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Digital Foundry: Nintendo Switch CPU and GPU clock speeds revealed

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orioto

Good Art™
I guess I see much more value in a console than just the processing power.

Nintendo also seems very confident I the switch. The way they're trying to get it in as many hands as possible before launch is a good sign.

The thing is we have no clue how people will perceive that value. The Switch is like the living incarnation of "glass half full half empty". If you're not a Nintendo enthusiast to begin with, you can really see the worse in it. Nintendo's thinking is "yes it's a cheap home console at the price of a PS4, yes it's an oversized portable, but the reunion of that makes it worth every weakness" Except we actually have NO idea how cool OR valuable this hybrid feature is going to be for new consumers. Zero idea.

Let's say i'm really surprised and a little worried Nintendo doesn't have a specific game done to emphasize that concept. Like something that tries to create a fad of people playing local multi in parks, for example. In some regards it's doing the same mistakes as the WiiU by not having a Wii Sport to sell the concept and make it worthy.

They're communicating on BotW but i don't see how you need a Switch, or its particular concept, to play this game. So they're basing their communication for their new console on a game that is not designed around its features. The song i hear on gaf is that "hey they seem to do better than WiiU" when actually, they are doing a lot of the same mistakes again. Actually, WiiU had a game designed around its strength at least.

Think about that.

As usual i'm a sceptical and party pooper etc.. like when i said Nintendo would aim at WiiU graphics. But yeah, we're in our bubble where we'll buy it cause we want Nintendo games anyway. Try to think as a consumer that discovers it from scratch now.
 

Enduin

No bald cap? Lies!
The Switch will live and die on how well they can sell the hybrid design. Graphics aren't going to be an issue if the message and image of being able to play at home and on the go is strong.

Same for the possibility of the Switch being 250 and having to go up against a PS4 and Xbox 1 for the same price point. If they can sell the idea and value of gaming at home and on the go it won't matter that it's the same price as two systems with larger libraries at the moment. Though I will, and have been saying forever now, that at that price point they would most definitely need a pack-in game too.
 
It's too much trying to get through 3000+ posts, other than Thraktor were there any interesting posts?

A few that stood out to me:

...Even on the worst end of the spectrum, we're still getting by far the most ambitious portable that Nintendo's ever released, which also doubles as a home console that's noticeably higher performing than Wii U, which is fine by me.

To all the naysayers, I guess I'm not seeing how any other choice Nintendo has could be better for them as a company.

Option 1 - They release a new system that directly competes against the PS4/XBO/PC. Since this market is already heavily contested AND is shrinking over time, chance of failure is very high.

Option 2 - They release a portable system with specs that rival the PS4/XBO. Battery life is short & cost is too high to compete. Chance of failure almost guaranteed.

Option 3 - They give up hardware entirely and become a 3rd party developer. They lose huge sources of revenue from licensing & royalties.

Option 4 - They do what they're doing with the Switch. They win the handheld market by virtue of being the only handheld competitor. They try to steal back mobile gamers with their mobile initiatives like Pokemon Go & Super Mario Run. And they try to steal gamers from the XBO/PS4/PC crowd that don't care about cunning edge graphics & would rather have a strong exclusive library & the option to go portable.

Whether or not it succeeds, remains to be seen, but what they're doing seems like the option with the best chance of success.

Handheld mode 3DS -> Switch is going to be a huge leap.

Docked mode Wii U -> Switch not as big a leap as some were hoping, but it will have a much more steady stream of software, which was the biggest issue Wii U had anyway.

This is pretty much the successor to the 3DS... 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...

The thing that has me most excited about Switch and the thing that I think is sort of underrated in terms of its potential success is the fact that Nintendo will be consolidating their development houses behind one platform for the first time in decades. This is what might create the biggest difference between the Switch and the Wii U, GameCube and even the Wii...

3DS developers will most likely develop for the Switch.
Vita developers will most likely develop for the Switch since it's not like Sony's making another portable system.
Indie developers will most likely develop for the Switch since the Vita and 3DS had good indie support and the Switch looks to be much easier to develop for (Unity right off the bat, plenty of RAM & power for most indie needs).
Japanese developers that make home console games will most likely develop for the Switch because it'll probably have a much larger install base than the PS4 and most aren't pushing technology to the limits.

PC developers with games that scale well to low-end configurations may develop for the Switch depending on how well the system sells.

PC/Console developers with games that do not scale to low-end configurations will most likely ignore the system.

The vast majority of indie games aren't pushing tech limits. Compared to trying to port to the Vita or 3DS, the Switch is paradise.
 

Spy

Member
It will be 249.99 for sure. It was the sweet spot with the Wii. The console isn't just a handheld, it includes two controllers and a TV-dock and dock-controller. It's also likely to include some sort of pack-in.

I'm disappointed in the WiiU+ specs, but the price point is good and it'll be durable with good battery life I'm sure. I think it'll still sell really well.
I want the Switch to succeed but lol, let's not pretend a single Joy-Con is a controller.
 
It was always going to be difficult regardless of power.

Right, but you could justify a higher price tag than the competition if you can market yourself as a portable version of their machines playing the same games.

Maybe the Switch will be able to run a lot of the third party games on XB1/PS4. But if it's more akin to a portable Wii U with third-party support dropping before we even reach the holiday season (due to being under-powered) that higher price tag won't look justified in the eye's of most consumers (I'm assuming).
 

Persona7

Banned
I want the Switch to succeed but lol, let's not pretend a single Joy-Con is a controller.

I wonder how much a pair of joycons will cost. They seem to both have batteries and other hardware. Nunchuks were basic and still were $19.99. Hopefully not $59.99 for a pair.
 

tebunker

Banned
I wonder how much a pair of joycons will cost. They seem to both have batteries and other hardware. Nunchuks were basic and still were $19.99. Hopefully not $59.99 for a pair.
Probably similar to the cost of a wiimote? So $40.

Maybe even packed with a grip shell?
 

sanstesy

Member
Have you ever priced a product? Like Seriously. I didn't make that up.

I am not saying they aren't in the business of making money. In fact I clearly stated the basic manner in which they determine the amount of money they want to make on a product.

From an accounting side they use the BOM & COGS(cost of goods sold) to determine a price range based on GMROI( Gross Margin Return on Investment ). Sometimes marketing costs and other R&D costs are rolled in this pricing, sometimes not.

That range is then handed off to marketing people who in turn do market research to best understand what price they feel the market can bear.

So yeah, I guess in a little way, Nintendo can see people still buying 3ds/2ds at a range of $79 to $199 and say yeah we can probably be at $249, but ultimately that priced is derived by many other factors with a lot more weight than just, 3ds is X so we should price new thing @ Y because it is new.

3ds and New 3ds are priced to recoup the costs associated at a specific margin while still selling as many as possible. Switch has a completely unrelated BOM and costs and will have to recoup those costs and the pricing will be more determined by this than anything else. If Nintendo cocked up somehow and spent too much, you can damn well believe they'd charge $300 or more, regardless of whether they think the market could truly bear it.

I'm not sure where your desire to lecture me simple economics comes from. Of course it is determined by different factors. I was just using the 3DS being priced at $199 as one example.

We know that.

The average consumer probably won't.

I don't see that right now. Actually, I'd say it's the other way around if I'm looking at this thread.
 
The Switch will live and die on how well they can sell the hybrid design. Graphics aren't going to be an issue if the message and image of being able to play at home and on the go is strong.

Same for the possibility of the Switch being 250 and having to go up against a PS4 and Xbox 1 for the same price point. If they can sell the idea and value of gaming at home and on the go it won't matter that it's the same price as two systems with larger libraries at the moment. Though I will, and have been saying forever now, that at that price point they would most definitely need a pack-in game too.

I think more processing power would greatly help sell that message and concept as you could then say "play all the console games you're used to on the go or at home, however you want. Play your way!" and it would be a much stronger pitch if you actually have all those games.

I know power isn't really a big barrier to getting those ports but it would ensure that really none of them could be ruled out for performance reasons. With these potential specs we don't how if that's true now.
 
The thing is we have no clue how people will perceive that value. The Switch is like the living incarnation of "glass half full half empty". If you're not a Nintendo enthusiast to begin with, you can really see the worse in it. Nintendo's thinking is "yes it's a cheap home console at the price of a PS4, yes it's an oversized portable, but the reunion of that makes it worth every weakness" Except we actually have NO idea how cool OR valuable this hybrid feature is going to be for new consumers. Zero idea.

Let's say i'm really surprised and a little worried Nintendo doesn't have a specific game done to emphasize that concept. Like something that tries to create a fad of people playing local multi in parks, for example. In some regards it's doing the same mistakes as the WiiU by not having a Wii Sport to sell the concept and make it worthy.

They're communicating on BotW but i don't see how you need a Switch, or its particular concept, to play this game. So they're basing their communication for their new console on a game that is not designed around its features. The song i hear on gaf is that "hey they seem to do better than WiiU" when actually, they are doing a lot of the same mistakes again. Actually, WiiU had a game designed around its strength at least.

Think about that.

As usual i'm a sceptical and party pooper etc.. like when i said Nintendo would aim at WiiU graphics. But yeah, we're in our bubble where we'll buy it cause we want Nintendo games anyway. Try to think as a consumer that discovers it from scratch now.

I'd really like to see them market it around the idea of table top gaming to casuals. I think it's a very intriguing concept not just because you can take it in the park,but also because you can play it where you would normally play board games with people who wouldn't normally play games.

Combine that with the fact that you always have two controllers and that opens up a lot of possibilities for new local multiplayer experiences. You could have a Mario party on the tablet at the dinner table like a board game.
 

hatchx

Banned
I want the Switch to succeed but lol, let's not pretend a single Joy-Con is a controller.


As a gamer and adult, I'm not.

As a child, mother, or grandfather, it's two player out-of-the-box, and I believe that will be a selling point.
 

orioto

Good Art™
I'd really like to see them market it around the idea of table top gaming to casuals. I think it's a very intriguing concept not just because you can take it in the park,but also because you can play it where you would normally play board games with people who wouldn't normally play games.

Combine that with the fact that you always have two controllers and that opens up a lot of possibilities for new local multiplayer experiences. You could have a Mario party on the tablet at the dinner table like a board game.

I'm pretty sure the right software with it could create a wii level fad.
Except.. They showcase the damn thing with a Zelda game on Jimmy Fallon 3 month before launch. It would seem they have no such a thing, or they are sending the wrong idea.
 
I'm disappointed it's not as powerful as we thought it would be but my hope is the experience is snappy as fuck. Super fast and responsive OS, short loading times, menus kept to a minimum. Make switching between apps fast too.
 

Mega

Banned
Snappy OS and fast navigation need to be one of the top priorities. Both the Wii U and 3DS are slow and cumbersome in their own way.
 
I really hope Nintendo has a few fresh new IP to show off in January.

GCN-level specs didn't hold Wii back from success. Wii Sports allowed it to hit the ground running. Software is always key. For Nintendo, an awesome gimmick is sometimes key, in addition. Wii had a cool gimmick. So does Switch. If the headlining software is unique, it'll make all the difference.
 

Terrell

Member
I'll say it again, but the lessons we should have learned with GameCube clearly weren't learned.

GameCube CPU: 485MHz, FPU 1.9GFLOPs
GameCube GPU: 162MHz
GameCube RAM: 43MB

PS2 CPU: 294MHz, FPU 6.2 GFLOPs
PS2 GPU: 147MHz
PS2 RAM: 32MB

Xbox CPU: 733MHz, FPU performance unknown
Xbox GPU: 233MHz
Xbox RAM: 64MB

At the time of their comparison in 2001, GameCube was labeled "garbage-tier" compared against the Xbox and just barely better than PS2, with its floating-point performance being regularly singled out.

And we all remember how things panned out that generation: PS2 was the weakest, naturally, but Xbox wasn't this massive unparalleled technology leap compared to any of them. How every component works with the total package in real-world performance is the only way to measure a console.

Nintendo clearly demonstrated its design philosophy, a philosophy that always gets overlooked because it's not something you can use as bait when trolling: Optimal RAM and cache for fewer wasted CPU/GPU cycles. I don't expect Switch to be any different in that regard. How optimized the design is as a whole will be the question, but as always, we'll have to wait until January to know for sure.
 

scoobs

Member
So if this thing is as weak as it appears to be, is it going to be a ~900p machine I guess? Do we know if it can upscale to 4K? I wonder if Nintendo cares that it'll look like butthole on all these new 4K TVs. I suppose they don't or they wouldn't be releasing it as is.
 

Schnozberry

Member
I really hope Nintendo has a few fresh new IP to show off in January.

GCN-level specs didn't hold Wii back from success. Wii Sports allowed it to hit the ground running. Software is always key. For Nintendo, an awesome gimmick is sometimes key, in addition. Wii had a cool gimmick. So does Switch. If the headlining software is unique, it'll make all the difference.

Software was always going to make or break The Switch no matter where the specs landed. There will be lots of people willing to overlook the performance shortcomings if the games are good and the price is right. At some point it gets reduced to the matter of economic utility.
 

Vic

Please help me with my bad english
I really hope Nintendo has a few fresh new IP to show off in January.

GCN-level specs didn't hold Wii back from success. Wii Sports allowed it to hit the ground running. Software is key. For Nintendo, an awesome gimmick is sometimes key. Wii had a cool gimmick. So does Switch. If the headlining software is unique, it'll make all the difference.
The problem is that we were under the impression that Nintendo were building a system capable enough to handle demanding titles from third-parties. It seems unlikely now basing on those clock speeds and the expectation of 2 SMs.
 

Enduin

No bald cap? Lies!
I think more processing power would greatly help sell that message and concept as you could then say "play all the console games you're used to on the go or at home, however you want. Play your way!" and it would be a much stronger pitch if you actually have all those games.

I know power isn't really a big barrier to getting those ports but it would ensure that really none of them could be ruled out for performance reasons. With these potential specs we don't how if that's true now.

Sure that would help a lot to have those big current games and have them look comparable to other system, but consumers are complicated and varied. Many are really not that well informed and don't know about any of this technical stuff. The amount of misinformation is rather staggering at times. The cool factor will play a lot into this. Others definitely do know and despite whatever shortcomings arise from the Switch's power, or lack there of compared to the other systems, it won't matter as its portable ability will trump that. And a lot will probably scoff at it as a result.

Nintendo's own offerings will matter a lot too. If what we've heard rumored is true there are going to be several major heavy hitters available on or very close after release which can't hurt. New Zelda, New Mario, Mario Kart port+, Splatoon port+, Smash Bros. port. And who knows what else they may have cooking in new IPs and possible other ports at or around release.

The Wii was a sub-HD system that blew the HD competition away because people thought the gimmick of it was worth it. The Switch, unlike the Wii U, has a fully realized gimmick that is actually compelling behind it too and will be fully HD, so if they can sell that concept to the public it'll sell, low powered or not.
 

Dremorak

Banned
Anyone who lives in a house that has more than 1 person should see the value of being able to play the exact same games anywhere

Edit: Geez this thread moves fast lol
 

StereoVsn

Member
Question, isn't Wii U about 350Gflops? Weird that everyone keeps saying that docked Switch will be significantly more powerful (unless they did go with higher then 2 SM config)?

I just have significant doubts that even docked most games will run at 1080P considering what we see all the time on Xbone. Now, Nintendo will probably endeavor to keep most of their properties there but 3rd party devs, possibly not.

That said, hopefully all the 3DS/Vita devs jump onto the Switch ship since it's unlikely most will be able to survive on PS4 alone. From handheld perspective even clocked down it's going to be quite a bit better then a Vita (let's not even go into 3DS discussion) so there is that. Switch TV dock is just a bonus much like playing Vita games on PS TV, and Switch makes docking easy plus on power level it's going to be significantly higher then Vita.
 

bomblord1

Banned
Question, isn't Wii U about 350Gflops? Weird that everyone keeps saying that docked Switch will be significantly more powerful (unless they did go with higher then 2 SM config)?

I just have significant doubts that even docked most games will run at 1080P considering what we see all the time on Xbone. Now, Nintendo will probably endeavor to keep most of their properties there but 3rd party devs, possibly not.

That said, hopefully all the 3DS/Vita devs jump onto the Switch ship since it's unlikely most will be able to survive on PS4 alone. From handheld perspective even clocked down it's going to be quite a bit better then a Vita (let's not even go into 3DS discussion) so there is that. Switch TV dock is just a bonus much like playing Vita games on PS TV, and Switch makes docking easy plus on power level it's going to be significantly higher then Vita.

176 GFLOPS is the wiiU
 
We know that.

The average consumer probably won't.

The messaging isn't particularly complicated though. The question is what do people see the value proposition of a hybrid as being?

Either people only want a handheld and will only play handheld prices and people only want a home console and will only pay what they think is a fair price for a console with the games this will have (factoring in the quality of that experience as far as graphics go), or people see some value in paying extra to get something that does both.

If people won't, this thing is in trouble already.

Obviously there are huge benefits to Nintendo since they'll be able to focus all their development talent on the one platform (sorry 3DS) and go further towards making up for what will almost certainly be a dirge of third party content yet again than they normally can.

But if this can't, for example, start outselling the PS4 week on week in Japan, then it's in a lot of trouble.

I hope it isn't, because I think the system looks great and I think it can have wide appeal with it's feature set and increased support (just from Nintendo).
 
So if this thing is as weak as it appears to be, is it going to be a ~900p machine I guess? Do we know if it can upscale to 4K? I wonder if Nintendo cares that it'll look like butthole on all these new 4K TVs. I suppose they don't or they wouldn't be releasing it as is.

The K1 can do 4K stuff. The Shield TV does, for example. That doesn't mean this will, but I'd be surprised if it can't at least output a 4K upscaled image, given that the Shield Tablet and Shield TV can do 4K Netflix and stuff.
 

StereoVsn

Member
176 GFLOPS is the wiiU

Is that correct? Thought it was double that since PS3/360 are both over 200. Now, it's all not necessarily 100% correlated to performance, but still, that would be weird (haven't been involved in any Wii U performance discussions, mind you, so just brief google searches).
 

bomblord1

Banned
Is that correct? Thought it was double that since PS3/360 are both over 200. Now, it's all not necessarily 100% correlated to performance, but still, that would be weird (haven't been involved in any Wii U performance discussions, mind you, so just brief google searches).

The WiiU die shots thread eventually concluded 176Gflops it went down from the 352 number that gets thrown around (and was weirdly picked up by media from the same thread) after they realized a section of the die had been mislabeled.
 

bobeth

Member
I'll say it again, but the lessons we should have learned with GameCube clearly weren't learned.

GameCube CPU: 485MHz, FPU 1.9GFLOPs
GameCube GPU: 162MHz
GameCube RAM: 43MB

PS2 CPU: 294MHz, FPU 6.2 GFLOPs
PS2 GPU: 147MHz
PS2 RAM: 32MB

Xbox CPU: 733MHz, FPU performance unknown
Xbox GPU: 233MHz
Xbox RAM: 64MB

At the time of their comparison in 2001, GameCube was labeled "garbage-tier" compared against the Xbox and just barely better than PS2, with its floating-point performance being regularly singled out.

And we all remember how things panned out that generation: PS2 was the weakest, naturally, but Xbox wasn't this massive unparalleled technology leap compared to any of them. How every component works with the total package in real-world performance is the only way to measure a console.

Nintendo clearly demonstrated its design philosophy, a philosophy that always gets overlooked because it's not something you can use as bait when trolling: Optimal RAM and cache for fewer wasted CPU/GPU cycles. I don't expect Switch to be any different in that regard. How optimized the design is as a whole will be the question, but as always, we'll have to wait until January to know for sure.
This is as false as it was when you tried to say it a different way a few pages back.
 
Sure that would help a lot to have those big current games and have them look comparable to other system, but consumers are complicated and varied. Many are really not that well informed and don't know about any of this technical stuff. The amount of misinformation is rather staggering at times. The cool factor will play a lot into this. Others definitely do know and despite whatever shortcomings arise from the Switch's power, or lack there of compared to the other systems, it won't matter as its portable ability will trump that. And a lot will probably scoff at it as a result.

Nintendo's own offerings will matter a lot too. If what we've heard rumored is true there are going to be several major heavy hitters available on or very close after release which can't hurt. New Zelda, New Mario, Mario Kart port+, Splatoon port+, Smash Bros. port. And who knows what else they may have cooking in new IPs and possible other ports at or around release.

The Wii was a sub-HD system that blew the HD competition away because people thought the gimmick of it was worth it. The Switch, unlike the Wii U, has a fully realized gimmick that is actually compelling behind it too and will be fully HD, so if they can sell that concept to the public it'll sell, low powered or not.

I certainly agree that the Switch is in a much better position than the Wii U and I'm quite hopeful about it's potential. I also get that most consumers don't know or care about processing power. However, if said processing power will be a problem as far as ensuring the Switch gets all same console experiences as the competition, then its USP loses value, as you can't take all of your console games on the go.

That said, every developer and insider has had nothing but good things to say in terms of ease of development, porting and APIs so I'm remaining hopeful that we'll see improved third party support, anemic clock speeds or no.
 
Either people only want a handheld and will only play handheld prices and people only want a home console and will only pay what they think is a fair price for a console with the games this will have (factoring in the quality of that experience as far as graphics go), or people see some value in paying extra to get something that does both.

If people won't, this thing is in trouble already.

My worry is that people will only see it as A or B. In case A, smartphones are a problem. In case B, the PS4 and Xbox One are there at $249. The question isn't "Can I envision where this fits in any family?", it's "where does this fit for the average family?"

Expecting people to jump in "because Nintendo" is the kind of thinking that lead to the Wii U's relatively small install base. Nintendo is not coming into this from a position of strength.

I hope it isn't, because I think the system looks great and I think it can have wide appeal with it's feature set and increased support (just from Nintendo).

As I said, I like the system. A Vita/3DS successor is what I see this as, and that's a system I want.
 

orient

Neo Member
Filing my opinion under the "this is fine; what did you honestly expect" category. Price and battery life are way more important to me than this thing playing severely downgraded 3rd party ports.

So we're getting a console that's more powerful than the WiiU and a handheld that's substantially more powerful than the Vita? As someone that has a PC for 3rd party games, this is absolutely fine with me.
 

Speely

Banned
Sounds like there is a simple solution to this drama: NeoGAF invents "Nintendo FLOPS." These FLOPS are even better than Nvidia FLOPS by about 30% merely due to Ninty's dedication and ability to work wonders with modest hardware.

I think we can safely factor this in as a hard fact.

This is fine.
 

nordique

Member
Not surprised with the negative reaction but this is in line with my own expectations.

Doesn't change how hyped I am for this system.
 

aerts1js

Member
People are saying $250 is a good price? um... if it comes out at that price it's dead upon freakin arrival. The average consumer isn't going to shell out that kinda cash when the ps4 and xbox are similarly priced.
 
The problem is that we were under the impression that Nintendo were building a system capable enough to handle demanding titles from third-parties. It seems unlikely now basing on those clock speeds and the expectation of 2 SMs.

That is 100% your own fault. What gave you this impression? Because the reveal trailer showcased a 5 year old third party AAA title?
 

RootCause

Member
So is anyone else excited for a super powerful handheld device or is it just me?
I'm with you. I loved the 3ds, and vita. So I'm beyond excited. I'm currently playing some Mario Kart 7. Can't wait for the switch MK.

I wonder if the games will carry a console/handheld price.
 
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