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Currently I'm running a 16gb class 2 that I've had since the 16gb's have been out.(used in my Nokia N800) I found a 16GB class 4 on sale in town for $69 where a class 6 is $120. My question since it hasn't been confirmed (or I suck at searching) does the Magic actually take advantage of the class 6 or with the class 4 be good enough? Thanks for any info on this.
Clinton
IMHO I think your better off with a 16gb class 6, as it is recommended for many hacks Android related. Also you could probably find it cheaper online unless Monet is not an issue.
Just rather buy in town, not a big online buyer. I've read that the class 6 is the only way to go for apps 2 SD and the like but I just wanted to have faster access times to music, video and pictures really. That's pretty much all I have on the card, maybe a few docs but nothing I need to access quickly. If the music/video player or Quick office wont see/use the extra speed increase I'd rather save the cash for a nice set of headphones or case etc..
Clinton
Well the classes indicate how fast the SD card is. Class 2 = 2 MB/s, Class 4 = 4 MB/s and so on, so you would feel a difference between the two.
Cheesebaron said:
Well the classes indicate how fast the SD card is. Class 2 = 2 MB/s, Class 4 = 4 MB/s and so on, so you would feel a difference between the two.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very useful. I know the difference between card speeds, what I was asking is if the Magic can take advantage of the speed increase or is there a limit? I know in using my Nokia N800 (Linux OS) even the moded kernel only took advantage of the class 4 cards and there was no benefit to the class 6.
Clinton
The SD Speed Class Ratings specify the following minimum write speeds based on "the best fragmented state where no memory unit is occupied":
Class 2: 2 MB/s
Class 4: 4 MB/s
Class 6: 6 MB/s
The Class system is a minimum speed that it should perform at, if you are lucky it will work closer to the next class speed, as most cards actually perform faster then their class.
I have an 6GB class 4 sdhc card and the transfer speed is generally around 9-11 mb/s.
If you are putting a swap file on to your sdhc, a class 4 should be a minimum class you are to look for.
Personally, I use Crystal DiskMark to test the write-transfer-speed of my cards. http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskMark/index-e.html
id242 said:
The SD Speed Class Ratings specify the following minimum write speeds based on "the best fragmented state where no memory unit is occupied":
Class 2: 2 MB/s
Class 4: 4 MB/s
Class 6: 6 MB/s
The Class system is a minimum speed that it should perform at, if you are lucky it will work closer to the next class speed, as most cards actually perform faster then their class.
I have an 6GB class 4 sdhc card and the transfer speed is generally around 9-11 mb/s.
If you are putting a swap file on to your sdhc, a class 4 should be a minimum class you are to look for.
Personally, I use Crystal DiskMark to test the write-transfer-speed of my cards. http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskMark/index-e.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks I know the speed rating and how they are tested.
I'm not going to be putting a swap on the card or doing apps2sd, it's a Rogers Magic doesn't need either.
Thanks for the link to the speed test, didn't have one.
Does your class4 card give you any troubles at all or have you found it to be up to pare in all your storage needs? Thanks for the reply.
Clinton
Clinton, I mostly use the spare ion for simple photo taking, jotting-down notes and listening to podcasts (via meridian)/streaming radio (via stream furious) in my car. I haven't ever had any problems with it's speed.
I've had the stock 2gb in it for about 2 weeks, then a kingston 6GB class 4 in it for about a month and just this afternoon, picked up a polaroid 8gb class 6 (for $17.99 from Fry's Electronics - in-store).
the only time I have really had any problems with the speed of microsd card was when using them on my DS through r4 or supercard flashcarts. but that was back when 2gb microsd was just hitting the market (that 2gb kingston microsd from verizon was $99. in the USA, verizon was the first to publically sell this size card)
I generally try to stay away from class 2 cards just as one would try to stay away from USB 1.x devices.
without installing any additional software, a quick and simple test to check if the card is quick enough for heavy usage on your phone, might be to test if Vista/Win7 will accept it as ReadyBoost Compatible.
I am thinking about purchasing a 32Gb microSD for use with my galaxy S.
My concern is that, is this too large? Are there any bad side effect like it being too slow to display picture/start up scann/run applications?
Which brand? That's probably more important for the speed than class (a class 2 Sandisk is often as fast or faster than a class 6 from a lesser brand).
The capacity of the card shouldn't affect the speed during most situations. However the phone does scan for media each time it is turned on or after disconnecting from USB connection (Kies or mass storage), the amount of time this takes depends on:
-the amount of media stored on the card and
-(probably) the read speed of the card.
Note that class rating is minimum write speed - so it's not a great indicator of real-life performance.
Also note that some too-cheap-to-be-true cards are actually smaller capacity cards that report larger capacities to fool the customer.
BTW where are you getting the card from (I want one as well ).
Hi flamingpitofhell,
I am looking at Sandisk as well and most likely get it from their online store. I am trying to find more information whether it is worth the trouble.
I don't think Sandisk sell class 6 cards (yet). Buying from their online store's also more expensive than online retailers (I can get one in Australia for AUD155, which is ~USD137, cf their RRP of USD200).
thanks for the pointer. will look around for local stores here in Thailand.
Which city in Australia are you in? I studied in Perth more than a decaded back.
I'm in glorious Melbourne mate, haven't been to Perth yet
the only LEGIT 32GB Sandisk available right now in the market is only Class 2
if you read anything else, it is FAKE, specially from eBay
wait until the other microSD manufactures start pushing out 32GB on class 4 or class 6 before buying.
i'm using 2x 16GB Class 6 until the 32GB class 6 becomes available.
I'm using Class 2 32GB card in mine, its fine.
Its slower when you're transferring to the card from your PC, but for most people thats only particularly problematic the first time (loading music collection), after that you'll not really notice a difference in the phone (the read speeds are basically the same, and the phone can neither read nor write to the card faster than a Class 2 card can cope with). You can see it in the benchmarks taken post-mimocans fix - Class 2 cards are no slower than any other Class within the phone.
Grab one now and be happy.
NZtechfreak said:
I'm using Class 2 32GB card in mine, its fine.
Grab one now and be happy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where did you get yours from and how much for. I`m interested in getting one myself.
Thanks
my local stores already carry the real Sandisk 32GB class 2
too slow for my taste, i like to run Apps from the SD card, also use it as a SWAP partidion to prevent the LAG problem people complains about, it's a very easy fix
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=724251
i wonder what would be better a 16gb class 6 or 32gb class 2...
is it worth sacrifising double of the memory for the speed?
onbacardi said:
i wonder what would be better a 16gb class 6 or 32gb class 2...
is it worth sacrifising double of the memory for the speed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it depends what you are trying to do
if it's just to listen to mp3, then Class 2 is fine
if you want to run games, software, watch movies, use it for SWAP drive to have no lag, then minimum a Class 6
Class ratings don't really seem to have too much of an effect on real world performance: http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1468705. Just discount the last result from the SGS (it's most likely mistaken for the internal SD).
i rather trust my experience coming from PalmOS + WinMb where real life situations using a class 4 or slower cards, made a huge word of difference when launching applications from SD and watching movies from SD
funny enough the numbers reported on that topic shows SGS i9000 to have the fastest speed even using the same card that got lower speed on the other phones.
which seems to point out it's directly proportional to the CPU speed, and the multitasking software running in the back end.
however as you see on those test itself, there are speed differences between class 2, class 4 and class 6
the same class # can not be compared to another class # of a different size,
if you imagine a hard drive, the bigger the hard drive the more layers/disk area it has to read, the same is true even for static SD cards.
however as pointed on those test Transcend usually has the fastest SD cards in the market, that's why i always buy that brand for performance, using a 16GB Transcend myself, waiting for the 32 GB class 6+ to come out
Adata has 2 lines, the performance line, and the standard line
if you want speed get the performance SD cards
Kingston and Sandisk are mostly standard speed, they don't release much performance level SD cards anymore, but they do have lots of those on USB sticks.
I tried my Brothers Sandisk Class 2 32GB and it worked perfectly.
Granted it's not as fast as my Sandisk Mobile Ultra Class 4 but that card flies anyway.
Certainly for recording your large movie files taken with the camera it's no different in speed than using the built in SDCard on the phone.
I have no problems watching 720P video on my phone. I have no problems launching applications either.
So much misinformation...
of course there is no problem, the issue here is getting the top performance, any SD card will work just fine.
it's just a matter of how fast/slow are you able to torelate
The only time you will notice any difference in speed is when transferring data to and from the card.
However, when you have double the space of other cards to consider speed should not be a deciding factor.
I'm already looking to get the Sandisk Class 2 32GB card. It will store all of my work files normally kept on my Laptop.
My Sandisk Class 4 Mobile Ultra 16GB will be my spare ~ should the larger card fail...
Thanks for the information s everyone.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
I have the 32GB sandisk card and works perfect. I have a 720p mkv file and my music on there. Playback was superb for the video with no noticeable lag. Mind you the card isn't anywhere near full yet. From my limited knowledge of sd cards, they put data on the fastest part first so the fuller it gets the slower the card is likely to get..
My plan is to put movies and songs on the 32GB file and reserve the internal 13GB for capturing video and taking pictures on the phone.
Does anyone know the specific read and write megabytes per second limitations of our cpu's? More specifically i am wondering if we would benefit from a class 10 or if anything beyond a class 6 or are we wasting our money cuz the phone's cpu cant match the read and write speeds of a class 10. Also does anyone know how accurate sd card speed tester app is? I used it and it said with the stock class 2 sd card that it was reading 13mb per sec and writing 7mb per sec. If that is accurate then to my knowledge We would benefit from atleast a class 6 or higher.
I've looked for specs on this as well, but can't find anything, just that the max size supported is 32gb microsdhc. ;\ Would you really want to spend the money on a Class 10 card, though? $90 bucks for 16gb? No danke.
jbadboy2007 said:
Does anyone know the specific read and write megabytes per second limitations of our cpu's? More specifically i am wondering if we would benefit from a class 10 or if anything beyond a class 6 or are we wasting our money cuz the phone's cpu cant match the read and write speeds of a class 10. Also does anyone know how accurate sd card speed tester app is? I used it and it said with the stock class 2 sd card that it was reading 13mb per sec and writing 7mb per sec. If that is accurate then to my knowledge We would benefit from atleast a class 6 or higher.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The CPU itself would not be the limiting factor.
One tip: Sandisk's most expensive Class 10 flash is NOT the fastest for random-access reads. I've seen benchmarks done in multiple places that show that other brands (mostly sold by Newegg, nothing you can even fantasize about buying in a major retail store) are up to 50% faster.
The paradox is because "class" measures ONLY write speeds, but the way most guys here use it is as a fake hard drive in ways that are more read-intensive. Sandisk's target market isn't performance-oriented owners of high-end Android phones. Their target market is video professionals who only care about reliability and storage-life. As a result, if they have to choose between optimizing for long-term data integrity and raw blazing performance, they'll go for integrity every time as long as write performance is fast enough to meet the standard.
If you're going to walk into a store like CompUSA/TigerDirect and buy flash without reading reviews, your best bet is probably class 6. It's dirt cheap compared to class 10, and isn't much slower than average-benchmarking class 10 when it comes to reads. More to the point, it's cheap enough that if you strike out, you can chuck it and buy a more carefully-researched second card online without hating yourself for the next year. If you spend $15-20 on a mediocre class 6 4-gig card, it's not a big deal. If you spend $120+ on a mediocre class-10 16-gig card, you're basically stuck with it for the next 2 years unless you can unload it on somebody who doesn't know better.
write speeds are the more intensive and slower than read speeds. Kingston sells their products based upon write speeds. sandisk sells upon read speeds. kingston class 10 sd card equals 10 mb write speeds 19 mb read speeds sanddisk class 10 is 10 mb read and 7-8mb write speeds. it takes longer to write data and takes more cpu use. the write speeds are your priority.
Class 10
I have a class 10 Sandisk and it sucks in the nexus one
for some reason if I use the card in a reader it perform ok (10MB WRITE) but in the phone it is painfully slow... and this is true either testing with an SD card test app or by hooking thru the usb cable, so something is wrong and I am not sure it's 100% the card since it perform ok in a card reader...
Doing the same with a class 2 card is transparent, same performance from any interface (USB, Internal).
I have made some test with cluster size if 4K, 16K, 32K and it's the same... The only difference is the card themself, I know they use a new SDHC 3.0 standard, maybe this is the reson why they under perform in the nexus...
jbadboy2007 said:
write speeds are the more intensive and slower than read speeds. Kingston sells their products based upon write speeds. sandisk sells upon read speeds. kingston class 10 sd card equals 10 mb write speeds 19 mb read speeds sanddisk class 10 is 10 mb read and 7-8mb write speeds. it takes longer to write data and takes more cpu use. the write speeds are your priority.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are right in regard to write being more intensive than read, especially for MLC flash but AFAIK Class are part of the SD Card standard and are based on WRITE Speed, can you point out where you take this "difference" between 2 major brand, I am not a sandisk fanboy (far from it) but I doubt this is based on anything real...
actually i read in wikipedia that sandisk sells thier products by read speed and kingston sells thier products by write speed.
It's been awhile since I looked at the spec, but the class is the minimum write speed to earn that spec. Most cards seem to exceed this. The only real way to find out real speeds is via independent tests.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk
Are the only 32 gb cards available Class 2? I haven't found anything faster.....
So I downloaded this app call H2testw.exe to test for legit sdcards but it also tells the read/write speed as well. I am testing my 8gb and 1gb cards. I set it to write a 300 mb files to the card and verify it.
Info about Android running on the two cards:
8gb = lags coming out of sleep, touch screen freezes, write~7.5 mb/s, read~12mb/s
1gb = no lags, no touch screen, write~4.3mb, read~13mb/s
I'm confused. The read speed is almost the same yet the 1gb microsd is more responsive running MDJ android compared to the 8gb microsd. Any thought?
UPDATE: Maybe this is what's causing the problem. Stolen from Engadget.
What we've learned from our tipsters and from documents culled from Microsoft, Samsung, and others is that the big issue is random access performance -- a figure that isn't taken into account in a card's class rating. Ironically, Microsoft discovered in its testing that cards with higher class ratings actually performed worse on Windows Phone 7 because the tweaks card manufacturers make to achieve high sequential throughput can actually hurt random access times. There's some rocket science involved here, but basically, it's a tradeoff and a bit of a gamble -- if a manufacturer tunes a card for a high class rating, it takes more time to access the first byte at a new location on the card because it's optimizing access for that area of memory, but once it does that, it can blast sequential bytes at very high speed. If you've got a lot of small reads or writes you need to make to different files at different locations in the card's memory, though, you really start to suffer. Cards with lower class ratings tend to spend less time optimizing sequential access prior to the first read / write operation, so it can move around the card (that is, access it randomly) much faster.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Source:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/17/windows-phone-7s-microsd-mess-the-full-story-and-how-nokia-ca/
They are probably different classes, plus it naturally takes longer with a bigger card because there's more files and more space to read and write
Sent from my HD2 Nexus One using XDA App
I get screen freezes with 8gb and up but rarely with new builds, haven't tried a card higher than class 6
Also I'm on radio 2.15
Sent from my HD2 Nexus One using XDA App
Oddly enough, I have two 8gb cards, one class 4 the other class 6, and they hiccup more than my 16gb class 2.
Now that is weird.
I'm lost myself...I'm thinking off just getting me a 4gb card and hope for the best...
I heard the 16gb class 10 is perfect but it still cost to much for nand to be around the corner
Sent from my HD2 Nexus One using XDA App
16 gb class 10 no lag cost me over 100 pounds tho
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
Cheapest 16GB - lags from time to time :/
Maybe defragmentation may help?
tomus said:
Cheapest 16GB - lags from time to time :/
Maybe defragmentation may help?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Defrag wont help...scan for errors...try to have only the android folder and see if it makes a different ..
Btw, guys...
all sd cards are not created equal. all sd cards of the same CLASS are not created equal.
Check out the ongoing drama with win7 phones with SD slots....
class measures throughput, what affects the SOD and related issues is random access speed, not throughput so much.
It's just my 2 cents, but I've tested Class 2, 4, and 6 MicroSDHC cards and found very little noticeable difference once Android is fully booted up and running on the HD2. Moreover, none of the cards create screen freezes or SOD issues or high battery drain problems here. That said, I have noticed that the actual boot time and file transfer speed (from the PC to the card) can be faster on average with quality higher class rated cards of the same size. Also, I've found that the larger the card size, the longer the android boot time, no matter the class. Guess that makes sense, as the system need to read more sectors with larger size cards. Please note that I've only tested Sandisk, Toshiba, TopRam and Samsung cards to date. What's kind of strange is that the Class 2 16 & 32GB Sandisk cards run just as well or slightly better for some reason than some of my higher class rated cards. Go figure...
As far as issues go, I recommend only using quality brand name cards, no ebay fakes or cheap no name brands. Also, I've had great luck formatting all my cards with SD Formatter v2.0 and v3.0, using the quick format mode with the standard 32kb cluster size.
Best to all,
R
rhacy said:
It's just my 2 cents, but I've tested Class 2, 4, and 6 MicroSDHC cards and found very little noticeable difference once Android is fully booted up and running on the HD2. Moreover, none of the cards create screen freezes or SOD issues or high battery drain problems here. That said, I have noticed that the actual boot time and file transfer speed (from the PC to the card) can be faster on average with quality higher class rated cards of the same size. Also, I've found that the larger the card size, the longer the android boot time, no matter the class. Guess that makes sense, as the system need to read more sectors with larger size cards. Please note that I've only tested Sandisk, Toshiba, TopRam and Samsung cards to date. What's kind of strange is that the Class 2 16 & 32GB Sandisk cards run just as well or slightly better for some reason than some of my higher class rated cards. Go figure...
As far as issues go, I recommend only using quality brand name cards, no ebay fakes or cheap no name brands. Also, I've had great luck formatting all my cards with SD Formatter v2.0 and v3.0, using the quick format mode with the standard 32kb cluster size.
Best to all,
R
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great info here. I think I will just order me a new card from a reputable brand. Maybe my card is just getting old. Maybe a 16gb from Amazon will do. They aren't too expensive nowaday. ~$26.
Does the Radio version effects the lag of the sd card? Or the kernel?
distruct said:
Does the Radio version effects the lag of the sd card? Or the kernel?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, not on the sd but radio does effect how the build will run, your phone calls, your battery.
Could this be the reason why class don't matter on hd2 android? I mean even some class 4 & 6 have lag and sod problem. I pulled this bit from engadget. It's an article on wp7 and memory card issues.
What we've learned from our tipsters and from documents culled from Microsoft, Samsung, and others is that the big issue is random access performance -- a figure that isn't taken into account in a card's class rating. Ironically, Microsoft discovered in its testing that cards with higher class ratings actually performed worse on Windows Phone 7 because the tweaks card manufacturers make to achieve high sequential throughput can actually hurt random access times. There's some rocket science involved here, but basically, it's a tradeoff and a bit of a gamble -- if a manufacturer tunes a card for a high class rating, it takes more time to access the first byte at a new location on the card because it's optimizing access for that area of memory, but once it does that, it can blast sequential bytes at very high speed. If you've got a lot of small reads or writes you need to make to different files at different locations in the card's memory, though, you really start to suffer. Cards with lower class ratings tend to spend less time optimizing sequential access prior to the first read / write operation, so it can move around the card (that is, access it randomly) much faster.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Source:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/17/windows-phone-7s-microsd-mess-the-full-story-and-how-nokia-ca/
azzzz said:
Could this be the reason why class don't matter on hd2 android? I mean even some class 4 & 6 have lag and sod problem. I pulled this bit from engadget. It's an article on wp7 and memory card issues.
Source:
http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/17/windows-phone-7s-microsd-mess-the-full-story-and-how-nokia-ca/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Obviously.
Been saying this for a while, myself - I have experimented, and I get SOD every time with my 16gb class 6 card, but rarely with my class 2 8gb, and never ever (and, tbh, better responsiveness overall) with my 2gb NON-HC card
enneract said:
Obviously.
Been saying this for a while, myself - I have experimented, and I get SOD every time with my 16gb class 6 card, but rarely with my class 2 8gb, and never ever (and, tbh, better responsiveness overall) with my 2gb NON-HC card
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope so...my class 2 16gb will be here in a couple of days...i hope it's faster than my current 8gb class 4....
Update: my 16gb class 2 sandisk is here. Things have improved alot. Wake up is faster now with less lag, market download speed is faster now (10kb vs 100kb). Hopefully system performance will be better...
I am about to buy another micro sdhc card and was wondering what the big difference between the two would be between the classes. I already know what the classes mean, class 2 means it will write at 2 megabits a secound, where as 10 writes at 10 megabits a secound.
My question is what would that extra speed allow you to do what you wouldn't be able to do before. Where would a fast card really shine. is there a maxamium speed that the phone can run at.
would it be better for running android sd, linux in a virtul machine on android (forgot what that is called) watching movies on sd, or apps, games on sd
i also have a asus transformer 10" honeycomb tablet would that i might use it in.
does anybody know?
Doesn't really make a big difference in running an SD Android build. I've been running multiple SD builds on the 16gb class 2 that came with my HD2 for like 2 years, and it is butter smooth. I've seen people on the HD2 forum who bought class 10 cards and had problems. The standard answer that you'll usually find around here about SD cards is that it's pretty much a hit-or-miss thing.
I personally wouldn't waste my money on a more expensive card just for faster write speed, since it seems like if it makes a difference at all, its a negligable difference.
Class is a measure only used on microsd. It means the sdcard MUST be able to withstand writing to it at 10mb/s. So yeah, a class10 should be better than a class2.
Wikipedia
The Speed Class Rating is the official unit of speed measurement for SD Cards, defined by the SD Association. The Class number represents a multiple of 8 Mbit/s (1 MB/s), the least sustained write speeds for a card in a fragmented state (Class 2, 4, 6) or the minimum non-fragmented sequential write speed (Class 10).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In reality...
No one guarantees that the sdcard reader/writer can write to it at the given speed (or even needs to). Also, many times de class is a basic measure. My 16gb class 10 can be written (on a computer) at 21mb/s tops. Many class2/4 can be written at class10 speeds or above. It's just a guarantee. As a user rarely writes data sequentially, a class 6 should be enough, making a class 10 better only when copying LARGE files (ex. mp3) to the card.
Now, i've never seen, and there's no statistic that class X cards are better than class Y. There are brands better than others, but that's it.
BTW, in Android at least (this must apply on other OS's), increasing sdcard cache to 1024 or above (at a maximum of 2048) improves write speed immensely.
Class 10 will give you faster speed when you transfer large files from pc to card ( videos updated gps map etc ) but I also read somewhere that higher class card uses more battery even in standby . Class 4 should be more than good .
budalica said:
Class 10 will give you faster speed when you transfer large files from pc to card ( videos updated gps map etc ) but I also read somewhere that higher class card uses more battery even in standby . Class 4 should be more than good .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make it 6... faster non sequential write speed