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[Digital Foundry] Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Performance: Portable Play, Overclocking, Pre-Patch Code!

Draugoth

Gold Member


In a collaboration video featuring MVG, John Linneman returns to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom to concentrate on a range of performance tests. How well does the game run in portable mode and what's happening with dynamic resolution scaling there? Is there any difference in performance terms between the OG 2017 Switch and the later revisions based on the Mariko processor revision? And to what extend can exploited Switches improve performance via overclocking?
 

Portugeezer

Member
So it only takes a memory overclock to lock framerate.

Been playing portable mode overclocked (GPU and CPU too) since day 1. Almost never dips and keeps mostly native 720p, GPU clock probably helps with that though.
 

TransTrender

Gold Member
So it only takes a memory overclock to lock framerate.
Uhhh, this is the first time I've seen someone mention overclocking a Switch.
When did this become a thing?
Is this some backdoor hack that only worked on 1.0 hardware or is there something more universal?
 

Portugeezer

Member
Uhhh, this is the first time I've seen someone mention overclocking a Switch.
When did this become a thing?
Is this some backdoor hack that only worked on 1.0 hardware or is there something more universal?
You need to hack your switch, I know older models were easy to hack, I can't say about newer models.
 

alucard0712_rus

Gold Member
Just found this after watching the video. I need to think about this a bit.



I'd have to say - it's a bit disgusting that we already have Switch that we wanted (me personally) and all that power just sitting there. So that power is more than enough to run all Switch games in docked mode 1080p straight.

So, OLED got more performance? Interessing.
Those that on Mariko chips.
 
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coffinbirth

Member
Uhhh, this is the first time I've seen someone mention overclocking a Switch.
When did this become a thing?
Is this some backdoor hack that only worked on 1.0 hardware or is there something more universal?
Been a thing for years if you're running Atmosphere. Very simple jailbreak for V1 hardware, but all models after that require a chip. As of this writing, I recommend the Instinct v6 chip.
 

daclynk

Member
Good to know Nintendo released a not Broken game. A player on a V1 switch. Who is a noob can buy it physically play and enjoy it. if u r a bit techy, u can overclock it and play on the frame rate and resolution u want. ie 1080p 60fps.
 
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Golgo 13

The Man With The Golden Dong
Good to know Nintendo released a not Broken game. A player on a V1 switch. Who is a noob can buy it physically play and enjoy it. if u r a bit techy, u can overclock it and play on the frame rate and resolution u want. ie 1080p 60fps.
Seriously? 1080p AND 60FPS and the thermals can keep up? Or are you installing new fans and shit?


Can’t watch the video because I’m at work but that sounds impressive.
 
this is crazy. I may overclock my switch instead of emulating. I bought a used v1 switch intentionally so that I could mod it, and it looks like this is the payoff.
 

Sleepwalker

Member
Uhhh, this is the first time I've seen someone mention overclocking a Switch.
When did this become a thing?
Is this some backdoor hack that only worked on 1.0 hardware or is there something more universal?

Its always been a thing on hacked switches. 2017-2018 ish manufactured switches can be hacked without requring mods or opening the console, regardless of the firmware they are in due to a hardware vulnerability.
 

Sleepwalker

Member
How do i overclock the switch?

does it void the warranty?

You need to install homebrew on it, it needs to be the first revision of the switch otherwise youll need to install a modchip, which involves soldering and what not. (100% voids the warranty lol)

It wont void the warranty of a v1 switch but those are all out of warranty anyway considering they are from 2017.
 

01011001

Banned
when they talk about how a fully overclocked Mariko Switch can apparently get the game to 60fps, I feel the theory that the OLED Switch was indeed originally a Pro model becomes more and more believable.

the Mariko revision has the potential to be a Pro model, simply because the Chip can clock so much higher and has basically the same power draw as the launch model while doing so.

I bet to fully leverage the potential of the Mariko they would have needed to implement 8GB of memory, which the Mariko version supports, and they then decided that it wasn't worth it.

but, that OLED Switch imo was clearly a Pro model originally... you can clock that thing ridiculously high without much of a heat or power draw issue given that it's way more efficient than the original X1
 
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Sleepwalker

Member
when they talk about how a fully overclocked Mariko Switch can apparently get the game to 60fps, I feel the theory that the OLED Switch was indeed originally a Pro model becomes more and more believable.

the Mariko revision has the potential to be a Pro model, simply because the Chip can clock so much higher and has basically the same power draw as the launch model while doing so.

I bet to fully leverage the potential of the Mariko they would have needed to implement 8GB of memory, which the Mariko version supports, and they then decided that it wasn't worth it.

but, that OLED Switch imo was clearly a Pro model originally... you can clock that thing ridiculously high without much of a heat or power draw issue given that it's way more efficient than the original X1
I hope they eventually find a software homebrew solution for v2/OLED. Probably will a few years after the switch's shelf life ends I guess.
 

01011001

Banned
I hope they eventually find a software homebrew solution for v2/OLED. Probably will a few years after the switch's shelf life ends I guess.

if the Switch 2 does backwards compatibility like the PS5 and SX do it, then we might not need it, at least not for this purpose.

But since this is Nintendo, I wouldn't necessarily expect it to be as solid of a backwards compatibility system as on the other consoles.
although, that one Pokémon leaker did say that he had all of his infos (which turned out to be corrected) because he is working for an outsourcing dev team that makes a next gen patch for Pokémon.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
You need to install homebrew on it, it needs to be the first revision of the switch otherwise youll need to install a modchip, which involves soldering and what not. (100% voids the warranty lol)

It wont void the warranty of a v1 switch but those are all out of warranty anyway considering they are from 2017.
yeah, I have the launch Switch.

Do chips die from overclocking?
 

01011001

Banned
yeah, I have the launch Switch.

Do chips die from overclocking?

no. you have to consider that the Tegra X1 can clock way higher than what Nintendo did on the Switch.

the Switch severely underclocks the chip, most likely for consistency reasons in docked mode, and for battery life reasons in handheld mode.
The docked mode clocks were most likely decided after the Handled mode clocks were finalised, and they only clocked it high enough to run 720p games at 900p to 1080p, and kept it at that

the clocks that a homebrew lets you use are basically all inside of the scope of what the X1 is normally capable of.
 
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BlackTron

Member
Wait what? With a Mariko you can run this game 1080p 60fps? That's utterly insane. I have a v1 switch but not really motivating to hack unless I get both 1080 and 60fps
 

GHG

Member
You need to install homebrew on it, it needs to be the first revision of the switch otherwise youll need to install a modchip, which involves soldering and what not. (100% voids the warranty lol)

It wont void the warranty of a v1 switch but those are all out of warranty anyway considering they are from 2017.

So there's no simple way to overclock an OLED switch?
 

Sleepwalker

Member
Balls, thanks anyway, couldn't seem to get a clear answer even by googling.

Tempted to see if I can get it up and running well on the deck.
I tried but there was some shader compilation stutters (hate them) and it ran okayish at 30fps, dunno if you can get it to do 60 but at the 30fps mark id rather the switch screen haha.
 
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DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
You need to install homebrew on it, it needs to be the first revision of the switch otherwise youll need to install a modchip, which involves soldering and what not. (100% voids the warranty lol)

It wont void the warranty of a v1 switch but those are all out of warranty anyway considering they are from 2017.

I have a day 1, v1 switch here...its up to date firmware wise though. Can I still mod it?
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
yes, the way you mod an original Switch is by using a hardware security flaw that is unpatchable, that's why Nintendo was so fast to replace the X1 with the X1+

Oooooh.....might do it.

Can you un mod it afterwards if you want?
 
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EverydayBeast

thinks Halo Infinite is a new graphical benchmark
Gamers are trying to predict the next Nintendo console that won’t end well for them.
 

Sleepwalker

Member
Oooooh.....might do it.

Can you un mod it afterwards if you want?
To explain it in layman terms, you can run the homebrew off of an SD card (dont go online with modded software!) And you can go back to regular software with a system reboot. No issues switching back and forth.
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
To explain it in layman terms, you can run the homebrew off of an SD card (dont go online with modded software!) And you can go back to regular software with a system reboot. No issues switching back and forth.

I think you can yes.
you can set it to automatically boot into the custom software or set it back to boot into the original firmware.

Oooh. Thanks guys I'll look into this. Sounds like my wii u soft mod.
 

01011001

Banned
Oooh. Thanks guys I'll look into this. Sounds like my wii u soft mod.

you'll need a little plastic "jig" to do it tho.
if you don't want to buy one of these, look up how to do the tinfoil jig trick, I heard that's the easiest to do by hand.

basically, the hardware flaw I was talking about is a "safe" mode that you can set the X1 into, and from there you can basically run anything on the hardware you want.
but to get into that mode you have to bridge some pins on the right joycon connector.

it's basically like setting your Phone into recovery mode
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
you'll need a little plastic "jig" to do it tho.
if you don't want to buy one of these, look up how to do the tinfoil jig trick, I heard that's the easiest to do by hand.

basically, the hardware flaw I was talking about is a "safe" mode that you can set the X1 into, and from there you can basically run anything on the hardware you want.
but to get into that mode you have to bridge some pins on the right joycon connector.

it's basically like setting your Phone into recovery mode


Thx guys. ❤️
 

GymWolf

Member
How easy it is to overclock a launch switch if i'm an absolute noob with this stuff?

It is something like attaching the switch to the pc via usb and download an app that does everything by itself or you have to set parameters and shit?

The game really turn into shit with the spirit sages helping in combat or just with chaos on screen.
 

Filben

Member
I don't need 60fps desperately but increased resolution and/or good anti aliasing would help the visuals tremendously. 1080p on that small display would look amazing. And consistent 1080p on a TV is a minimum.

But having an OLED I'll probably never see this.

But I always wondered why the handheld mode is cut back so much. It's not like the Steam Deck is loosing power just because you don't have it on the AC.

If I want to drain my battery in 2h this is my choice and problem then.
 

UnNamed

Banned
How easy it is to overclock a launch switch if i'm an absolute noob with this stuff?

It is something like attaching the switch to the pc via usb and download an app that does everything by itself or you have to set parameters and shit?

The game really turn into shit with the spirit sages helping in combat or just with chaos on screen.
Not easy, but not difficult.

IMHO the tricky part is probably understand at first what does what, between Henkake, Atmosphere, Fusee, RCM etc, because initially it's a little bit confusing and understand this part will allow you to handle and easily fix things in the future for updates, issues, compatibility, etc.

I suggest you to use a dongle with a jig, you can use a smartphone or a PC for that, but using the dongle is simpler and convenient when you have to restart the console.

You probably need to save the EMMC, create a partition on the SD and using other tools, but maybe it's not mandatory, and those operations will hardly brick the Switch if you made some mistake, I made it several times with trial and errors, but in the end no bricks at all, but you need the RCMloader to restart everything is something goes wrong. You need to do this just one time.
 
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GymWolf

Member
Not easy, but not difficult.

IMHO the tricky part is probably understand at first what does what, between Henkake, Atmosphere, Fusee, RCM etc, because initially it's a little bit confusing and understand this part will allow you to handle and easily fix things in the future for updates, issues, compatibility, etc.

I suggest you to use a dongle with a jig, you can use a smartphone or a PC for that, but using the dongle is simpler and convenient when you have to restart the console.

You probably need to save the EMMC, create a partition on the SD and using other tools, but maybe it's not mandatory, and those operations will hardly brick the Switch if you made some mistake, I made it several times with trial and errors, but in the end no bricks at all, but you need the RCMloader to restart everything is something goes wrong. You need to do this just one time.
Too much work, thanks anyway.
 
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