NateDrake: Switch Final Devkits being shipped, Battery should be 3DS-like (5-8 hours)

Sounds too good to be true unless it's heavily downclocked in portable mode, and I don't want a 60fps game to drop to 30fps when portable or something like that, I'd rather take 3 hour battery life if that means I get better performance since I rarely play even 2 hours without a break nowadays.
 
Excelent news! Would love to see the faces of people who trash talk the switch for it's battery now, man. Awesome! Nothing but good news!
 
I don't expect too long of a battery, 5 - 8 hours seems unrealistic comparing to tablets and phones (when playing high end visual games).

4+ is good enough for me.
 
5 is excellent news and plenty for most situations I can think of. Up to 8 sounds more like standby or web browsing only, but we'll see I suppose!

ShadowFox08 said:
Is that really true? Can they really fluidly chose 40% extra power in dock mode, and 60% energy efficiency in portable?
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Yes. The "40% more performance" or "60% more efficiency" are two ways of saying the same thing- Pascal chips get more performance per watt. This means, if you're keeping the exact same configuration of the TX1 but with Pascal/16nm architecture, the 10W for 512Gflops of the TX1 translates to either 4W for 512Gflops or 10W for 768Gflops for the Pascal chip. In theory anyway.

Meaning, due to the nature of the Switch, Nintendo can downclock to the 4W mode when undocked, and upclock back to the 10W mode when docked to take advantage of both the "40%" and the "60%"

Raet said:
So do you guys think the better-than-expected battery life suggests an efficient Pascal architecture, what we all probably hope for, or an underpowered chip (what the "lol Nintendo" crowd expects)?
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Well, in this case Pascal architecture is the most efficient type they can use, so using an older underpowered chip would actually give them a worse battery life. Which is why using Pascal makes so much sense in this case.
 
I definitely don't see +5 hours happening but I don't mind. Anything above 3/4 hours of gameplay is good enough for me.
 
My 3DS was never really able to go more than 3-4 hours without a charge. But if the Switch can actually last 5 hours, comfortably, and with continuous play, then Ill be REALLY happy.

8 hours seems unrealistic though. That would be a megaton if true.
 
If this can get up to 5h max it would be great for what it delivers, 8h would be nothing short of wizardry. Have a hard time believing it can be done but the Nvidia guys are Tech Wizards after all...
 
5+ hours would be really good if true. I'd be happy with that. I'm having a VERY hard time believing anything like 8 though.
 
8 hours on a 3DS? Lol.

I have like 7 3DS...all kind of models/different regions. None of them has ever passed 5-6hours game time even on low brightness settings.
 
I would love to know how anyone can find more than 5 hours a day away from home/accommodation to play games in, and if anyone does then I presume your commute is hell.
 
The funny thing is, people want the Switch to have 6+ hours usage and PS4 Pro Power or more lol.


I'm happy if it would be a portable Xbox 360.
And I guess it's even better than that.
 
So 2D games at max 8 hours and prolly 3-5 hours on 3D games depending how graphic intensive they are. Sounds really really good
 
Yeah, I believe it'll be 8 hours if you turn the brightness all the way down and do nothing but browse GAF on the thing. There's no way it's gonna be 5-8 playing Breath of the Wild on full blast. I do believe it will be like the 3DS, so 3+ hours. Which is acceptable. Not great, but acceptable.
 
So it's been pretty much stated by most insiders that when not docked the Switch will be downclocked, correct?

People have suggested that it's due to having to be plugged in, in order to upclock to stock. If there's no hard thermal limit and the dock is just used as a connection hub, couldn't Nintendo / Nvidia offer a power saving mode for those wanting to conserve battery and a performance mode for those wanting more brute force whenever it isn't docked?
 
OldMan said:
Wonder what Frankenstein looking device the dev kit will look like this time--here's a GameCube for reference
dolphin-development-kit.jpg

Best regards,

OM
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If anyone lives in Orange County, CA, they often have Dolphin units at the Cypress swap-meet. Haha, so random that the town I lived in was known for having a ton of video game relics.
 
Mick Swagger said:
So it's been pretty much stated by most insiders that when not docked the Switch will be downclocked, correct?

People have suggested that it's due to having to be plugged in, in order to upclock to stock. If there's no hard thermal limit and the dock is just used as a connection hub, couldn't Nintendo / Nvidia offer a power saving mode for those wanting to conserve battery and a performance mode for those wanting more brute force whenever it isn't docked?
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The newest rumors say that the dock includes a fan, so presumably in order to run at the max clocks you'd need that fan, so it can't be done outside of the dock.

Regardless, the major difference between docked and undocked is likely to be the rendering resolution, at least for Nintendo games. The 720p screen of the Switch won't really see much of a benefit of rendering a game at 1080p, besides a bit more sharpness I guess.
 
Mick Swagger said:
So it's been pretty much stated by most insiders that when not docked the Switch will be downclocked, correct?

People have suggested that it's due to having to be plugged in, in order to upclock to stock. If there's no hard thermal limit and the dock is just used as a connection hub, couldn't Nintendo / Nvidia offer a power saving mode for those wanting to conserve battery and a performance mode for those wanting more brute force whenever it isn't docked?
Click to expand...

Proper airflow would not be guaranteed which would put the console at risk for overheating without the dock.
 
Stumpokapow said:
""devkits being shiped""""

no shit

"""""should be 5-8 hours""""

yep this sure is real good scoops, really laying it all on the line there, no possible way to weasel out of this if it's wrong because it's just a random guess

""""""" i don't like ruining the surprises of what they're going to announce """"

yeah maybe because you don't know any????
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You are no fool, my friend.
 
purseowner said:
I would love to know how anyone can find more than 5 hours a day away from home/accommodation to play games in, and if anyone does then I presume your commute is hell.
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Why does it have to be five hours without access to a power outlet in a single day?

Maybe you forget to charge it at night? It's not exactly going to be a top priority for most people unlike something essential like a phone. Especially if you aren't playing it every day. Or let's say I play it on the couch while watching football. After the game I set it on the table. The next day, I grab it on my way out. Oops, low battery. Not the end of the world, but surely everyone can think of circumstances where a short battery life would be an inconvenience. It really doesn't take a lot of imagination, just a willingness to believe that yes, there could be reasons people are apprehensive about the battery life.

I mean, there's a reason why so many people want battery technology to improve, despite the ubiquity of power outlets.

That said, 3-5 hours is perfectly fine to me. If the Switch manages 5-8 hours, I'll be really impressed. I'm doubtful though, so surprise me Nintendo.
 
Neoxon said:
But that's the key-word, targeting. It's not that I doubt your sources. But from what I'm reading of what you said, it seems like 5-8 hours is what Nintendo is hoping to hit. And while I do hope Nintendo reaches their goal, if they do is uncertain (unless you have more intel).
Click to expand...

Targeting also seems to the keyword people are overlooking or just outright ignoring.
 
guek said:
Proper airflow would not be guaranteed which would put the console at risk for overheating without the dock.
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Well yeah but that seems like an engineering issue that should've been solved early on if Nintendo allows the user to prioritize power over battery life or vice verse. I guess until we know if the fan is in the Switch, in the dock or both we won't know for sure but hopefully Nintendo thought this all out.

Nvidias thermal limits are usually pretty good about maintaining a low temp at load comparative to their competitors so we'll see.
 
I will be very content with 4 good, solid hours on the go.
No low screen brightness, i need to squint to see shenanigans.

With a battery pack to double the life, i will be set for most of the domestic travel i do.
Hell, i find it very hard to imagine playing in burst of more than 4 hours at a time.
What gets me giddy is the ability to have a full console experience at this size of a device.

I can dock the switch for international flights, and in hotels. Hook it up to the TV even.
God damn, i really hope this allows me to carry my gaming lifestyle with me wherever i go.
Really hope Sony or Microsoft follow suit with a supplementary device next gen.
 
I really hope Nintendo does plenty of pre-orders for Switch. If trying to buy a Switch becomes the same scenario as the Wii/NES Classic, I will curse the heavens. I'm trading in my Wii/Wii-U today so that I have my money set aside. Don't fail me Nintendo!
 
5 hours would be good, especially if it has turbo charging feature. My Nexus 6P charger can double up as Switch charger without even needing a cable swap.
 
ShadowFox08 said:
What's this about NateDrake?

https://twitter.com/DirectFeedGames/status/807302817547489281
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Context and reading comprehension...

Last thing, don't in any way assume the past rumours from that game's dev about Switch specs are accurate info.
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https://twitter.com/LaurakBuzz/status/807212477536763904

@LaurakBuzz Hmm, who do I believe more? Someone who actually developed a game for the Switch or some attention-seeking glorified blogger?
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https://twitter.com/Raito1337/status/807288140297863168

@Raito1337 @LaurakBuzz Believe the dev who said Switch was a PS4 Pro level AMD GPU powered console /s
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https://twitter.com/DirectFeedGames/status/807302817547489281
 
8 fucking hours? Why did you throw that number in there, should've just played it like between 3-5 hours even if by some miracle it comes close to 8.
 
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