DOT DASH DOT
Member
Had a search for this and didn't really come up with an awful lot, but what are we looking at here? Gigaflop figures? Percentages? General CPU and GPU performance comparisons? Or is it really an tiny upgrade?
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How much more powerful is the Switch vs Wii U?
- Thread starter DOT DASH DOT
- Start date
James Scott
Banned
I think it's more powerful than Wii U when undocked and docked.
Docked seems to be 2x more powerful allowing 720p Wii U games to be rendered at 1080p or at least with visual/performance upgrades like with Splatoon.
Architecture improvements, more RAM, and a better CPU help too.
I recall reading that MK8 on Wii U was limited in RAM so that's why you could only hold 1 item.
Docked seems to be 2x more powerful allowing 720p Wii U games to be rendered at 1080p or at least with visual/performance upgrades like with Splatoon.
Architecture improvements, more RAM, and a better CPU help too.
I recall reading that MK8 on Wii U was limited in RAM so that's why you could only hold 1 item.
Jaded Alyx
Member
More like undocked is 2x more powerful.
Astral Dog
Member
This big 👐
Holy shit that's amazing!!?
this is too good. too too good.
Gotdatmoney
Member
I'm unsure on the CPU front but GPU wise its looking about 3-4x taking inro consideration efficiency gains and modeen architecture when talking about docked. CPU I dont know sadly.
Jaded Alyx
Member
It's to do with all 12 racers having two items and the game having to handle that.
SinCityAssassin
Member
First of all not quite right and second of all Come on man.
efyu_lemonardo
May I have a cookie?
Data-wise that's a paltry amount. And remember it was done on GameCube which had ~40MB of ram.
James Scott
Banned
Diablohead
Member
It's not really a straight cut "it's twice as good" but the cpu and gpu are big improvements in power and in being able to run more up to date er... drivers and code stuff, it all helps in how it can squeeze more performance out of itself.
if it was not for battery and temp limits the tegra in the switch could be twice as fast as it's currently clocked at but not sure if the chip inside has anything stopping it being returned to high clock speeds, something modders will one day be able to tell us hopefully.
if it was not for battery and temp limits the tegra in the switch could be twice as fast as it's currently clocked at but not sure if the chip inside has anything stopping it being returned to high clock speeds, something modders will one day be able to tell us hopefully.
Vanillalite
Ask me about the GAF Notebook
Switch can go Super Saiyan sooooo
Gotdatmoney
Member
The chip throttles at higher clocks. You could probably get away with higher CPU clocks but you still have to worry about heat generatopn when holding the system undocked. They could do a die shrink and run much better clocks though.
tkscz
Member
Based on hardware, you have 2x more RAM that is much faster (3x more usable RAM). GPU is five generations ahead (Radeon HD 4000 vs Nvidia Maxwell). CPU is far more stable, and faster, plus an extra core. Only issue it has is it barely has a high FLOP rate than the Wii U. That being said, can't really give it the arbitrary X number stronger. In most cases it's 4x stronger.
Maxwell has more than "a few more effects" compared to VLIW5
Maxwell has more than "a few more effects" compared to VLIW5
OrangeGrayBlue
Member
It'll render a 720p Wii U game at 1080p with some better lighting and texture filtering. I don't know what that translates to in duct-taped gamecubes, but that seems to be the practical implementation of the power difference.
I'd argue that these "How powerful is ____ compared to ____" conversations are going to fade away over time though, because we're reaching a point where even the average smart phone allows for some really nice looking games at high resolutions. At this point, if your game is ugly it has very little to do with being on a system that can't realize your artistic vision.
I'd argue that these "How powerful is ____ compared to ____" conversations are going to fade away over time though, because we're reaching a point where even the average smart phone allows for some really nice looking games at high resolutions. At this point, if your game is ugly it has very little to do with being on a system that can't realize your artistic vision.
UncleSporky
Member
IIRC Breath of the Wild's performance is nearly identical to the Wii U when undocked (portable) in terms of frame rate in specific spots, and both run at 720p. But this shouldn't be considered an accurate measuring stick due to BotW's shifts in platform development. It's not necessarily optimized for either platform.
Gotdatmoney
Member
BOTW runs significantly better undocked on the Switch vs the WiiU. Like the difference is massive.
SinCityAssassin
Member
It's true, I went to a scientist and they told me it was as powerful as three slices of bread.
Polygonal_Sprite
Gold Member
2x when handheld. 4x when docked.
1/3 Xbox One when docked.
1/3 Xbox One when docked.
Is that more or less than one potato?
UncleSporky
Member
Ah, does it? I didn't remember it being noted as such right at launch. Did patches shore it up, or was it always that much better? Got any hard numbers?
I remembered that it was said to run a little worse docked, because it was 900p, and that bit of extra resolution was enough to make it stutter a little more than when undocked.
LegendofLex
Member
iirc (I don't own the Wii U version), it runs worse than it does in handheld mode when docked, not worse than it does on Wii U.
Mario Kart 8 and Splatoon were both 720p on Wii U and are now 1080p on Switch.
BotW was 720p on Wii U and is now 900p on Switch.
SinCityAssassin
Member
Before the patches hit, Switch and Wii U ran into the same frame stuttering problems, but handheld mode had almost none. After the patch hit, Switch ran significantly better than the Wii U version and handheld mode had no dips afterwards.
chronic_archaic
Member
It's about two times more powerful in terms of graphics, it's gotta be at least 1000000 times more powerful in terms of CPU and this is docked iirc. CPU statistic should be right undocked too however.
Gotdatmoney
Member
The docked performance was worse than the undocked performance on Switch. The undocked performance was better than the WiiU. The docked and the WiiU ran similarly with the docked edging it out. After the patch the game is significantly better in docked and undocked on Switch vs WiiU. Check the Digital Foundry video on both release and after patch.
I also have both versions and yeah its better on the Switch no matter how you slice it after the patch. Before the patch it was roughly the same on WiiU and docked Switch. (Roughly)
And the game undocked still drops frames after the patch. It's still not perfect but there are certain sections of the game that were horrible.
OrangeGrayBlue
Member
I believe handheld was always somewhat more stable but yes, there was a patch that really exaggerated the difference between the two. Here's a video showing the difference. The game in docked and undocked is pretty consistently 30fps, whereas the Wii U dips as low as 20fps frequently.
RoadHazard
Gold Member
Slightly more powerful in handheld mode, quite a bit more powerful (GPU-wise) docked.
Just look at Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: 1080p and some additional effects, along with a better frame rate.
(And guys, stop calling Splatoon 2 Splatoon 1. Go watch the Digital Foundry video, there are visual improvements that differentiate it).
frankie_baby
Member
In simple flops numbers maybe but closer to 2/3 if something is optimised properly due to more modern architecture and if fp16 is used
How to measure everything using GameCube Unit (GC's):
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1350462
someone do the math, it's the only way of knowing
DongBeetle
Banned
Slightly undocked and quite a bit docked
DOT DASH DOT
Member
I don't even think Digital Foundry has done a Switch/Wii U tech comparison have they?
In the form factor/hybrid design they chose it would have been impossible. Short of some sort of hardware in the doc itself anyway.
Jonneh3003
Banned
Well the Switch is a tablet device. It's unrealistic to expect a battery powered Xbox One at a decent price.
I would buy the shit out of that Switch
