New SD Express card spec is nearly four times faster than the current one

[Windows9]

https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/19/21264389/new-sd-express-card-specification-four-times-faster

Quote

The SD Association, the group that sets the standards for memory cards, announced a new SD 8.0 specification for SD Express memory cards today that will allow the cards to transfer data at a rate of nearly four gigabytes per second, in large part thanks to utilizing PCIe 4.0 and NVMe interfaces commonly found in solid-state drives. That faster transfer rate could be useful as new technologies, like 8K video, create ever-larger files, which in turn require faster throughput if you want to transfer data in a timely manner.

Specifically, the 8.0 specification allows for transfer speeds of up to 3,938 megabytes per second, according to an SD Association white paper. That’s a significant jump from the maximum transfer speeds of 985 megabytes per second you’d find in cards built to the SD 7.0 and SD7.1 specs, which utilized the slower PCIe 3.1 interface. The new specification will be available on SDHC, SDXC, and SDUC memory cards, says the SD Association, which means it could theoretically be used on a 128TB SDUC card, which is currently the highest amount of memory supported by an SD card.

Although the spec was announced today, that doesn’t mean you can run to Best Buy and pick up a new card with the SD 8.0 specification — you’ll have to wait until memory card makers actually implement the specification into upcoming products. You’ll also need devices that read the cards on the hardware end — like laptops, cameras, and card readers — to support the spec, a process that’s likely to take quite a while.

[elfensky]

39 minutes ago, Windows9 said:

https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/19/21264389/new-sd-express-card-specification-four-times-faster

Although the spec was announced today, that doesn’t mean you can run to Best Buy and pick up a new card with the SD 8.0 specification — you’ll have to wait until memory card makers actually implement the specification into upcoming products. You’ll also need devices that read the cards on the hardware end — like laptops, cameras, and card readers — to support the spec, a process that’s likely to take quite a while.

Honestly I have little hope when even modern devices don't come with the previous specs. Take the Surface Book 2 as a good example - it was a flagship Microsoft device just a few years ago, yet it came with UHS-2, and that is despite UHS-3 being released almost a year prior to that. And still some devices even today only come with UHS-2.

[jasonvp]

2 hours ago, Windows9 said:

Although the spec was announced today, that doesn’t mean you can run to Best Buy and pick up a new card with the SD 8.0 specification — you’ll have to wait until memory card makers actually implement the specification into upcoming products. You’ll also need devices that read the cards on the hardware end — like laptops, cameras, and card readers — to support the spec, a process that’s likely to take quite a while.

 

And prepare yourselves for sticker shock, too.  IF these new cards follow the same pattern as the current hyper-fast CFExpress cards, they're going to bankrupt you to purchase them.  Reliable 512GB CFE cards are still $600(!)  Less reliable ones exist for much less money, but, well, you get what you pay for.  So if this new SD spec and cards follows that, then you'll see very large, but very expensive SD cards come out at first.  And likely stay very expensive until more and more of them are available.

 

[williamcll]

Pretty sure I saw this awhile go.

Good to see that SD cards are catching up on UFS speeds.

[Doobeedoo]

That's nice. This reminded me of Samsung UFS micro SD card. 

[Kisai]

4 hours ago, Windows9 said:

https://www.theverge.com/2020/5/19/21264389/new-sd-express-card-specification-four-times-faster

Although the spec was announced today, that doesn’t mean you can run to Best Buy and pick up a new card with the SD 8.0 specification — you’ll have to wait until memory card makers actually implement the specification into upcoming products. You’ll also need devices that read the cards on the hardware end — like laptops, cameras, and card readers — to support the spec, a process that’s likely to take quite a while.

Likely? No, you absolutely need SD Express card slots, there's an entirely extra row of pins. If you don't have such a slot, then it runs at compatible speeds using the pins available:

 

src: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SD_card

 

Take note of what happens on a UHS-II and USH-III host.

[Mihle]

UHS-III doesn't really exist yet in the market and they already made a new faster standard?

That do seem somewhat pointless.

[Mihle]

15 minutes ago, Kisai said:

Likely? No, you absolutely need SD Express card slots, there's an entirely extra row of pins. If you don't have such a slot, then it runs at compatible speeds using the pins available:

 

src: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SD_card

 

Take note of what happens on a UHS-II and USH-III host.

So it's worse than UHS-II/III unless both the card reader and card is it?

That's weird and makes me think it won't really be a "thing" untill it's actually a must. (Rather than just a convenience)