Sure thing, here’s my take on it:
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Okay, so here’s the deal. MicroSD Express cards? Yeah, they’re pretty much like those overpriced coffees you regret buying, but for tech. And the Switch 2 owners are like, “Nah, we’re not about that life.” Cue the DIY folks swooping in with all sorts of crazy ideas — even roping in Better Gaming on YouTube. They tried out this whatchamacallit, an open-source MicroSD Express adapter that’s like, “Hey, why not cram in a full-on M.2 NVMe 2230 SSD?” Yeah, spoiler alert: it didn’t really pan out.
So, Better Gaming was mucking around with this project they call the SDEX2M2 — super catchy, I know. It’s kind of like a mad scientist experiment with PCIe and NVMe mashed together through MicroSD Express, under the guise of SD Express 7.1 or whatever they call it. It’s technical stuff that sounds fancy during nerd talk, but in the real world? It’s just about trying to cram more space into your Switch 2 without selling your kidney.
After a couple of ducktape attempts and secret blueprints for these little adapter thingies — think PCB city — Better Gaming gets to solder some bits and bobs on it. We’re talking M.2 connectors and, for reasons I don’t fully grasp, an R1 resistor. Solder much?
Anyway, so after what feels like a zillion tries, they managed to get the adapter to physically slide into a Switch 2, Cinderella-style. No scraping or swearing at it needed. But hang on, the party wasn’t over yet — the console basically threw up an error code that might as well say, “Nice try, buddy.”
Turns out, passive adapters play hard to get because Switch 2 wants to swap stories with a MicroSD Express controller, which these adapters ain’t got. They’re like, “Sorry, hardware, wrong party.” And NVMe SSDs? Oh, they’ve got controllers alright. Just not the type Switch 2 wants to tango with. So, yeah, another twist in the messy saga.
But no worries, the brains behind SDEX2M2 are allegedly rolling up their sleeves, thinking about tossing an FPGA into the mix to pretend it’s a controller. Might work, might not — who knows? If it does though, it’s gonna be a bit of a bulky fix — like adding wheels to a brick but in a cool techy way.
The upside? If it clicks, there might be a real escape route from our overpriced MicroSD Express prison. Right now, those things are eating wallets for breakfast, clocking in at like, what, 20 to 25 cents per GB? 256GB? That’s above $50, easy. Meanwhile, snagging a 1TB NVMe SSD? As low as $89.99, man.
That’s the scoop, folks. Follow Tom’s Hardware ’cause it’s where the news hang out. You know, for those who want more tech cycles in their feeds without the usual price tag shocks.
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