A German computer mag already measured the sound level, it's at 0.4 Sone compared to PS4 Pro's 1.7. So abut one quarter as loud.
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iFixit teardown reveals what's inside a Nintendo Switch
- Thread starter Moskalova
- Start date
Cuningas de Häme;231462874 said:
A better SoC. This is the first time I've seen an ARM tablet with a fan.
Fans generally become useless at a certain small size, so you would explore passive cooling design options.
Is that measurement taken under high load?
Fan is small, but it will whine when it spins high. PS4 uses a larger blower fan, so yes, it would be naturally louder.
Yes. The dock provides extra power (electrical) so the switch can increase clock speeds allowing it to up the resolution. It's kind of like turning a PS4 into a ps pro - rumoured specs are that it increases the GPU by over 2.25x which should be enough for a 720p handheld game to run at 1080p when docked.
Panajev2001a
GAF's Pleasant Genius
SomedayTheFire
Member
Yeah. It's the same as all other haptic feedback.
So the HD Rumble is just one motor. I though it would be multiple motors around the joy-con.
Most laptops have it too. You'd think a device marketed as a console/handheld hybrid would have something like that.
The margin is probably still pretty high. But that's true of all accessories. I would think there was a certain margin retailers expect before they put something on their shelves.
Especially considering the MMU (or margin) for the console itself is in the low single digits.
DisplayPort, what they're reportedly using, is still more efficient.
Chipworks got you covered in a day or two.
Sidewinder
Member
Looks like somebody at the assembly line stuck his/her chewing gum in that unit 
Lol the fan is completely inaudible, i put my ear over it after a couple of hours of Breath of the Wild and i couldn't hear shit
Cuningas de Häme
Member
I think that people saying that Switch fan is loud either live in Hell (or similar hot place) or their unit is broken.
So many of the reviewers and users have said that their unit is silent and only mildly warm.
These launch units always have some kinks, when they optimize their production lines things will even out.
I really hope that one day we have parts readily available from Ebay, those leaked pictures from a Chinese guy were apparently from a company that disassembles electronic stuff and then sells the parts online.
I mean, so little is glued or soldered so even I would be most likely able to change something like faulty SD port chip etc...
So many of the reviewers and users have said that their unit is silent and only mildly warm.
These launch units always have some kinks, when they optimize their production lines things will even out.
I really hope that one day we have parts readily available from Ebay, those leaked pictures from a Chinese guy were apparently from a company that disassembles electronic stuff and then sells the parts online.
I mean, so little is glued or soldered so even I would be most likely able to change something like faulty SD port chip etc...
Quoting myself from the other thread.
Expect news from chipworks very soon, I emailed them. Here is the correspondence:
Hi Neogaf,
Thank you for reaching out to us about the Nintendo Switch. I'm happy to report that we are tearing down the device as I type. We hope to have a blog post written about our findings no later than Monday. When the blog post goes live we expect to be able to release some top metal die photos that you can examine them yourself.
I'll be in touch soon.
Hi Chipworks 😊
I am a member of the videogame enthusiast forum neogaf. For months, we have been trying to figure out what exactly is inside the Nintendo Switch. Nintendo being Nintendo, the only spec information they have provided publicly is `customized Nvidia Tegra". The last time they released a console, chipworks was kind enough to provide die pictures to help us find out what was powering it. Will there be something similiar this time around?
Kindly, Neogaf
So the HD Rumble is just one motor. I though it would be multiple motors around the joy-con.
Just a simple linear resonant actuator in each, which isn't really a motor like regular rumble. The controllers are so thin, that's all they need. They didn't even go for the more forceful / variable force reactors like the Steam Controller / Vive. It's also why "rumble" feels more like buzzing in games like Zelda.
kuroneko0509
Member
oof can't wait
This will probably confirm that Switch has a quad core A57 cpu and a Maxwell Tegra. But I do hope to be surprised!
Elfotografoalocado
Banned
By top metal die, don't they mean regular photos of the die like iFixit has done?
Also, I'm so glad to see that Nintendo isn't following the bullshit Apple design paradigm. I'm so tired of devices that cannot be repaired in any way, and that lack of repairability doesn't have any other purpose than, well, preventing people's devices from lasting. This proves that you can make a sleek, state of the art device and have it be modular.
Also, I'm so glad to see that Nintendo isn't following the bullshit Apple design paradigm. I'm so tired of devices that cannot be repaired in any way, and that lack of repairability doesn't have any other purpose than, well, preventing people's devices from lasting. This proves that you can make a sleek, state of the art device and have it be modular.
kuroneko0509
Member
Elfotografoalocado
Banned
no it's not. here's an example of top-metal die shot
So you get to see the transistor arrangements, and to tell all of the components, but not to determine the transistor node size and type? (You need transmisive electron microscope for that, right?)
Last_colossi
Member
Umm.. I'm six hours into Breath of the Wild and I can't even hear the fan, even when sitting next to the Switch while docked.
I'm not kidding when I say that it's hardly audible even when I stick my ear right up to the exhaust and on top of that when I take it out of it's dock while playing Zelda it's just barely warm, not even near hot.
I'm legitimately surprised by the Switch, it's not a power house by any stretch of the imagination but it's damn impressive what Nintendo have done with it.
GifGafIsTheBestGaf
Member
Instead of beating around the bush op link the source instead
https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Nintendo+Switch+Teardown/78263
https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Nintendo+Switch+Teardown/78263
Which one?
Same, if you get ears close to the system there is some noise, in portable mode, but in normal gameplay it's silent.
And while it kicks up when docked, I am farther away when playing docked, so it doesn't make appreciable noise either.
Yes, because the dock gives a power supply , the GPU runs fast enough. But not fast enough to keep up with the increase in resolution it appears.
Ploid 3.0
Member
Oh wow, interesting. I wonder if it would be too hot to hold in that mode if a usb charger was connected to it. It's probably not worth it in handheld mode since they may have strict settings for dock mode increasing the resolution, and not just the framerate. Also there's that screen shutting off while docked thing.
The fan is running at a higher speed when docked, so cooling isn't a problem.
Great to see, although as other have already said the link to the actual teardown on iFixit should be in the OP:
https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Nintendo+Switch+Teardown/78263
They've got great high-quality photos and a breakdown of (almost) all the components in there.
I think it's worth going over some of the more important chips in Switch:
https://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Nintendo+Switch+Teardown/78263
They've got great high-quality photos and a breakdown of (almost) all the components in there.
I think it's worth going over some of the more important chips in Switch:
- SoC - Nvidia Tegra ODNX02-A2
As we've already seen in the previous teardowns. Size is around 120mm², but any more detailed analysis will have to wait for Chipworks. - RAM - 2x Samsung K4F6E304HB-MGCH - 2GB LPDDR4 3200MT/s 32-bit
This confirms what we'd speculated from the less-than-perfect photos of the original Chinese teardown. One interesting thing to note is that, from the three teardowns we've seen, they've all used Samsung RAM, which would indicate they're single sourcing it (unlike the eMMC, which they're sourcing from at least two manufacturers). It's possible that Samsung provide more energy efficient RAM than Micron or SK Hynix. - WiFi/BT - Broadcom BCM4356 - 802.11ac 2x2 MIMO WiFi & Bluetooth 4.1
This gives theoretical WiFi speeds of 867Mb/s on the 5GHz band and 433Mb/s on the 2.4GHz band, which was already known from FCC filings, but at least we have confirmation of the chipset used. - Flash Memory - Toshiba THGBMHG8C2LBAIL - 32GB eMMC
We've also seen an equivalent Samsung part in another teardown, although it isn't at all unusual for companies to dual-source things like eMMC. Technically it's stated as being capable of 400MB/s, but that's the interface speed, not the actual memory speed. Expect real-world speeds to be somewhat lower. This is on its own break-out board, so it would be interesting to see if anyone manages to get a higher capacity replacement board to work (eMMC is available at up to 128GB capacities at the moment). - Audio - Realtek ALC5639 - DAC/ADC and headphone amp
This handles audio for both the internal speakers and the headphone jack (it also supports microphone input). Not much else to talk about, it's a fairly standard all-in-one audio chipset. - USB Chipset - Pericom Semiconductor PI3USB30532 - USB3.0/DisplayPort1.2 multiplexer
This handles data communication over the USB-C port, supporting three different modes:
1. USB3.0 (1 lane - 5Gb/s) only
2. USB3.0 (1 lane - 5Gb/s) + DP1.2 (2 lanes - 10.8Gb/s)
3. DP1.2 (4 lanes - 21.6Gb/s) only
There's no USB3.1 (10Gb/s) support, and the DisplayPort connection could support 4K/30fps (with HDR) simultaneously with USB, or 4K/60fps (with HDR) without USB. - Mystery Chip 1 - M92T36 630380
There's no real evidence on what this is, it may be off the shelf (although I haven't been able to find any info online), or it may be custom. It's located near to the headphone port, so I would have suspected perhaps a headphone amp, but the Realtek chip already provides that functionality. - Mystery Chip 2 - B1633 GCBRG HAC STD T1001216
This looks to be a custom chip (notice that HAC is included in the part code). It's relatively close to (and seems to have traces going to) the USB-C port, so it may have something to do with that. - Mystery Chip 3 - FT9C OAA637 8AA01
This is a bit less of a mystery, as it's on the game card reader board, so it's almost certainly some kind of interface chip for the game cards. Nonetheless, any details on it could be useful to figure out the interface they're using for the game cards. - Mystery Port
Okay, this isn't actually a chip, but it's something I found interesting. There's a low-profile connector just above the Broadcom wireless chipset which hasn't been connected to anything in any of the three teardowns we've seen. My own personal speculation is that this could be used as an alternative for the eMMC connector for different flash memory types (e.g. eUFS).
Haha, I remember a lot of members saying "but Nintendo clearly SAYS it's a console!"
I mean, really, how thick can you be.
Its a hybrid. Its a portable with a dock and all the controller options you would expect from a console.
Jaded Alyx
Member
The dock provides continuous power which allows the Switch to run at higher clock speeds. In other words, it makes it capable of higher performance. Zelda docked is 900p, most other software docked is 1080p. This is why people are confused that Zelda in portable mode runs better than when docked.
Where do you see it? There's no Realtek Wireless Chip. And all the connectors are accounted for, I think.
No, the power has to be delivered to the Switch, not the other way round. I can't find those cheap items you speak off. The cheapest solution I found is the Anker one which proved HDMI, USB3 and powers the device (and it's usually between 60 and 100$ depending on promotions).
Also I would never trust a 14$ device anywhere near my Switch to charge it/power it/have (probably super crappy) HDMI out
Sorry, I meant Broadcom. It's just above that on iFixit's photo of that side of the motherboard. It's definitely not connected to anything, as you can see it as they open it up, and none of the other components connect to it. It's also unconnected in the other two teardowns.
Edit: It's this one here:
Maybe it's a JTAG or servicing port?
Useful for reprogramming/reflashing software.
Excellent practice since Nintendo probably also plans to sell refurbs like they have with 2DS/3DS + Wii U.
Quite possibly, although with the eMMC board being removable you could quite easily just interface with the eMMC directly without need for an extra connection on the motherboard.
Yep you can hardly tell it's running. Really good fan.
WordAssassin
Member
I haven't played a game with HD Rumble yet but I had assumed there would be "motors" all along the length of the JoyCon with the way people described it. Kind of blowing my mind that a little strip at the bottom can produce an effect like water running through the JoyCon or a ball clinking against the top O:
Technology is magic
Technology is magic
Well let's make an educated guess.
I count 9 pins from lines to the connector.
Supposedly UHS-2 requires additional traces in how its interfaced to the main board.
Most likely the reader is UHS-I/U3.
I don't think there is a smartphone out there that properly supports UHS-II yet.
True. Modular design eliminates the need for desoldering in a hot plate/room.
Port is visible when the eMMC is installed, so I suppose it can be used when the system is on.
The_Inquisitor
Member
You have to deprocess it layer by layer. What you are looking at in that photo is mostly the top metal (either aluminum or copper) and some other layers that aren't the top metal. Gate contact is one of the very first steps in manufacturing semiconductors.
Damn it, mystery port is much more exiting than a microSD Card reader.
Soapbox Killer
Grand Nagus
Dock has "some" innards to it beyond the normal since you can't use the Switch with any 3rd party USB-C to HDMI. Something in the Dock has to be doing a tiny bit of processing or "Switching" since it doesn't work with out it.
I'm going to rebuild my dock to an "Open-Face" version so I never scratch the screen.
I'm going to rebuild my dock to an "Open-Face" version so I never scratch the screen.
jts
...hate me...
Link? I may have use for that. Assuming it's not from some highly suspect brand/manufacturer. Will not play around with USB-C power passthrough to save some euros.
Also, the 90€ price includes the 30€ charger. In the US it's also sold without the charger for $60.
Yeah, a compact case for the Dock motherboard and ports could be a very cool mod. Hope someone makes that.