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Digital Foundry: Nintendo Switch CPU and GPU clock speeds revealed

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Oblivion

Fetishing muscular manly men in skintight hosery
It can outperform a Wiiu in mobile mode. Clock comparison means little when the system has far new and much better tech. Maxwell is way better than the old R7XX series in the WiiU. Also the CPU is much better than the power PC.

Super Mario Switch does not look like a leap compared to SM3DW.
 

Josh7289

Member
I assume the Dark Souls III rumor from Laura Dale is true, but I'm really curious how the game looks on Switch, especially now. I hope we get to see it someday soon.
 

jackal27

Banned
I think it's funny that people are crapping on Nintendo for releasing a low specced system, but we are coming off a fall where AAA games are bombing big time in sales. This push for raw horse power is raising dev costs and sales are going down.

I think the whole industry is getting too power hungry for its own good. This is not me being an apologist because graphics on a Nintendo is one of my lower priorities. There's a reason why 3DS was my most played system this year over my PS4 and Xbox One S.

This 100%. Nintendo's console output this generation has sucked anyway because of added dev times. Why would you want to make that even longer?
 

maxcriden

Member
Sure it has architectural advantages but its grossly underclocked low, doesn't even compare to our "confirmed" leaked devkit in the other thread. So its still utterly bizarre.

Moreover, this wouldn't even run Zelda at 30 in handheld.

Does that lead you to believe this is inaccurate?
 

Peltz

Member
Just thinking this over, I am genuinely cool with Wii U visuals. I've never felt like Wii U games were poor looking.

I just fell for the same rumor bullshit that happened right before the Wii U released.

What we have here is still a fairly capable handheld system that will double as a full console. Its likely to be extremely cheap and the first party library is going to be fantastic.

I just wish we could at least have downgraded current gen experiences at 720p on the go as well. It looks like we can't though.
 

Faiz

Member
In many ways it's aggravating but I've always seen the Switch as portable first and home console second so it's hard to be too mad about it. Instead of "console I can play on the go" it's "hand held with easy and snazzy way to play on the tv while I'm home". I'm kinda ok with tht.
 

Kthulhu

Member
Lol this is like the third time people overestimate Nintendo in 10 years.

I just can't. But at the very least this explains the battery life and pricing point (targeting $199) of the machine.. right?

If it launches at $300 its gonna have problems IMO. It needs to undercut the PS4 and XB1.
 
So with this news can we agree that the switch is simply a handheld with TV out? Its such a vast power difference from regular consoles, especially when compared to the PS4 pro, that I dont think we can reasonably call it a home console in any serious regard. Even with the context of the Wii/Wii U in previous generations.
 
Extremely disappointed. It was optimistic to expect anything more than a Shield Android TV when docked, but less? 3/4s-of-SA-TV-performance less? Weaker-than-a-Wii-U-undocked less? What the actual fuck Nintendo.

TIL people are disappointed that a handheld system is weaker than a dedicated console. What?

But that's not it. It's not just weaker than a big console, even if those are three years old using hardware that's five years old. It's weaker than a pretty basic light console it shares its architecture with. This is inexcusable.
 
A hypothetical 8 core A57 at that clock speed wouldn't make the quoted statement true. Nor would even an A72. It's pretty hard to stretch a hypothetical to "NX CPU >>>>>>>>> XBO CPU" at 1GHz. A72 is faster per core per clock, but not so much to make up such a clock speed gulf.

Unless it's something unconventional like Denver 2.
But that would throw several more questions into the performance equation, Denver 1 had some issues.

All I'm saying is that without any information about the customizations made it's hard to draw any conclusions about overall capabilities. And anyway, LCGeek could have very easily been referring to core for core comparisons when that was leaked back in the Spring.

I am completely blown away that people saw the Switch announcement trailer and still expected performance to rival x1/ps4.

You are completely blown away by absolutely nobody then? Not a single person expected this to perform like the PS4. I don't know what you are talking about.
 

gdt

Member
Why do people still get disappointed by Nintendo specs? This would be like the 8th time.

Just never have high hopes for them in that department.
 
Is not that we didn't know it wasn't going to be a powerful console, we all knew that, but this underpowered? it can't EVEN match Tegra X1 specs?

Come next holiday season after everybody got their Zelda fix and this thing is going to be dead.
 

KAL2006

Banned
I think it's funny that people are crapping on Nintendo for releasing a low specced system, but we are coming off a fall where AAA games are bombing big time in sales. This push for raw horse power is raising dev costs and sales are going down.

I think the whole industry is getting too power hungry for its own good. This is not me being an apologist because graphics on a Nintendo is one of my lower priorities. There's a reason why 3DS was my most played system this year over my PS4 and Xbox One S.

3DS and 2DS were sold for dirt cheap this holiday and let's not forget they already have a user base. I seen 2DS prices at £75 here in the UK. This cheap price entry allows for games like Pokemon Sun and Moon to do well.

But if Switch is launching at £200 it will be a while for it to take off, especially when you can get a PS4 with a ton of cheap games. Nintendo should be aiming for £160 minimum for the system.
 

Vanillalite

Ask me about the GAF Notebook
To clear things up for bullshit posters in this thread

Most of us following the leaks were expecting at minimum Tehran X1 specs while docked, not Xbox one performance.

It makes almost no sense to custom fan a chip based on the x1, a 2 year old chip, and then down clock it when docked.

The down clock was always expected in portable mode, but even with the docked clock speeds, a 60% drop is more then anybody really guessed

This. Very much this.
 

RurouniZel

Asks questions so Ezalc doesn't have to
OutrageGAF in full force today. Anyone who was expecting more from a Tegra X1 was either delusional or think Nintendo has magic pixy dust they can apply to the Switch to make it super powerful in that form factor.

So yeah, still delusional.
 

EVH

Member


Called it. The difference between dock vs portable IS significant, so there will be "console exclusive" games. The low frame rate in the Zelda demo made me suspicious.

Oh Nintendo... There's always a catch with you

The low framerate was not there at all in Jimmy Fallon. Just in the reveal video, which was post-edited.

Still, the specs are laughable. At this point it would kinda feel good if I could play Crash remakes and Mario in PS4, lol. At least the online platform would be good even if paid.
 

AlStrong

Member
What would you say the chances of it having 3 SMs (384 CUDA cores) are? Based on my calculations, that's way more in-line with the rumors we've heard about performance up until now (especially since those portable specs can easily run passively if it's only 2 SMs). I'm expecting to be disappointed, though.

If it were, the unit might end up being bandwidth limited anyway.
 

TunaLover

Member
Yeah, will get one regardless, but this news is underwhelming at least they have a stellar japanese third party support and localized DQXI I'm not going day one buyer. Not again.
 

Budi

Member
Personally I care more for low price rather than high specs for this device. I mean, I upgraded my PC to get perfomance, all the consoles feel fairly weak to me. So I rather take something cheap on the side that allows me to play maybe the best exclusives on the market. If "core gamers" or whatever are looking to making this their only platform to play on, I can understand the disappointment.
 

LordOfChaos

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...

That had 2048 cores...A GPU isn't defined solely by its clock speed. That's still miles ahead of this, or even the PS4 (being a ‎Tahiti XTL at 4,096 GFLOPS)
 

PSGames

Junior Member

So less than 1/3 of Xbox 1 even when docked? Damn it Nintendo.

Te8WdWR.gif
 

pr0cs

Member
Still surprised there were people adamant that the dock would expose some special sauce and make the device comparable to current gen hardware.
People expecting competitive Nintendo hardware should already know the gamecube was their last foray into being competitive, those days are long long gone. Gta, RDR, call of duty are well beyond what ninty is aiming for.
You are buying their devices for their first party games, that's it.
 
This is pretty much the successor to the 3DS. It'll be an absolutely brilliant one as well as its a huge update over that system.

I believe NoA called it a 'home console' just to disguise the fact they won't really be in that market anymore. Headlines of 'Nintendo pulls out of the home console market' aren't good for business or mindset.

It's a handheld which can be played on the TV via a dock. There isn't a market for them to be successful with a dedicated home console anymore.

I'm not too concerned about the size compared to the 3DS. Barely anyone walks around with a 3DS in their pocket. Mines always in my bag if I take it away and people are used to taking tablets around with them these days.
 
So third party devs next year will need to have their games run well on PS4,Ps4 Pro,Xbox one, xbox one S,Scorpio,Switch undocked and Switch docked and let's not talk about VR.

Sooo yeah good luck with that.
 
Super Mario Switch does not look like a leap compared to SM3DW.

I don't think anything with that cartoony artstyle is going to look significantly better coming from Nintendo. They've kind of maxed that out on the Wii U. They could do better texture work, but I don't think that's an issue with the hardware, it's more if Nintendo wants to put in the effort and their budgets for games are typically lower than other AAA publishers.
 
OutrageGAF in full force today. Anyone who was expecting more from a Tegra X1 was either delusional or think Nintendo has magic pixy dust they can apply to the Switch to make it super powerful in that form factor.

So yeah, still delusional.

It's downright stupid we aren't even getting a full Tegra X1.
 
I am completely blown away that people saw the Switch announcement trailer and still expected performance to rival x1/ps4.

People genuinely have no idea about realistic hardware specifications, that's why. They very obviously have little understanding of how much power is required to meet "current gen" visuals, and how much can be realistically supplied by a battery.

There are no portable devices that come close to matching current gen consoles currently on the market. (Dedicated gaming laptops being an expensive exception)

People expecting this to match XB-One were utterly delusional. If it manages to match Wii U levels of visual fidelity then it's already a fantastic piece of hardware.
 

Osiris

I permanently banned my 6 year old daughter from using the PS4 for mistakenly sending grief reports as it's too hard to watch or talk to her
OutrageGAF in full force today. Anyone who was expecting more from a Tegra X1 was either delusional or think Nintendo has magic pixy dust they can apply to the Switch to make it super powerful in that form factor.

So yeah, still delusional.

And yet anyone that suggested the X1 as a realistic performance baseline in the Switch spec speculation threads was also attacked as utterly delusional and trolling, go figure...
 

Neoxon

Junior Member


Called it. The difference between dock vs portable IS significant, so there will be "console exclusive" games. The low frame rate in the Zelda demo made me suspicious.

Oh Nintendo... There's always a catch with you
You mean the same demo that was played on the Wii U?
 
I don't think anything with that cartoony artstyle is going to look significantly better coming from Nintendo. They've kind of maxed that out on the Wii U. They could do better texture work, but I don't think that's an issue with the hardware, it's more if Nintendo wants to put in the effort and their budgets for games are typically lower than other AAA publishers.

I dunno man, look at rachet and clank. That shit looks amazing and cant be done on Wii U to the same level.
 
These portable mode downclocks are going to have some third party devs scratching their chins.
That's a rough drop.
I know there are thermal and power draw thresholds to hit, but damn.
 

prag16

Banned
How much did your phone cost and is it really?
$150 last month manufacturer refurbished. Based on flops the GPU slightly beats X1 at these undocked clocks. The phone CPU wins more comfortably.

This isn't a deal breaker for me. The games are more important. But the price has to be right.
 
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