I noticed one thing in the Switch 2 Game Card patents, but wanted to verify it first. After consulting with someone knowing more than I, it’s confirmed that:
- Game Card 2 communicates with SoC via eMMC standard
- eMMC’s max data transfer rate, hence the Card too, is 400MB/s
- Game Card 1 uses a proprietary protocol
- A converter in the console converts the proprietary protocol to eMMC, before passing on to SoC
- eMMC is faster and more power efficient than the latter
The information above matches those user speed tests showing NS2 internal storage (UFS 3.1) > microSD Express Card (PCIe 3.1) > GC 2 (eMMC) > GC 1 (proprietary).
This also means that if a title truly demands >400MB/s data rate, it cannot use Game Card 2 but requires downloading to the internal storage or a microSD Express Card. The scenario should be fairly rare though. Cyberpunk 2077 runs fine from a Game Card 2.
[Originally posted on 2025-08-15 Pacific Time]
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