SC Lite vs. G6 Lite

sneef · August 07, 2006, 12:15:35 AM

Hey guys.

I know this may go against the grain of commonly-accepted folklore, but I have to say after extensive testing that my supercard Lite (with kingmax microsd) performs just as well if not better than my G6 Lite.

I just wanted to make a very simple statement, to help avoid all the confusion.

I have no scientific data to uphold these findings, but my assesment is that (in-game performance-wise) my supercard lite performs as well, if not better than, my G6 lite. having said that, I will also say that one of my main criteria is Tony Hawk. This game seems to really tax heavily on the streaming capability of whatever memory is involved (SDRAM or NAND flash or whatever).

What i have found is that my G6 Lite may have spurts of faster response, but my supercard Lite (with kingmax 512MB microSD) is smoother and just as fast overall.

What this leads me to believe is that the G6 lite's NAND flash has faster burst speed, but that it ultlimately doesn't provide a smoother gaming experience. My supercard Lite setup provides a smoother and more enjoyable experience. To me that's all that matters.

I know I'll probably get a few disagreements (public or private) but how can anyone really discredit personal experience? It's all a matter of opinion.

FifthE1ement · August 07, 2006, 12:27:30 AM

The SuperCard Lite made huge jumps over the previous versions in terms of memory bandwidth. They seem to have found a way to double the amount of data that can go from the miniSD to the DS ram even though the official specs on the miniSD card are only 1.8MB/sec(12X). With the old SuperCard's you would be in lag city if you ran a card of that speed but with the SC Lite it pulls it off almost perfectly. Most would still agree to pick up and Ultra II just for the extra overhead bandwidth boost you get.

Check this out: http://scdev.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=39461#39461

I think SuperCard and M3 will have a big battle on their hands if this device is even playable!

FifthE1ement

sneef · August 07, 2006, 12:31:46 AM

i've already checked it out.. if you notice, i've posted on that thread.

[edit] sorry, i forgot to note that my kingmax microSD is formatted FAT with 64 sectors... [/edit]

tc811 · August 09, 2006, 01:30:37 AM

BUT the SC Lite, being a flash memory based flash cart, still consumes more power than the G6 does.

Correct me if I'm wrong?

trivoldus · August 10, 2006, 01:32:29 AM

Personally I don't think the speed rating matters much anymore at this point which the Supercard-Lite showed us its superb performance. What matter more are the quality of the memory and the way flashcards are reading it. I used to have a CF Supercard with a 66x Sandisk Ultra II and it performs way better than my currently 12x(?) Mini Sandisk despite higher accesstime (1.2ms and 1.1ms respectively) and lower read/write speed (tested at some website, sorry, I don't have the link anymore but I gotten it from this forum). The team did a great job making the memory much more efficient.
However many were disappointed how they didn't even improve the interface nor the GBA compability. But I'm sure that would buffs the price range to M3's.... oh well.

FifthE1ement · August 10, 2006, 03:28:00 AM

I'm happy with the menu system as I only spend no more then 5 seconds there. Why do I need a fancy menu system? Am I going to be stuck in it for a while or something? With the SuperCard's menu I can look at all may games within a few seconds and be in-game ready to go.

I do wish they would have improved GBA more but hey we can't have everything and it is a lot better then othe previous SC versions.

FifthE1ement

pte · August 10, 2006, 04:56:59 AM

Quote from: "FifthE1ement"I'm happy with the menu system as I only spend no more then 5 seconds there. Why do I need a fancy menu system? Am I going to be stuck in it for a while or something? With the SuperCard's menu I can look at all may games within a few seconds and be in-game ready to go.

I agree, maybe it would be "cool" to have a nicer looking GUI but heck... the current one works and it is simple. So why to fix it unless it isn't broken? I don't care about GBA at all so that is another reason to stick with my SC Lite... I just hope that my upcoming Ultra II will be a lot better than my current Kingston. Don't use Kingston for SC Lite, the write/read speed should be a lot faster than Sandisks but the access time must be very high. With a regular Kingston you get about 3/5 from the Castlevania test, I hope that Ultra II is really a 5/5.

sneef · August 10, 2006, 05:42:10 AM

i used my wife's kingston from her cell phone, and i got a lot better than 3/5.. there was only one or two dropped video frames (if there were any) and the usual audio distortion.

The sustained data transfer didnt' seem as smooth as my sandisk, however, when playing tony hawk.. but the card is dirt cheap over here.

pte · August 10, 2006, 05:46:50 AM

Well, my Kingston just starts to skip frames like it is jammed or something. It gets very choppy and the pixels are messy when that giant fireball is being formed and shot up... I formatted it with default clustersize. What cluster size you are using?

sneef · August 10, 2006, 05:56:28 AM

by the way, the original video is quite pixelated here and there, it's just a lousy codec.

I was using 64k clusters.

did u for sure patch with the lite version patcher?

meangreenie · August 10, 2006, 05:58:38 AM

pte.. are using the SC-Lite specific patcher 2.55C, check the top blue bar when running the client software, it should say 2.55C for SC-Lite

pte · August 10, 2006, 06:05:03 AM

Downloaded mine from SuperCard.tk a few days ago. It says V2.55 for Micro SD PRO Version. Hmm, I have to try again in a week or so. Had to return my Lite because the touch screen just stopped working. It had the shifting screen issue to begin with. "Nintendo quality control".

I also tried Tony Hawk with my Kingston and it was very choppy with the music on.

cobraxt · August 11, 2006, 07:04:00 PM

Quote from: "pte"Downloaded mine from SuperCard.tk a few days ago. It says V2.55 for Micro SD PRO Version. Hmm, I have to try again in a week or so. Had to return my Lite because the touch screen just stopped working. It had the shifting screen issue to begin with. "Nintendo quality control".

I also tried Tony Hawk with my Kingston and it was very choppy with the music on.

Just tried Tony Hawk w/music using a 1gb SanDisk MicroSD Ultra and there is no choppiness at all. Using 1.63 firmware and patched the game with 2.55 patcher.