Thread: Which is the limitation to the SD/microSD card size for Garmin devices ?

This size of working SD card in Garmin models report users who try this card.
If somebody use larger SD card that is writen in original Garmin table or in table above let us know and we will add this data.
This will help other users to know what SD size goes into their device.

eTrex Vista HCx - 4 GB Micro SD Card (Transcend TS4GUSDHC6)

NOTE:
Tested w/v3.20 firmware & currently using the unofficial v3.40 provided by [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] in the [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] thread.

Nuvi x0, x2, 1xxx, 2xxx, 3xxx, 2x5W, 465T and dezl 560 read Sandisk Ultra 64Gib SDXC reformatted as FAT32. Tested in 40, 42[40 convert], 50, 52[50 convert], 1300, 1350, 1390, 1450, 1490, 1690, 255W, 265W, 465T[255W convert], 2350, 2460, 3790, 3490[3790 convert], 3590, 3597 & 560[2460 convert].

All units with latest fw and all operate normally, except for being slow in loading maps on boot and lag after pressing map Info/MyMaps [not unreasonable when so much to process]. 1690 was the slowest to load the maps, taking about 35 seconds.

SP 26x0 fw v4.80 accepts 2GiB CF card and maybe 4GiB would also work. 2GiB tested in 2610. 4Gib CF works in sp2610 related hardware Honda GoldWing Navi 2006-2008. Tested in 2006 GW fw v2.50. Later GW Navi 2009-2010 accepts minimum of 4GiB SD by others' reports, not tested personally. Reasonable assumption would be that 2012-on dual-SD navi accepts at least 4GiB cards and probably much larger, but no reports known to me.

Originally Posted by WknThDg

eTrex Vista HCx - 4 GB Micro SD Card (Transcend TS4GUSDHC6)

All old handhelds (only gmapsupp on SD) works with 8Gb SD Card without problem on latest available Garmin SW!
All new handhelds (without limitation maps with name) works with 16 GB SD Card without problem on any Garmin SW!
P.S. It was tested on Kingston 4 class a thousands times!!! However any others SDHC cards works with above device but I do not punctual statistics.

@mullerh
Interesting that you have that 'contrary' result with cards in the 60csx. It is true what you heard, the class of the card is in fact indicative of it's minimum write speed. The read speed should be the same, but only when new and nonfragmented. I guess where you put the speed of the 32GiB Ultra as (1) you mean UHS-1, which is sort of equivalent to Class 10 i think. Interesting that your 8GiB card is only Class 2, i wasn't aware 8GiB cards were made with such low write speed.

Did you also find those same differences using the various cards in your 885?

Is it possible that the apparent difference in read speeds is due to the relative age and therefore use levels of your cards? Flash memory has a long but not infinite life. The more 'use', i.e. writing, formatting, and also the more fragmented the data on it becomes, then the slower it will get in both read and write.

Montana and Oregon 6xx can use 64GB uSD cards.

Code:

Please Login or Register to see the links

Neil:
The 32G (1) Ultra Cards that I have are essentially brand new, just purchased them, so you may have a point. The 8G and 16G cards are well used and I have had them for some time. The cards are all SanDisk but it always possible that they are counterfet since I bought them online.
The 32G (1) Ultra card has a number 1 within the letter U. The 16G (4) card is the number 4 within the letter C and the 8G (2) card has the number 2 within the letter C. So the 32G card is part of the new Ultra speed Class. more info here:

Code:

Please Login or Register to see the links

The Nuvi speed comparison is hard to do because the Nuvi 855 normally never shut down. When you do shut it down to change cards the first startup is very long and difficult to measure. I could try it but I would have to put all my JCV and ASR files on the card with the mapsets. I understand the Nuvi 855 is also older and a little different than other Nuvi's

Yes, your 32GiB card is an Ultra High Speed I [UHS-1], and it's actually hard to closely compare Class Speed [number in 'C'] and UHS Class [number in 'U'] because they have different testing standards. Class Speed states minimum write speed, but maximum write speed may be quite a lot higher and may vary considerably between card brands. Then again UHS-1 [only one class at the present] cards have speeds up to a maximum of 312 Megabytes per second, however i'm sure that can be a read speed [which is always faster than a card's write speed], so it's a little difficult to compare relative speeds of, say, SDHC Class 10 with SDHC/SDXC UHS-1. Probably we would mostly assume that the slowest UHS-1 is at least as fast as, and probably faster than the fastest SDHC Class 10. Not so, because UHS-1 cards may also indicate a Speed Class (number in a 'C') but i don't think that's mandatory the way it is with Standard and HC cards.... My Sandisk Ultra 64GiB UHS-1 has a Speed Class of 6. So, in theory, it's got a slower minimum write speed than my Class 10 16GiB card. Both Class 10 & UHS-1 are the only cards that can use a High Speed Bus Interface, while naturally only UHS-1 cards can use an Ultra High Speed Bus Interface. All cards are backwards compatible, but no current cards are forward compatible, i.e. Class 2, 4, and 6 cannot use either HS Bus or UHS-1 Bus Interfaces. Class 10 is therefore backwards compatible with Normal Bus Interface used by Class 2, 4 & 6. UHS-1 can use any of the 3 buses, but like Class 10, is naturally 'bottlenecked' by a slower bus. Afaik, Garmin devices [except maybe the very new ones] have Normal Bus Interface which slows the Class 10 & UHS-1 cards right down.

Confused? Welcome, it's a big club.

I prefer to get any info from the organisations responsible for the specific industry standards, in this case the SD Association, 'coz perhaps the so-called 'tech' sites actually may have a hidden agenda, but in this case i have to say that the site linked by mullerh gives exactly the same info as the official site albeit in a more conversational way. Here's the SD Association's page about Speed Classes:

Code:

Please Login or Register to see the links

As to your 885 being slow to start and being a 'little' different, it's actually quite different to normal nuvis. Rather than the 'closed-shop' Garmin OS It has a Linux OS as you probably know. Although i've heard some mixed reports on the 805 series, i would like to get my hands on one. Hard to come by in this Country. But what i was referring to was the times to load the maps [when during boot-up, the screen displays 'Loading Maps' followed by the map info, just before the 'Warning' nag appears. It's easy to time that specific process for comparison.