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Nintendo Switch: Powered by Custom Nvidia Tegra Chip (Official)

K

Kimawolf

Member
kIdMuScLe said:
In guessing that nvidia is gonna be handling Documentation and support instead of developers waiting for Nintendo to send their engineers over right?
Click to expand...
That will be a big step imo and may end up being one of the more important factors for devs. Nvidia will be handling all documentation this time round.
 
H

Herb Alpert

Banned
I Stalk Alone said:
I am really intrigued what kind of power the SCD holds if any. is it basically another gpu in there or just tv out? does it have a hdd?
Click to expand...

I hope there is additional power but I find it weird that they have not issued anything about this.
The size and form of the dock make me think this is more than just a hdmi and usb out though.
 
S

Shalashaska161

Member
I Stalk Alone said:
I am really intrigued what kind of power the SCD holds if any. is it basically another gpu in there or just tv out? does it have a hdd?
Click to expand...

I kind of think it doesn't include any additional power, but it might have an upscaler in it. I think the theory of them downclocking the chip while in portable mode and then allowing it to be pushed to the limit while docked still makes sense as well.
 
M

M3d10n

Member
Thraktor said:
I think this may be a worthwhile thread to talk about the fact that there's a vent on top of NX... I mean Switch (that'll take some time to get used to). That means active cooling, which means the potential for significantly increased clock speeds.

Nvidia describing the SoC as a "scalable processor" also has me thinking that this might be for docked mode only. Absent any kind of battery life limitations, there's no reason we couldn't see this clocked up to 1.5GHz in docked mode, giving a big enough performance boost for games to push 1080p in docked mode (vs 720p in handheld).
Click to expand...

That's my guess as well. Use a lower clock (and maybe passive cooling) in battery mode at 720p, full clock and active cooling in docked mode at 1080p. The dock might also contain a cooler to help dissipating heat from the back of the device.
 
N

NESpowerhouse

Perhaps he's wondering why someone would shoot a man before throwing him out of a plane.
linkandzelda said:
With the rumours being true and Nintendo sticking to a March '17 release date, a lot of people will be eating crow today, lol. Someone should make a thread.
Click to expand...

Crow, someone is going to he eating a motherfucking game cartridge because of this ehole ordeal.
 
H

Hermii

Member
Skittzo0413 said:
So now that active cooling is confirmed, and Tegra Pascal is highly suggested, it's probably safe to say that the clocks will run faster when docked to a power supply.

If that's so, that do we think the docked performance will look like? Just a resolution/framerate bump? Possibly additional effects?
Click to expand...

Is it just me or was framerate terrible when not docked Zelda and Skyrim?

Maybe it should have had a 540p screen after all. Or maybe the games are still unoptimised.
 
S

Skittzo0413

Member
Hermii said:
Is it just me or was framerate terrible when not docked Zelda and Skyrim?

Maybe it should have had a 540p screen after all. Or maybe the games are still unoptimised.
Click to expand...

It could also be running on non final hardware, though that would be mightily strange for a reveal. But this could explain why nVidia hasn't explicitly said Pascal yet.
 
S

Skittzo0413

Member
M3d10n said:
That's my guess as well. Use a lower clock (and maybe passive cooling) in battery mode at 720p, full clock and active cooling in docked mode at 1080p. The dock might also contain a cooler to help dissipating heat from the back of the device.
Click to expand...

I agree that this is the likeliest scenario.

Really the main questions left are how powerful is it in docked mode compared to undocked mode. It's probably just enough to render at 1080p with a more stable framerate.
 
T

tarheel91

Member
Thraktor said:
I think this may be a worthwhile thread to talk about the fact that there's a vent on top of NX... I mean Switch (that'll take some time to get used to). That means active cooling, which means the potential for significantly increased clock speeds.

Nvidia describing the SoC as a "scalable processor" also has me thinking that this might be for docked mode only. Absent any kind of battery life limitations, there's no reason we couldn't see this clocked up to 1.5GHz in docked mode, giving a big enough performance boost for games to push 1080p in docked mode (vs 720p in handheld).
Click to expand...

Yep, this is what I called back when talking about the original rumors.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=215337376&postcount=3027

I also wouldn't be surprised if there's any additional cooling that gets brought in through the bottom of the dock.
 
Reallink

Reallink

Member
Thraktor said:
I think this may be a worthwhile thread to talk about the fact that there's a vent on top of NX... I mean Switch (that'll take some time to get used to). That means active cooling, which means the potential for significantly increased clock speeds.

Nvidia describing the SoC as a "scalable processor" also has me thinking that this might be for docked mode only. Absent any kind of battery life limitations, there's no reason we couldn't see this clocked up to 1.5GHz in docked mode, giving a big enough performance boost for games to push 1080p in docked mode (vs 720p in handheld).
Click to expand...

720 to 1080 is more than double the number of pixels, an over clock won't do that. They could of course develop for 1080p docked and just grossly under utilize portable mode at 720p for parity.
 
R

RootCause

Member
The only negative I can think of is the likely death of Nvidia's Shield lineup. :(
I can't see them release something that goes head to head with one of their clients.

Not ready to let go of the Shield.
 
V

v1oz

Member
What most people are missing is the lack of RAM. 4GB of RAM just isn't enough to run ports of Xbone, PC and PS4 games.

On the plus side the Tegra architecture probably means Nintendo can bump up the specs in future models/iterations without breaking compatibility.
 
NeOak

NeOak

Member
v1oz said:
What most people are missing is the lack of RAM. 4GB of RAM just isn't enough to run ports of Xbone, PC and PS4 games.

On the plus side the Tegra architecture probably means Nintendo can bump up the specs in future models/iterations without breaking compatibility.
Click to expand...

You're trusting a random leak?

Until it is confirmed, take it with a grain of salt.
 
blu

blu

Wants the largest console games publisher to avoid Nintendo's platforms.
M3d10n said:
That's my guess as well. Use a lower clock (and maybe passive cooling) in battery mode at 720p, full clock and active cooling in docked mode at 1080p. The dock might also contain a cooler to help dissipating heat from the back of the device.
Click to expand...
I'm glad we're all coming to the same opinion now ;p
 
T

Thraktor

Member
Reallink said:
720 to 1080 is more than double the number of pixels, an over clock won't do that. They could of course develop for 1080p docked and just grossly under utilize portable mode at 720p for parity.
Click to expand...

If you're increasing the GPU clock from 700MHz to 1.5GHz (which is entirely within the realm of possibility) then yes, increasing the clock speed would be sufficient for a jump from 720p to 1080p.
 
V

Vex_

Banned
vaderise said:
So if anyone knows the power levels are like this:
Wii U = Robin (Tim Drake)
Switch = Nightwing
Xone= Batman
Click to expand...


All this did was make me mad. I dont understand this because they are all basic humans with gadgets.


malikhaing_bayag said:
So I can't understand console power unless we compare it to DBZ power levels. Is my understanding of the switch about right in DBZ terms?

Scorpio = SSJ God Goku
PS Pro = SSJ God Vegeta
PS4 = SSJ3 Goku
XBONE = SSJ2 Gohan
Switch = SSJ Goku
Wii U = Krillin
Click to expand...

thanks for this.
 
Schnozberry

Schnozberry

Member
NeOak said:
You're trusting a random leak?

Until it is confirmed, take it with a grain of salt.
Click to expand...

The leak was essentially a bog standard Tegra X1. It's entirely possible Nintendo went that route, but it would be a departure from their usual insistence on customizing things.
 
G

Gamer @ Heart

Member
v1oz said:
What most people are missing is the lack of RAM. 4GB of RAM just isn't enough to run ports of Xbone, PC and PS4 games.

On the plus side the Tegra architecture probably means Nintendo can bump up the specs in future models/iterations without breaking compatibility.
Click to expand...

No one is missing it. I think most of us just don't believe it. If this was ever true, it's OLD. I would be shocked if this ships with 4 gb.
 
K

KingSnake

The Birthday Skeleton
Let's not forget that Nvidia changed the memory controller on the newest Tegra compared to Maxwell based Tegra. So the memory info from that leak is most probably all outdated.
 
S

sphinx

the piano man
With the info we have, can someone with knowledge on these things make an educated guess whether the switch would be able, in theory, to handle major games that will appear on PS4/X1??
 
H

Hermii

Member
Skittzo0413 said:
It could also be running on non final hardware, though that would be mightily strange for a reveal. But this could explain why nVidia hasn't explicitly said Pascal yet.
Click to expand...

Maybe they didn't say pascal but they did say "based on the same architecture as the world’s top-performing GeForce gaming graphics cards"

Is there any other way to interpret that quote?
 
V

ViciousDS

Banned
NVIDIA gaming technology is integrated into all aspects of the new Nintendo Switch home gaming system, which promises to deliver a great experience to gamers.
Click to expand...

The nvidia shield TV is absolutely the best top box I have ever used. The thing is a fucking monster for how tiny and cheap it is. The fact that they beefed the crap out of it even more....slammed it into a tablet and have a home docking station is just amazing. I wonder if that means nvidia now will even make its way over to the system. Would allow a streaming service that nintendo doesn't even have to invest in.
 
D

DriftingSpirit

Member
malikhaing_bayag said:
So I can't understand console power unless we compare it to DBZ power levels. Is my understanding of the switch about right in DBZ terms?

Scorpio = SSJ God Goku
PS Pro = SSJ God Vegeta
PS4 = SSJ3 Goku
XBONE = SSJ2 Gohan
Switch = SSJ Goku
Wii U = Krillin
Click to expand...
Yeah, I can understand this instead of all that tech talk.
 
B

BuggyMike

Member
Thraktor said:
If you're increasing the GPU clock from 700MHz to 1.5GHz (which is entirely within the realm of possibility) then yes, increasing the clock speed would be sufficient for a jump from 720p to 1080p.
Click to expand...

Cool. And I imagine this wouldnt bump the price up too much sinse there's no extra hardware in the dock, just extra cooling and ports?
 
V

Vermillion

Banned
malikhaing_bayag said:
So I can't understand console power unless we compare it to DBZ power levels. Is my understanding of the switch about right in DBZ terms?

Scorpio = SSJ God Goku
PS Pro = SSJ God Vegeta
PS4 = SSJ3 Goku
XBONE = SSJ2 Gohan
Switch = SSJ Goku
Wii U = Krillin
Click to expand...

Based on the Batman comparison, this seems a little too wide a scale lol.
 
N

nynt9

Member
sphinx said:
With the info we have, can someone with knowledge on these things make an educated guess whether the switch would be able, in theory, to handle major games that will appear on PS4/X1??
Click to expand...

Maybe early gen games with some sacrifices. Probably not future games. Battlefield 1 would most likely not run on it. I don't think Fallout 4 would either.

If RAM is 4GB, not much from this gen will, really.
 
S

Skittzo0413

Member
Hermii said:
Maybe they didn't say pascal but they did say "based on the same architecture as the world’s top-performing GeForce gaming graphics cards"

Is there any other way to interpret that quote?
Click to expand...

"Top performing" is broad, so it suggests to me that they're trying not to be very specific.

I could very well be wrong though. It's just a thought.
 
R

RootCause

Member
Would be a lovely time to introduce a third Pokemon game. Call it Eclipse. :p

ViciousDS said:
The nvidia shield TV is absolutely the best top box I have ever used. The thing is a fucking monster for how tiny and cheap it is. The fact that they beefed the crap out of it even more....slammed it into a tablet and have a home docking station is just amazing. I wonder if that means nvidia now will even make its way over to the system. Would allow a streaming service that nintendo doesn't even have to invest in.
Click to expand...

It really is a beast. I hope its not the end of the Shield line. :(
 
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