Nintendo Switch Dev Kit Stats Leaked? Cortex A57, 4GB RAM, 32GB Storage, Multi-Touch.
- Thread starter Robert at Zeboyd Games
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Well put it this way I don't see how its much more efficient to have the fan inside the handheld in docked mode. If you look at something like Shield TV for instance the fan isn't even right next to the SoC. Having the fan in the dock will lose you some efficiency in how much heat is drawn away at a given RPM yes. But on the plus side you'll save space inside the unit and create less head inside from the fan. So its not an absolute clear win to have it in there.
Like I said though the patent says its used in handheld mode at a lower RPM.
BTW Nintendo hate fragile hardware as well, and putting a fan in the handheld introduces a hell of a lot of potential for failure.
Gotdatmoney
Member
I cant think of any portable devices bar laptops that have fans in them period.
calc84maniac
Member
Is it possible the fan might have to run while charging the battery and running games?
I can think of lots of portable devices that gets hot when running demanding applications.
I doubt the heat output would bring about a noisy fan.
The GameCube and Wii were around 20W or less when running and you could hardly hear any fan noise.
Switch is possibly around that range or lower when docked so it'd be surprising if there was noise.
You also wouldn't have to use a faster fan now that I think about it, just use a bigger fan at the same RPM, the dock can hold a bigger fan easily.
BTW can anyone remember if I'm right or not on the patent stating that the fan runs at one RPM in handheld mode and a higher RPM in docked mode?
BTW can anyone remember if I'm right or not on the patent stating that the fan runs at one RPM in handheld mode and a higher RPM in docked mode?
Shield portable has a fan in it.
But Nintendo doesn't use modern hardware! The fan is at least 2 generations behind and is guaranteed to cause loss of equilibrium in gamers around the world. DOOOOOOOOMED!!!
I wonder how many others are failing to see the pun in this post. It's probably because the bold doesn't show as well in the Dark GAF theme.
Calm Mind
Member
Skittzo0413
Member
That's exactly why I didn't see the pun actually.
Yeah that's one of the few. it uses just over 8 watts.
A Tegra X1 at the stated handheld clock speeds should use under 2.5 watts AFAICS. Of course you then have other parts in their like screen for instance, but I can't see it all adding up to anywhere close to 8w. I can see the docked mode being around 8 watts or so looking at those clock speeds (if it was just Tegra X1 of course).
Pretty much. I have almost zero hope of any decent western third party support for Switch now we know what it is. Who the hell is going to want to clean the fridge regularly or swap in and out their SD cards depending on what game they want to play? Unless they can come up with some ingenious solution I think it's pretty much going to be like you said, a Wii and Wii U all over again.
If they made the font color of bolded text white, it would stand out more:
Is there a way to make suggestions on the forum theme? I remember there used to be a sticky in the Off Topic section for forum suggestions, but it's not there any more.
Gotdatmoney
Member
They let it get hot as opposed to a fan. Isn't that kind of the idea? Like unless you really need the fan you wouldn't bother.
I feel dumb lolol. Should have been the first thing I thought of. But yeah at full X1 clock speeds the fan makes sense in this device.
In the Switch docked yeah I see it. In portable mode though? Why?
You know it's not the same as having it run locally and natively on the portable hardware. Especially for a game that is as fast paced as that one.
Cuningas de Häme
Member
One thing I am SO HAPPY about the Switch HW is that I don't have to listen spinning discs anymore. I hate that sound so much.
It is just the right frequence or something to mess with my ears. It doesn't matter whether it's a CD or a DVD or a game disk, the sound is really awful.
I am one of those people with a good hearing and don't like to listen stuff too loud.
It is just the right frequence or something to mess with my ears. It doesn't matter whether it's a CD or a DVD or a game disk, the sound is really awful.
I am one of those people with a good hearing and don't like to listen stuff too loud.
Most portable devices aren't designed primarily to run taxing software all the time. You don't want gaming hardware to get hot and you don't want throttling.
Gotdatmoney
Member
I actually agree with what you are saying. But why an internal fan as opposed to just lowering the clock and adding another SM to reduce heat? Or even just throwing it in the dock and making it bigger? The only explanation I can come up with is it runs way hotter in portable mode than the specs we currently know suggest. Maybe their threshold for system temperature is higher than we thought?
I dunno. I dont think the hardware will be 3 SM, I just dunno why the fan is internal.
blu
Wants the largest console games publisher to avoid Nintendo's platforms.
Doh, I should have noticed it's the AC wiki page. Silly me.
In case somebody is wondering:
http://www.allinterview.com/showans...-in-dc-although-it-causes-magnetic-field.html
portable
The HW architecture might not even function below a certain clock. There's a good reason why idle clocks aren't just 1MHz.
th3sicknness
Member
Cuningas de Häme;227410584 said:
Your disc spin will be replaced with a loud fan net net no win.
blu
Wants the largest console games publisher to avoid Nintendo's platforms.
65C02 FTW.The HW architecture might not even function below a certain clock. There's a good reason why idle clocks aren't just 1MHz.
Doesn't active cooling in the unit itself suggest more cores? IIRC we know about the clock speed, but not the number of cores, given. Given that the clocks are sufficiently low to seem to not necessitate a fan, and assuming that Nintendo wouldn't put a fan in (that may be noisy or fragile) unless absolutely necessary, wouldn't logic dictate that either A. the fan is necessary for some reason (more cores, more heat) or B. The fan won't be in the final SKU (however we've seen the retail SKU on Fallon and it has the vents, suggesting a fan. What would be the benefit of lower clocks, but more cores (perhaps on a smaller die?). Would that be quieter or more power efficient than fewer cores at a higher clock?
Not a tech guy anyone wanna chime in?
Not a tech guy anyone wanna chime in?
Its more power efficient to have more cores at a lower frequency than less at a higher frequency. Yes for me active cooling in handheld mode suggests there's something we don't know about the systems hardware. As in something more than just Tegra Maxwell has as that SoC should be less than 2.5 Watts at those clock speeds, nowhere near needing a fan.
I am not a tech guy either, but the tech folks in this thread have confirmed that indeed more streaming microprocessors at lower clocks are more efficient than less at higher clocks. That said, the fan being in does not necessarily mean that this is the case. It's just a possibility (or a hope, for some like me.)
Could just be that having a fan in the portable was the best way to have active cooling for docked mode. *shrugs*
There is also the possibility that the vent could be for passive cooling on the go and that the only fan is in the dock.
Ah true! The patents briefly slipped my mind.
I do agree with you though that it doesn't mean there have to be more shader cores. But I think it does heavily suggest something else is going on, wether its a more powerful CPU, more CPU cores, more shader cores, embedded memory added ect. There has to be some kind of customisation that's upping power usage IMO.
I hope so!
TwilightPrincess
Member
Shield Android TV is up to 20 watt when used for gaming.
Skittzo0413
Member
I don't think we're going to know why the fan is there after January 12th to be honest. It'll probably have to wait until someone can take a die shot.
lwilliams3
Member
I believe a customization of the memory setup is almost a guarantee. It sounds like the memory of the TX1 was its bottleneck, and that has traditionally been the one thing Nintendo pays very close attention to since the N64.
At completely different clock speeds to the ones suggested for Switch though. Shield TV does indeed use 19.4 watts at full load for the entire system. Its clocked at 2Ghz CPU and 1Ghz GPU, the CPU alone uses nearly 7 watts at that frequency and the GPU will be using around 4-5 watts (actually that's conservative, likely more like 5-6 watts)..
At Switch handheld frequencies the same CPU would use around 1.7w and the same GPU should be under 1w.
lwilliams3
Member
Hmm. Does anyone knows the watts used for the 3DS/n3DS GPU and CPU?
Actually, every single Nintendo home console or handheld had a pool of memory dedicated to the GPU excepted for the N64 which was considered one of the major bottleneck of the system since RAM it was pretty slow. I thought that systems like the GB, GBA and DS didn't had any VRAM but I double checked and I was wrong after all.
Aren't some Nvidia Tegra K1 Chromebooks fanless right?
I would think there wouldn't be an issue with the Switch using updated chips, especially if they are going to downclock them anyway.
It uses the K1 right... well then.
I would think there wouldn't be an issue with the Switch using updated chips, especially if they are going to downclock them anyway.
It uses the K1 right... well then.
blu
Wants the largest console games publisher to avoid Nintendo's platforms.
Acer Chromebook 13 (TK1) is fanless.
lwilliams3
Member
Ignoring the patents for a moment because they may have things that aren't realised in a shopping product..
I thought recent rumours/leaks pointed to both a dock fan (blowing air into the switch through a vent) *and* mentioned a small fan on the system itself?
I also don't understand the need for a fan onboard at such small power use, but maybe the thermals get a little uncomfortable for Nintendo if used handheld at max screen brightness while charging - so heat coming from SoC, screen and battery? Still seems unnecessary
Every Nintendo ARM-based SoC always had some eSRAM (used as the VRAM) on the die. The GBA had 96KB + 32KB (a mem config probably related to BC with the GBC) of VRAM, 656KB for the DS, 6MB for the 3DS and 10MB for the N3DS. So the Switch not having any VRAM would actually be a first for them in the handheld space. As far as the options available to them, I have no clue. It's been suggested that a pool a VRAM might be unnecessary because of TBR.
th3sicknness
Member
It will be one pool of memory they are not going to go with two.
Why do you believe so?
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