Patriot has just unveiled its latest microSD card, and it’s been designed with a hardcore focus on gaming handhelds such as the Steam Deck and Nintendo Switch. Despite this focus on portables, it won’t quite be the right fit for the ROG Ally.
Whether the Viper Gaming V30 ends up being one of the best microSD cards for Steam Deck remains to be seen, but Valve‘s handheld gaming PC, like many gaming portables, is built using the UHS-I speed class interface. This limits the device’s maximum read and write speeds from a microSD card, and the Viper card is designed so as not to offer diminished returns like some high-end SanDisk or Samsung cards currently do.
The Viper Gaming V30 is capable of up to 100MB/s read speeds and 90MB/s write speeds. This fits ideally around the 104MB/s maximum that the Steam Deck and Nintendo Switch are able to achieve.
Curiously, Patriot also says that the Viper Gaming V30 is great for the Asus ROG Ally, but I would dispute this given that the Ally uses the UHS-II interface, meaning it allows transfer speeds of up to 312MB/s. If you own a ROG Ally, you’re better off spending a bit more money to get a card that matches the speed class of the slot in the console.
There is no release date nor price given for the Viper Gaming V30 and it is not yet listed on the Patriot website as one of its available products. What we do know, is that there will at the very least be 1TB and 512GB models available thanks to the images shown so far.
Whether or not the Viper Gaming V30 is worth your hard-earned cash remains to be seen, but it can’t hurt to have more options for expanding your Steam Deck storage, especially if they end up cheaper.
If you’re looking for your next favorite game to play on the go, check out our list of the best Steam Deck games, where every title is hand-picked and tested for your peace of mind.