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Nintendo Switch: Powered by Custom Nvidia Tegra Chip (Official)
- Thread starter ekim
- Start date
ultrazilla
Gold Member
Yeah I tend to agree. IMO Switch has to hit a minimum 1080p/30fps in docked mode or the third parties will vanish quicker then their unprecedented Wii U support; i.e. None.
Schnozberry
Member
It all depends on which process node they are on and how much wattage they push in docked mode to go after higher clockspeeds.
10watt X1 SoC to Pascal Tegra would only draw 4watts for that same performance, This device has a maximum battery life of 3 hours, even with N3DS XL (which uses 4 watts) you'd need to draw 7watts+ to only have 3 hours max. Thus this device has more performance over X1 on the go.
When docked it has to have over 40% better performance than x1 to need active cooling since Tegra X1 Shield TV was passively cooled in a similar size. You get 720gflops+ when docked. It is about the only thing we know if we trust rumors from Nate and just accept that Pascal is a given considering this won't be a 20nm device.
So yes, ~600gflops on the go and ~750gflops when docked is my estimate if it is pascal, it nearly has to be.
Skittzo0413
Member
I thought the Shield TV does include a fan, though it runs quietly. I don't know if that changes your estimates but it's worth mentioning.
Schnozberry
Member
I hesitate to make specific predictions. I trust that NateDrake has good sources and it will be Pascal, but we don't know how Nintendo will implement the improvements that going down to 16nm brings. They could easily eschew performance and just push for efficiency, it's certainly in their DNA.
Schnozberry
Member
It does. The fan is small and silent. That's what makes the loud cooler in the NX Dev Kits stand out. It makes me think they have been overclocking the TX1 to approximate the performance of the final hardware.
This thread in a nutshell
And yet I keep coming back every day because I NEED TO KNOW
I check every day hoping the discussion has new developments. Although it seems the estimated target hasn't moved at all and people just keep re-iterating and re-arguing the same things lmao.
Portugeezer
Member
It's a placeholder price. Nintendo has not given retailers the pricing yet.
Yeah I was wrong, docked it could be less than that, however 10watts docked gives you 717gflops with Nvidia's numbers of 40% more performance, on the go is still somewhere between 500-600gflops just based on the battery life. Pascal runs pretty nice at 1.5ghz so if I was Nvidia, I'd probably target around that clock when docked. It really comes down to just being able to do it.
Emily's post from April still put this close to XB1, and there was a reddit user who said he was a developer and that if PS4 was 1080p on a certain titles, XB1 would run at 900p and then NX would run at 720p, considering all we know about this device now, that feels like the safe bet tbh.
Nvidia's blog post also said they spent 500 man years designing this device from hardware to software and it uses the brand new custom NVN API by Nvidia, I really can't see them spending so much time on a device for maxwell when they have pascal ready for the form factor and literally had working prototypes. I'd be shocked if we were wrong about pascal, and that is a 60% reduction in power consumption over X1, which is crazy.
ShadowFox08
Member
Or they could simply lower the graphical fidelity of the game outside of frame rate and resolution. You know, less prettier textures, lighting, etc.
Anyway.. Did you guys hear what the President of NIntendo just said the other day? He reconfirmed that the Switch won't be sold at a loss, but at the same time he's listening to consumers about an affordable price.
This is big news in my opinion, as I didn't think he would go through with being so adamant on not risking selling at a loss, which means of course that this system isn't going to be all that powerful. This revelation pretty much narrows down the price range to 250-300 as the most likely price and helps us further predict the power. They want to make money or at least break even, so $200 or 350 is totally out of the window. Most of us already knew that, but now that our suggested price range is all but confirmed, we have a better gauge at the power. Maybe some real tech gurus have a better predictor than I do. But I'm guessing If its 250, I can imagine it being 500-600 GFLOPs. It if its 300, its more likely to be higher in power.. 750 to 1TFLOP(lol) if we're lucky. Just a hunch.
I'm taking into account with the rumors that Nvidia gave Nintendo a really good deal and could be selling at a loss at launch themselves.
I was talking about big, resource intensive AAA games like for example Battlefield 1. Other 3rd party games and indies could run 720p handheld and 1080p docked, like the first party games.
The selling point of a 3rd party game on Switch for the next years couldn't be that it's the best port unless Switch would have matched Scorpio. The selling point is that Switch is the only system where you can play that game anywhere you want.
sammyCYBORG
Member
If you can't play at 1080p this is the first major failing of the console.
I was worried the portable aspect would handicap the home console element and that appears to be the case.
I was worried the portable aspect would handicap the home console element and that appears to be the case.
In this case, all the consoles have hugely failed with Battlefield 1.
Are there news?
KojiKnight
Member
Based on what? So many people stating facts based on speculation...
Well, obviously it will. That's physics. Not expecting that is silly.
Yep. Do you want your games to look the best they can get? Get a PC.
You want to play those games anywhere, get a Switch.
sammyCYBORG
Member
And for those of us who want to play Nintendo games without compromised tech in their home?
My problem with all of this is that no one really has any information except the chip is Nvidia. No idea about RAM, clockspeeds, or even if it X1, Parker, something in-between, or something custom and better. We do know the focus is the console side, but what bearing that has on the specs when docked vs when in handheld mode we don't know. All those things come into play in determining how well it'll be able to run more recent AAA games.
If it can run those games relatively well at 1080p while docked, then I'll be happy. Honestly, I don't care how it performs when in handheld mode, but I hope it's well enough for people to happy with that aspect of it. With Nvidia behind the machine and their need to impress, I have a feeling we may all be pleasantly surprised by what it's capable of.
You're out of luck.
In 3 weeks you will have been out of luck for a decade though, so you should be used to it
That will happen when and if Nintendo will ever release games on PC. Any console is a compromised tech or becomes one in less than a year after launch.
At least it's a more realistic placeholder price than the one Media Markt (Germany) has come up with 998
Candescence
Member
To be frank, third parties compromise on resolution all the time to pack in more shiny nonsense that generally doesn't even make the game look much better anyway. How many third party AAA games these days ever run at 1080p, period?
KingSnake said it best. Compromise is pretty much the entire point of console gaming. Besides, first-party Nintendo games tend to look absolutely sublime even on "compromised" hardware, just imagine what Nintendo could do with the Switch tech if it can actually play PS4/Xbone games.
KingSnake said it best. Compromise is pretty much the entire point of console gaming. Besides, first-party Nintendo games tend to look absolutely sublime even on "compromised" hardware, just imagine what Nintendo could do with the Switch tech if it can actually play PS4/Xbone games.
RoadHazard
Gold Member
Based on thinking with your brain. If you know anything about how this stuff works, it should be super obvious that the price/performance ratio of this device will suffer compared to if it had been designed as a pure home console like the PS4.
(That's not to say the PS4 isn't also designed with compromises, especially on the CPU side. But it would have been even more compromised had it been designed with portability in mind.)
Every game ever developed has constraints. Its funny how that never stopped fun and innovative games from coming out
Not sure what you expect? Nintendo doesn't need PS4 level power to make amazing games. They have always had some pretty complex and immersive games compared to Sony despite the big difference in graphics.
At this point, if you need hyper realistic graphics in you games I have to question why you even care about Nintendo anymore or have cared in the last ten years.
It's been ten years dude, get over it.
Again, Battlefield 1 doesn't achieve stable 900p on any current gen console. I don't know why you hope for miracles. This has nothing to do with the year. They could target just the resolution and cut all effects. Would that be any better?
Plinko
Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
Build a time machine, go back to the early 2000s. Problem solved.
Seriously, though, it just isn't Nintendo's way any more.
I don't expect nothing from 3rd parties, i'm getting Switch for Nintendo games and some other exclusives that it'll have, though big AAA PS4/XB1 multiplatforms aren't likely to arrive on Switch to me. Of course i would be happy if that was the case cause i'd love to be able to play those games both handheld and TV mode, even if surly Switch versions would be at best 720p with also some downgraded effect, let's be honest even if the Tegra chip is good, it's not quite at PS4/XB1 level, not even counting the Switch 4GB of RAM vs 8GB of competitors, also if Nintendo is releasing just 32GB of storage it means they already know games won't be as heavy as the PS4/XB1 ones, due to lower resolution and texture quality.
This kind of bait is getting tiresome while ignoring the hybrid nature of the system or that it will be an incredible powerful portable system.
Well, it's Nintendo who said the device is intended as a home console primarily. I think it's a handheld that can be docked, but they're the ones pushing it as a competitor in that space for obvious reasons.
If you're saying the Switch will focus on 4K, HDR, and VR, then obviously you're looking at it from the wrong crowd.
Where am I saying that? I'm saying that in a year the home console companies are pushing for such formats, aligning to compete your device in that space doesn't necessarily look flattering.
"But you can take it with you!" is their counter-argument, but that essentially means it's a mobile system that can dock, not that it's a home system that also works on the go. The distinction being the performance target. I just take issue with Nintendo's messaging, basically.
Even in the handheld space, the 3DS was underpowered compared to a PSP, so it's not like pulling this conversation into that space makes the precedent of Nintendo making underpowered systems too shocking. It's nice that they seem to be aiming for a really powerful handheld this time though, that's a favorable position, but the dedicated gaming handheld overall isn't a favorable position to begin with.
Do you think Nintendo believes themselves that this system is a home console first? The ONLY reason why they're saying that now is because they're getting ready to launch quite possibly one of the biggest games of the year on their current handheld that is going on six years old. They do not want to get out their and kill any of the gangbuster sales 3DS will have this holiday due to Pokémon.
I guarantee you once Switch is out, or even in January, they will make a huge deal about the handheld component over the console component.
I mean, I know that is true. That's my whole point. I'm complaining against that messaging.
I'm just assuming he meant DS/PSP and 3DS/Vita and jumbled it up.
I think the Switch will do fine with 3rd party ports. I think Nintendo will out do themselves with first party. They know the Wii U wasn't as supported as their previous consoles. I think we'll see a massive output from their studios. Their core games will speak for the system and sell it I believe
If the handheld footage shown was any indication, it probably won't even be as capable as the Wii U when undocked. I know the footage was photoshopped in, but it's still pretty likely that they captured it from a real system before that (especially considering the choppyness of games when used in mobile form).
You guys are expecting way too much from this thing.
You guys are expecting way too much from this thing.
calc84maniac
Member
I really don't think Nintendo would cripple their gameplay like that.
Skittzo0413
Member
It's highly unlikely that any of that footage shown was running on Switch hardware. Conservative estimates put this at >2x Wii U in raw power when undocked, so I wouldn't worry about that.
Thelonelykoopa
Member
That wouldnt make sense though unless they used something like the old Tegra K1 as we know its using Tegra and it would make no sense for them to use something that old.
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