A real-world review of the Integral Gamer's Edge X 512GB microSD Express memory card for the Nintendo Switch 2.
We look at game load times, file copy times, actual usable storage capacity, and the country of manufacture and ownership.
We also compare the Integral card to five other popular microSD Express cards for a true comparison.
If you prefer you can watch our video review. Otherwise just keep scrolling down.
Integral Manufacturers Specifications
First here's a quick look at the manufacturer's specification for the Integral card as well as five other popular cards.
| microSD Express Card | Max Read Speed | Max Write Speed | Sustained Write Speed | Speed Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Integral Gamer's Edge X 512GB microSD Express Memory Card | 890 MB/s | 810 MB/s | NA | U3 / V30 / A1 |
| Transcend 512GB USD710S microSD Express Memory Card | 900 MB/s | 780 MB/s | NA | U3 / V30 / A1 |
| SanDisk 512GB microSD Express Memory Card | 880 MB/s | 650 MB/s | 220 MB/s | U3 / A1 |
| PNY 512GB microSD Express Memory Card | 890 MB/s | 810 MB/s | NA | U3 / V30 / A1 |
| Samsung 512GB P9 microSD Express Memory Card | 800 MB/s | NA | NA | Class 10 / U3 / V30 |
| Lexar 512GB PLAY PRO microSDXC Express Memory Card | 900 MB/s | 600 MB/s | NA | U3 / A1 |
It's very important to note that the maximum read and write speeds that the manufacturers like to provide, don't actually provide a true picture of how the cards perform when used in the Switch 2.
Sustained read and write speeds are slightly more useful, but other than SanDisk nobody is providing these figures.
The maximum speeds are often reduced very quickly due to thermal management, also the Switch 2 limits the maximum speed that cards can read and write, so you'll never see anything close to these numbers when used in the Switch 2.
The only way to find out the true read and write performance is by testing them all in the Switch 2. This is what we are going to do next.
Game Load Times
We tested how long each microSD Express card took to load the first title screen from Mario Kart World, here are the results:
| microSD Express Card | Load Time |
|---|---|
| Switch 2 System Memory | 16s 190ms |
| Integral Gamer's Edge X 512GB microSD Express Memory Card | 18s 450ms |
| PNY 512GB microSD Express Memory Card | 18s 530ms |
| SanDisk 512GB microSD Express Memory Card | 19s 080ms |
| Samsung 512GB P9 microSD Express Memory Card | 19s 370ms |
| Lexar 512GB PLAY PRO microSDXC Express Memory Card | 19s 480ms |
| Transcend 512GB USD710S microSD Express Memory Card | 19s 510ms |
The Integral Gamer's Edge X 512GB microSD Express card is the fastest card to load Mario Kart World, but it's only ahead of the PNY card by a whisker.
Compared with the system memory it's only just over 2 seconds slower.
Game Read Times
Next we test how long each it takes to copy Mario Kart World (21.9 GB) from each microSD Express card to the internal memory to test the read speeds, here are the results:
| microSD Express Card | Copy Time | Sustained Read Speed |
|---|---|---|
| PNY 512GB microSD Express Memory Card | 3m 26s | 106 MB/s |
| Integral Gamer's Edge X 512GB microSD Express Memory Card | 3m 36s | 101 MB/s |
| Samsung 512GB P9 microSD Express Memory Card | 3m 41s | 99 MB/s |
| Lexar 512GB PLAY PRO microSDXC Express Memory Card | 3m 42s | 99 MB/s |
| SanDisk 512GB microSD Express Memory Card | 3m 43s | 98 MB/s |
| Transcend 512GB USD710S microSD Express Memory Card | 3m 43s | 98 MB/s |
The Integral card copied Mario kart World (21.9 GB) to the system memory in 3 minutes and 36 seconds, this is the same time taken by the SanDisk card.
Because we know that this was 21.9GB we can calculate an approximate sustained read speed figure of 101 MB/s.
Game Write Times
Next we test how long each it takes to copy Mario kart World (21.9 GB) from the internal memory to each microSD Express card to test the write speeds, here are the results:
| microSD Express Card | Copy Time | Sustained Write Speed |
|---|---|---|
| SanDisk 512GB microSD Express Memory Card | 4m 00s | 91 MB/s |
| Lexar 512GB PLAY PRO microSDXC Express Memory Card | 4m 12s | 87 MB/s |
| Transcend 512GB USD710S microSD Express Memory Card | 4m 14s | 86 MB/s |
| PNY 512GB microSD Express Memory Card | 4m 16s | 85 MB/s |
| Integral Gamer's Edge X 512GB microSD Express Memory Card | 4m 46s | 77 MB/s |
| Samsung 512GB P9 microSD Express Memory Card | 5m 12s | 70 MB/s |
Taking 4 minutes and 46 seconds to write Mario Kart World to the Integral microSD Express card gives us an approximate write speed of 77 MB/s. This places the Integral card 5th in our write tests.
Actual Usable Capacity
The labels may say 512GB but the actual usable capacity varies a little due to a number of reasons.
It's important to understand the basics here to avoid a heart attack when you first insert your card into the Switch 2 and look at the actual usable capacity.
Card manufacturers calculate their Gigabyte (GB) figures using a different style of measurement compared with how computers like the Switch 2 calculate it, this results in different values (lower), being displayed by the Switch 2.
Here is the more technical explanation for those who are interested:
GB (used for marketing by storage manufacturers) is the metric style of measurement where 1GB = 1000³ bytes. Then you have GiB which is the binary method; 1GiB = 1024³ bytes. The binary method is what is used in computers like the Switch 2. So 1GB is effectively 0.93 GiB, or 512GB is effectively 476GiB.
This unfortunately does create a lot of confusion and understandably so. When you buy a 512GB card you expect to see 512GB available, not significantly less. But you are not actually losing this storage capacity, it's just being calculated differently.
With that said, there is often some additional file system overhead that can take away some actual usable storage capacity.
So here are the actual usable storage capacities displayed by the Switch 2 after the cards have been formatted in the Switch 2.
| MicroSD Express Card | Label Capacity | Usable Capacity Displayed in Switch 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Samsung P9 microSD Express | 512GB | 477GiB |
| PNY microSD Express | 512GB | 476GiB |
| Integral Gamer's Edge X microSD Express | 512GB | 476GiB |
| Transcend USD710S microSD Express | 512GB | 470GiB |
| Lexar PLAY PRO microSDXC Express | 512GB | 465GiB |
| SanDisk microSD Express | 512GB | 456GiB |
The Integral Gamer's Edge X microSD Express 512GB has a usable capacity of 476GiB.
Country of Manufacture & Ownership
If you like to know where your hard earned money is going, then here is each cards country of manufacture and ownership.
| MicroSD Express Card | Country of Manufacture | Country of Company Ownership |
|---|---|---|
| PNY microSD Express | Taiwan | America |
| Integral Gamer's Edge X | China / Taiwan | United Kingdom |
| SanDisk microSD Express | China | America |
| Samsung P9 microSD Express | Taiwan | South Korea |
| Lexar PLAY PRO microSDXC Express | Taiwan | China |
| Transcend USD710S microSD Express | Taiwan | Taiwan |
The Integral Gamer's Edge X microSD Express memory cards are manufactured in either China or Taiwan according to Google. I say this because the country of manufacture is not listed on the packaging or card itself. The country of company ownership is the United Kingdom.
Warranty
The Integral Gamer's Edge X 512GB microSD Express card has a 5 year limited warranty for the original purchaser.
This warranty covers defects in materials and workmanship but is void if there is misuse or tampering. Integral is not liable for data loss, and you are responsible for backing up your data.
Conclusion
The Integral Gamer's Edge X 512GB microSD Express card performs very well in our read tests.
It didn't fair quite so well in our write tests but the write speeds are not so important as read speeds for gaming.
With 476GiB of usable storage capacity it is only beaten by the Samsung P9 which has 477GiB. It's well ahead of the SanDisk card with only 456GiB.
But is it going to give your gaming the Edge over any other card? Probably not, but it is a very good name for a gaming card!
We certainly wouldn't hesitate to recommend the Integral Gamer's Edge X if you are looking to extend the storage capacity of your Switch 2.
