new A1 speed rating,
3:51
which is a newfangled way of saying
3:53
that it'll handle the random IO necessary to run apps
3:56
better than traditional SD cards,
3:58
which are rated only for sequential read and write speeds.
4:02
Which I guess brings us perfectly to our next challenger,
4:05
our non-gaming high capacity,
4:08
512 gig card from Integral.
4:11
This puppy is rated at 80 megabytes per second read speeds.
4:15
So not that different, but it spat out a,
4:19
this card is slow warning when we first formatted it.
4:22
And on its first run,
4:24
it got absolutely stomped by HyperX's gaming card.
4:29
Gaming, sorry.
4:31
So at this point,
4:32
things were actually looking pretty darn good
4:34
for the world's first gaming micro SD card.
4:38
Or that was until we followed up the test
4:42
with a couple more rounds of game launches
4:44
and the issues with our Integral card disappeared,
4:47
never to be seen again.
4:48
So after that first launch anomaly,
4:52
our gaming card is faster,
4:54
but only by about 8% or three seconds
4:58
to put that in real world terms.
5:00
Okay, well, HyperX's marketing
5:02
barely even mentions phones anyway.
5:04
So let's move on to our next test device,
5:07
the Nintendo Switch,
5:08
running the Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild.
5:12
And in a massive surprise to no one,
5:14
just like with our smartphone testing,
5:15
the results came in only marginally different
5:18
with the Switch's onboard storage being the fastest,
5:21
no solution achieving a drastic experience altering
5:25
performance delta over any of the others.
5:28
So what's left to say then?
5:32
This is a perfectly good micro SD card
5:36
with a lifetime warranty from a reputable company,
5:38
that will probably still exist in the time
5:41
that you'd actually want any warranty service on this.
5:43
So we are not saying not to buy this thing.
5:47
We're just saying that there's nothing about it
5:50
that seems to be any more gaming
5:52
than the socks and sandals that I'm wearing right now.
5:56
And that the main takeaway today
5:58
is that regardless of what SD card you choose,
6:01
the experience is unlikely to be dramatically different.
6:05
That is, unless you're the kind of person
6:07
who gets off on,
6:08
sitting next to people with cheaper SD cards on the bus
6:11
and opening up the same programs as them,
6:14
then gloating about your loading times
6:16
for three glorious seconds
6:18
before they are sitting in exactly the same staging area,
6:21
waiting to get on exactly the same parachute bus.
6:26
Speaking of gaming,
6:30
Mastro is featuring some gaming peripherals.
6:36
They've teamed up with Creative
6:38
and are now selling their mouse
6:40
and keyboard at 50% off the retail price.
6:44
So we've got the Vanguard K08 keyboard,
6:46
which uses Omron mechanical switches.
6:48
It's got 109 customizable RGB keys.
6:51
Those are gaming.
6:52
And it includes dedicated macro keys.
6:54
It's got one of those nice roller wheel volume controls
6:56
and media keys and a removable wrist rest.
6:59
Then we've got the Siege M04 mouse.
7:02
It has seven fully programmable buttons.
7:04
It's got a PWM 3360 IR LED gaming grade sensor,
7:09
which actually, that does work.
7:10
That does matter.
7:10
Having a good mouse for gaming is important.
7:12
And it runs anywhere from 200 to 12,000 DPI.
7:15
So check out the links below to grab yourself a new mouse
7:18
and a new keyboard for gaming.
7:21
So thanks guys for watching.
7:22
If you disliked this gaming video, you can hit that button.
7:24
But if you liked it, hit like, get subscribed,
7:26
or maybe consider checking out where to buy this gaming stuff
7:28
we featured at the link in the video description.
7:30
Also down there is our merch store, which has cool gaming.
7:33
Shirts like this one.
7:36
And our community gaming forum,
7:38
which you should totally join.
7:40
For gaming discussion.
7:43
I see, I thought that joke was gonna get old,
7:44
but it never did.