ROG Ally very slow download speeds to SD card

[JonnyOptimus]

I've installed a SanDisk Extreme Pro 1TB micro SD Card, formatted NTFS. When downloading in Steam I'm getting inconsistent speeds ranging from 0MB/s - 7MB/s.

When I run a read/write test on the card it shows sequential right speeds of 70-80MB/s and random write speeds of 57MB/s.

Internet speed test results in 90MB/s.

I've downloaded the latest card reader driver from Asus which didn't help at all.

Also worth noting that when I download a game to the internal SSD I get speeds of 50-60MB/s.

Additionally, I have a slower SanDisk SD Card (Ultra) in my Steam Deck and get speeds of around 30MB/s when downloading on there.

Anyone have any suggestions?

[DaCasualty]

Hey Johnny there seems to be a issue with SanDisk cards working on the ally it has something to do with the cache.? I have been following this thread on Reddit and there are a few fixes one was go to settings, storage click on advance setting and click on disks and volumes you should see your sd card, click on it, and create storage space, then format sd card.

Here is a link to the reddit post about it you can try all there fixes hope it helps!

https://www.reddit.com/r/ROGAlly/comments/149sg0h/micro_sd_card_not_appearing_on_rog_ally/?utm_sourc...

[JonnyOptimus]

Thanks! Though it seems he's just giving instructions on how to format the card in Windows. Regardless, I tried it but no improvement. I'm going to order a Samsung Evo SD card now to try that and see if it works any better.

[DaCasualty]

Let me know! I just ordered a sabrent rocket 1tb micro SD card. When I get it I will let you know how the performance is.

[JonnyOptimus]

Sounds good! Mine arrives tomorrow 🤞

[tomsgate77]

Steam apparently can have an issue when downloading to an SD, reducing downloads to a crawl... Try downloading to the SSD instead and see if speed increases. As for SD downloading, check this out:

https://steamcommunity.com/linkfilter/?url=https://www.theverge.com/23415294/valve-steam-deck-micros...

[JonnyOptimus]

Yes, downloading to the SSD is fine. Regarding the solution in the link, that solution is specific the Steam Deck/Linux and have no idea if that applies to Windows or how to translate it to Windows if it does.

[JonnyOptimus]

So I got the card (Samsung EVO Select 512GB) but no improvement. Download speeds are between 5 MB/s and 16MB/s...

Any luck on your end?

[DaCasualty]

I will be getting my SD card tomorrow hopefully and I will post my results when I get off work which is 9pm central time.

[tomsgate77]

If you're installing games you already have installed on another device, you can simply copy the right folder directly onto the card (usually faster than downloading). Works with Steam and Epic games. Google "transfer from Steam/Epic to another device". That's how I installed about 1tb onto the Ally in about half a day (including setups etc).

[JonnyOptimus]

That's a good workaround but doesn't really solve the issue. I should be able to download games to the SD card in Steam faster than my current speeds so there has to be a solution which I'm determined to find.