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Nintendo Switch 2 Motherboard leaked, confirms TSMC N6/SEC8N

FireFly

Member
I'm not going to lie here. We live in an age where chatGPT exists, and I simply asked it to decode: "s tw 24 snw8vf mop" for me. ChatGPT's response is...

"The chip labeled "S TW 24 SNW8VF MOP GMLX30-R-A1" is believed to be an NVIDIA Tegra system-on-chip (SoC) intended for the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 console. The prefix "S" suggests that Samsung is the manufacturer, as NVIDIA has historically used "S" to denote Samsung and "P" for TSMC. The code "SNW8VF" indicates that the chip is produced using Samsung's 8nm process technology."

So yeah, manufactured by Samsung, uses an 8NM process. ChatGPT is basically a smart search at this point. These days I find it more useful than Google.
All ChatGPT is doing is summarising the speculation from existing sources. When I searched, it cited Computerbase.de. Then I asked:

Provide an another example of where a code like "SNW8VF" was used to designate a manufacturing process

And I got this nonsense answer:

"Codes like "SNW8VF" are commonly used in the semiconductor industry to designate manufacturing processes or specific chip models. A similar example is NVIDIA's "GP102-400-A1," which designates the specific GPU die used in high-end graphics cards like the GTX 1080 Ti.

Here's another example:

TSMC N7 Process Example

The naming convention "N7" is used by TSMC to represent its 7nm manufacturing process. While "N7" isn't exactly like "SNW8VF," it demonstrates how a code can succinctly describe the node technology used to fabricate the chip. This code appears on technical documentation, marketing material, and sometimes on the chips themselves.

These codes provide quick references for the fabrication technology or a unique identifier for engineers, partners, or industry insiders. While some codes are public knowledge, others (like "SNW8VF") may require context, such as leaks or product announcements, to interpret fully."


From what I have read on Famiboards there actually aren't any other examples of the number "8" being used in this way. At least if you can find one through ChatGPT, please cite it.
 
And apart from all of that, I'm glad Nintendo doesn't want the enter the AAArms Race (slow output of games, crunch, $80 price tags with tons of DLC).
Be Nintendo, dump cheap ass PoS cash grabs like Mario Tennis, 1-2 switch, Mario Soccer, shitty ass remasters and sell them for full $60 and watch nerds defend their atrocious pricing. I will take a HFW/GoT at 70$ over any of these shitty ass mini game collections at 60$, thank you.
 

LordOcidax

Member
Why don’t you just pick one or multiple game(s) that’s available on both platforms and we should get a very clear-cut answer?
We are having a technical discussion with a person that is proving by itself that have 0 knowledge in this topic… Don’t expect anything razonable.
 
Breath of the wild has more modern graphical techniques in a way bigger scale and with way more complex gameplay mechanics (including physics) than anything in the PS3, and it was made for the Wii U. NPC details is not that big, but that's about it, it doesn't need it anyway for the type of game it is.

La Xbox GIF


3654221-the-legend-of-zelda-breath-of-the-wild-nintendo-switch-a-beautif.jpg


red_dead_redemption_image_DCgeb9a2njUf9DD.jpg
 
He thinks, personally, that Uncharted looks the best. He doesn’t care about the technical parts of it.

You’re arguing facts vs. option here. It’s a pointless discussion.
I would prefer it more if he was honest: "hey, I don't like kiddie games, I want a more cinematic experience".

That would have been fine, but now he's arguing against objective/tech facts.

"Facts"

How many polygons is splatoon pushing? The tech discussion doesnt end at PBR. What about the texture quality of Splatoon?

Reminder:


Dude, I have clocked an insane amount of hours in Uncharted/Splatoon (not just the SP, but also the MP). TLOU too.

You just played Uncharted once or twice for the cinematic experience, you haven't played Splatoon at all and you think your "opinion" holds any merit?

WTF are you telling me about textures? Play the Splatoon 2 Campaign and you'll see the texture quality is higher, lighting is better, even the poly count and the animations.

PS3 only had 256MB of VRAM vs 4GB UMA on Switch. Get real!
 

Robb

Gold Member
I would prefer it more if he was honest: "hey, I don't like kiddie games, I want a more cinematic experience".

That would have been fine, but now he's arguing against objective/tech facts.
The questions shouldn’t even start with “I haven’t personally seen anything that looks better than this or that”.

It should be if Switch would be able to run Uncharted at all. And after that if it’d be able to run it at higher FPS or not etc.
 

Woopah

Member
Not at all.

We just know Nintendo better than you and understand they haven't made a competitive piece of hardware since the GameCube.

In fact, Switch 2 will likely be more akin to a "Switch Pro" - a mid gen refresh -- rather than a true next gen step.

I have no doubt they will cheap out on the process node of the chip, cheap out on the power, and cheap out on the dock's potential. And they will sell it to you for $399.
What part of the specs makes you think it's a Pro? Switch 2 has 3x the RAM of the Switch. The increase in GB is the same as PS4 to PS5.
 

bender

What time is it?


Docked: 1920x1080p 30fpsPS3: 1152x640p

Fair enough - Switch does appear to be slightly more powerful than PS3! But it's still ancient. PS3 is a 2006 console. Switch was released 11 years later.


Now compare the power draw of the various PS3 models to the Switch profiles in docked versus handheld. It's almost like the design goals of the Switch are different than those of a dedicated home console.
 

Buggy Loop

Member
Guess what guys. It's a motherboard for a system that will be severely underpowered compared to other consoles available but it will have arguably the best first party games of any of them.

Basically, DAY FUCKING 0!

LET's A GOOOOOO!

More importantly, this is the realm of performances that Nintendo will never really push. A more powerful / modern PS4 and you need studios like Sony at their peak to push it to the limits. We’re approaching the diminishing returns in graphics and this handheld will shock peoples because of that. PS5 games mainly being higher res PS4 games due to budget limits and the I/O for streaming games, which here is handled on Nvidia’s side at native API level for RTX I/O
 

bender

What time is it?
More importantly, this is the realm of performances that Nintendo will never really push. A more powerful / modern PS4 and you need studios like Sony at their peak to push it to the limits. We’re approaching the diminishing returns in graphics and this handheld will shock peoples because of that. PS5 games mainly being higher res PS4 games due to budget limits and the I/O for streaming games, which here is handled on Nvidia’s side at native API level for RTX I/O

It's always humorous to see people twist themselves into knots both admiring Nintendo's output and success while being hypercritical of their modest hardware as if the relationship wasn't symbiotic.
 
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It's always humorous to see people twist themselves into knots while both admiring Nintendo's output and success and being hypercritical of their modest hardware as if the relationship wasn't symbiotic.

Nintendo could afford to be far more competitive on hardware. I'm not going to admire their ridiculous margins on hardware by selling something that costs $150 to make for $300.
 

LordOcidax

Member
Meh, when your victory is that a 2017 piece of hardware is only barely more powerful than a 2006 piece of hardware, that's pretty much a Pyrrhic victory for you bud.

The Switch 2 will be barely more powerful than a PS4 if this is anything to go by. Nintendo doesn't make compelling hardware. Why should we expect anything will change?
r95sqJQ.gif
 
BOTW literally gives every PS360 a game a run for their money in all the tech aspects that matter and I don't even say this for Sony only.
Some people tend to forget that BoTW and Mario Odyssey are open-world games, way more demanding than linear corridor games.

Subjectively I tend to prefer mostly linear games, but facts are facts (open-world games are more demanding than linear ones).

There's a reason the PS3 (1 PPE, 256MB + 256MB) didn't have a plethora of open-world games vs the PS4 (multi-core x86 CPU + 8GB UMA).

Most open-world games (like GTAV or Skyrim) run like crap on PS3. It was designed for linear/arcadey experiences (like Uncharted, Super Stardust HD etc.)
Be Nintendo, dump cheap ass PoS cash grabs like Mario Tennis, 1-2 switch, Mario Soccer, shitty ass remasters and sell them for full $60 and watch nerds defend their atrocious pricing. I will take a HFW/GoT at 70$ over any of these shitty ass mini game collections at 60$, thank you.
I don't buy party games (their have their audience though, mainly families) and I don't buy yet another unneeded TLOU1 remaster for PS5.

Nintendo remasters Wii 480p games, while Sony remasters PS4 1080p games that already look great (TLOU1), they remove the MP (TLOU Factions) even though Hermen Hulst wants GaaS and then they ask for $70.

Sony is a lot worse in my eyes when it comes to price gouging and totally mind-boggling GaaS/MP strategy (Nintendo has racing/Mario Kart, shooter/Splatoon, while Sony has no 1st party MP these days, unlike the PS3/4 era).
The questions shouldn’t even start with “I haven’t personally seen anything that looks better than this or that”.

It should be if Switch would be able to run Uncharted at all. And after that if it’d be able to run it at higher FPS or not etc.
They would have to rewrite Cell SPU assembly code to GPGPU/compute shaders (IIRC, Bluepoint did that for Uncharted Trilogy, since the Jaguar CPU cannot match Cell SIMD-wise), but the trickiest part would be to fit the pre-recorded cutscenes into a Switch cartridge (32GB probably, 16GB wouldn't cut it).
Now compare the power draw of the various PS3 models to the Switch profiles in docked versus handheld. It's almost like the design goals of the Switch are different than those of a dedicated home console.
Yes, this is like comparing a 50cc motorcycle with a Toyota Corolla and then claiming the motorcycle doesn't do what it's supposed to do.

PS3 was released in 2006 with a 200W TDP. Remember YLOD? And RROD on XBOX 360...

Switch uses 2015 tech (Tegra X1), which supports tiled rendering (inside the GPU L2 of 256KB, that's how it deals with only 25.6 GB/s of memory bandwidth):


nVidia's Maxwell GPU is a lot more efficient compared to GeForce 7 (RSX), despite being a mobile part.
 
Nintendo could afford to be far more competitive on hardware. I'm not going to admire their ridiculous margins on hardware by selling something that costs $150 to make for $300.
I bet PS5 Pro has a higher profit margin and don't forget Sony is supposed to sell hardware cheaply and recoup the losses from the games.

Do you really think PS5 Pro's BOM is anywhere near $700-800? Or do you think the BD-ROM drive costs $120? The entire PS3 Super Slim (with a BD-ROM drive) cost $150.
 
The Series S has 10GB of RAM, 8GB of which are for the games. If Series S can get almost all third party games, then I think 16GB would have been unnecessary for Switch 2.

Agreed. I think it is important to note that memory constraints have been a point of pain for the 2020 XSS. Doesn't seem unreasonable to think that a 2025 Switch 2 could have benefited from more than 12GB.
 

bender

What time is it?
Nintendo could afford to be far more competitive on hardware. I'm not going to admire their ridiculous margins on hardware by selling something that costs $150 to make for $300.

They don't want to be more competitive with hardware and that's the point. It let's them produce a less expensive product which it turns let's that product get into more hands. It also keeps there development costs down which let's them product more games more quickly. In turn they can produce titles from lesser franchises (Metroid, WarioWare, etc.) that might not be profitable if development costs were higher. That gives them a well rounded platform with the next title just around the corner which makes their affordable platform attractive to consumers. Modest hardware also helps with things like battery life.
 

Woopah

Member
Agreed. I think it is important to note that memory constraints have been a point of pain for the 2020 XSS. Doesn't seem unreasonable to think that a 2025 Switch 2 could have benefited from more than 12GB.
It could have, but even with those memory constraints the Series S still gets almost every major third party game.

Nintendo would be very happy to get the same third party support as Xbox (though with more Japanese games).
 
I bet it does not. PS5 pro probably has a 15% margin at most

Base ps5 has 0-5% margin though and should be what we are comparing it against
PS5 Slim still costs $500 after 4+ years.

Do you even remember PS3/PS4 BOM?

playstation_3_bill_of_materials.jpg


PS4_BOM_2_IHS.gif


You cannot have both an expensive console AND expensive games. Take your pick...

That's why I suggested Sony should revive Uncharted (since you like it so much, I do too) and stick to PS3-4 production values.

Otherwise expect the PS6 to cost $899 (without a disc drive) and games $100 a pop. Does this sound sustainable to you?

Sony wants to imitate Apple, but I don't think they'll get very far with this strategy. PS5 is nowhere near as successful as iPhone.
 
They don't want to be more competitive with hardware and that's the point. It let's them produce a less expensive product which it turns let's that product get into more hands. It also keeps there development costs down which let's them product more games more quickly. In turn they can produce titles from lesser franchises (Metroid, WarioWare, etc.) that might not be profitable if development costs were higher. That gives them a well rounded platform with the next title just around the corner which makes their affordable platform attractive to consumers. Modest hardware also helps with things like battery life.
Exactly!

Sony has abandoned so many beloved franchises, just because they don't think it's profitable enough to revive them with PS5 production values.

If Switch 2 proves to be a roaring success, then perhaps Sony will understand what people really want from a video game.

Hell, both Astro Bot and PS Portal indicate where things are going...
 

Fabieter

Member
Looks good, yes, but it has a clean art style. It's not a particularly demanding or detailed game though. Plenty of PS360 era games look better.

I did play a few ps3 games last year like mgs4 and believe me they don't look like you remember those. I dont know why are you mad. Nintendo is gonna be more competitive this generation onwards. This is a good thing.
 

Banjo64

cumsessed
Not sure if debunked already



Top comment on the Reddit thread itself:

There were several news reports last year that Nintendo got a really good deal with Samsung for the node, v-nand, and screen. Node was announced as "7LPH" which is either a custom thing or a typo of 7LPP. Samsung 5nm is 7LPP.

There was also this:

https://wccftech.com/nintendo-switch-2-soc-5nm-clock-speed-2-5-ghz/

People saw 5nm and assumed tsmc 4N (which is actually 5nm).
 
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Zathalus

Member
In fact, Switch 2 will likely be more akin to a "Switch Pro" - a mid gen refresh -- rather than a true next gen step.
Based on the leaked specs we have so far, the leap from Switch 1 to Switch 2 is larger than the leak between PS4 and PS5.

4 Core A57 vs 8 Core A78.
4GB Ram LPDDR4 @ 25.6Gbps vs 12GB LPDDR5 @ 7500Mhz 120Gbps.
512 SM Maxwell GPU vs 1536 SM Ampere+ GPU.
SD card vs Nvme with custom file decompression.

Final clocks are the question but it is doubtful it would be under the original Switch. Nvidia clocks for the similar Orin SoC marks 540Mhz as best efficiency and the leak suggested 660Mhz for portable. Which is 1.6-2 TF in portable vs the Max of 0.235 TF for the Switch 1.
 
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Not sure if debunked already



Top comment on the Reddit thread itself:

There were several news reports last year that Nintendo got a really good deal with Samsung for the node, v-nand, and screen. Node was announced as "7LPH" which is either a custom thing or a typo of 7LPP. Samsung 5nm is 7LPP.

There was also this:

https://wccftech.com/nintendo-switch-2-soc-5nm-clock-speed-2-5-ghz/

People saw 5nm and assumed tsmc 4N (which is actually 5nm).

This will likely end up true, Samsung 5nm actually showed up in a linkedin when the specs went public, lol.
 
After reading all the rumours, worst case scenario is Samsung n8 or best case its Samsung n5, with n8 battery life is going suck big time, we are talking about under 3 hours. Let’s hope Nintendo has some kind of solution.
 

LordOcidax

Member
Not sure if debunked already



Top comment on the Reddit thread itself:

There were several news reports last year that Nintendo got a really good deal with Samsung for the node, v-nand, and screen. Node was announced as "7LPH" which is either a custom thing or a typo of 7LPP. Samsung 5nm is 7LPP.

There was also this:

https://wccftech.com/nintendo-switch-2-soc-5nm-clock-speed-2-5-ghz/

People saw 5nm and assumed tsmc 4N (which is actually 5nm).

I thought it was a new leak…
 
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I did play a few ps3 games last year like mgs4 and believe me they don't look like you remember those. I dont know why are you mad. Nintendo is gonna be more competitive this generation onwards. This is a good thing.

They won’t: though, they still remain a generation behind
 
Based on the leaked specs we have so far, the leap from Switch 1 to Switch 2 is larger than the leak between PS4 and PS5.

4 Core A57 vs 8 Core A78.
4GB Ram LPDDR4 @ 25.6Gbps vs 12GB LPDDR5 @ 7500Mhz 120Gbps.
512 SM Maxwell GPU vs 1536 SM Ampere+ GPU.
SD card vs Nvme with custom file decompression.

Final clocks are the question but it is doubtful it would be under the original Switch. Nvidia clocks for the similar Orin SoC marks 540Mhz as best efficiency and the leak suggested 660Mhz for portable. Which is 1.6-2 TF in portable vs the Mac of 235 GF for the Switch 1.
People who claim Switch 2 is not a next-gen leap are the exact same people who insisted Indiana Jones doesn't look next-gen at all (some even compared it to XBOX 360-era graphics). :messenger_tears_of_joy:

2TF in portable mode (Ampere GPU with Ada/DLSS enhancements) make it a lot more powerful than the OG PS4 (1.84TF GCN)!

Not sure if debunked already



Top comment on the Reddit thread itself:

There were several news reports last year that Nintendo got a really good deal with Samsung for the node, v-nand, and screen. Node was announced as "7LPH" which is either a custom thing or a typo of 7LPP. Samsung 5nm is 7LPP.

There was also this:

https://wccftech.com/nintendo-switch-2-soc-5nm-clock-speed-2-5-ghz/

People saw 5nm and assumed tsmc 4N (which is actually 5nm).

Nintendo Big Dick energy confirmed!

Eyes will melt...

Let's not forget Switch 1 was an experiment, Nintendo didn't know if it would catch on.

But since they've made so much money off of Switch 1, they're willing to take a few more risks with Switch 2. ;)
 

paolo11

Member
20% - 40% higher base PS4 is handheld

The dude who rumoured a handheld with PS4 pro is insane

That’s not bad if this is true. Higher than ps4 on handheld mode is amazing. As long it plays 720p DLSS 60fps on ff7 remake trilogy on handheld I’ll be happy (or anything just to make the IQ look non blurry)
 
In this project summary, the former Siliconist Technologies employee mentions a 5nm process node and a maximum clock speed of 2.653 GHz, higher than the maximum clock speed of the original Nintendo Switch SOC, the TegraX1.
Personally, I expect 4TF in docked mode, but if this is true, then we can expect over 8TF! (1536 * 2 * 2653)

It would run circles around Xbox Series S. And it probably wouldn't consume more than 50W (those 2 fans will be needed).
 
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