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DF Weekly: What does the Switch 2 motherboard leak say about system performance?

Klosshufvud

Member
Hope this throws some cold water on the people who expect DLSS to do major heavy lifting in this console. It's highly doubtful we are going to see 4K DLSS output on this console even in docked. We likely won't see it at all in handheld.
I have been saying for some time now that there is a huge difference between using DLSS on a stationary PC with a power budget of 500W with desktop class GPU and CPU to a 15W handheld that will have an extremely barebones CPU and GPU. DLSS isn't "free". Especially when having a low native resolution to work with, DLSS isn't the silver bullet to bad performance that it has proven on PC. I think Nintendo fans will have to accept being disappointed this gen in terms of tech.
 

kevboard

Member
8nm in 2025 isn't cutting it. Nintendo could've taken a loss on the hardware in exchange for putting better hardware inside of the switch 2. 8nm tells us that they wanna make a profit on launch day and will essentially handicap their first party devs the entire generation because of that decision. Nintendo are a big enough corporation to cut a better deal in terms of producing the chip necessary to produce a more powerful console than asus are with the ROG ALLY X.

game consoles are in development for 5+ years.
Nintendo is limited by the tech Nvidia has ready to be used.
you can't just change the hardware last minute just because some new process node became available, especially if they can not guarantee production volumes.

the Switch 2 on a smaller node would still be the same system. the only difference would be battery draw. the target specs of the system probably have been set in stone 2 years ago.

and the simple fact that the system will probably be on par or more powerful than comparable devices that cost twice as much is the only real point of interest that the end user should care about.
 
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cormack12

Gold Member
stoned puppet GIF


Damn, I think we all knew it would be older hardware, but we were expecting capability in there. Another generation of jaggies here we go.

With Nvidia on one side of the spectrum and Nintendo on the other, I think it's only the PS5/XS that offer any value for money.
 

diffusionx

Gold Member
I have been saying for some time now that there is a huge difference between using DLSS on a stationary PC with a power budget of 500W with desktop class GPU and CPU to a 15W handheld that will have an extremely barebones CPU and GPU. DLSS isn't "free". Especially when having a low native resolution to work with, DLSS isn't the silver bullet to bad performance that it has proven on PC. I think Nintendo fans will have to accept being disappointed this gen in terms of tech.
People seem to think DLSS is free because they turn it on and get performance improvements for seemingly nothing. They don’t know what goes on behind the scenes or that engaging the DLSS routines with the GPU costs power.

I think Nintendo fans will be happy, it’s people who view DF and stuff like that who will be disappointed. As we see here.
 
The two base models are $299. The Mario Kart 9 bundle is $349.
Yeah, Nah, $399 without any game for the base model.

Processing node isn't the only relevant tech on Switch 2. It doesn't surprise me it might be able to outperform other more expensive portable devices thanks to the Nvidia tech and Nintendo optimization
Nintendo and their own secret sauce.

JIkScDo.gif
 

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
Nintendo has an excellent opportunity here to eat PlayStation's lunch if they could release a reasonably powerful system that could get most 3rd party support on day one.

I'm talking big games like GTA 6, Elden Ring etc. category.

It doesn't seem like they are doing it though.

Switch 2 will continue to sell well on the back of popular first-party games. But they could make it a complete package if it also got brilliant third-party support.
 
Software is too sparse for my liking. He gone years without turning my switch on

They need to start making more ambitious games

This is just my opinion but i agree with you. Nintendo have been spamming mario, fire emblem and zelda nonstop and have left alot of their franchises in the dust. Where's a new star fox, donkey kong, f-zero, 3d mario 'why only 1 per generation??', mario kart 'mario kart 9 should've been on the switch and not a mario kart 8 port'. Nintendo should take more risks and create more new ips and bring older franchises back with new games in the series.
 
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Skifi28

Member
Steam deck also came out in 2022 and was pretty good at the time. The only reason nintendo are launching a console this underpowered and going to charge a ridiculous price for it is because they know they can get away with it and they want to make as much of a profit as possible off of junk hardware. 8nm is an embarrassment in 2025 especially at the price they're going for.
The Steam deck might be old, but not much has changed in the handheld space. New handhelds that released this year are barely an improvement in the same TDP. Whatever Nintendo did, it would have been underpowered anyway. They just chose to make as much money as possible which we kinda knew anyway. Until tech has advanced enough for a Deck 2, I suspect the Switch 2 will be quite impressive as the only modern handheld using Nvidia tech.
 
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8nm in 2025 isn't cutting it. Nintendo could've taken a loss on the hardware in exchange for putting better hardware inside of the switch 2. 8nm tells us that they wanna make a profit on launch day and will essentially handicap their first party devs the entire generation because of that decision. Nintendo are a big enough corporation to cut a better deal in terms of producing the chip necessary to produce a more powerful console than asus are with the ROG ALLY X.

Presumably there will be a $299 Switch 2 Lite at some point.
 

diffusionx

Gold Member
The Steam deck might be old, but not much has changed in the handheld space. New handhelds that released this year are barely an improvement in the same TDP. Whatever Nintendo did, it would have been underpowered anyway. They just chose to make as much money as possible which we kinda knew anyway. Until tech has advanced enough for a Deck 2, I suspect the Switch 2 will be quite impressive as the only modern handheld using Nvidia tech.
When it comes to handhelds, we are at this point where:

1. Only so much juice can be squeezed from these chips - there's another thread about it. These node shrinks aren't getting you what they used to. You can just jack up power in a desktop and make people buy a bigger PSU. But there are hard limits to what a handheld can do, because:
2. Battery tech is not improving. It's basically what it was a decade ago. Companies are just finding better ways to squeeze a bigger battery into the device, but that only goes so far.

it's arguable that the Steam Deck is relatively close to the practical limit of power that you can get with a (x86) handheld system, despite it being old. Sure you can go beyond that if you want 12 seconds of battery life but that is not practical.
 

pulicat

Member
Yeah, Nah, $399 without any game for the base model.


Nintendo and their own secret sauce.

JIkScDo.gif
Zelda TOTK won best technology award in 2023 despite being a Switch game. Digital Foundry themselves complimented Nintendo for punching above its weight.

Just imagine what Nintendo capable on a system roughly 4-5 times more powerful than Switch

I'd prefer this
Pushing the system to its limit
Ik55Nwb.png


Instead of this
Not fully utilising system power
ASTRO-BOT_2024_05-30-24_004.jpg
 

McRazzle

Member
8nm in 2025 isn't cutting it. Nintendo could've taken a loss on the hardware in exchange for putting better hardware inside of the switch 2. 8nm tells us that they wanna make a profit on launch day and will essentially handicap their first party devs the entire generation because of that decision. Nintendo are a big enough corporation to cut a better deal in terms of producing the chip necessary to produce a more powerful console than asus are with the ROG ALLY X.

They wouldn't take a loss if they went smaller than 8nm; it might cost them an extra $15.00 at the most.
 

rodrigolfp

Haptic Gamepads 4 Life
Doubt that, the developers who did the heavy lifting on these emulators were politely asked to stop doing so by Nintendo.
There might be forks and clones but none of them have decent dev activity where it matters.
???

Ryujinx has updates almost daily.
 

JORMBO

Darkness no more
I loved the Switch. It is the first Nintendo consoles I've liked since SNES. It lost some of it's magic as it aged and we have seen all the handled PCs released. Steamdeck kills some of the hype for Switch 2 for me. I am expecting it to be around the Steamdeck in power or a bit worse. I will still get one on day one for Nintendo games and any RPGs I may want to have a physical copy of. I am not expecting much from it from a tech perspective though.
 

daclynk

Member
OH NOOOO. NINTENDO is DOOMED. They went the same way like Wii and is going to released an under-powered system compared to the PS5/XSX. They should go 3rd party.


That reminds me what are the games that is defining this gen. Also why are PS and Xbox releasing their games on different platforms. Again?
 

Mayar

Member
I don't know why everyone was so surprised, everyone who is familiar with Nintendo products knew perfectly well that everything would be like this. Nintendo has always made consoles for itself, regardless of the market, competitors, technical components. Is this a good approach? Well, who knows, we'll see this year, if they sell more than 100 million consoles again, then the plan was correct.
 

T4keD0wN

Member
There we go:



Anyone still expecting PS4 Pro performance level?
HW Performance level? No and i dont care about that.

But i am calling it now, itll run majority of games at 60fps that are 30fps on PS4Pro/XB1X, crossgen at 30fps (some at 60) and more stable than old gen. Raw GPU power means nothing since itll have a low resolution screen, with upscaling and lower in-game settings on top.

720p60 requires far less power than 4k30, but at worst "lower effort" ports will go with more stable 30fps + better graphics/lower res than PS4/XB1 instead. Talking about handheld modes ofc.
 
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PeteBull

Member

That tweet is simply saying that switch2 is weaksauce techwise but is newer tech in most polite way possible.
Kinda like rtx 4060(18may 2023) is newer tech from 2080ti(20sept 2018 official launch date) yet the older card is 21% faster on avg. 4years and 8months difference between those 2 cards.
 
They wouldn't take a loss if they went smaller than 8nm; it might cost them an extra $15.00 at the most.

NV would probably want an additional like 50-100M up front if they were going to port it to like say TSMC N6. But given that you would get a decent amount more dies per wafer... the cost increase per die wouldn't be that much.

The main benefit wouldn't be performance tho... mainly better battery life and being able to ditch the fan.
 
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Zelda TOTK won best technology award in 2023 despite being a Switch game. Digital Foundry themselves complimented Nintendo for punching above its weight.

Just imagine what Nintendo capable on a system roughly 4-5 times more powerful than Switch

I'd prefer this
Pushing the system to its limit
Ik55Nwb.png


Instead of this
Not fully utilising system power
ASTRO-BOT_2024_05-30-24_004.jpg
That remaster looks like a steaming turd compared to Astro, also costs 60$ to boot thanks to scrooge ass Nintendo. The mushrooms in the background probably have more polygons than the metroid MC.
 
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Zelda TOTK won best technology award in 2023 despite being a Switch game. Digital Foundry themselves complimented Nintendo for punching above its weight.

Just imagine what Nintendo capable on a system roughly 4-5 times more powerful than Switch

I'd prefer this
Pushing the system to its limit
Ik55Nwb.png


Instead of this
Not fully utilising system power
ASTRO-BOT_2024_05-30-24_004.jpg

what-are-you-even-talking-about-baze10.gif
 
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