Raploz
Member
The channel Geekerwan used a hacked Switch to run Android and Linux on it. He overclocked it and ran PC games with Wine, DXVK, and Box64. Some titles were surprisingly playable, like Honkai: Star Rail. He also ran multiple benchmarks with an overclocked Switch. The full video can be seen below:
Full breakdown:
Benchmarks on Android + OC:
All 4 cores of the Nintendo Switch at stock clocks score lower than a single core of the cheapest current generation Snapdragon chip:
On handheld mode stock clocks, the Switch GPU performs slightly below the Snapdragon 845, a high-end chip released in December 2017:
At stock docked clocks, the Switch GPU comes closer to the Snapdragon 855, from 2018, but doesn't quite reach it:
With an overclock to 1.26GHz on the GPU but stock memory clocks, the GPU surpasses the Snapdragon 855:
With an overclock to memory, the GPU comes closer to the Snapdragon 865, a chip from 2019:
Android Gaming Benchmarks:
The results below come from an overclocked Switch:
Genshin Impact at Medium settings ran with extreme stutters and was severely CPU-limited, not GPU limited. Lowering the resolution didn't help. On GPU-limited scenes, it could run above 30 FPS (check the number on the top right):
However, CPU-limited scenes ran much worse:
Honkai: Star Rail runs much better than Genshin Impact, at around 44 FPS on Medium settings, and around 58 FPS at Low settings:
PS2 emulation is slow, but it was tested with one of the most demanding PS2 titles (Gran Turismo 4):
PSVita emulation has bugs but the performance isn't bad (He didn't show FPS figures)
Switch emulation on Switch using Yuzu is impossible currently due to driver compatibility.
Half-Life 2 Android port runs mostly at 60 FPS with dips to 30-40 on heavy scenes.
Linux on Switch - gaming:
First of all, it needs three translation layers that affect performance:
Wine for Windows > Linux
Box64 for X86_64 > ARM
DXVK for DirectX > Vulkan
On Linux, it was possible to overclock the RAM way beyond Android. Memory clocks reached 2500MHz, from 1600MHz on stock and 2100MHz on Android. Voltage was tweaked as well. CPU was pinned at 2.3GHz versus 1.0GHz on stock Switch, and the GPU was running at 1.26GHz vs 768MHz (docked) on stock.
With all the translation necessary, Switch's single-core Cinebench score is lower than a 10-year-old Chromebook (83 vs 90), even when heavily overclocked:
Native PC gaming on overclocked Switch:
Steam on Nintendo Switch
Titanfall 2 runs at around 15-25 FPS. Some specific scenes run above 30 FPS:
GTA V runs at 7 FPS at 720p and Normal settings. CPU is the main bottleneck.
DMC 5 at low settings and 720p runs at around 15 FPS. Even cutting resolution by half doesn't help, showing it's again CPU limited.
God of War ran at around 7-10 FPS at low settings and native 720p, lowering resolution doesn't change anything. Heavily CPU limited.
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Conclusion: From those benchmarks, anything Nintendo uses on Switch 2 will be an extreme upgrade over the Nintendo Switch, so I wouldn't be worried. Also, the video shows there's a lot of untapped potential on the current Switch chip, and Nintendo could've released a Switch Pro with binned chips if they wanted. I was surprised that some games ran at all, and some even at medium settings.
What do you think?
Full breakdown:
Benchmarks on Android + OC:
All 4 cores of the Nintendo Switch at stock clocks score lower than a single core of the cheapest current generation Snapdragon chip:
On handheld mode stock clocks, the Switch GPU performs slightly below the Snapdragon 845, a high-end chip released in December 2017:
At stock docked clocks, the Switch GPU comes closer to the Snapdragon 855, from 2018, but doesn't quite reach it:
With an overclock to 1.26GHz on the GPU but stock memory clocks, the GPU surpasses the Snapdragon 855:
With an overclock to memory, the GPU comes closer to the Snapdragon 865, a chip from 2019:
Android Gaming Benchmarks:
The results below come from an overclocked Switch:
Genshin Impact at Medium settings ran with extreme stutters and was severely CPU-limited, not GPU limited. Lowering the resolution didn't help. On GPU-limited scenes, it could run above 30 FPS (check the number on the top right):
However, CPU-limited scenes ran much worse:
Honkai: Star Rail runs much better than Genshin Impact, at around 44 FPS on Medium settings, and around 58 FPS at Low settings:
PS2 emulation is slow, but it was tested with one of the most demanding PS2 titles (Gran Turismo 4):
PSVita emulation has bugs but the performance isn't bad (He didn't show FPS figures)
Switch emulation on Switch using Yuzu is impossible currently due to driver compatibility.
Half-Life 2 Android port runs mostly at 60 FPS with dips to 30-40 on heavy scenes.
Linux on Switch - gaming:
First of all, it needs three translation layers that affect performance:
Wine for Windows > Linux
Box64 for X86_64 > ARM
DXVK for DirectX > Vulkan
On Linux, it was possible to overclock the RAM way beyond Android. Memory clocks reached 2500MHz, from 1600MHz on stock and 2100MHz on Android. Voltage was tweaked as well. CPU was pinned at 2.3GHz versus 1.0GHz on stock Switch, and the GPU was running at 1.26GHz vs 768MHz (docked) on stock.
With all the translation necessary, Switch's single-core Cinebench score is lower than a 10-year-old Chromebook (83 vs 90), even when heavily overclocked:
Native PC gaming on overclocked Switch:
Steam on Nintendo Switch
Titanfall 2 runs at around 15-25 FPS. Some specific scenes run above 30 FPS:
GTA V runs at 7 FPS at 720p and Normal settings. CPU is the main bottleneck.
DMC 5 at low settings and 720p runs at around 15 FPS. Even cutting resolution by half doesn't help, showing it's again CPU limited.
God of War ran at around 7-10 FPS at low settings and native 720p, lowering resolution doesn't change anything. Heavily CPU limited.
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Conclusion: From those benchmarks, anything Nintendo uses on Switch 2 will be an extreme upgrade over the Nintendo Switch, so I wouldn't be worried. Also, the video shows there's a lot of untapped potential on the current Switch chip, and Nintendo could've released a Switch Pro with binned chips if they wanted. I was surprised that some games ran at all, and some even at medium settings.
What do you think?
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