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]

I am starting to think it is a steam issue I have a flow z13 with a SD card in it and I'm going to download a game to it when I get home and see what the speeds are update you guys in like 35mins!

[JonnyOptimus]

But I have seen posts and videos from people with the ROG Ally who are able to download to a UHS-1 SD card in Steam at 30-60MB/s (somehow).

[tomsgate77]

I am (512gb samsung pro plus, ntfs formatted via windows explorer), and I feel your pain. Dunno why it doesn't work for you, don't remember doing anything fancy except reformat to ntfs and assign it as (secondary) download destination in Steam/settings/storage. Whenever I use it as download destination I'm only limited by my internet donload speed (150Mbit/s, about 20-30MB/s)

[JonnyOptimus]

Thanks for that! Then I have to assume it's a faulty Ally at this point. Going to go to Best Buy and exchange it today.

[tomsgate77]

Oh, I remember also updating the sd card driver at some point, but I believe my card was running fine before the update aswell... Good luck to you! 

[JonnyOptimus]

Update: I went to Best Buy and switched it out and the problem is fixed! My DL speeds in steam (to the SD card) are much faster now.

Important things to note:

1. The latest SD card reader driver actually slowed down my card dramatically on the new machine. I downloaded and installed the 2nd to latest and the performance is much better (double the speed and much more steady).

2. My speeds were still all over the place (bouncing from 0 MB/s to 40mb/s and everywhere in between) until I limited my download speed. I tried many different limits until it steadied out. The sweet spot for me is 30 MB/s. It's perfectly steady at that speed. Which is similar to the SD card performance in my Steam Deck. Maybe 5 MB/s faster.

3. The new card (Samsung EVO Select) performs worse (25MB/s) than the SanDisk Extreme Pro (30MB/s).

[DaCasualty]

Sry bout yesterday life happened lol. But I did the test on my tablet and it downloaded at 30 to 55mbs on steam. Now I got my SD card in today and put it into my Ally and it froze up and stop working so it leads back to a faulty sd port going in tomorrow to exchange. Johnny glad you got it working wish me luck 🤞

[tomsgate77]

Thank you for sharing this! Glad it worked out in the end... Hope it lasts! GG

[Ron_p]

Hey everyone! It seems that the slow downloads speeds are due to a SD card driver not being updated.  Go to the Asus support site and download the Card Reader Driver.  

[Skillyskill]

I'm having same problems with a SanDisk 1tb extreme , downloads maximum speed then just drops to nothing then back again.  I had a SanDisk 1tb a1 in steam deck no problems at all