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Confirmed: The Nintendo Switch is powered by an Nvidia Tegra X1

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D

DECK'ARD

The Amiga Brotherhood
On the subject of price Nintendo do what they think the market will allow. Wii was probably intended to be their conventional $199, but they saw the reaction Wii Sports was getting and bumped it to $249.

3DS they thought they could get away with a high price but got it wrong and corrected.

Wii U was just a fucking mess all around, everything was wrong and short of a fire-sale nothing was going to change that.

Switch they've come in high and it's worked, if the hardware and the software are compelling people will pay for it. This leaves room for price-cuts as well.

I don't really expect them to blow their load with Pokemon this year despite the rumours, so I expect it next year accompanied with a price cut to make it a bit more affordable and drive hardware sales as much as possible. That could send the system into overdrive.
 
Astral Dog

Astral Dog

Member
The_Lump said:
This was always the case.

A smaller node wouldn't have changed this (which was the only reasonable possibility outside of stock TX1)
Click to expand...
The concern trolling in these is always interesting to see.
The only way the Switch looks pitiful is compared to much bigger power hungry home devices,Switch is not designed to be that.
Its not like Nintendo picked the worst and most antiquated chip possible for their needs.
 
S

Soroc

Member
finalflame said:
Yes, the better option is to make it slightly more powerful than their console that failed largely due to being underpowered when their competitors are coming out with upgraded, more powerful versions of their flagship consoles, leading to performance issues at 900p in their very own keystone launch title (BoTW), with no online service at launch, no ability to transfer saves, and no multimedia or web browsing functionality whatsoever, and continuing to use archaic friend codes.

Meanwhile, PS4 Pro promises 1440p-4K gaming at 30fps and smooth 1080p/60FPS on much more graphically demanding titles, launching Boost Mode to enhance non-patched games, all this whilst Microsoft is gearing up for Scorpio. Nintendo is leaning HARD on the handheld angle while reassuring the public the Switch is primarily a home console and not a successor to the 3DS, yet it's very clearly not going to be powerful enough to have proper third party support from major publishers. Even Jeff Kaplan has said getting Overwatch on the Switch would be "a challenge", and Overwatch can run on a PC with the power equivalence of a potato.

I have been watching Nintendo dig their grave since the WiiU launch -- and I was there with a WiiU ON DAY 1. I watched as, for 4 years, Nintendo continued to fumble with every next milestone that was supposed to "turn the WiiU around", but didn't. I sat around while Zelda got delayed two years only to be released simultaneously on Switch. And now I'm sitting here with a Switch watching Nintendo making the same fundamental mistake of underpowering their system and alienating developers all over again. Pretty much close to done with being an apologist for this bullshit -- there's no excuse for this in 2017 and Nintendo is being fucking myopic. Everything about the Switch screams "rushed", and if you can't see it then, well, I won't be able to see it for you.
Click to expand...

You don't know what Kaplan meant by "a challenge". You are putting your own assumptions on it. It might not be a technical challenge but a challenge due to local player only supporting up to 8 players instead of 12. Then theres the fact that the game is primarily an online only game which has its own obstacles with a portable device that can't get online by itself.

I think most people need to relax about 3rd party support until E3. We'll have a much better idea of what types of games publishers want to bring over.
 
Mercador

Mercador

Member
franklyshankly said:
Nvidia GameStreaming to a Switch would be a pretty awesome added feature actually. Guess Nintendo would never go for that though.
Click to expand...

Totally. It would be a nice feature to say at least, you could play PC games on your Switch. You can stream PS4 games on the Vita, so why not ?
 
Q

qko

Member
emag said:
Yes. $399 for the Jetson TX2 board (includes Tegra X2 CPU/GPU, 8GB RAM, and 32 GB storage).

Dev kit board is $599 ($299 for education).
Click to expand...


Add a touchscreen, joycons, and other things that the board doesn't contain and you get Nintendo getting laughed off the stage after announcing the price if they went with the X2 in 2017.
 
P

Peltz

Member
BasedKiliK said:
Honestly, I think the Tegra X1 is more than powerful enough for Nintendo's needs, as they were already making great games for the prior platform, the Wii U. And this thing is not only more powerful, even in undocked mode, but much easier to work with from a developer's standpoint from what I've read and heard.

Going with a 720p screen was one of their best decisions IMO because of the fact that their first party lineup on the Wii U was already hitting that resolution for the majority of games, and keeping it 720p gives it more headroom in terms of actual performance. I could be entirely wrong but this is my consensus.
Click to expand...

This is all true. Apparently, the Switch is very easy for third parties to develop for as well.

Switch games have visually impressed me so far and I'm a PS4 owner. It's mindblowing how tiny the thing is and it still puts out such gorgeous games.
 
Mihos

Mihos

Gold Member
franklyshankly said:
It was also released nearly 2 years ago. I think there's a reasonable argument if they released it now with the updated X1 it would sell at the same $199 price point. But that's moot since they clearly never will now.
Click to expand...

The product was codenamed 'verge'. And if you believe the rumors, it was canceled when they were awarded the NX contract to not compete.
 
T

The_Lump

Banned
finalflame said:
Yes, the better option is to make it slightly more powerful than their console that failed largely due to being underpowered when their competitors are coming out with upgraded, more powerful versions of their flagship consoles, leading to performance issues at 900p in their very own keystone launch title (BoTW), with no online service at launch, no ability to transfer saves, and no multimedia or web browsing functionality whatsoever, and continuing to use archaic friend codes.

Meanwhile, PS4 Pro promises 1440p-4K gaming at 30fps and smooth 1080p/60FPS on much more graphically demanding titles, launching Boost Mode to enhance non-patched games, all this whilst Microsoft is gearing up for Scorpio. Nintendo is leaning HARD on the handheld angle while reassuring the public the Switch is primarily a home console and not a successor to the 3DS, yet it's very clearly not going to be powerful enough to have proper third party support from major publishers. Even Jeff Kaplan has said getting Overwatch on the Switch would be "a challenge", and Overwatch can run on a PC with the power equivalence of a potato.

I have been watching Nintendo dig their grave since the WiiU launch -- and I was there with a WiiU ON DAY 1. I watched as, for 4 years, Nintendo continued to fumble with every next milestone that was supposed to "turn the WiiU around", but didn't. I sat around while Zelda got delayed two years only to be released simultaneously on Switch. And now I'm sitting here with a Switch watching Nintendo making the same fundamental mistake of underpowering their system and alienating developers all over again. Pretty much close to done with being an apologist for this bullshit -- there's no excuse for this in 2017 and Nintendo is being fucking myopic. Everything about the Switch screams "rushed", and if you can't see it then, well, I won't be able to see it for you.
Click to expand...


But all of this was true either way. Whether it was X1 or X2 it was always only slightly more powerful than WiiU in portable and a bit more than that docked. None of your post has anything to do with the news in this thread.

Did you seriously get to this point thinking we were all still expecting PS4 rivalling specs under the hood? Or expecting a confirmation of a widely rumoured chip to change any of the negatives you listed about Switch??

I suspect you didn't...
 
P

Pie and Beans

Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
Industry leading chip dust.

Going for old technology when you're staring down the barrel of a 5-8 year generation is just always so strange. Like what's even the point of making hardware at that point if the goal is so low?
 
S

Sami+

Member
WhiskerFrisker said:
I hope Nintendo releases an improved Switch with better internals in the near future. I'd buy another Switch.
Click to expand...

I really want to know how likely/possible this is from techies here. Like a vastly more powerful model (base PS4-level maybe) within the next two years? I'd definitely be there and give my launch model to my niece or something.
 
P

PowerThroughLov

Member
*Pure Conjecture Follows*

I believe the rational is this -> Nvidia gave Nintendo a great deal on the 20nm X1 wafers that Nvidia was unable to sell. Nintendo picked these up from Nvidia for near-cost, and the contract signed with Nvidia also gave primary IDE Integration / Shader Compilation / API duties to Nvidia. Nvidia provides all of these dev tools to Nintendo.
 
G

guek

Banned
Cool Guy Sami said:
I really want to know how likely/possible this is from techies here. Like a vastly more powerful model (base PS4-level maybe) within the next two years? I'd definitely be there and give my launch model to my niece or something.
Click to expand...

PS4 level in 2 years? Unlikely. More like 3-4.
 
S

Skittzo0413

Member
Hermii said:
Chipworks said nothing about the node size. That's still a possibility.
Click to expand...

I don't think we'd have any way to know about the node size beyond extrapolation based on clock speed. If the higher clock speeds turn out accurate (which is looking less likely) then it would kinda have to be a 16nm unit to have the battery life it does.

Has no one hacked this yet to determine the max docked clock speeds?
 
F

franklyshankly

Member
Mihos said:
The product was codenamed 'verge'. And if you believe the rumors, it was canceled when they were awarded the NX contract to not compete.
Click to expand...

I absolutely believe that. The optics of turning around and selling an almost identical device to one sold by a customer, for a lower cost, would be terrible from a business standpoint.
 
L

LordKano

Member
Cool Guy Sami said:
I really want to know how likely/possible this is from techies here. Like a vastly more powerful model (base PS4-level maybe) within the next two years? I'd definitely be there and give my launch model to my niece or something.
Click to expand...

Count at least four years, if it ever happens. Nintendo is already using top-notch technology here, it will take some time for an upgrade to be affordable and worth it.
 
D

Dreamwriter

Member
ethomaz said:
Rumor? Anybody can check in their own Switch... like PS4 when you enter to list 3rd-party software it lists Free BSD too.
Click to expand...

That just means they used some of the Free BSD code. There are some very common middleware libraries that use some of the Free BSD code, so Nintendo would have to include the entire license statement if they used one of those libraries.
 
S

Soroc

Member
Mercador said:
Totally. It would be a nice feature to say at least, you could play PC games on your Switch. You can stream PS4 games on the Vita, so why not ?
Click to expand...

If you are playing PC games on your Switch, than you aren't playing Nintendo licensed games on the Switch. Thats a problem for Nintendo, your example is poor in this regard. That would be like saying why can't I stream xboxone games to my vita? Its bad b/c the device maker can't make money off this solution.
 
S

Sword Of Doom

Member
Jonneh3003 said:
What are you talking about?

I think we should get a clear definition of what a tablet is, it isn't just something that runs either IOS or Android, to my knowledge tablet is a form factor.
Click to expand...

It's not a tablet as we have come to expect them. It's a gaming device. I got mine yesterday and I like it to the point that I wish it had a web browser so that I could use it instead of my iPad.

Its not a difficult concept to understand
 
J

Jonneh3003

Banned
Pie and Beans said:
Industry leading chip dust.

Going for old technology when you're staring down the barrel of a 5-8 year generation is just always so strange. Like what's even the point of making hardware at that point if the goal is so low?
Click to expand...

Nice tag.

Anyway it's a tablet computer, they didn't exactly aim for a low goal compared to other tablet devices.
Sword Of Doom said:
It's not a tablet as we have come to expect them. It's a gaming device. I got mine yesterday and I like it to the point that I wish it had a web browser so that I could use it instead of my iPad.

Its not a difficult concept to understand
Click to expand...

Tablets aren't just devices that run IOS and Android with a Kindle app, a web browser and so on. Here's a definition:
"A tablet computer, commonly shortened to tablet, is a thin, flat mobile computer with a touchscreen display, which is usually in color, processing circuitry, and a rechargeable battery in a single device."

Yes it is a gaming device but it's ridiculous to compare something in a tablet form factor to a massive console.
 
L

LordOcidax

Member
Pie and Beans said:
Industry leading chip dust.

Going for old technology when you're staring down the barrel of a 5-8 year generation is just always so strange. Like what's even the point of making hardware at that point if the goal is so low?
Click to expand...
Actually thats true (Mobile chips)... TX1 was the best option aviable for Nintendo.
 
T

trixx

Member
Umm based on that isn't it only marginally more powerful than last gen. Impressive as a handheld and the small format, but as always as a console it's super meh

Also love the switch from prelaunch x2 optimal am for power and third parties to Nintendo should forget about AAA titles etc..
 
N

Nazgul_Hunter

Member
Cool Guy Sami said:
I really want to know how likely/possible this is from techies here. Like a vastly more powerful model (base PS4-level maybe) within the next two years? I'd definitely be there and give my launch model to my niece or something.
Click to expand...

I know this is an unpopular opinion for gaming; but I think going the Apple / Android model would be great.

Imagine if just like every year they released a new Nintendo Switch with better specs; while keeping backwards compatibility for at least 5 years. That's a great way to not have to start from scratch every console generation.
 
Bustanen

Bustanen

Member
Looking forward to hackers dumping the switch OS for the shield. Have no interest in a handheld or waggle games, just want my Mario, Zelda and Metroid.
 
A

ArchedThunder

Banned
Pie and Beans said:
Industry leading chip dust.

Going for old technology when you're staring down the barrel of a 5-8 year generation is just always so strange. Like what's even the point of making hardware at that point if the goal is so low?
Click to expand...

So what should they have gone with then? The X1 is the most powerful chip that Nvidia has that is usable in a mobile form.
 
T

The_Lump

Banned
Sub Boss said:
The concern trolling in these is always interesting to see.
The only way the Switch looks pitiful is compared to much bigger power hungry home devices,Switch is not designed to be that.
Its not like Nintendo picked the worst and most antiquated chip possible for their needs.
Click to expand...

Interesting is one word. It's kinda sad to be honest.
 
L

LordKano

Member
Sword Of Doom said:
It's not a tablet as we have come to expect them. It's a gaming device. I got mine yesterday and I like it to the point that I wish it had a web browser so that I could use it instead of my iPad.

Its not a difficult concept to understand
Click to expand...

Being a gaming device doesn't exclude you from being a tablet. Tablet isn't defined by what its OS can do, but of the form factor and the kind of tech you have in there.

It's a tablet. Like, there's nothing to argue against that.
 
S

Seik

Banned
Pie and Beans said:
Industry leading chip dust.

Going for old technology when you're staring down the barrel of a 5-8 year generation is just always so strange. Like what's even the point of making hardware at that point if the goal is so low?
Click to expand...

Pie and Beans
Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
(Today, 04:40 PM)

Sure.
 
S

shark sandwich

tenuously links anime, pedophile and incels
Well at least we can move past the "searching for hidden power" phase and get to the "well Nintendo always makes great looking games even though the hardware is weaker" phase.
 
ethomaz

ethomaz

Banned
Lexxism said:
What are the clock speed of this?
Click to expand...
CPU: 2.0Ghz+
GPU: 1.5Ghz

Edit: To be fair the max clock to X2 is 1.5Ghz for GPU but Nvidia Jetson TX2 goes only up to 1303Ghz.

bRxx4hm.png
 
G

guek

Banned
Nazgul_Hunter said:
I know this is an unpopular opinion for gaming; but I think going the Apple / Android model would be great.

Imagine if just like every year they released a new Nintendo Switch with better specs; while keeping backwards compatibility for at least 5 years. That's a great way to not have to start from scratch every console generation.
Click to expand...

It's also a great way to limit your developers and screw over consumers. We've been conditioned though to happily change cell phones every 2 years despite the same problems.
 
D

DeuceGamer

Member
I'm guessing they got a good deal on these so if we look at the positive side, Nintendo should have the ability to be aggressive with pricing if needed, right? Also, I expect frequent revisions with somewhat more powerful Tegra chips in the coming years. Wouldn't off the shelf parts mean they would be able to upgrade to the latest Tegra chipset quicker?

In the end we see what the Switch is capable of based on the games. Not a big deal for me personally.
 
A

ArchedThunder

Banned
trixx said:
Umm based on that isn't it only marginally more powerful than last gen. Impressive as a handheld and the small format, but as always as a console it's super meh

Also love the switch from prelaunch x2 optimal am for power and third parties to Nintendo should forget about AAA titles etc..
Click to expand...

I've seein it ball parked at around 2x Wii U in portable and 4.5 in docked, so docked it would be a little ways, though not massively, under half of the Xbox One if I'm not mistaken.
 
The Hermit

The Hermit

Member
dampflokfreund said:
So no "customizations"

Seems like Nvidia had so much Tegras that they went to Nintendo and said "Hey Nintendo we have this very powerful GPU for your new device". Nintendo just agreed. Nvidia laughing.
Click to expand...

For Nintendo that's actually very powerful lol.

Also, they probably got it cheaper so win-win
 
T

The_Lump

Banned
Pie and Beans said:
Industry leading chip dust.

Going for old technology when you're staring down the barrel of a 5-8 year generation is just always so strange. Like what's even the point of making hardware at that point if the goal is so low?
Click to expand...

What other option would hit their power envelope and product requirements? The only "newer" option is a smaller node of what they've got, which in reality would have given a slightly better battery life and marginal increase in possible clock speeds, at a much higher cost. Add it up.

Basically I don't think you understand how product design works.
 
S

shark sandwich

tenuously links anime, pedophile and incels
DeuceGamer said:
I'm guessing they got a good deal on these so if we look at the positive side, Nintendo should have the ability to be aggressive with pricing if needed, right? Also, I expect frequent revisions with somewhat more powerful Tegra chips in the coming years. Wouldn't off the shelf parts mean they would be able to upgrade to the latest Tegra chipset quicker?

In the end we see what the Switch is capable of based on the games. Not a big deal for me personally.
Click to expand...

This 100% fits with the rumor from Semiaccurate that someone got a really killer deal on X1 chips.
 
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