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Nvidia Leak May Have Revealed Switch 2 Console

THE DUCK

voted poster of the decade by bots
Also don't think Nintendo will release a new console in the next few years.
Think that ship has sailed.

A lot of Switch buyers are kids and their parents and they wouldn't like it if Nintendo was like:
"Remember the OLED Switch you got in 2021 to replace the Switch you bought in 2017? Yeah, that OLED thing is obsolete now as well, we have a yet another new Swithc out, have a nice day!"

I kinda think they will see the Switch generation out with the OLED. They are killing it with software anyways and still have a few aces up their sleeves (Gamecube on NSO?, some more remakes etc.) to get to 2025 without new hardware.

It's makes me sad that nobody (looking at u sony and ms) has the guts to launch thier own console hybrid, this would bring up the timeliness much faster.
 

GigaBowser

The bear of bad news


Comment by NVIDIA employee confirms existence of Tegra239 - the SoC likely to be used on the Nintendo Switch 2.​

renderTimingPixel.png


Leak
An NVIDIA employee has confirmed the existence of the Tegra239 chip which has been rumoured since 2021 as being developed for the next-generation Nintendo Switch. His comment which can be accessed at linux.org and states:
Adding support for Tegra239 SoC which has eight cores in a single cluster. Also, moving num_clusters to soc data to avoid over allocating memory for four clusters always.
This incident further corroborates reliable NVIDIA leaker kopite7kimi's assertion that NVIDIA will use a modified version of its T234 Orin chip for the next-generation Switch.
As of this leak, we now know the following details about the next Nintendo Switch console:
  • T239 SoC (info from above leak)
  • 8-core CPU - likely to be ARM Cortex A78C/A78 (inferred from above leak)
  • Ampere-based GPU that may incorporate some Lovelace features (source)
  • The 2nd generation Nintendo Switch graphics API contains references DLSS 2.2 and raytracing support (source)

no_words_homer_into_brush.gif
 

James Sawyer Ford

Gold Member
if this new chip is the Switch's chip it is a considerable amount more powerful than the Steam Deck, at least in docked mode

here's a small thought experiment I did in another thread


tldr:
this chip, which has 1536 cuda cores, would reach 2.36TF if it will run at the og Switch's clock speeds in docked mode (768mhz)
it would reach 3.9TF if it runs at the same clock the Tegra X1 is rated for (1.267ghz)

the Steam Deck can reach 1.6TF max, but it can thermal throttle and power throttle to values below that.

let's go further and add all the 3 different Switch clock speed profiles to this new chip.
the Switch in Handheld mode can run at 307.2 MHz, 384 MHz, and 460 MHz
at those speeds the new chip would reach:

0.943TF at 307.2 Mhz
1.18TF at 384 Mhz
1.41TF at 460 Mhz

(the maths goes [Cuda Cores] * [clock speed] * 2 btw)

so if we assume this new Chip is indeed the Chip used inside the Switch 2, and we assume that clock speeds will not go up even by a single mhz,
we would have a Handheld that could reach 1.41TF in portable mode, basically trading blows with the Steam Deck,
and 2.36TF in docked mode, which is faster than the PS4 even ignoring architecture advancements.

add DLSS to the mix and you already have a really nice piece of hardware here.

if they actually clock it higher than these speeds then it could actually rival the Series S with 3.9TF if it uses the Tegra X1's max rated speed of 1.267ghz

What sucks is....

I really want this before Tears of the Kingdom releases....

But it's not going to.....
 

James Sawyer Ford

Gold Member
You will be able to upgrade your copy of botw2 on the new console for $60.

BOTW is the game I never want to play again. It's unlike any other zelda game in that regard. Completely un-replayable imho. And it's a fantastic game, but it's too large and once you lose that sense of discovery there's no puzzles, dungeons, stories, etc that can keep you coming back in future years
 
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KungFucius

King Snowflake
You know, other companies spend real money on R&D and come up with bespoke solutions instead of just scrounging for off the shelf. It was another cheap Nintendo move, that's the real reason they're being cheap, charging competitive pricing on off the shelf underwhelming tech, even for the time it was released. They should have spent the money on R&D and gave us a real machine.
Why? They sold and still sell a ton each year. What difference would better hardware have made to sales? Would that have been worth putting more designers on the payroll? Of course not, it would just have made gamers happier. Selling over 100 million units of cobbled together, off the shelf parts is pretty good engineering. It got the job done.
 

Astral Dog

Member
Regardless of what ends up on the Switch 2 i expect it to produce some amazing looking portable games, that's all i care about for this system.

though im not sure about the supposed 'RayTracing' support,doubt if its true, tbh i only seen that feature as a waste of resources no idea how it could be implemented on a low energy handheld.

Some form of DLSS is more likely
 
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Astral Dog

Member
Just simply having Nintendo's first party teams access to more juice is exciting 😁, even if it doesn't match the Xbox Series or PlayStation they will produce delicious looking and playing portable games

Personally im hoping for a beefier CPU than what is on a PlayStation 4, that's my only concern, not sure what could be made
 
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ultrazilla

Gold Member
Looks like we'll get a system very close if not surpassing PS4 power. That's pretty damn impressive IMO.
Can't wait to finally be able to play Nintendo games in 4k.
 
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01011001

Banned
I'm going to get this just to play BOTW2 and then barely touch it like I did with Switch unless Nintendo starts making their good franchises like Fzero again.

yeah... I haven't really used my Switch in a long time... I might get Splatoon 3 soon, but the games I played by far the most were Mario Odyssey and BotW, Splatoon 2 I 100%ed the campaign, but as soon as Nintendo Online became a paid service I stopped playing the Multiplayer, because I sure as fuck will not pay for that dogshit service
 

Aldric

Member
Looks like we'll get a system very close if not surpassing PS4 power. That's pretty damn impressive IMO.
Can't wait to finally be able to play Nintendo games in 4k.
This will punch far above PS4 weight, more modern components + DLSS means a surprisingly powerful hardware for a handheld, if Nintendo don't do some stupid shit like downclocking the CPU into the ground or only going with 6GB of RAM.
 

Rykan

Member
Looks like we'll get a system very close if not surpassing PS4 power. That's pretty damn impressive IMO.
Can't wait to finally be able to play Nintendo games in 4k.
That's honestly all I want from the system: For Switch games to look nicely on a 4K display. Everything else is just bonus
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
So less powerful than the PS4? Eh.

Nintendo has been a gen behind since the Wii. 3 consoles in a row. This would make it 4th.

It's a shame they have essentially left the console industry by tying themselves to handheld specs. Their talented first party team deserves better.
 

01011001

Banned
So less powerful than the PS4? Eh.

uhm no? first of all we don't know the clock speeds, but even at relatively conservative clock speeds it would beat the PS4 by about 0.4TF


if this new chip is the Switch's chip it is a considerable amount more powerful than the Steam Deck, at least in docked mode

here's a small thought experiment I did in another thread
____________________________

that's a big jump.
the X1 has 256 cuda cores right?

let's assume it's the same clock speed as the Switch which is 768mhz docked.
at that clock speed this chip would have ~2.36TF peak performance.
the Switch in docked mode reached 0.39TF as a comparison.

2.36TF is a good chunk above the PS4, and a big jump from the Steam Deck

let's say they clock it higher in docked this time, let's say Nintendo uses the max clock that the X1 can support, which is 1267mhz
in that case the docked performance could get to 3.9TF, quite literally on the doorstep of the Series S

______________________________

tldr:
this chip, which has 1536 cuda cores, would reach 2.36TF if it will run at the og Switch's clock speeds in docked mode (768mhz)
it would reach 3.9TF if it runs at the same clock the Tegra X1 is rated for (1.267ghz)

the Steam Deck can reach 1.6TF max, but it can thermal throttle and power throttle to values below that.

let's go further and add all the 3 different Switch clock speed profiles to this new chip.
the Switch in Handheld mode can run at 307.2 MHz, 384 MHz, and 460 MHz
at those speeds the new chip would reach:

0.943TF at 307.2 Mhz
1.18TF at 384 Mhz
1.41TF at 460 Mhz
(the maths goes [Cuda Cores] * [clock speed] * 2 btw)

so if we assume this new Chip is indeed the Chip used inside the Switch 2, and we assume that clock speeds will not go up even by a single mhz,
we would have a Handheld that could reach 1.41TF in portable mode, basically trading blows with the Steam Deck,
and 2.36TF in docked mode, which is faster than the PS4 even ignoring architecture advancements.

add DLSS to the mix and you already have a really nice piece of hardware here.

if they actually clock it higher than these speeds then it could actually rival the Series S with 3.9TF if it uses the Tegra X1's max rated speed of 1.267ghz
 
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Beechos

Member
Nintendo fanboys keep dreaming. Nintendos next console will prob not even outperfrom the steamdeck. For what nindendo does it doesnt need to also. Theyll be fine with whatever they come out with. Their devs are talented gameplay/design masters. Even if the system was super powerful their devs prob dont even have the manpower or budget to create next gen assets and worlds like these big aaa releases.
 
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AetherZX

Member
Nintendo fanboys keep dreaming. Nintendos next console will prob not even outperfrom the steamdeck. For what nindendo does it doesnt need to also. Theyll be fine with whatever they come out with. Their devs are talented gameplay/design masters. Even if the system was super powerful their devs prob dont even have the manpower or budget to create next gen assets and worlds like these big aaa releases.

Nothing to dream. GPU specs are literally out there and that's exactly what it'll end up doing, especially factoring in DLSS.
 

Xellos

Member
Orin Nano should provide reasonable expectations of the new Switch hardware when docked: 1.3 TF GPU and 6 core CPU at 1.5 GHz. The actual chip should be a bit better with its 8 CPU cores and 12 SM GPU vs 8 SM on Orin Nano. Portable GPU would have to be scaled way back, especially if Nintendo wants to stick with a thin device and the 4-5 hour battery life of current Switch. Seems more like a Super Switch than a Switch 2 to me. Still, good enough to smooth out performance/boost resolution on Switch games and maybe get some games/ports not feasible on the regular Switch.
 

Beechos

Member
Nothing to dream. GPU specs are literally out there and that's exactly what it'll end up doing, especially factoring in DLSS.
Yeah and theres mobile gpu/apu specs even higher. But based on nintendos own history. Along with a portable device, form factor, battery life and pricing will prob go against it. Hey it can happen so i guess you never know but i wouldnt bet on it.
 
Just reminder witcher 3 is running on switch. Even if new switchs version will be ,,just'' couple of times stronger its still pretty good jump in power in a handheld
 

ebevan91

Member
BOTW is the game I never want to play again. It's unlike any other zelda game in that regard. Completely un-replayable imho. And it's a fantastic game, but it's too large and once you lose that sense of discovery there's no puzzles, dungeons, stories, etc that can keep you coming back in future years

I have no interest in ever playing it again for basically the same reason(s).
 
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DeepEnigma

Gold Member
uhm no? first of all we don't know the clock speeds, but even at relatively conservative clock speeds it would beat the PS4 by about 0.4TF
If it can at the very least match the PS4's specs (and maybe better CPU wise via ARM), that will a hefty little handheld.
 

01011001

Banned
If it can at the very least match the PS4's specs (and maybe better CPU wise via ARM), that will a hefty little handheld.

if this is the chip, it will beat the PS4.

the only question is by how much, and will they maybe cut it down (remove RT cores or Tensor cores etc)

the Switch used really conservative clock speeds, and even at those reduced clock speeds it would be 2.36TF vs the PS4's 1.84

I kinda hope that Nintendo doesn't clock the new chip this low in docked mode this time around, IMO it was already a mistake with the og Switch since softmodded Switch systems that can clock the GPU at the max rated spec show how it stabilises the performance of many games

so if we have faith in Nintendo clocking it at a more ambitious speed like the rated speed of the Switch's Mariko Tegra X1, it will reach almost Series S levels of GPU performance. and it's not even that high of a clock speed (1.26ghz)
 
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DeepEnigma

Gold Member
if this is the chip, it will beat the PS4.

the only question is by how much, and will they maybe cut it down (remove RT cores or Tensor cores etc)

the Switch used really conservative clock speeds, and even at those reduced clock speeds it would be 2.36TF vs the PS4's 1.84

I kinda hope that Nintendo doesn't clock the new chip this low in docked mode this time around, IMO it was already a mistake with the og Switch since softmodded Switch systems that can clock the GPU at the max rated spec show how it stabilises the performance of many games

so if we have faith in Nintendo clocking it at a more ambitious speed like the rated speed of the Switch's Mariko Tegra X1, it will reach almost Series S levels of GPU performance. and it's not even that high of a clock speed (1.26ghz)
It's all going to come down to heat and battery life with where they settle.
 
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Polygonal_Sprite

Gold Member
2.4TF with DLSS on top puts it around a PS4 Pro (when docked) with a better CPU (and probably more ram) on top. Pretty fucking powerful for a Nintendo console. Their first party games will be insane looking.
 
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