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[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

Some of this makes no sense, specifically the RAM reserve allocation for OS. In what world are Nintendo running a suite of apps requiring 3 GB of RAM? Even if they were planning that for future apps...this is Nintendo we're talking about here. At best their planned apps & features are only complex enough to where 2 GB would need be reserved.

As usual, I'll wait for another source to provide details before taking anything DF mentions as being remotely accurate, because with these systems in particular they're just usually going off the same stuff we've known for a while, and making estimates & guesses.

 

[LordOcidax]

They can't right now. It may be allowed in the future but for now Game Chat is part and parcel of the S2 SDK

And i think uses one of the tensor core too… Nintendo wants to sell the GameChat as big feature, but if people doesn't give a shit about that they can free those resources for the devs.

 

[intbal]

CPU is trash. The rest is top tier.

Eh, it has the same memory bandwidth as the base Xbox One. I'm not sure that can be called "top tier", even if it ends up working great.

 

[MrJangles]

I'm not a specs person, on paper should the S2 be able to perfectly replicate, say, a AAA PS4 game?

 

[GigaBowser]

They can't right now. It may be allowed in the future but for now Game Chat is part and parcel of the S2 SDK

nintendos lets devs disabel OS feetures since 3ds

I'm not a specs person, on paper should the S2 be able to perfectly replicate, say, a AAA PS4 game?

waayyyy better

 

[Kataploom]

Is 9GB of Ram for games more than the Series S?
2 Cores doing all kinds of background stuff not game releated? Wha?

Not only that, it's also better for devs, it's a single pool VS split pool that only contains 6GB of high BW memory and Ampere is way more efficient with the provided memory bandwidth anyway

 

[LordOcidax]

Eh, it has the same memory bandwidth as the base Xbox One. I'm not sure that can be called "top tier", even if it ends up working great.

Looks like even DF is going to stop comparing The Switch 2 specs with another systems, is a Apple vs Orange comparison, final results is what matters at this point, but i am pretty sure that the Switch 2 is going to punch way above their weight.

 

[Kataploom]

Max clock speeds the chip can hit absent software barriers in place (for power/battery management, thermal dispersion, etc)

Theoretically, a late generation game could provision higher clock speeds and/or a larger portion of the RAM (with some system level functions disabled; Super Smash Bros. and Monster Hunter 4 on 3DS are examples of this); alternatively, the improvements could be universal and unlocked n via a firmware upgrade (PSP 2000 is an example of this).

Oh, I thought they were SoC frequencies just used as reference to see how much they lowered them in the console... Well maybe that's it anyway

 

[bender]

Switch 2 is a beast.

 

[BlackTron]

My God. 1 step forward and 2 steps back. They should've figured this out before release. VRR docked is probably more important than on handheld.

They messed up big time here.

Their website listed VRR for docked, before editing it out. Which hints that there was the plan/intention, but maybe couldn't stick the landing. Since Steam Deck and PS5 did not enable VRR until a future update, and there is at least hint of the desire, I'm holding back from grabbing my pitchfork quite yet.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Switch 2 is a beast.

Switch 2 is a 'base'
Future games will be targeting these specs for the next several years.

 

[Mozza]

Nintendo's first party studios will be able to work miracles with this.

 

[Kataploom]

That's like claiming a 3060 is better than a 3070ti…it just isn't.

They both trade blows each other... XSS has way better CPU, Switch 2 has more and easier to work with RAM, Both of them have similar GPU power all things considered (like DLSS, GPU textures compression, etc.) with maybe Switch 2 being a little behind but not 3060 vs 3070ti situation lol, more like 6600 XT vs 6700 (non-XT).

 

[Buggy Loop]

Eh, it has the same memory bandwidth as the base Xbox One. I'm not sure that can be called "top tier", even if it ends up working great.

They're completely different GPU architecture with different needs

Switch 2 has exactly the required bandwidth to feed Ampere SMs and the A78C. Ampere is ~25GB/s per TFlops and it scales like that from bottom 2050 mobile all the way to 3090.

Comparing bandwidth numbers from totally different architectures, especially compared to one (GCN) that according to AMD required a lot of rework (thus RDNA) to Nvidia's "modern" GPUs, doesn't make any sense. Its like comparing a Camaro 69 600HP car vs a McLaren F1 600HP on the Nürburgring. Ampere had a paradigm shift at Nvidia for memory management and GPU occupancy compared to previous gens, completely different beasts.

 

[jm89]

Skimmed through the article. The new info (at least to me) is the RAM reservation:

I'm not surprised at 9gb being available for games.

Some where saying as low as 1gb some 2gb.

With features like chat and possible future features it's better to have some headroom for future features.

 

[Kataploom]

I'm not a specs person, on paper should the S2 be able to perfectly replicate, say, a AAA PS4 game?

PS4 Pro more likely, but with better IQ even if resolution and some more free GPU resources due to DLSS, which is one of the reasons why we're seeing games running and looking better than on the Pro, more akin to XSS in reality

 

[SlimySnake]

Not that was really a doubt, but it's better than a Series S

lol someone didnt watch the video. its 3 tflops docked. with way worse cpu and memory bandwidth.

 

[rodrigolfp]

McLaren F1 600HP

How dare you. It's 618.

 

[GigaBowser]

lol someone didnt watch the video. its 3 tflops docked. with way worse cpu and memory bandwidth.

more available rams and super dlss will bee close buuuuuut switch 2 ports porbably better cus devs dont give a crud bouts no series s

 

[kevboard]

I'm not a specs person, on paper should the S2 be able to perfectly replicate, say, a AAA PS4 game?

yes.
its GPU is slightly more powerful than a PS4's, the CPU is way more powerful, and it has more memory. so PS4 titles could be ported over 1 for 1 if someone would want to do that.

 

[Zathalus]

The brief snippet an the end appears to confirm no DLSS4 present is available... yet.

Some of this makes no sense, specifically the RAM reserve allocation for OS. In what world are Nintendo running a suite of apps requiring 3 GB of RAM? Even if they were planning that for future apps...this is Nintendo we're talking about here. At best their planned apps & features are only complex enough to where 2 GB would need be reserved.

As usual, I'll wait for another source to provide details before taking anything DF mentions as being remotely accurate, because with these systems in particular they're just usually going off the same stuff we've known for a while, and making estimates & guesses.

The Switch reserves 800MB for its software. That is a very basic suit of features and eShop and the performance and loading is simply dreadful. You can't even access a ton of features while running a game because there simply isn't enough resources and RAM for that. From what has been shown so far, the Switch 2 eShop is more feature rich, software is dramatically snappier, and it has that stream chat that needs to keep up with multiple video streams at once. All of that is going to dramatically blow up the amount of RAM required. Nintendo really wants the Switch 2 to come off as a more premium device compared to the Switch 1 and having a slow and messy OS/eShop is going to run counter to that.

DF gets this kind of information directly from SDKs and developer documentation, same as they did with the PS5 Pro, which they were spot on as well.

 

[Buggy Loop]

I'm not a specs person, on paper should the S2 be able to perfectly replicate, say, a AAA PS4 game?

Better than that. The problem is only really Sony pushed PS4 and they ain't gonna port to Switch 2 will they.

Better CPU than PS4 Pro. More VRAM. I/O decompression engine like modern consoles. Modern GPU features like AI upscaling, mesh shaders, RT. It'll do things that were not possible on PS4, but it won't do things that are possible on main consoles. It's kind in a limbo between gens, cross-gen.

If you take Ratchet and Clank rift apart for example, it could clearly run on PS4 with a few cutbacks but a Steam deck runs it. The problem with that game is I/O so Switch 2 here would perform a lot closer to PS5 for that kind of game than a PS4.

It should be able to run almost anything crossgen.

Problem will come from the newer games that have RTGI by default without a raster fallback like AC shadows or Indiana Jones. I doubt the RT cores can really do RTGI for complex open games, reflections maybe, Control for sure, but I think its asking too much to run the more modern games with RTGI.

 

[Zones]

Not that was really a doubt, but it's better than a Series S

It's actually closer to PS5 Pro.

I mean it's not difficult to believe... you just have to be a delusional enough fanboy to believe whatever you want.

 

[VGA-Games]

Cool

 

[mrMUR_96]

I wonder their their clocks are so conservative on the cpu, similar cpus in phones are clocked much higher, doesn't make sense especially in docked mode

 

[GoldenEye98]

That memory bandwidth...especially in handheld mode.... is pretty low. Quite a bit lower than Series S... PS4....closer to Xbox One but that had a weird memory setup...

 

[MoreJRPG]

This console will age worse than the Switch did. No amount of DLSS will make up for that archaic CPU and memory bandwidth.

 

[Buggy Loop]

I wonder their their clocks are so conservative on the cpu, similar cpus in phones are clocked much higher, doesn't make sense especially in docked mode

They throttle hard on phones. They might perform "nice" in a specific part of APU benchmark but if they were to combine tasks for a long period of time they downclock

Same for Steam deck. Its CPU can clock much higher and it would perform good in synthetic benchmark, but the actual limit is 15W, when gaming the clocks are a fraction of theoretical ones.

Nintendo is aiming constant stable clocks whatever the situation, whether you play in cold temperatures of a 15°C ambient in Sweden/Canada or 40°C (if not more) in some hellhole

This console will age worse than the Switch did. No amount of DLSS will make up for that archaic CPU and memory bandwidth.

You have no fucking clue what you're talking about.

 

[LakeOf9]

Actual developers, industry professionals, tech experts: Switch 2 is an incredibly well designed, capable, and powerful machine that allows us to build great versions of our games

GAF experts:

This console will age worse than the Switch did. No amount of DLSS will make up for that archaic CPU and memory bandwidth.

 

[Kataploom]

I wonder their their clocks are so conservative on the cpu, similar cpus in phones are clocked much higher, doesn't make sense especially in docked mode

Smartphones have the actual oposite approach in their hardware design, they have way higher clocks because they need to boost tasks to quickly idle and save battery, contrary to consoles they are not asked to sustain high performance for hours or else they'd be using low power/low clocks mode, just like handheld PCs if I'm not mistaken.

 

[Mr Moose]

This console will age worse than the Switch did. No amount of DLSS will make up for that archaic CPU and memory bandwidth.

How? Games will actually have AA now.

 

[daclynk]

nice one Nintendo. Modern enough to get current gen games. N2 is going to do great.

 

[Kataploom]

How? Games will actually have AA now.

Say whatever but for me Switch 1 graphics are great already for first party games, they only need good IQ and 60 FPS option, the fact we're getting that for Switch 1 games is what has me more excited so far

 

[DenchDeckard]

Big jump. Exciting times ahead!

 

[MatrixReloaded101]

This console will age worse than the Switch did. No amount of DLSS will make up for that archaic CPU and memory bandwidth.

Don't agree, the specs are very decent for a Nintendo console.

The fact that they can get Cyberpunk 2077 running on the console at launch is a very good sign that it won't age as bad as the switch 1.

 

[cinnamonandgravy]

how many tensor cores? how many RT cores? how many rops?

DF is slipping

want to see a dock with additional cuda/tensor/RT cores SLI-style.

 

[RodriGames40]

Those max clocks are damn interesting, especially the GPU ones. Is any third party game already using them? That's a whooping 4.3 tflops, a future revision will have them as the default if so.

 

[BlownUpRich]

3GB reserved for OS? Bruh! Series S memory split used to be 2GB for OS from the full 10GB so 8GB for games, after sometime, Microsoft reserved "several 100s of MB for devs to use" so let's say it's more like 8.5GB for games now, compared to 9GB for Switch 2.

Very minuscule difference.

Also 2 CPU cores reserved for OS? The Switch 2's CPU is already weak, this is worse than I expected…

PS5, Series X & S reserve 1 CPU core for OS.

 

[daclynk]

hmmm. GameChat is going to be BIG. Nintendo is going for miiverse like community.

 

[BlownUpRich]

It's actually closer to PS5 Pro.

I mean it's not difficult to believe... you just have to be a delusional enough fanboy to believe whatever you want.

It's actually closer to a 5090 than a PS5 Pro, stop spreading misinformation, fanboy!

 

[daclynk]

Not Fair. Nintendo has the CHEAT CODE with DLSS.

 

[Lokaum D+]

got love Nintendo, hardware from the past with the price of the future.

 

[intbal]

PS5, Series X & S reserve 1 CPU core for OS.

PS5 reserved 1.5 cores for OS.
That was at launch. They might have changed it since then.

 

[kevboard]

3GB reserved for OS? Bruh! Series S memory split used to be 2GB for OS from the full 10GB so 8GB for games, after sometime, Microsoft reserved "several 100s of MB for devs to use" so let's say it's more like 8.5GB for games now, compared to 9GB for Switch 2.

Very minuscule difference.

Also 2 CPU cores reserved for OS? The Switch 2's CPU is already weak, this is worse than I expected…

PS5, Series X & S reserve 1 CPU core for OS.

it's all down to that game chat stuff. I really hope they eventually make it optional for Devs to turn it off for their titles, so that only the voice chat part still works.

reserving system resources not only for 4 video streams but also an AI realtime background remover for video chats is insane imo.

 

[LakeOf9]

Not Fair. Nintendo has the CHEAT CODE with DLSS.

DLSS is definitely a cheat code. I think upscales are obviously the way of the future for next gen systems, but given the gigantic functional gap between DLSS and FSR/XeSS/PSSR, I am very curious to see if the other consoles will manage to get robust upscaling that is this capable.

 

[ReasonBeing]

Eh, it has the same memory bandwidth as the base Xbox One. I'm not sure that can be called "top tier", even if it ends up working great.

I was thinking the same thing. It has an extra gig of available VRAM as the SS, but its running at half the bandwidth in the best case scenario. In saying that, it's a great upgrade from the Switch 2. I'm waiting for a die shrink before jumping in, but I'm looking forward to it.

 

[LordOcidax]

Those max clocks are damn interesting, especially the GPU ones. Is any third party game already using them? That's a whooping 4.3 tflops, a future revision will have them as the default if so.

That's impressive indeed. Probably Nintendo first party game are going to use all the power available, and later the third party.

 

[Fake]

Eh, it has the same memory bandwidth as the base Xbox One. I'm not sure that can be called "top tier", even if it ends up working great.

For a portable, comparing with others portable yes the rest is top tier.

The CPU, for both a portable or a home console is trash.

 

[kevboard]

I wonder their their clocks are so conservative on the cpu, similar cpus in phones are clocked much higher, doesn't make sense especially in docked mode

it didn't make sense on the first Swirch either. I assume they don't want the difference between docked and undocked to be too massive... but that's just speculation.

who knows if they'll increase clock speeds down the line?

but you can't use phones to compare this to. unless you have a dedicated gaming phone like some of those actively cooled ones or ones with massive heatsinks inside, you will never get the full clock speeds for more than 10 minutes of gameplay.
phones thermo throttle extremely fast and aren't designed to run at stable clock speeds.

 

[BlownUpRich]

PS5 reserved 1.5 cores for OS.
That was at launch. They might have changed it since then.

I think I've read somewhere that it has been changed, not sure though…