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Digital Foundry: Nintendo Switch CPU and GPU clock speeds revealed
- Thread starter Vashetti
- Start date
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I can't understand gaf sometimes. "This is Nintendo, they always make weak hardware, I'm fine with that", "Third party is irrelevant on Nintendo", "It will be a secondary console for me anyway."
You might be fine with this but Nintendo can't afford another fuckup. Wii U has hurt them really bad they need to go back Wii numbers asap. There is no casual audience to attract anymore so they need to get every bit of support they need. Otherwise, only platforms you will ever see Nintendo games will be iPhones.
You might be fine with this but Nintendo can't afford another fuckup. Wii U has hurt them really bad they need to go back Wii numbers asap. There is no casual audience to attract anymore so they need to get every bit of support they need. Otherwise, only platforms you will ever see Nintendo games will be iPhones.
Regginator
Member
I have very little technical knowledge, but that's exactly like my 3-year old 280X graphics card. Clock speed 1020 MHz (which I slightly OC'd to 1040) and 1500 MHz memory (which I slightly OC'd to 1600 MHz).
So again, with my little technical knowledge, that seems rather low for a 2017 console...
So again, with my little technical knowledge, that seems rather low for a 2017 console...
Yes, the shield has fans as well.
Closer to Wii U.
You can expect ports (the Switch runs UE4 and Unity), but highly gimped.
Mihael Mello Keehl
Banned
I wonder then why many 3rd parties, some of which that have not traditionally supported Nintendo (like Bethesda), have been eager to support the Switch? And rumors of From Software testing and making it run on the device?
Wii U was gimped because of IB PowerPC and Wii architecture built-in. The Switch is using newer architecture no longer tied with the previous console.
SinCityAssassin
Member
XB1 >>>>>>>> Switch >>> Wii U
On the face of it, ports and original launch window titles.
If one desires to be a downer, no significant support past 18 months if the sales aren't good.
If one desires to be some sort of fucking maniac, legitimately no games past 18 months from either Third Party or Nintendo.
If only it had 280x performance.
That part is a bit of a mystery.
Really 5 hours sounds like a minimum acceptable with these specs.
Handhelds are consoles.
I have no problem with weaker hardware if your price it accordingly. My fear is, just like you say, that they won't. They sold PS4s around these parts for under 200 not too long ago. releasing this at anything more than that just seems ridiculous to me.
Do you guys know how many cores will the GPU have? 256 like the TX1 or 384? If it's the latter the downlock compared to stock TX1 would actually make sense as we'd still see better performances in dock mode (~600gflops) and better battery in portable mode compared to less cores and a higher clock.
Afro Thunder
Member
It's like the Pro Evolution Soccer curse.
Zombie James
Banned
Guess what? Specs matter and will influence the types of games the system will get in the future. So it's getting some Wii U ports, that's great, but what about Skyrim? The rumoured Dark Souls collection? How well will these run? What about new third-party games that aren't last-gen ports? Can the Switch run modern games with those portable baseline specs?
purseowner
Member
Was just wondering how it compares power-wise to my GPD WIN.
Probably people in the industry that shared their knowledge after tinkling with official dev kits.
Kssio_Aug
Member
I can't understand what he was expecting either. It seems like he wants to play PS4 quality 3rd party games (specs wise) in a Nintendo portable device. The chances of something like this were extremely low giving both Nintendo history and the price of something like that.
It's the CPU that's around 1ghz.
Also your 280X is better than either console lol
. Also technically older than 3 yearsMihael Mello Keehl
Banned
Krillin with unlocked hidden potential
Skittzo0413
Member
I think you may need to reverse those arrows haha
guybrushfreeman
Unconfirmed Member
Well at least I can believe the 5 hour battery life now
Pokemaniac
Member
If it's clocked so low, then why does it even need active cooling? I'm not sure how these numbers make sense unless there was a last-minute downgrade.
Going handheld-only has made sense since the DS/Wii gen as they've gave up playing a part in the specs wars back then.
Interfectum
Member
I was day dreaming about playing a portable Hitman on the Switch. Little did I know it would be Hitman Go.
I'm of two minds on this.
The first is that for Nintendo produced games, that's plenty of power in exchange for what you're getting. I see this device as a portable that you can easily plug into a TV for a res boost, a 3DS successor that also replaces the WiiU in other words. For me, that's awesome, regardless of the power level. I have a PC for the big cross platform games, and don't play cellphone games, so this hits a sweet spot.
On the other side, it's crazy that they'd need to downclock it that much to make this work. That's a lot of build-in capacity they're leaving on the table and I have to wonder how much it will hurt them for getting cross platform games.
Will likely still get one, but I'm eager to see the reveal video now for a better idea of what the power levels will mean in the real world.
The first is that for Nintendo produced games, that's plenty of power in exchange for what you're getting. I see this device as a portable that you can easily plug into a TV for a res boost, a 3DS successor that also replaces the WiiU in other words. For me, that's awesome, regardless of the power level. I have a PC for the big cross platform games, and don't play cellphone games, so this hits a sweet spot.
On the other side, it's crazy that they'd need to downclock it that much to make this work. That's a lot of build-in capacity they're leaving on the table and I have to wonder how much it will hurt them for getting cross platform games.
Will likely still get one, but I'm eager to see the reveal video now for a better idea of what the power levels will mean in the real world.
Ehhh sub 720p, no AA, low quality shadows, remove some effects, and you can kinda sorta get there. Think of how Vita games looked compared to their PS3 counterparts.
KratosEnergyDrink
Member
The only disappointing thing is a gaffer s rumor that Switch CPU is more powerful than PS4/XOne, this seems now impossible.
Looking on the bright side it seems games optimised for the 720p screen could easily be 1080p docked and have still some GPU power available.
When docked Switch is much more powerful than WiiU, and much much more powerful than 3DS when in handheld mode. So a worthy successor for both.
I am very curious about the price. Perhaps the rumor from month ago that it is lower than most expected comes true.
Looking on the bright side it seems games optimised for the 720p screen could easily be 1080p docked and have still some GPU power available.
When docked Switch is much more powerful than WiiU, and much much more powerful than 3DS when in handheld mode. So a worthy successor for both.
I am very curious about the price. Perhaps the rumor from month ago that it is lower than most expected comes true.
KillerMan91
Member
It has absolutely been. Last Nintendo console that had comparable hardware power to competition was Gamecube. It's also last Nintendo home console with decent third party support. Not to mention that back then you still actually had third party exclusives. Nowadays when all third party games are pretty much multiplats if Nintendo had released compararble home console to PS4 it would had absolutely gotten vast majority of third party releases.
It seems to me that expectations are the real problem here. A lot of people when not given the full slate of information, just immediately hope for things that aren't really reasonable. How many would be willing to pay a premium price for premium performance if Nintendo were to make one?
Also, this is Nintendo. You knew what this was. When was the last time Nintendo put out a piece of hardware that was on the cutting edge of graphical technology?
So wait, are we retconning the Wii now? That thing had humongous third party support. Whether or not the games were good is irrelevant to that point, but the Wii had a ton of good third party games.
PuppetMaster
Member
LOL this is WAAAAAY weaker than a 280X. We WISH it had the performance of that 2013 part! It would be god like.
This LOW this is like 2008-2009 PC GPU low. But the CPU is even weaker.
Can't be disappointed when you expect nothing at all...
Third party development was always a shaky hope at best, and now there is officially no good reason for developers to spend time crippling their games for this thing.
The only draw it seems for now is that atleast you only have to own one Nintendo-made device to get their software instead of two...
Third party development was always a shaky hope at best, and now there is officially no good reason for developers to spend time crippling their games for this thing.
The only draw it seems for now is that atleast you only have to own one Nintendo-made device to get their software instead of two...
Blackquill
Member
I really don't care, just give me some good games
Skittzo0413
Member
Yeah I'm gonna be skeptical until we see the full extent of customizations. If this has 3SMs then it will be about where we expected even at these clock speeds.
But this a nice reminder to keep expectations in the gutter.
JonnyDBrit
Member
Article says that devs recently got briefed on specs (as in, presumably final ones, so they can start adjusting their games for it), and those sources are what's being cited.
outunderthestars
Banned
Remember when people were thinking that the Switch would be perfect for VR.....
Scorpio is like 39x more powerful. (Switch will still sell more)
Toadthemushroom
Member
The clocks when undocked don't surprise me at all, that's like iPhone-like GPU clocks and make the 5-8 hour battery life leak seem pretty believable. Same with the CPU clock, though that's more disappointing. It's indicative of how Apple really does make the world's best SoCs for that sort of form factor and unthrottled performance (the iPhone 7 runs rings around Switch for CPU). And having to stick with the same CPU clocks for both usage modes does make for a device that will *seem* hampered by its portable ambitions.
That's the thing, while I love the hybrid stuff and the uniqueness of the device, part of me wonders why Nintendo didn't just make two devices (or more). like Iwata originally hinted at with their plans for the future and NX (an iOS-like platform where even more form factors could exist).
The fact that developers already have to optimise for two hardware profiles feels like Nintendo could have gone down this route anyway, since making a Switch game seems like just as much work as making an NX Handheld and NX Console game.
The form factor as it is now is incredibly impressive (it's still 1-2mm thinner than the Vita-2000, the most comfy handheld on the market right now) but again, the presence of active cooling is indicative of a device that's actually designed to run 150% faster than it is in handheld mode.
Fingers crossed the instantly-accessible nature of the Switch for local multiplayer and its portability and quick transformability between more than two use cases is more than justified by its software library. I love handhelds, so I'm on board, I just want the Switch's hybrid nature to win me over versus an alternate future where Nintendo made two devices that play well with each other and served their unique purpose well.
Huh? It's already way thicker than it needs to be for a handheld mode. The thickness of the device and presence of active cooling are there for the 800Mhz GPU mode. If you had a handheld-only Switch with the 300Mhz GPU clocks, it wouldn't need to be that thick. Though it's still thinner than a Vita-2000 so...
That's the thing, while I love the hybrid stuff and the uniqueness of the device, part of me wonders why Nintendo didn't just make two devices (or more). like Iwata originally hinted at with their plans for the future and NX (an iOS-like platform where even more form factors could exist).
The fact that developers already have to optimise for two hardware profiles feels like Nintendo could have gone down this route anyway, since making a Switch game seems like just as much work as making an NX Handheld and NX Console game.
The form factor as it is now is incredibly impressive (it's still 1-2mm thinner than the Vita-2000, the most comfy handheld on the market right now) but again, the presence of active cooling is indicative of a device that's actually designed to run 150% faster than it is in handheld mode.
Fingers crossed the instantly-accessible nature of the Switch for local multiplayer and its portability and quick transformability between more than two use cases is more than justified by its software library. I love handhelds, so I'm on board, I just want the Switch's hybrid nature to win me over versus an alternate future where Nintendo made two devices that play well with each other and served their unique purpose well.
Huh? It's already way thicker than it needs to be for a handheld mode. The thickness of the device and presence of active cooling are there for the 800Mhz GPU mode. If you had a handheld-only Switch with the 300Mhz GPU clocks, it wouldn't need to be that thick. Though it's still thinner than a Vita-2000 so...
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