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Digital Foundry: Nintendo Switch CPU and GPU clock speeds revealed

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Not worse for the sake of higher hardware specs, theorically that could never be worse indeed. It just doesn't mean it's gonna be better either (see GC and N64, also see Wii). If they're lowering specs and lowering the price, I'm all for it.

What if they lower the specs but don't lower the price though?
 
The Switch is sounding more and more like a relaunch of the Wii U, complete with an improved and independent gamepad. It's even looking like having an identical software lineup.
 

bomblord1

Banned
I'd like to point all you guys out to that one thread were I called it that the Switch would be no more powerful than a Wii U and was literally assaulted by nay-sayers.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=222824819&highlight=#post222824819

And the that one thread where I reposted the above and was again assaulted by the Nintendo Defense Force:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=226624119&postcount=688

So where are you now, OrbitalBeard, Mariolee, Doctre81, KingSnake, Seik, bomblord1, Art, EDarkness, etc..??

It's still more powerful than the wiiU? Significantly while docked.

Does no one read the articles anymore?

Even a 307.2MHz GPU based on Maxwell technology should be capable of out-performing Wii U
 
I still think it looks good. It'll go nice alongside my PC as something i can have a different experience with and take out with me. People need to see it for what it is, a handheld

Guess you missed Ghost tricks post while back?

The actual link to the switch on Nintendo's site says Home gaming console.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=226857972&postcount=2127
.

I'll see it and judge it based on how Nintendo sees it. They see it as a home gaming console.
 

Sushigod7

Member
Que the "thisisneogaf.gif"

IMO the specs don't matter just the software results. I know people do get into them I understand why but really if it runs games without hiccups at home and on the go you should be happy right thats what its built for. There is a lot of engineering to balance battery time and heat etc which I think we can all appreciate once we have one in our hands. Wait and see I'm sure we will be impressed with software.
 

NeonBlack

Member
I'd like to point all you guys out to that one thread were I called it that the Switch would be no more powerful than a Wii U and was literally assaulted by nay-sayers.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=222824819&highlight=#post222824819

And the that one thread where I reposted the above and was again assaulted by the Nintendo Defense Force:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=226624119&postcount=688

So where are you now, OrbitalBeard, Mariolee, Doctre81, KingSnake, Seik, bomblord1, Art, EDarkness, etc..??

warriors-come-out-and-play-gif.gif
 
On the one hand, I hate how this bodes for this machine as a proper console.

On the other hand, since it is portable, I'm not shocked and frankly it should be a great portable, which is why I'd buy this anyway.
 
I'd like to point all you guys out to that one thread were I called it that the Switch would be no more powerful than a Wii U and was literally assaulted by nay-sayers.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=222824819&highlight=#post222824819

And the that one thread where I reposted the above and was again assaulted by the Nintendo Defense Force:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=226624119&postcount=688

So where are you now, OrbitalBeard, Mariolee, Doctre81, KingSnake, Seik, bomblord1, Art, EDarkness, etc..??

Still more powerful than a Wii U. "Literally assaulted" lol

Maybe if you call me out for a fourth time, you'll finally be right.
 

phanphare

Banned
I'd like to point all you guys out to that one thread were I called it that the Switch would be no more powerful than a Wii U and was literally assaulted by nay-sayers.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=222824819&highlight=#post222824819

And the that one thread where I reposted the above and was again assaulted by the Nintendo Defense Force:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=226624119&postcount=688

So where are you now, OrbitalBeard, Mariolee, Doctre81, KingSnake, Seik, bomblord1, Art, EDarkness, etc..??

I believe this is the second time you've "called out" these people and you're still incorrect
 

Big-E

Member
Disappointing to say the least. So no chance at all for native 1080p on your tv then. Have a hard time justifying paying for something in 2017 that cant do at least 1080.
 

Papacheeks

Banned
I didn't miss anything. How is linking the Switch's NA website indicative of foreign marketing? Hell, when NCL tweeted about the Switch reveal video back in October, they didn't specify 'home console' they used some sort of generic descriptor like "gaming device".

It does in the link dude?

Here's first look page:
"Nintendo Switch world premier demonstrates new entertainment experiences from a home gaming system"

Then on the actual video page

literally says "First look at Nintendo's New home gaming System".
 

Rodin

Member
I don't think that's true. It's 176 vs 150 (switch).

157gflops on a much newer architecture with much better API and fp16 vs 176gflops on an ancient AMD architecture? It surely beats the Wii U, although not by a large margin.

Still, we need to know the core count before drawing any conclusion.

So the switch isn't even stronger than a Vita?

In a world where 157-393gflops (at worst) on immensely better architecture/API are worse than 28gflops, sure.
 

Roo

Member
I'd like to point all you guys out to that one thread were I called it that the Switch would be no more powerful than a Wii U and was literally assaulted by nay-sayers.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=222824819&highlight=#post222824819

And the that one thread where I reposted the above and was again assaulted by the Nintendo Defense Force:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=226624119&postcount=688

So where are you now, OrbitalBeard, Mariolee, Doctre81, KingSnake, Seik, bomblord1, Art, EDarkness, etc..??

Except it still is more powerful than Wii U...
 

Kssio_Aug

Member
What if they lower the specs but don't lower the price though?

Then I agree that may not be a good idea. They need to sell the Nintendo Switch to certain audience... if they overcharge it and price doesn't match the specs they're risking another Wii U sitation. If they price it accordingly they may be able to sell it well and convince people that Switch is a good deal.

I may not buy it too soon if they're gonna charge too much for it. But if they price it well, I will mostly certain buy as soon as I can.
 

bomblord1

Banned
157gflops on a much newer architecture with much better API and fp16 vs 176? It surely beats the Wii U, although not by a large margin.

Still, we need to know the core count before drawing any conclusion.

I'm going with it just has an additional SM putting it at 196 GFLOPS undocked
 

gamerMan

Member
So is 3rd party going to support this with PS3 games? Looks like Grand Theft Auto 5 will be finally coming to Nintendo.
 

LordRaptor

Member
They do though. They describe it in their PR as their next "home gaming system".
http://www.nintendo.com/switch/

They could've said "gaming system" or "new system". They carefully choosed "home" gaming system.

For Nintendo, Switch is a tethered device you can take anywhere.
That's a huge marketing failure if they keep banking on that.

And its pretty unlikely that they will.

Why did they only show WiiU games in their reveal? Because the WiiU is dead.
the 3DS is not, and they had 3DSes and copies of pokeymans to sell.
Why didn't they show the upgraded Pokemon coming to Switch? Because it would have killed 3Ds and Pokemon sales.

You literally cannot say anything about their marketing until they actually start marketing.

So at $325 which one is better gaf?

Smach Z

Or Switch in terms of specs?

A handheld PC is obviously better than the Switch in terms of power.
A desktop PC is obviously better than a PS4 or X1, but GAF really don't like that conversation.
 
Honestly, who's even buying Nintendo these days for cutting edge graphics? You buy it because it's going to be the only place to play Nintendo first party games. I have a PC for shiny graphics and third party titles. Nintendo has always been the ideal "companion" console.

The low clock speeds is disappointing I guess, but it's not going to stop me from getting it.
That's fine, but then you also have to accept that Nintendo hardware sales have been going down. That means that while there are people who will buy a Nintendo device just to play Nintendo games, there are less and less of them.

I also think this line of thinking is toxic long term for Nintendo. If Nintendo concedes that graphics aren't important, then cheap mobile phones and games suddenly become a much bigger competitor. You might cling to the fact that Nintendo games are much better, but in this day and age people have to have a phone. That's the baseline. Those people can look to their gaming options on that phone and decide that they are good enough.

Even more troubling for Nintendo is even if people decide they want more than their cheap phones can give them, the Switch is not competing with that cheap phone. It's competing with the phone the person could have bought when you add the price of the Switch to the price of that cheap phone.
 
Is it more or less powerful than people were expecting?

People were expecting a miracle device. The specs are low, pretty low in fact but shouldn't have been unexpected given the devices claims.
With that said Nintendo first party studios will probably be able to squeeze decent to good performance out of this device, that's what they do and have always done. Their first party games aren't about rendering ultra realistic games. Still it makes me think that the Wii U version of Zelda might be the better performing version.
 
I didn't miss anything. How is linking the Switch's NA website indicative of foreign marketing? Hell, when NCL tweeted about the Switch reveal video back in October, they didn't specify 'home console' they used some sort of generic descriptor like "gaming device".


All their western website calls it a "home gaming system". French one calls it a "console de salon".
https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Nintendo-Switch/Nintendo-Switch-1148779.html
https://www.nintendo.de/Nintendo-Switch/Nintendo-Switch-1148779.html
https://www.nintendo.fr/Nintendo-Switch/Nintendo-Switch-1148779.html
https://www.nintendo.es/Nintendo-Switch/Nintendo-Switch-1148779.html
https://www.nintendo.it/Nintendo-Switch/Nintendo-Switch-1148779.html


Only the japanese site though calls their their new gaming console.
https://www.nintendo.co.jp/switch/




So the switch isn't even stronger than a Vita?



At the very least 6 times faster, undocked.
 
I'd like to point all you guys out to that one thread were I called it that the Switch would be no more powerful than a Wii U and was literally assaulted by nay-sayers.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=222824819&highlight=#post222824819

And the that one thread where I reposted the above and was again assaulted by the Nintendo Defense Force:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=226624119&postcount=688

So where are you now, OrbitalBeard, Mariolee, Doctre81, KingSnake, Seik, bomblord1, Art, EDarkness, etc..??

I really don't understand you. You're just as wrong now as you were then and the time before.
 

deleted

Member
Okay, if it really is more powerful that a Wii U in portable mode, then it's worst case avoided.

Still pretty bad, but not disastrous.
 

phanphare

Banned
Ok but wtf is this then?

Nintendo%20Switch_confirmedPublishers1.jpg

a sampling of Nintendo Switch Partners

Except I am? People were all expecting a portable XONE/PS4 caliber machine. In its portable mode, it's a Wii U. Docked, it's a 1080p Wii U.

no you're still wrong. also most people were expecting it to be in between Wii U and Xbox One. anyone who was legitimately expecting a portable Xbox One/PS4 caliber machine was deluding themselves.
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
It's probably a bit higher in effective performance in most workloads, even in portable mode.

More importantly (especially since people ask "how can it run Skyrim"), it also has access to a lot more memory and a faster CPU.

True, but memory bandwidth wise the Wii U at least had eDRAM to keep the GPU efficiently fed (32 MB scratchpad for a console that was not afraid to target 720p without massive attribute buffers).
 

Arkam

Member
If this is the absolute floor I am still very happy/excited. A ~150 GFLOP handheld from Nintendo sounds delicious! Here is hoping this low clock rate accompanies a solid battery life... and maybe a $200 price tag.

This will feel huge going form the 3DS.
 

Vibranium

Banned
I'll wait for the final teardown, but this sounds about right. The downclocking is surprising to me but we'll see at the final reveal I guess. I'll still pick it up. Nintendo may want to be aggressive with the pricing here.
 
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