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[MisterXDTV]

My math is poor but i get:

Undocked (307mhz): 157 GFLOPS

Docked (768mhz): 393 GFLOPS

Is that right?

Does the CPU add something?

 

[Dee Dah Dave]

I don't know why people are concerned with the relation to 3rd party support. This thing wouldn't get full 3rd party support if it had double the power.

It's a Nintendo, Indies and select 3rd party machine, as always. Only now with Nintendo's full attention which makes things much better.

 

[Mr Swine]

Welp. I was wrong. It really is just a portable Wii U and bumped-up one when docked. Can we officially call NateDrake a fake now? This really is just where the successor to the Vita would land. Skyrim will chug on this. It's weaker than the PS3 by a huge margin when portable. This is not a current-generation machine.

I'm sorry to all of the naysayers I argued with. You were right. I'll never be optimistic about Nintendo again.

Lol, Switch portable is more powerful than the PS3, I hope you where sarcastic when writing this post.

 

[thefro]

I'm fine with these specs from portable mode, I'd just like the CPU to clock up when docked as well.

 

[mckmas8808]

Lol Nintendo.

(That would be 153 GPU GFlops in portable mode)

How is this possible? Like.....it has to be due to the battery life right?

 

[sir_bumble_bee]

Wow, 32 pages in and no word from any insiders?

 

[Skittzo0413]

With this specs it's a console way less powerful than Nvidia Shield TV and a handheld way less powerful than a Nvidia Shield Tablet. Both being $200. Of course the price matters when the perceived value needs to be there, not only to cover the costs like with Wii U.

I get that but some people are saying things like, "oh well this must mean it's cheaper to produce and cheaper to sell" but that's not how it works. Value is certainly a different issue from manufacturing costs.

 

[novabolt]

GPUs are more than just clocks.............

Oh, okay. This sounds like a dire situation for the Switch if this rumour is true. I do hope the pricing of the console and its games make up for the low specs.

 

[aBarreras]

Lol, Switch portable is more powerful than the PS3, I hope you where sarcastic when writing this post.

of course he wasnt, look at who is

 

[dampflokfreund]

Stop ignoring Splatoon, one of the best games Nintendo has developed in years.

That is your opinion. Not everyone likes the same games you do.

 

[DragonSworne]

Is it more or less powerful than Yajirobe though?

Power levels mean nothing in Dragon ball Super now. Yajirobe takes on Gods now.

 

[Thunder Monkey]

Vita GPU is a little above 20gflops. Its still more than 10times Vita (like 15 times) in docked mode

In docked mode its like a really weak XboxOne though. Stationary. Undocked is the more apt comparison with Vita.

 

[AmFreak]

As I predicted when that statement was made, they are probably simply counting all their man-hours that went into Tegra X1, not specifically into Switch.

I just looked up the statement for the 1st time, cause it keeps getting thrown around.
And it's clear that they don't talk about their work on Tegra but about everything in regards of the Switch:

The first thing to know about the new Nintendo Switch home gaming system: it’s really fun to play. With great graphics, loads of game titles and incredible performance, the Nintendo Switch will provide people with many hours of engaging and interactive gaming entertainment.

But creating a device so fun required some serious engineering. The development encompassed 500 man-years of effort across every facet of creating a new gaming platform: algorithms, computer architecture, system design, system software, APIs, game engines and peripherals. They all had to be rethought and redesigned for Nintendo to deliver the best experience for gamers, whether they’re in the living room or on the move.

It's just a standard "sounds big" pr-statement.

 

[Osiris]

Except that it's a rumor that contradicts multiple other rumors. That's enough to make it not true. At least until it's proven to be true or not. Whether it ends up being right or not will have to wait awhile. But that's true for all rumors.

I just find it dumb that when rumors state the Switch would be XBone level of power no one believes it. But as soon as a rumor says the Switch is super weak everyone agrees.

You're missing the part of the article that states that these are not "rumored" clocks/speeds, but are rather from the documentation Nintendo is providing to developers, and state that these are the final speeds:

Undocked 1020MHz 307.2MHz 1331/1600MHz
Docked 1020MHz 307.2/768MHz 1331/1600MHz

Documentation supplied to developers along with the table above ends with this stark message: "The information in this table is the final specification for the combinations of performance configurations and performance modes that applications will be able to use at launch."

 

[Peltz]

But why downclock the GPU so heavily in docked mode? Can anyone come up with a reason why that would be a good thing?

 

[TwilightPrincess]

Now I could easily see the DQXI version being the 3DS one.

Switch is runnig UE 4 and is stronger than PS3/Wii U, with much more ram, i see no reason why it shouldn't be able to run the UE 4 Version. DQ is not looking that hardware hungry like FF 15.

 

[Metal B]

Weaker than PS3 by a huge margin.

Lmao.

I can't believe I got hyped by that stupid reveal trailer, even after I thought I'd learned my lesson to never expect Nintendo to deliver what I want as a consumer. I feel like a dummy. Was Emily's rumor about it being close to XB1 power a bust? Frankly even that was barely acceptable.

You seriously had impossible to reach expectations, if you want it to have more power then the XBoxOne and still be portable.
Maybe you should think, what the premise of the device truly is and what is possible.

 

[OrbitalBeard]

That is your opinion.

You don't say.

 

[MacTag]

Vita was a leap over PS2, Xbox and Gamecube. A Vita 2 would be over PS3 and 360. This isn't(when undocked).

It is a leap over Gen 7, for much the same reasons Vita was over Gen 6; architectural improvements. Also a pretty huge memory jump (from 512MB to 4GB).

The clocks are low, but Vita even had it worse there (333 MHz CPU, 111 MHz GPU). There's a reason Sony never announced those specs.

 

[Kssio_Aug]

That is your opinion. Not everyone likes the same games you do.

Well, so consoles are doomed. There's no such a thing as "good games".

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

How is this possible? Like.....it has to be due to the battery life right?

Nintendo don't want to exponentially increase their software costs. Battery life dosn't make much sense, at this point.

 

[Matbtz]

Oh I paid attention alright. Yet I got disappointment after another: Mario Tennis, Animal Crossing Amiibo Party, Starfox Zero, Yoshi's Woolly World, Paper Mario Color Splash...

Don't know why you cite Yoshi's wooly world, it's a real good platformer imo. As Color splash even if I am a fan of TTYD.
And you forgot to cite : Splatoon, Xenoblade, Bayonetta, Pikmin 3, Mario Maker, Mario 3D World, DK Tropical freeze and so on.
Yep Nintendo could have released better games rather than Mario tennis, AC amiibo party, federation force and all but there are bad games in any library so...

 

[Chindogg]

Now I could easily see the DQXI version being the 3DS one.

There's nothing indicating PS4's version as being some kind of technical wonder, especially with Toriyama's art style.

Wow, 32 pages in and no word from any insiders?

Probably because they're smart enough to stay out of this whole conversation.

 

[TwilightPrincess]

But why downclock the GPU so heavily in docked mode? Can anyone come up with a reason why that would be a good thing?

X1 running at normal speed while gaming uses up to 20 watt, at least the shield tv does. Switch is a slimmer formfactor.

 

[LordRaptor]

Confirms what I expected that it is indeed a portable not "a home console" first despite how people are clinging to that piece of PR to downplay it.

It being a locked 40% in handheld mode also confirms that handheld mode will be the performance target for developers even though some people thought they would target 'docked mode' first and let people in handheld mode get a much rougher experience, because 720p -> 1080p should basically be 'free' in terms of developer time with just a resolution change, unlike the way the PS4Pro has been designed.

 

[NotLiquid]

It's more powerful than the PS3. Stop with this shit, too.

It is considerably more powerful than the PS3 even if it features no customizations running at these clocks.

I'm going to assume that part of his post was making fun of the post he was quoting.

 

[Sami+]

Color Splash and Woolly world are great and well polished games. On top of that Wii U had games like Xenoblade X, Hyrule Warriors, Fatal Frame 5, Splatoon, Bayonetta 2, Wonderful 101, etc. etc. all funded or made by Nintendo.

Wii U was probably one of Nintendos best consoles regarding games quality. Switch could be many gamers heaven when it get as many games as 3DS and WiiU combined.

It definitely wasn't, and I've owned one for years. None of those games interested me bar maybe Bayonetta 2 - my entire experience with the console (which itself was fucking terrible) was defined by Mario Kart 8 and Smash.

I've played a larger variety of games on my PS4 this month alone than I have on Wii U in the past two years.

 

[Serenitynow]

But why downclock the GPU so heavily in docked mode? Can anyone come up with a reason why that would be a good thing?

I'm not technically savvy, but I imagine it's to curtail the discrepancy between the two modes.

 

[LordOfChaos]

Why are assuming the same cores?

Because it's reasonable to assume 250 people working for two years didn't make a ground-up GPU architecture for Nintendo. GPUs can take hundreds of engineers four or five years. And then to say that small effort would make a GPU /better/ than Nvidias Pascal, which took the most R&D of a GPU to date? Not likely.

Nintendos/Nvidias mere 500 man years also includes that taken for the NVN API...Lets be reasonable.

We haven't reached peak WUST, but we're getting WUSTy.

"It has to be 100 performance units, no way it could be lower"
"Oh, it's 30? Well, maybe it's super duper optimized beyond what the GPU makers have spent billions researching?"

 

[18-Volt]

Stop ignoring Splatoon, one of the best games Nintendo has developed in years.

I'm not much of a online multiplayer gamer so Splatoon does nothing for me. But people love it and I'm not denying that it's Wii u's most important game.

There are some good games on Wii U, but compared to Wii, number of great games on Wii U is pathetic. Bayo 2, SM3DW, MK8, Splatoon, XCX and W101. And two of them were not made by Nintendo. Rest are all filler games. That actually proves one point: Nintendo needs to stop making crap filler games like Starfox Zero or Animal Crossing Amiibo Party and start funding more second party games. Look how Bayonetta turned out.

 

[Skittzo0413]

But why downclock the GPU so heavily in docked mode? Can anyone come up with a reason why that would be a good thing?

The bigger question in my mind is why, either in docked or portable mode, do these specs require a fan, let alone possibly two fans (LKD only said that the patent didn't show the fan in the dock she mentioned which means she could be wrong, not that she was 100% wrong about it)?

There shouldn't be any sort of throttling going on at these speeds if you look at the Pixel C, so an active fan is absolutely unnecessary if we're assuming the same configuration as a TX1. Which should suggest that this does not have the same configuration as a TX1.

 

[ironcreed]

Where is all of this weaker than the PS3 talk coming from?

 

[wild wild rice]

I don't know why people are concerned with the relation to 3rd party support. This thing wouldn't get full 3rd party support if it had double the power.

It's a Nintendo, Indies and select 3rd party machine, as always. Only now with Nintendo's full attention which makes things much better.

Basically this. And I'm hoping we get a few Nintendo funded niche things like Sin & Punishment, Bayonetta 2, Wonderful 101, etc. thrown in.

 

[aBarreras]

I'm going to assume that part of his post was making fun of the post he was quoting.

not really, considering who posted

 

[Rodin]

Where is all of this weaker than the PS3 talk coming from?

I believing people are pulling it from their asses

The form factor is still very slim so heat is a concern, there's also a matter of power delivery. I expect even when docked they're trying to keep within a very conservative power envelope. It may be that just adding active cooling via the dock isn't super effective

We've heard rumors of noisy kits and two fans. It doesn't make sense.

 

[guybrushfreeman]

But why downclock the GPU so heavily in docked mode? Can anyone come up with a reason why that would be a good thing?

The form factor is still very slim so heat is a concern, there's also a matter of power delivery. I expect even when docked they're trying to keep within a very conservative power envelope. It may be that just adding active cooling via the dock isn't super effective

 

[orioto]

Just a little hello to the bully band who told me to shut up so many times when i said Nintendo could be happy with just WiiU performance cause in their mind the target philosophy of the switch is "hey it's our last console but rebooted as an hybrid and it's amazing enough"

 

[demigod]

What was that game a couple weeks ago with the bullshots on the Switch again?

 

[OrbitalBeard]

I'm not much of a online multiplayer gamer so Splatoon does nothing for me. But people love it and I'm not denying that it's Wii u's most important game.

There are some good games on Wii U, but compared to Wii, number of great games on Wii U is pathetic. Bayo 2, SM3DW, MK8, Splatoon, XCX and W101. And two of them were not made by Nintendo. Rest are all filler games. That actually proves one point: Nintendo needs to stop making crap filler games like Starfox Zero or Animal Crossing Amiibo Party and start funding more second party games. Look how Bayonetta turned out.

Certainly not gonna' argue with that. I love the Wii.

 

[Dekuboy]

You know they're reporting on other people's rumours there right? They didn't run the story form their source they're just reporting on the other rumours that had come out at that time

Separately, Eurogamer has heard the same thing.

If it is just from others, why did they write this?

multiple outlets with solid sources reported on Mother 3, I doubt they were lying. things change. if I was a betting man I'd wager that Nintendo didn't want to waste the Mother 3 hype on Wii U and it was put on the shelf for Switch.

even if it never comes to fruition I think concluding that those outlets were lying is, well, dumb

And thousands of people claimed to be inside leakers and leaked stuff on reddit, 4chan etc. etc.

There were only 2 legit leaks regarding the switch.

1. was the "zelda" leak on gamefaqs and from SMD64.

2. was Laura with the stuff before the announcement.


And also there are only 4 individuals, who could have been real leakers.

Emily rogers, but yeah still waiting for mother 3 and female link

Eurogamer, but I really didn´t enjoyed the switch announcement in september + mother 3

SMD64, but yeah still don´t see the super ps4 pro killer machine

Laura.

 

[bomblord1]

Wow, 32 pages in and no word from any insiders?

LKD has said this since Eurogamers article went up

Which doesn't make sense if the system features a standard CUDA core count.

 

[atbigelow]

Having a portable with more processing power than a Wii U is a good thing. Docked speeds are lower than I expected, though. But I'm glad to see they kept the CPU clocks the same between docked and portable; that would have been terrible.

 

[Chamber]

Why are people thinking this? Nintendo always sells at a profit. Expect $250 to $300.

Welp...

 

[AyaisMUsikWhore]

So this really shouldn't be any higher than $250 tbh.

 

[trixx]

That's been my point all along. The 'switch' feature is nice but it should be promoted as an extra bonus feature of a mobile device, not as a way to make console games portable. The expectations here are all wrong.

My guess as to why Nintendo is promoting it this way is to save face as it gives up the console space. At this point they are a mobile-only company.

yeah I mean it's cool that you can add more controllers to it bot to me it seems more handheld than console. You're probably right in the idea that they're going more in mobile field

 

[antonz]

Where is all of this weaker than the PS3 talk coming from?

http://animatedgifs.xtgem.com/images/blog/what-the-hell-is-wrong-with-yo-82679.gif[/IMG]

Gaf likes to pretend its a hardcore gaming community but its about as casual as can be in reality with pockets of actual knowledgeable people

 

[mario_O]

But why downclock the GPU so heavily in docked mode? Can anyone come up with a reason why that would be a good thing?

it's small 6" tablet, so maybe due to heat.

 

[Toadthemushroom]

It is a leap over Gen 7, for much the same reasons Vita was over Gen 6; architectural improvements. Also a pretty huge memory jump (from 512MB to 4GB).

The clocks are low, but Vita even had it worse there (333 MHz CPU, 111 MHz GPU). There's a reason Sony never announced those specs.

Good post.

As for Sony, I remember all they would say is that the system would burn your hands off if they kept the clocks up. But the actual spec sheet Sony released was full of lies - I remember it claiming that the system had a 2Ghz quad core ARM Cortex A8 CPU. Even though Sony actually downclocked it to 333Mhz.

 

[Exile20]

There have been a few poor ports to Android and Open GL: Metal Gear Rising and Resi 5 to name a couple.

It wouldn't be worth using them as any point of comparison since those ports:

1) Weren't handled by the original dev teams or a developer known for quality
2) Were running on Android
3) Were running on OpenGL

Switch will give developers much closer access to the hardware like most consoles, and Android is generally not a great OS for gaming.

Oh ok, thanks

 

[Wagram]

Well luckily they'll have the handheld aspect to the device because third party support is going to be bad shortly after launch for console titles.