I have a 512GB deck and I was thinking of getting a 1TB microSD card to store and launch my games from. Would it be wiser to get a 1TB SSD instead?
You can get a 512gb Sd card for as low as 30 bucks that’s insane, the 1tb actually costs 3x
The Corsair MP600 mini SSD is $79 rn on Amazon
both
Get a 2TB SSD.
Wait for Black Friday to get either of those
Been using 512G micro SD for mine, the price of a 1T is still a bit much. And I seem to see more posts about the 1T sized cards failing than the 512s.
If you have the skill and ability to upgrade the internal storage, go for it. But for my needs the 512 Internal+ 512 sd work fine.
Just use the SSD for more demanding games (ie open world AAAs and such) and delete them/move them to the MicroSD when completed.
Most other things can just be ran straight off the MicroSD.
Never understood the need for an SSD upgrade myself.
I have a 1tb SSD and a 512gb micro SD, which is 1.5tb total storage, and I find that to be enough. I’d go for the 1tb micro sd, and just be sure to use the 512gb you have internally to install the newer, more SSD-reliant games on like Cyberpunk. Most other games will run perfectly fine on the SD card.
I’ve read that load times are similar and performance was almost the same between SD card and internal SSD, so I’ve bought a microSD and discover that open world games (like Star Wars Fallen Order, RDR2, etc.) stutter a lot more when they’re in the SD card. I believe that’s because they have multiple assets to load and that causes a bottleneck when moving in the world, the stutters doesn’t happen in the internal SSD. Other simpler games run ok, even if they’re graphically demanding, as long as they don’t use many assets simultaneously
I dunno, I run RDR2 off the micro SD card and don’t notice any stuttering. I even have a 512GB SSD and could easily move it, but there’s been no need.
I’ve run probably over 100 games on my steam deck and only run into a single game that I had to move from my SD card to my SSD. Unless you really want to tinker, I would 100% just stick to an SD card
SSD for sure. Faster load times. My suggestion would be to put all of your big games like PC on the SSD and buy a large micro SD for emulated games that don’t require a lot of speed to run.
I play alot of indies, so a 1 tb micro sd card has been great for lighter games and even older triple A’s havent noticed any issues. I use my 512gb for more modern games. I also pay for geforce now which gets me great performance and long gaming sessions on games like cyberpunk and I dont need to install or update them
I’ve seen damaged Steam Decks because of faulty SSD installations. It’s not quite as easy as installing an SSD on a standard computer. I personally don’t find the risk to be worth it to have slightly faster loading times for some games.
Since swapping files between the SSD and Micro SD is very easy, I’d just keep the handful of games you’re actively playing on your current SSD and transfer the rest to a 1tb Micro SD card in case you ever need them.
As you rocking 512 internal Already I would buy SD card and save cash maybe when 2Tb drops in future look at upgrading but I won’t lie. Surely 1tb of space is only needed as you don’t play that many games at once, you can delete and install as and when
SD card for quick and convince upgrading.
SSD for faster transfer speeds but overall very similar performance in game load times.
I’d only do the SSD if you’re ganna go all out with a 2tb drive and 1 tb micro sd card.
Totally your call but I agree that 512GB + 1TB microsd is great.
I upgraded my old Steam deck to 2TB internal, but 512GB would have just meant I couldn’t install literally everything I might play this year.
Microsd is slower, but you can just put the games where this won’t matter on it.