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Digital Foundry: Nintendo Switch CPU and GPU clock speeds revealed
- Thread starter Vashetti
- Start date
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Jakartalado
Member
I'm not surprised.
Nintendo quickly became irrelevant in terms of hardware for the past 15 years(brute force and tecnology, not the ideia of the hardware itselft).
I'm still interested to see how this is moving foward. People are not going to buy the same Mario, the same Smash Bros, the same Splatoon. (Assuming the rumor was accurate and we do get Wii U versions of the game and right now, not even textures are going to be better).
And, Multiplayer games are quiet demading in terms of hardware. This is not going to surpass expectations for the multiplayer outside of home.
I'm going to say something very strong here. Nintendo Switch won't run Mario Kart with 4 player split screen outdocked. And for me, this is a pretty big deal.
Nintendo quickly became irrelevant in terms of hardware for the past 15 years(brute force and tecnology, not the ideia of the hardware itselft).
I'm still interested to see how this is moving foward. People are not going to buy the same Mario, the same Smash Bros, the same Splatoon. (Assuming the rumor was accurate and we do get Wii U versions of the game and right now, not even textures are going to be better).
And, Multiplayer games are quiet demading in terms of hardware. This is not going to surpass expectations for the multiplayer outside of home.
I'm going to say something very strong here. Nintendo Switch won't run Mario Kart with 4 player split screen outdocked. And for me, this is a pretty big deal.
Compared to phones and other tablets I have no doubt the switch will punch way above its weight. Maybe even compared to other consoles because it's Nvidia. The problem is, it's weight class is really light.
lwilliams3
Member
I thought I recall reading that the default GPU clockspeed for the PSVita was 111MHz for ~15 GFLOPS. If that is the case, the Switch is at least 10x of that undocked.
Wii U was still the birth of the 8th gen. Switch is still the birth of the 9th gen.
SuperLeviathan
Member
You need a lot of grunt to emulate the GameCube. Even the powerful phones everyone is citing here choke on that.
the emulator Nintendo creates would have to be hella optimized and possibly docked mode-exclusive. The latter would be a tremendous letdown.
This is a big thread. The folk expecting a slim handheld to compete with two large boxes are maddening.
It's a handheld. It's the 3DS successor first and foremost. It's biggest game is a Wii U port.
What were people expecting? It's a handheld. The lower clock off dock was assumed by many for a while. The dock isn't adding more power from a second GPU but from being powered by the dock.
It'll run the next gen of Nintendo games. There will likely be good Japanese support. Potentially some Western support - but mainly more broad titles.
It's a handheld. It's the 3DS successor first and foremost. It's biggest game is a Wii U port.
What were people expecting? It's a handheld. The lower clock off dock was assumed by many for a while. The dock isn't adding more power from a second GPU but from being powered by the dock.
It'll run the next gen of Nintendo games. There will likely be good Japanese support. Potentially some Western support - but mainly more broad titles.
PinkyMonkey
Banned
-"Industry leading chips"
-"as powerful as a PS4"
-"not as powerful as a PS4, as powerful as X1"
-"not as powerful as X1, as powerful as Shield TV"
-"not as powerful as a Shield TV, but more powerful than a Wii U"
Can't get any worse...right guys?
-"as powerful as a PS4"
-"not as powerful as a PS4, as powerful as X1"
-"not as powerful as X1, as powerful as Shield TV"
-"not as powerful as a Shield TV, but more powerful than a Wii U"
Can't get any worse...right guys?
I haven't had time to read through every response here, so I'm probably repeating what others have already said, but here are my thoughts on the matter, anyway:
....
TLR
Each of these numbers are only a single variable in the equation, and we need to know things like CPU configuration, memory bus width, embedded memory pools, number of GPU SMs, etc. to actually fill out the rest of those equations to get the relevant info. 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.
This is why I finding myself questioning any Eurogamer article. Why Eurogamer couldn't the article write out something like you just did? Or at least address the points that you have brought up. Eurogamer takes like two fact points and writes a verbose article mixed with unnecessary speculation.
CrustyBritches
Gold Member
Why? In the mind of a parent they walk into the store and see a $250 gaming tablet sitting next to a more affordable 3ds with mountains of games. Then you look at the $50 tablets and consider you have an extra phone that they could play Mario and Pokemon on.
Then you remember how they trashed their $50 tablets and start to wonder if a clamshell is the better way to go since DS and 3DS were so rugged.
What's the appeal of this to a parent buying for a child? 3rd-party Japanese portable support?
Do you mean like, having the dock contribute computing power? Yeah, USB doesn't have that kind of bandwidth. My bad!
I'm definitely not expecting them to do that at any point, as a note. It's why I'm betting on USB 3.1 instead of Thunderbolt 3.
You were seriously expecting to play 4 play split-screen on Switches built in screen?
I dont even know what to think about that...
blankempathy
Member
Yes because no one buys tablets for their kids. You do know that practically every name brand tablet has separate cases to protect them from damage right? The switch won't be competing long with the 3ds if we're to believe that this is its successor. Aimed at nobody? Yes because nintendo doesn't have an established fan base already. Nintendo games are aimed at the same demographic as always. The switch just appears to be unification of all of Nintendos efforts into one platform. Regardless of what you believe the Nintendo experience is something other platforms don't offer. Stop putting such a focus on if a game is a console or portable experience. People just want good games. If the switch does well enough Publishers aren't just going to ignore it because "power constraints".
Wolfgang Jr
Banned
The disappointing Nintendo specs continue.
Both CPU and GPU were clocked higher than the PS2. The general consensus was that it sat between the Xbox and PS2, even back then..
Twenty7KVN
Member
Most of the quotes were never said. The switch was always believed to be weaker than the xbox one.
More powerful then its predecessor? Goodness me! How unexpected!
At least the Switch was able to accomplish the bare minimum in that regard. 😂
As powerful as an OUYA?
Famous last words.
parents were already looking at a $200 3ds xl and a $500+ ipad and choosing the latter for theirs kids though...
lwilliams3
Member
The first three points were discredited as soon as the form factor was official. The comparison for the Shield TV will be interesting once we know more about the actual chip setup.
Kssio_Aug
Member
-"I never said that" - Tatsumi Kimishima
I ma concerned by today rumors but. .. is there really someone comparing switch to vita?
It clearly is better than wiiu even so...
If this is right, then it's better to compare it to the tablet.
Would it? IIRC Dolphin requirements were less than those for PCX2 despite the Gamecube and Wii being more powerful.
Nintendo would also have access to their own documentation to make writing an emulator easier than the Dolphin guys.
Not to make light of the tremendous work the writers of Dolphin have done, of course.
Kissenkopf
Banned
One simple question...do we know how many cores the thing will have? I read the post of thraktor and it seemed that this was still an unclear thing.
Movalpolos
Banned
It will likely be just the added content but the last gen console version. No mods.
Chubzdoomer
Banned
I still can't believe those morons thought that was a good idea. Talk about selling TItanfall 2 short... Such a shame.
krizalidzero
Member
I have played DreamCast and GCN on a Shield TV and both ran incredibly well.
Never tried PS2.
"It can be as powerful as a Nokia 3310 for all I care, we'll still be getting Nintendo games and that's all that matters guys!"
-Pyromaniac-
Member
I still don't care at all. I look at this as a handheld before a home console. And I'll take what I can get with a unified library on one system.
With that said, I'm hoping the price reflects it. Not only of the console but the games as well.
With that said, I'm hoping the price reflects it. Not only of the console but the games as well.
I've been passively following Nintendo Switch threads, but I always had a feeling this was going to be the ending result. Just didn't think it would be like this.
Yes, there's definitely a disconnect in this info with the GC emulation info floating around, since quad-core A57 (which don't change speeds in dock, mind you, and they will be the major bottleneck on software emulation) feel too weak for any, let alone good, GameCube emulation.
Something doesn't add up.
Either its not a quad-core, or its not A57, or its not both.
Dolphin still requires a solid CPU and will run into single-thread limits on throughput of your cores. The current specs are not that, so either Nintendo/NERD have engineered some sort of super-emulator, or something's amiss.
Wolfgang Jr
Banned
Well, at least we will be able to play near 2 decade old GCN games without them chugging.
...maybe
Apparently some people seem to think that it is not.
Also, you do have people who think the Vita > Wii U in power.
Nintendo GAF fanboys' only equal is the Anti-Nintendo Troll Force.
And the force is strong in this thread.
ooh gee, what are those nintendo fans thinking? i mean to want nintendo games on a nintendo console? madness
Kssio_Aug
Member
You're trying way too hard.
IchigoSharingan
Member
Parapraxis
Member
literally the next comment lmao
I like that you completely omit the biggest thing the Switch does here. Allowing kids to play their games on TV and then seamlessly take them on the go and be able to play with their friends natively, not extra equipment required. All built in to the base unit.
Or the fact that games on the Switch will look vastly superior to what's on the 3DS. They aren't going to be looking through the system catalogues to see which has more software, they're going to be looking at what's just been released and what's hot right now.
Or the fact that parents buy their kids iPads all the time, not just cheap no name tablets. 200-250 isn't that much for a lot of people. Especially if they equate this as a replacement for giving their kids both a handheld device of some kind, 3ds or tablet, and a console system. Two birds, one Switch.
Tallshortman
Member
I remember casually browsing one and was surprised to learn the switch not being as powerful as the PS4 was news to some people. I couldn't believe some people were hyping the hardware to such degrees.
Conciliator
Banned
...told ya so. Again.
And I'll also go on record saying that it will sell well and generally be a hit and Nintendo fans will largely love it. Not as confident about this as the specs, but I'll still put my chips down. Although I thought the Wii was going to be a flop, so what the fuck do I know.
And I'll also go on record saying that it will sell well and generally be a hit and Nintendo fans will largely love it. Not as confident about this as the specs, but I'll still put my chips down. Although I thought the Wii was going to be a flop, so what the fuck do I know.
Astral Dog
Member
This thread got quite scary 😦
I do, dont remind me.
I had a Vita, kids had a 3DS. Made the mistake of getting that for them. They were not too happy ...
I think the only thing thats still right before today is industry leading chips.
And I remember when that was first posted some of us said ARM chips were industry leading too..
And ARM made more sense for a shared platform of handheld and home console. (At the time it wasnt known to be a hybrid system. I remember going back n forth on that so many times...lol)
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