How does that even work? Do you need to have a router with hdmi out?
Nintendo Switch Dev Kit Stats Leaked? Cortex A57, 4GB RAM, 32GB Storage, Multi-Touch.
- Thread starter Robert at Zeboyd Games
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How does that even work? Do you need to have a router with hdmi out?
Ethernet over HDMI is supported by approximately zero real-world devices, so I wouldn't count on it. They'll go with a USB adapter, the question being whether they support gigabit this time.
USB Type-C has lanes reserved exclusively for data. That should be sufficient.
blu
Wants the largest console games publisher to avoid Nintendo's platforms.
What's wrong with eth-over-usb? I mean, why would you not want to use a usb port for eth?
There's no real reason to do this. If you've got, let's say, a 4 SM GPU and you want to hit a particular performance in portable mode, then you'll consume less power by using all four at a low clock speed than two at a higher clock speed. Equivalently, if you want to get as much performance as possible out of a given power budget, you'll get better performance with more SMs at a lower clock than you'd get by disabling some and running the rest at a higher clock.
Panajev2001a
GAF's Pleasant Genius
Skittzo0413
Member
At that point just raising the clock speeds would make more sense. More SMs cost more money per chip, whereas clock speeds are more of a software thing. I think having a higher max clock speed raises prices just in that you need to make sure each chip is capable of reaching a higher clock speed, so you get slightly fewer workable chips per batch, but with more SMs that cost is added to every chip made.
So, given the clock speeds presented by DF, it does not sound likely, no. Possible, sure.
Herb Alpert
Banned
Skittzo0413
Member
Probably not, because we don't know how much of that would be dedicated to charging the battery versus running the actual console, or how much is reserved for peripherals attached to the dock like the Gamecube controller adaptor.
Edit: probably not to console power conclusions anyway.
The Switch probably has a USB-C Power Delivery port but not running up to 100W, more like 60W or less to comply with the AC adapter.
The Switch has to deal with running in docked mode, output video and audio to the DisplayPort and charge the battery all at the same time which may be more than what a standard USB-C port at 15W can do hence suggesting it has Power Delivery port capabilities.
The variance in 13W to 39W for the AC adapter output means the lowest wattage could be for when you have the Switch docked but you're playing a game that doesn't have a docked mode hence the GPU and RAM do not upclock.
Also, with USB-C Power Delivery, it should be possible to get the Switch to charge fast.
I was going to make that joke.
Panajev2001a
GAF's Pleasant Genius
I think MS's lawyers will issue a takedown notice as the meeting behind Scorpio's external PSU Brick design was not supposed to leak. Just FYI.
.That's probably 0.5A max coming out of those fingers. The Switch is confirmed to be weak!
OG_Original Gamer
Member
Do anyone know if the Souls games are particularly more heavy on one processing unit over the other?
Wouldn't acceptable performance, if true, coming from FromSoftware sort of point to the possibility that the SOC may possess more than 2 SM's?
One more question, what is the cost difference between using a mini disc drive or card reader?
I think it would be much more beneficial for Nintendo in order to gain good third party support, to not ship a console with a slow GPU and 2 SM's.
Wouldn't acceptable performance, if true, coming from FromSoftware sort of point to the possibility that the SOC may possess more than 2 SM's?
One more question, what is the cost difference between using a mini disc drive or card reader?
I think it would be much more beneficial for Nintendo in order to gain good third party support, to not ship a console with a slow GPU and 2 SM's.
HylianHero12
Member
brochiller
Member
The highest in the galaxy.
Skittzo0413
Member
Souls games are apparently fairly dependent on CPU, and not all that GPU intensive. I don't think acceptable performance tells us anything about the GPU configuration, since they can always lower graphical settings. GPU functions in general are very scaleable, and I think CPU functions can be scaleable too but not to the same extent. Things like physics and AI are a bit more difficult to scale downwards than things like lighting and texture resolution.
No idea about card reader vs mini disc drive but any sort of disc drive in a mobile device is very undesirable. Game card storage should be able to surpass Blu-ray discs' in 2017 anyway, so it's probably their best solution.
Movalpolos
Banned
blu
Wants the largest console games publisher to avoid Nintendo's platforms.
They got to the real juicy part and their interest faded because it's 'just the wiiu'?.. There's no big enough facepalm I could use to express my opinion right now.
Another nice tidbit from the FCC filing is that the Switch's code number is HAC. The code number are always drawn from internal code names, meaning it had another code name than NX. I wonder what it could've been.
Not much to decipher from it, only that it is rated for adequate power use. The amperage given for AC adapters is always a rated upper limit, but is no indication of average use. It could use 2.6A at 5V (13W) and only need like 1.5A at 15V (22.5W). Like said before it could be that the upper bound is used when it needs to deliver both power to the internals and charge the battery. The only thing to be noted here is that there's no confirmation of the console to be ultra conservative concerning power usage and therefore might include the extra SM or other extra additions to the SoC.
I do hope that the console internally disconnects the battery from charging when full if docked. If the battery is non-replaceable this heavily improves battery lifetime.
Not much to decipher from it, only that it is rated for adequate power use. The amperage given for AC adapters is always a rated upper limit, but is no indication of average use. It could use 2.6A at 5V (13W) and only need like 1.5A at 15V (22.5W). Like said before it could be that the upper bound is used when it needs to deliver both power to the internals and charge the battery. The only thing to be noted here is that there's no confirmation of the console to be ultra conservative concerning power usage and therefore might include the extra SM or other extra additions to the SoC.
I do hope that the console internally disconnects the battery from charging when full if docked. If the battery is non-replaceable this heavily improves battery lifetime.
calc84maniac
Member
I heard a theory it means Handheld And Console. Simple, but to the point.
Great, so when someone splits this thing open for homebrew inevitably, we can all agree the method should be called HACk
Smurfman256
Member
Well, this is DEFINITELY whishful thinking, but I'm hoping that the Switch, when docked, supports HDR output. BECAUSE I JUST SPENT $700 ON THIS NEW HDR TV AND GOD DAMMIT, I NEED MORE THINGS TO USE IT ON THAN JUST SHADOW WARRIOR 2 AND A HANDFUL OF NETFLIX PROGRAMS!
Hold on, I didn't knew that the 3DS VRAM was within the SoC itself, taking a sizable chunk of the die:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=854467&page=4
I was hesitant to envision a similar concept (mainly as a shared L3 cache) with the Switch SoC since most ARM-based architectures other than Apple's don't use this approach, so learning that Nintendo has already done so with the 3DS is quite reassuring. A reminder: the original 3DS had 6MB of SRAM within the SoC which I believe mainly plays the role of the VRAM; the size grew to 10MB of VRAM with the New 3DS.
Therefore, the idea of the Switch having a small pool of VRAM + 4GB LPDDR4 isn't a stretch as I first thought it was.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=854467&page=4
Note: Die shot of the original 3DS. The huge heterogeneous zones are probably blocks of SRAM.
I was hesitant to envision a similar concept (mainly as a shared L3 cache) with the Switch SoC since most ARM-based architectures other than Apple's don't use this approach, so learning that Nintendo has already done so with the 3DS is quite reassuring. A reminder: the original 3DS had 6MB of SRAM within the SoC which I believe mainly plays the role of the VRAM; the size grew to 10MB of VRAM with the New 3DS.
Therefore, the idea of the Switch having a small pool of VRAM + 4GB LPDDR4 isn't a stretch as I first thought it was.
ShadowFox08
Member
So according to Laura the base model will have 32GB of memory(from the obi1 video the other day), and the switch can support 128GB micro SD(I'm assuming at launch until later updated).
If the base model ends up being $250, and the bundle gets more storage and costs $300 with a game(lets say splatoon or botw), how much more storage space can we really predict getting? I'm guessing 64GB-120GB, with 64GB the most likely.
But 120GB ssds cost less than $50 nowadays(you can get one for around 40 on amazon), and they're only like $10 more than the 64GB ones and $20 more at the most than 32GB(who even buys these anymore?). I don't even like splatoon, but I would totally get a switch 128GB SSD for $300, mainly for the space. It sounds pathetic when you know ps4 and xbone already have 1TB included for at least $300, and we gotta deal with 32GB. Ugh
If the base model ends up being $250, and the bundle gets more storage and costs $300 with a game(lets say splatoon or botw), how much more storage space can we really predict getting? I'm guessing 64GB-120GB, with 64GB the most likely.
But 120GB ssds cost less than $50 nowadays(you can get one for around 40 on amazon), and they're only like $10 more than the 64GB ones and $20 more at the most than 32GB(who even buys these anymore?). I don't even like splatoon, but I would totally get a switch 128GB SSD for $300, mainly for the space. It sounds pathetic when you know ps4 and xbone already have 1TB included for at least $300, and we gotta deal with 32GB. Ugh
LegendofLex
Member
you mean flash memory, not RAM.
just want to get ahead of this so everyone's speaking the same language.
Well, surely you should know that current is squared in the power equation, multiplied by resistance, and as Lord Vader so succinctly said, "It is pointless to resist".
Caesar III
Member
Skittzo0413
Member
I'd say 128GB seems likely. Most people won't need 1TB since you won't need to install games but I do agree that this makes things difficult and costly for digital purchasers. Unless they have some solution for that which we haven't yet heard about...
ShadowFox08
Member
Yes. my bad. Fixed the post now. Thanks.
darkazcura
Member
Kind of hoping they allow for an external hard drive, and Nintendo OS has some intuitive/painless way to swap games from the on-board storage to the external hard drive and vice versa for when you want to go portable. No reason Nintendo couldn't design an app to put right on the home screen to make swapping seamless. I won't expect this, but it'd be smart and nice for Nintendo to have IMO.
I've got a feeling carts are going to be the way to go with Switch, as UHS-II or UFS card support would likely be essential to compete with potential ROM transfer speeds, especially with tons of small files. Nintendo appears to have grown far more forward thinking when it comes to hardware lately so it just might happen. I just don't want to witness a redux of Vita's costly proprietary storage solution.
ShadowFox08
Member
I believe LKD and Emily Rogers said in the past external drives aren't happening. Maybe it is possible with a usb c, but it would be a bit strange/not practical to take an external drive with you in portable mode.
I'm sure Nintendo won't leave us in the dust at launch on storage. They handled storage issues ok at launch for Wii U. I'm assuming we won't
darkazcura
Member
I didn't say anything about taking an external hard drive on the go, though. That would definitely be strange and unappealing. I'm talking about swapping games between the external hard drive and on board storage when you want to go portable.
Meaning keep most of your digital downloads (back log) on the external hard drive and swap games in and out for when you go on a trip. Prevents you from constantly downloading games. You will be able to keep maybe 7-12 full size games at a time on the Switch itself if you have a 128GB SD card in there. It's still a hassle, but I don't know what other solution those who want to go fully digital would have. If Nintendo has an app for what amounts to essentially copying and pasting, it could work fine. We will see what Nintendo has in mind for this. I'm expecting them to not really allow external hard drives and swapping games like this, though, I hope I'm wrong.
If they allow for this, to me, it would be important to make it seamless and easy to do. No digging around the settings menu to get to system storage management, etc.
brochiller
Member
I think 128 GB is pretty likely and what I'd like to see. The Wii U Deluxe bundle launched with 4x the memory of the basic and a pack in game. It also had that 10% rewards for digital purchases.
That was also $50 more. Don't see why Nintendo couldn't do something similar this time.
What if transfer speeds are fast enough, externals could become the new "fridge?"
You have like 4-5 core games on the SD and you can quickly swap out files when needed between storages using usb-c.
Juggling through multiple microSD cards might be a pain in the ass. Kinda wish the medias were full-sized SD cards since it'll be easier to mark notes on them and are less easier to lose than the tiny microSD cards. Also, the theoretical max size for SD cards is 1TB compared to 256GB with microSD cards.
TheGreatMightyPoo
Banned
Not surprised at all.
lwilliams3
Member
Are you referring NVN? I don't think that is surprising by itself.
Yes.
That is very interesting and not entirely surprising. Taking advantage of performance gains in this fashion is not only very Nintendo, but wise when dealing with a platform with the Switch's form factor.
Huh. Looking forward to seeing how this plays out.
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