I mean if you take the numbers as production dates they are similar and both are revision A2 so it's something lol
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A Nintendo Switch has been taken apart
- Thread starter Dystify
- Start date
I mean if you take the numbers as production dates they are similar and both are revision A2 so it's something lol
LordOfChaos
Member
Eh. Those just regulate voltage going to the SoC. That they're the same doesn't assure much.
No, it's the Shield TV, which still uses the TX1, Maxwell.
Looks like Shield chip was finished after the Switch one.
I wonder what's the source for the Shield 2017 picture.
Is that the pascal chip?
The title says Shield 2017 SoC.
Also notice that both chips use A2 in the codes.
Edit: and yeah, manufactured within 2 weeks from each other.
I'm talking more know the stuff on the chip not the connectors. The other pic had the thermal paste on it still
https://www.reddit.com/r/nvidia/comments/5uyqq0/switch_teardown_chinese_leaks_more_links_in/ddxv4b0/
They have the source of the shield teardown there
https://www.reddit.com/r/nvidia/comments/5uyqq0/switch_teardown_chinese_leaks_more_links_in/ddxv4b0/
They have the source of the shield teardown there
Polygonal_Sprite
Member
They are clueless and want to paint the bleakest picture possible for Switch.
Unless someone knows the customisation's Nintendo have made to the chips and the confirmed final clock speeds, we know nothing more than we did this time yesterday.
Unknown Soldier
Member
In Nvidia parlance, -A2 is just the revision of the chip, like a version number. Both chips are version "A2", but version of WHAT is what you should be concerned about here.
Skittzo0413
Member
Ah yeah that's interesting. So the new Shield TV chips were manufactured 3 weeks after the Switch chips. Are we sure these photos aren't from a devkit?
Comparison, we know the RAM units are this one (because we read all the letters and numbers on it): http://www.samsung.com/semiconducto...e-dram/low-power-ddr4/K4F6E304HB-MGCH?ia=3107
According to Thraktor it has 32-bit modules which give a speed of 25.6 GB/s, so that's how.
I mentioned A2 because earlier in the thread there was a speculation about it. This proves that A2 is used for a revision of Tegra X1 at least in the Shield case.
Yeah more power efficient version of X1 i think.
It's clearly 4 balls, you fool!
Ricerocket
Member
This and the same A2 stuff we get from the 2017 Nvidia Shield makes me think it's just the same shit.
Skittzo0413
Member
Is it typically normal for an SoC to be fabbed ~4 months before the device is assembled?
So do we have game tests runs on 2017 Shield TV?
It would be nice for comparisons atleast.
Edit:
looking reviews of 2017 shield makes me Switch isnt android because it has very good UI and bunch of media apps in it already on launch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8xV2yqtNOU
edit 2 :
man Shield tv looks sexy as fuck like switch itself. Both X1 devices are pretty small and looking hot.
Schnozberry
Member
I posted the same thing on the last page. If the chips were manufactured late July, my guess is this is a Summer Devkit before the most recent revision. It also doesn't picture the large aluminum chassis/heat spreader that computerbild.de found when they took one apart a few days ago.
SomedayTheFire
Member
I thought this was obvious?
dampflokfreund
Banned
True. I think we should wait until somebody opens a confirmed retail device.
I remember reading Pascal is 30℅ more power efficient than Maxwell. Let's say the current Switch is underclocked 50% in portable mode and still needs active cooling. Can we not underclock it by 80% in a future revision that has a Pascal chip so we then wouldn't need active cooling in portable mode which allows way better battery life
LordOfChaos
Member
I've said a few times, their self admitted 250 people working 2 years on the Switch (including making a bespoke API and physics library and OS integration) doesn't mean a fully stock part, but it would be far from enough to majorly revamp the chip either. It's going to be more Nvidia IP than Nintendo, and likely leaning more heavily towards the former than it has in a decade if not always.
Doesn't sound like Nvidia wants to go to as far extremes as AMD on semi-custom products, while AMD made that one of their selling points. Nvidia also doesn't licence out their IP, as Microsoft got burned on in the og Xbox, and Sony in the PS3.
There is not really time to have the chips manufactured in the second week of July delivered, the devkits manufactured and the devkits to reach also the devs in NA and/or Europe within the same month.
mario_O
Member
There's also no branding on the motherboard. Could be fake?
NeOak
Member
Here's comparison between Nvidia Shield 2017.
Pretty much confirms its Maxwell not Pascal
LOL
Packaging means nothing unless the codes on the chip can be read.
Fail.
That is for the manufacturing machines that gather the components to put on the board. Purely for Foxconn to keep track of inventory.
I interviewed at a company that made such machines and they explained how it worked.
They don't own the design. NVIDIA doesn't license the Geforce IP.
So we're back to the maxwell pascal shield wars, even though we've seen the console, we've seen what the games look like, we've seen with the soc is capable of, and we've heard all of the real life, first hand impressions about how the graphics feel impressive for a portable/handheld...
Like always this is at most speculation. Until we see the teardown from computerbild or someone else, we can make conclusions.
But I still think I think a July date is a little off for a retail unit, most likely a early dev-kit, I hope, I want the ram to go from 4 to 6, I hope the capcom thing was after this was manufactured.
But I still think I think a July date is a little off for a retail unit, most likely a early dev-kit, I hope, I want the ram to go from 4 to 6, I hope the capcom thing was after this was manufactured.
last letter looks an 'H' too.
SEC 531
K4F6E30
4HBMGCH
hmm I was leaning towards thraktor's guess, but that second symbol doesn't look like a 4 to me at all in this pick. The second line I don't think matters... I'm not even sure about the last "30" digits, could be "83" in this picture... Maybe this is a bad compression?
Pancake Mix
Copied someone else's pancake recipe
Don't do this to yourself. We've seen the capabilities.
Schnozberry
Member
I don't know what the timeline was on Devs receiving the kits. But most of the information we have was based on information taken from kits that were manufactured in July, including the documentation that Eurogamer got hold of that was later released online.
According to several sources, there was a later revision of the kit from the October/November timeframe that were overall more powerful. Whether that means final hardware revisions or leaps forward in the SDK remains to be seen.
NeOak
Member
It does not work like that. The numbers matter. If it is the same as the new Shield, cool. But without the numbers on the heatsink at least, it's pure horseshit.
JonnyDBrit
Member
They use two different fonts on the same module, as seen in this example:
Where it goes G4G4, that font does look vaguely like what's on the Switch RAM.
Schnozberry
Member
Good catch, thanks.
LordOfChaos
Member
I was going to point out that the thermal gunk on the camera facing side of the heat sink also indicated a large aluminum slab would be covering it like in the other teardown, but yeah, also the fact that it's right in the picture, lol
Seems like they're doing the Surface Pro 4 cooling thing with semi-passive heat to a large slab as well.
Always thought that half passive, half active design was super cool.
I keep getting the nagging feeling that there's a whole lot of thought put into cooling for a half clocked Shield TV SoC...But we don't know enough yet.
I was hoping you were right as then things start looking very curious, but then I realised i'd seen it!
Xdrive05
Member
Yeah, I'm still thinking we might not have the chips right either. The compression is making it hard to tell what's a 3 or an 8 or a 0. And that 2nd line, 2nd digit also doesn't look like a 4 to me.
Why's it so hard to get clearer pics of this stuff? Lol
And it could also be an older kit unit as others have said. The more answers, the more questions. :-(
Pancake Mix
Copied someone else's pancake recipe
Real life performance also matters, and we know what we've seen so far. If you're expecting the next gen of Nvidia tech then you're literally hoping against reality at this point.
Switch will be amazing, but it's appreciably sub-Xbox One in power. That's fine.
It is cool but im sure if it was pascal we were speculating most people would call somebody like you crazy.
Whatever
NeOak
Member
Hoping? I just want to see the chip in the new Shield and compare.
Also, you seem to be ignorant of what exactly is "next gen" from NVIDIA. Pascal is a Maxwell revision, no matter how others try to spin it.
"Next gen" is Volta, and that isn't ready.
Pancake Mix
Copied someone else's pancake recipe
Oh I'm sure it will say Nintendo somewhere on the motherboard. iFixit will make it clearer.
Again, you're wasting your time. We have performance measurements, and it looks more like a custom Maxwell.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2016-nintendo-switch-spec-analysis
Polygonal_Sprite
Member
So you're judging Switch's capabilities based on unfinished games and Wii U ports?
RandomExpletive
Member
Shit man, I'm gonna miss these threads. Can't wait to see an official teardown!
There's the Switch internal development code (HAC) all over the board, but that's it.