Support NeoGAF

[Dorfdad]

Seems AMD was in the running for the switch 2 but lost the bid do to efficiency of their chips and wanting to force Nintendo into 15watt performance, but Nintendo wanted 5watts. They also state that the battery in the switch 2 is slightly better than switch 1 because the new chip is more efficient. So we could be looking at 4 hours of time now.

Might explain why OLED is missing also. 5 watts sounds very low for switch 2 unless that chip is magical!

As reported by a new video shared by Moore's Law is Dead, AMD lost the bid due to its chip's performance and efficiency at 5 watts. The company reportedly wanted Nintendo to push the system in handheld mode at up to 15 watts to get truly next-generation performance, but the Japanese company didn't want to push its console that far, as they didn't want to have a heavier battery. Ultimately, NVIDIA's chip provided the same power as the AMD chip with much better efficiency and a far cheaper node, which was very important for Nintendo to keep costs low.

Battery life is likely to be one of the highlights of the Nintendo Switch 2. Judging from last week's leaks, the battery should provide around 20 wh, a slightly higher capacity than the original Switch battery. However, the system will consume way less power in handheld mode than its predecessor, granting much better battery life than the current generation console.

Nintendo Switch 2 AMD Bid Didn't Go Through Due to Handheld Mode Performance and Efficiency; Leaks Suggest Excellent Battery Life

According to rumors, AMD also bid for the Nintendo Switch 2, but eventually lost due to performance and efficiency in handheld mode

wccftech.com

UPDATED POST SEE #141 for new USBC ADD-ON ATTACHMENT

Switch 2 battery to last 4 hours and why AMD lost out

See, that's what I thought(although for more intensive games like TOTK it was reported that the switch in docked mode would peak at around 16w). So the question becomes; Why would Nintendo limit the switch 2 at 5w in handheld mode, when it was much higher on the OG switch? Unless of course...

www.neogaf.com

 

[finalflame]

Thank fuck Nintendo went with nVidia. Switch 2 would be a fucking disaster on an AMD SoC.

 

[Timberwolf25]

It's missing OLED so Nintendo can sell you an OLED version 2-3 years later

 

[Panajev2001a]

Thank fuck Nintendo went with nVidia. Switch 2 would be a fucking disaster on an AMD SoC.

Mmmmmh…. Not sure about that, Nintendo wanted the cheapest possible chip and to pack the smallest and cheapest battery they could.

4 hours battery life is nothing to shout about… but eh we will see.

 

[Brock2621]

It's missing OLED so Nintendo can sell you an OLED version 2-3 years later

And I will buy it because I'm a sucker. However, hoping for mods just like what's been done with regular and Lite

 

[Punished Miku]

It's missing OLED so Nintendo can sell you an OLED version 2-3 years later

That and Nintendo more than anyone is probably really trying to keep price down in any way they can.

 

[GoldenEye98]

This really might not be great sign for game performance in handheld mode though....

 

[Thabass]

Unless the Switch can harness the power of an M series Apple chip, there's going to be an expense for the battery to last that long with it being 5watts. Handheld mode is going to be rough, but I wonder how it will handle being docked.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Do OLED use more power? It seems way back when they first became a thing, they might have at one time. But now displays are brighter than ever and brighter means more power.

 

[LordOfChaos]

Just like Intel supposedly being in the running for PS6 but losing out, the winner for the Switch 2 was almost undoubtedly going to be Nvidia just like the winner for the PS6 was undoubtedly going to be AMD. Sometimes companies have more of a competition for it to keep everyone honest and get themselves the better deals, with their prime candidate knowing other major companies are in the running.

You might have x86/ARM, but for full compatibility the same company is still the most surefire bet, especially where using bespoke graphics APIs like NVN.

 

[LordBritish]

Putting my switch pokemon edition up for sale soon… switch 2 gun be $399

 

[Esppiral]

Five watts sounds like... Performance will be shit.

I am starting to think that this thing won't even match the steam deck....

 

[Mownoc]

Switch 2 was never going to be AMD. If anyone was going to replace Nvidia it would have been Qualcomm.

Switch 2 was always going to be ARM.

 

[Bloobs]

4 hours is impressive?

 

[Mownoc]

Five watts sounds like... Performance will be shit.

I am starting to think that this thing won't even match the steam deck....

Could be similar to Switch where in handheld it's massively underclocked compared to docked. Which would be disappointing. Was hoping they wouldn't do that this time.

 

[Interfectum]

Does MLID actually know anything? I feel like that guy is a top tier bullshit YouTube bro.

 

[SplunkyMunkey]

I believe it's more backwards compatability then battery life. Sounds like switch 2 is not going to be that much more powerful then the switch like to switches slapped together. They could of gone with amd for there handheld and could of used or could of done a custom made Ryzen z1 extreme with upcoming z2 features with FSR 4 rumored to also have Ai upscaling. Ryzen is already or presumed to ha e 8.4tf of power which not only makes it more powerful then ps4 pro but series S aswell

 

[proandrad]

5watts? Sound like this is going to be more of a switch pro than switch 2.

 

[Haint]

Thank fuck Nintendo went with nVidia. Switch 2 would be a fucking disaster on an AMD SoC.

You've got it backwards. It sounds like AMD was shopping them some Z1 derivative on TSMC 4 or 5nm, but they went with a much older and weaker design on a bigger old ass node (probably Samsung 8nm) cause it performed the same at 5W miser mode, but is likely many many times worse than the AMD part would have performed at 15W.

 

[DenchDeckard]

Switch isnt 10 years old is it. I thought Nintendo Signed up to a 10 year deal with NVIDIA, but I guess that means they will supply the chip for ten years and doesnt lock them into the next model.

5 Watts seems like nothing.

 

[Trogdor1123]

5watt? Does nvidia have a 5 w chip?

 

[Buggy Loop]

MLID ?

Should be banned on this forum

 

[Deerock71]

It's missing OLED so Nintendo can sell you an OLED version 2-3 years later

The Vita didn't fare so well, and ended up replacing their expensive OLED panels with LCDs later. But now I have a Switch and Steam Deck OLED. This is a better way of doing it.

 

[SweetTooth]

Switch 2 will be outdated out of the gate compared to handheld PCs, it will definitely show its age the moment MS/Sony step into this space.

 

[GHG]

5 Watts doesn't sound too hot.

Still holding out hope for an oled model, because if not I'll just wait think. My deck OLED is serving me more than fine and by the time the switch 2 OLED appears there will be a big batch of new games I can buy with it.

 

[Arcane0ne]

Xbox One S performance confirmed.

 

[brenobnfm]

Was AMD realistically even in the running? After the success of the Switch there’s no way Nintendo would swap Nvidia for anyone else

 

[Kataploom]

BS.

Nintendo were already going for an Nvidia chip, they had a partnership for 10 or 20 years, something like that, AMD was a non-factor. Maybe it's old news and it actually happened for Switch 1, but most probably it's tales from their asses.

 

[tusharngf]

 

[Mr Moose]

5W? Hmm.

 

[FireFly]

The original Switch consumed ~8.9W in handheld mode at max brightness (~7.1W min brightness), so accounting for the other elements (memory, storage, screen etc.) the APU was also probably taking up about 5W. In the best case, we should expect Switch 2 to be slightly slower than the Steam Deck in the handheld mode. It can be faster docked.

You've got it backwards. It sounds like AMD was shopping them some Z1 derivative on TSMC 4 or 5nm, but they went with a much older and weaker design on a bigger old ass node (probably Samsung 8nm) cause it performed the same at 5W miser mode, but is likely many many times worse than the AMD part would have performed at 15W.

Other people have done the math and found that T239 would hit the voltage floor at 8nm at mobile TDPs, so Nintendo would have been better off from a performance and cost perspective shipping a smaller APU. The GPU they are using is about 50% bigger than Steam Deck's with 3x more ALUs.

Also 8nm probably isn't going to be available for the lifetime of the Switch 2, so it isn't such a cost saving if you have to redo the exact same work on a newer process anyway.

 

[Fake]

Will be likely less powerful than base PS4.

 

[Interfectum]

Switch 2 is supposed to have DLSS 3.6, right?

 

[SmokSmog]

1000Wh lithium ion costs 130$ in bulk

Nintendo: Best I can do is 20Wh

 

[shamoomoo]

Thank fuck Nintendo went with nVidia. Switch 2 would be a fucking disaster on an AMD SoC.

In what way? AMD is overall comparable to Nvidia in the mobile in terms of feature set.

 

[Jibran#one]

No oled in 2025 is blasphemy

 

[Closer]

You've got it backwards. It sounds like AMD was shopping them some Z1 derivative on TSMC 4 or 5nm, but they went with a much older and weaker design on a bigger old ass node (probably Samsung 8nm) cause it performed the same at 5W miser mode, but is likely many many times worse than the AMD part would have performed at 15W.

Ultimately, NVIDIA's chip provided the same power as the AMD chip with much better efficiency and a far cheaper node, which was very important for Nintendo to keep costs low.

Bruh.

 

[shamoomoo]

Switch 2 was never going to be AMD. If anyone was going to replace Nvidia it would have been Qualcomm.

Switch 2 was always going to be ARM.

Why? For backwards compatibility reasons?

 

[ReyBrujo]

Switch 2 will be outdated out of the gate compared to handheld PCs, it will definitely show its age the moment MS/Sony step into this space.

Just as with every previous console and handheld back to N64.

 

[Mister Wolf]

The Super Switch. The only console with the luxury of using DLSS.

 

[StereoVsn]

Mmmmmh…. Not sure about that, Nintendo wanted the cheapest possible chip and to pack the smallest and cheapest battery they could.

4 hours battery life is nothing to shout about… but eh we will see.

Yep, and this also means Nintendo will run very low clocks in handheld mode which doesn’t bode well for performance.

 

[Zathalus]

Still 5 watts? That certainly means weaker than a Steam Deck in handheld mode.

 

[Mownoc]

Why? For backwards compatibility reasons?

Yep. They could software emulate if they went with an x86 chip, yuzu has shown you don't need that much power to do it, but that's a lot more work for them. Realistically ARM again was always the clear choice.

 

[finalflame]

In what way? AMD is overall comparable to Nvidia in the mobile in terms of feature set.

DLSS and FSR are not comparable, and given the power envelope, this thing is going to rely a lot on upscaling, is my guess.

 

[Zacfoldor]

In what way? AMD is overall comparable to Nvidia in the mobile in terms of feature set.

Does AMD have DLSS 3.6?

That is why to choose Nvidia over AMD for a lower powered console that wants moonshot ports from current gen. Upscaling can do most of the heavy lifting. Nintendo genius sticking with Nvidia, only a marketing person would swap to AMD, or someone who doesn't understand what gamers want.

 

[Moses85]

It's missing OLED so Nintendo can sell you an OLED version 2-3 years later

They are so

 

[Klosshufvud]

People think DLSS will save them on a mobile CPU with a 5W TDP lol

Just wave that magic wand around Nintendo!!

 

[FireFly]

Still 5 watts? That certainly means weaker than a Steam Deck in handheld mode.

True, but they can upscale from 540p to get some performance back.

 

[tkscz]

MLID ?

Should be banned on this forum

Most of his Switch 2 rumors match what everyone else is currently saying when he said it nearly a year ago. Cut him some slack on this at least. Of course taking this with a grain of salt as one should.

4 hours is impressive?

Compared to less than an hour you get with the PC handhelds at 15w. Even Steam deck gets you two at best and they have much bigger batteries. The more powerful these handhelds get, the more battery they consume. Miss the Gameboy days of 10+ hours on 2 AA batteries.

Ultimately, NVIDIA's chip provided the same power as the AMD chip with much better efficiency and a far cheaper node

If true, on every level Nvidia's chipset is better. Equal power at lower wattage is saying a lot as the Hz rate difference would be huge going from 5w to 15w. Of course like with the Switch most likely a dev could increase that if they wanted to. Super Mario Odyssey runs at a higher wattage than most games on the Switch.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

This really might not be great sign for game performance in handheld mode though....

We all knew the real performance would come when docked tho. Handheld Mode is more for convenience of portability and quick gaming sessions.