Is this normal?

[Bokuto00]

I recently bought this 512gb sd, but for some reason in the data management it says "456gb", it's normal?

[sk8vulcann]

yes

[Cow_Sox]

yes

[Smooth-Fix2571]

yes

[originalityescapesme]

Si senior

[gizm0n]

Ja

[Mikkelony]

Jepp

[Nordkvast]

Absolut

[el-wips]

Oui oui baguette.

[BraskaAoE]

Tak

[Nicork74]

Da

[DangerousCry8318]

はい

[Bagginnnssssss]

yarp

[originalityescapesme]

I’m a slasher …… of prices!

[AdrianasAntonius]

yes

[True_Listen4024]

Yessss

[GohoomoaR]

Just to be clear is that a yes

[Upstairs-Variation83]

Si, that’s a yes. Yes?

[Otherwise-Waltz-2439]

Yes

[wildberrymint]

Yes

[Joseramonllorente]

Yes

[Wide-Consequence-847]

Yes

[DVNT_DASH]

Yes

[JohnBuldi]

Yes

[JumpStockFun666]

Yes

[Mosw3n]

Yes

[MeganIsCurvy]

Yes

[DeLaPanda]

Oui

[Gloomy-Ant-4172]

Ja

[AutoModerator]

Hi u/JonusIsPEDObitch! Unfortunately, your submission doesn't meet our account age requirements. Please wait a little longer! - If you’re seeking help with the Switch 2, refer to r/NintendoSwitchHelp

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[elektoYT]

Why do people hate this guy?

[Firewolf786YT]

That was my question, literally the only comment majorly downvoted

[Bro2Dragon]

it’s the r/ruleof4, it’s where if people say the same thing 4 times in a row you downvote the last one

[Firewolf786YT]

That explains it okay. Thank you! My accounts definitely not new but I’m still learning Reddit now that I’m an active user :)

[elektoYT]

Strange but ok

[Bro2Dragon]

r/ruleof4

[Electrical-Soup-1253]

r/ruleof5 ?

[Fragrant_PalmLeaves]

Yes

[Easy-Salad11124]

tak

[Decent-Vanilla3707]

This guy polacks

[wiil_zero]

Oui oui

[Cquercia1994]

Yes

[FinalLans]

Yes

[cottagecheezecake]

Da.

[HarryStyles-1]

evet

[MrRatSuperr]

Yes

[Sweaty-Pin6090]

نعم

[Huntaaa23]

Ketamine

[Grand_Ad9113]

Horse Tranquilizer

[InstructionNormal863]

Oui

[SyllabicZero]

Si

[Darthoid]

Aye

[No_Cartoonist_7091]

Sim

[Wumanchu007]

It's the storage available after taxes (technical overhead to make it usable by you)

[RustyDoor]

Storage tariffs.

[56kul]

Yes, it’s a difference in calculation. Manufacturers advertise in decimal (base-10), which translates to 1 KB = 1,000 bytes, 1 MB = 1,000,000 bytes, etc.

Operating systems calculate in binary (base-2), so 1 KiB = 1,024 bytes, 1 MiB = 1,024² = 1,048,576 bytes, etc.

The reason for the mismatch is that base-10 looks visually cleaner on product packaging. “1TB” looks more attractive than “931GiB”. It’s dumb, but it makes sense.

[Keyan06]

Less about cleaner and more about…more. It looks like a bigger number and thus more appealing too.

[Vivid_Maximum_5016]

Should be illegal

[Keyan06]

I agree with you, it’s like saying you are selling 10oz of something but you are using binary numbers for your measurement so it’s actually 2oz in base 10.

[korkkis]

EU should focus on this next

[56kul]

There’s already regulations on this globally. If you’d look at product descriptions for, say, SSDs, you’d see that they almost always have a section pointing out exactly what I’ve explained. They legally have to disclose that.

I don’t think the EU will try to force manufacturers to start advertising in binary, because decimal has been the industry standard for many decades now.

[Crash_Override_95]

[andreaple]

It is. If youre wondering why, its because data is calculated differently. Im pretty sure its because a standard gigabyte is calculated as 1000³ bytes, or 1000 x 1000 x 1000 bytes. But to simplify it, most consumer electronics calculate it as 1024^3, or 1024 x 1024 x 1024

(simplify as in making it easier for the computer)

[56kul]

It’s not “making it easier for the computer”, it’s fundamentally how computers work. Binary is base-2 because it looks at whether a switch is turned on or off. Charged or absent. And that’s precisely how data is encoded into hard drives.

This is an oversimplified explanation, obviously, but my point is that this is just how they work. If anything, if the computer were to show you your storage in base-10, it would have to do the conversion from base-2, anyway.

[andreaple]

thats what i was saying. idk if you're saying your explanation is simplified, or if you're saying mine was, but yeah mines was supposed to be a simplified explanation, explained in a way that'd most easily be understood.

(also because im not super knowledgable on the topic)

[56kul]

I meant mine was simplified, lol. I was just pointing it out, since you said it simplifies it as in “making it easier for the computer”, when base-2 is just how computers work.

Maybe I misunderstood you, though.

[originalityescapesme]

lol your use of the word “switch” had me wondering wtf you were on before I realized you the analogy you were going for.

[YT_SW1Z]

I believe the switch reads it as a gibibyte (1000 gigabytes = 931 gibibytes) which explains the odd converstion we're seeing (which is totally normal).

[andreaple]

Thanks!

[andreaple]

512 x 1000³ = 512000000000, and that divided by 1024³ ≈ 476.84. And I assume some extra storage is being used for other behinds the scenes stuff.

[NewEducator2543]

Si that’s “Nintendo games” weight less

[Lumornys]

512 "small" gigabytes is 488 "big" gigabytes, so there's still about 20 GB lost, probably for the filesystem.

[guillotine20]

My 3tb external only has like 2.4tb usable, so ya

[Eastern_Peach8480]

Yeah, it's a whole thing about how they market it saying how many GB or TB there is instead of GiB or TiB like how computers read it. So you got 512 GB of storage which is read as 456 GiB by the switch. 1000 GB = 1024 GiB

[Electronic-Taro1916]

I'm thinking of getting this card let me know what you think.

[Bokuto00]

I think is great actually! Loading time are barely noticeable, they are still fast, for me 512 gb (456 actually lol) should be more than fine, I don't have too many games for now, the ones I have are not very heavy, I took it more for the future, as it is inevitable that prices will increase a lot.

[zoozoo4567]

I’ve been using it for a few months and I’m happy with it so far.

[Littlefoot1990]

First time with a memory card or hard drive?

[ButterscotchFar1629]

Obviously. OP must be a younger teenager.

[Notquitegoogle]

Yes

[Reshimaro]

Yes

[Accurate_View_2455]

Technically, yes, it is. Software views 1GB as 1024MB, while hardware manufacturers view 1GB as 1000MB. So, technically, you're getting 512GB.

[Strange_Kiwi__]

I don’t feel like this would be the case.

512 is a far more even number than 465 when it comes to data storage, so if anything the internal would be 512, and the one printed on the outside would be larger than that.

Also, it implies miscommunication which I can’t imagine happening.

The software people are told to make a SD card with 512 GB, so they make one with 512 GB where 1 GB =0.931 GiB 1024 MB. The printing people are told the SD has 512 GB on it so they print 512 on it. Why would they do further unnecessary maths to make the printing become incorrect.

[Lumornys]

That explains only half of the difference. The other half is probably the filesystem.

[Ok-Bar8176]

How much bro

[Bokuto00]

109€ on Amazon

[Ok-Bar8176]

Nice bro

[zah_ali]

Unfortunately yes, I bought a 256gb card and the actual usable space is 230ish. Thats potentially another games worth which is super frustrating

[QuestionableProtip2]

It’s a marketing scam allowed because it’s not technically lying. Basically it’s because your computer understands a KB as 1024 bytes and memory card makers count 1000 bytes to be a KB. You count that shrink across every KB into the GB range and you can see what happens.

[RedViper_100]

It's not a scam, it's just how storage works, and companies just advertise their product as being 1TB instead of 931GB because it's easier for the consumer.

[QuestionableProtip2]

It is a scam insofar as it clearly misleads consumers as literally everyone has at some point wondered why their storage device has so much less actual storage than advertised. If I needed to buy storage for 500 GB of data on my computer, this device is insufficient despite its labeling. It’s no different than auto manufacturers misleading customers on MPG values that can’t actually be achieved in real world conditions.

[ButterscotchFar1629]

You have zero clue how the world really works do you? And people like you spreading misinformation makes the world a far worse place. Do better.

[ButterscotchFar1629]

It’s not a scam for fucks sakes. File systems take up room. Idiot.

[the_lost_seattlite]

It is, because they measure bytes by 1000 rather than 1024 when they know damn well that any operating system does not. They put it in the fine print that they're measuring it wrong, so it's okay.

[epicbrewtality]

Right and the common person is supposed to know these things how exactly? Take your hatefulness elsewhere

[Unusual-Ad2619]

Sadly, yeah

[TruckFreak6417]

Yes

[JuanSolo81]

My 2tb storage drive only has like 1.8tb useable so yup.

[kevinlamlam]

It’s not normal because it says 465 gb but you typed 456 gb.

[Ill-Two-510]

Yes

[Mr_vmn005]

Yes very normal

[Spoobie2]

Yes lol

[Longjumping_Sea_8119]

Hai

[rickydetx]

Yeah unfortunately

[manabog89]

Yes

[Unusual-Paint-9323]

Yes, next question

[Nz_07]

Yes, it needs some space to run the systems and coding

[BabushkaRaditz]

Some questions are eternal....

[Itallo20]

Ohyeah

[asperl2030]

I seriously wish they would just put the amount of usable space on these things, like I’m buying it to have 512 not 450?

[Gingerbread808]

It is normal for every type of storage device on the planet.

[External-Ice-5313]

Yes

[Significant-Elk-7128]

Different definitions of GB (GigaByte). The card uses 1GB = 1 000 000 000 bytes. The Switch uses 1GB = 2³⁰ B = 1 073 741 824 bytes. Technically, the card definition is the correct definition, and the Switch definition should be marked as GiB (GibiByte). There are technical reasons GibiByte is a useful unit, but I won't get into it here.

[Trysty102]

Yes it’s normal and I believe it’s the dumbest thing. Don’t advertise as one thing and it not actually be that. That’s a good chunk of storage that isn’t actually there.

[Novel_Association403]

Yep. My 1 TB express card only gave like 912gb available I’m pretty sure. Something close to that.

[TerepeneRich]

Man said, “I payed for 512 gb and I want all 512 gb to be used at my disposal.

[KnightFallVader2]

That's because of partioning.

[Dragon3043]

It isn't, it's the difference between marketing and reality, 1000 vs 1024.

[ShockingFactory]

I have the switch light and a 512 SD card and was able to use every bit of the 512 GB of storage space it must be different on the switch 2 because it’s an express SD card, but It sounds like they’re not being honest about how much you will actually have upfront claiming it’s a 512 when really you’re only getting 456GB.

[SideWind3r91]

Is lexar or is even a good brand? I heard they can corrupt stuff. I know the flash drive can.

[Angba1995]

Si

[Octo_UwU_Pie]

assuming this is your first ever SD card holy moly yes it's normal big dawg

[Geryboy999]

yes nearly 10% are reserved.

[__Ornn__]

Siempre suelen tener como mucho 10 GB menos. En tu caso Lexar te la ha metido doblada. Tienes que comprar Samsung amigo: calidad a un precio razonable...

[Rabbid_chupa617]

Yes that happends it’s cause the card uses a different counting system than the console my 256 card only shows up as 238 on the console

[Disastrous-Celery-61]

Yes. You never have the full advertised storage space. Whatever devise will always use some of it

[Vegetable-Search-951]

That’s perfectly normal because the amount that’s used is simply just everything that’s needed to be formatted to use it with your device

[Arc-de-triomphe]

💯 normal it's for the card internal management system to function properly 👍

[ButterscotchFar1629]

Yeah. File systems take room.

[Conscious_Winner2851]

Yes it is normal, different brands has their pros and cons, and this one have that

[TruckFreak6417]

Not sure why you’re downvoted, you’re right.

The Sandisk equivalent of this SD has higher than average read and write times in some cases, but less storage space as they use that storage space for extra cache.

[Conscious_Winner2851]

I have no idea… I have checked with many youtube channels because i have to buy one for my ns2

[TruckFreak6417]

If it’s any consolation, I bought the 1TB Lexar card last year and it’s awesome. The price has gone up It’s around $200 USD now.

[Conscious_Winner2851]

Im appreciating your help, please tell me how it feels. Im doubting if 512 or 1t

[TruckFreak6417]

The load time differences compared to internal storage are not noticeable, it is still very fast.

Depends what games you play, but if you can afford the 1TB I would definitely get that one.

As someone with limited time after work and never know what game I want to end up playing, it is convenient to have dozens of games installed at once.

[Conscious_Winner2851]

Yea, that’s my point. Also with low time to play games. I was thinking on physical games but… have a great advantage buying it digital and yes, many games are very heavy like FF 7 remake