Wednesday, May 14th 2025

Final Nintendo Switch 2 Specifications Surface: CPU, GPU, Memory, and System Reservation
With the launch scheduled for June 5, Nintendo has quietly confirmed the final technical details for its next-generation hybrid console, the Switch 2, clarifying the specifications of the "custom NVIDIA processor" at its core and specifying exactly how much horsepower developers can access. The Switch 2's SoC is officially labeled the NVIDIA T239, a custom iteration of the Ampere architecture rather than a repurposed Tegra. It contains eight Arm Cortex‑A78C cores running a 64‑bit ARMv8 instruction set, with cryptography extensions enabled and no support for 32‑bit code. Each core features 64 KB of L1 instruction cache and 64 KB of L1 data cache. Six cores are available for game development, while two are reserved for system tasks. Clock speeds reach 998 MHz in handheld mode and 1,101 MHz when docked, and the CPU can theoretically burst to 1,700 MHz for demanding operations or future updates.
Graphics are powered by a full Ampere‑based GPU with 1,536 CUDA cores. Clock speeds top out at 1,007 MHz in docked mode and 561 MHz in handheld mode, delivering approximately 3.07 TeraFLOPS when docked and 1.71 TeraFLOPS in portable use. As with the CPU, a portion of GPU resources is allocated to operating system functions, slightly reducing the amount available for applications. Memory capacity has increased from 4 GB of LPDDR4 in the original Switch to 12 GB of LPDDR5X in the new model, split across two 6 GB modules. Peak bandwidth measures 102 GB/s docked and 68 GB/s handheld. Of the total, 3 GB are reserved for system functions and 9 GB are dedicated to games and applications. Nintendo has also introduced a dedicated File Decompression Engine for LZ4‑compressed data, offloading asset unpacking from the CPU to improve loading times without overheating the chipset. The console ships with 256 GB of UFS storage, expandable via microSD Express up to 2 TB, and features a 7.9‑inch, 1080p LCD that supports HDR10 and up to 120 Hz variable refresh rate in handheld mode. Although HDMI VRR is not yet available, the internal display fully supports it.
Sources:
Nintendo, via Eurogamer.net
Graphics are powered by a full Ampere‑based GPU with 1,536 CUDA cores. Clock speeds top out at 1,007 MHz in docked mode and 561 MHz in handheld mode, delivering approximately 3.07 TeraFLOPS when docked and 1.71 TeraFLOPS in portable use. As with the CPU, a portion of GPU resources is allocated to operating system functions, slightly reducing the amount available for applications. Memory capacity has increased from 4 GB of LPDDR4 in the original Switch to 12 GB of LPDDR5X in the new model, split across two 6 GB modules. Peak bandwidth measures 102 GB/s docked and 68 GB/s handheld. Of the total, 3 GB are reserved for system functions and 9 GB are dedicated to games and applications. Nintendo has also introduced a dedicated File Decompression Engine for LZ4‑compressed data, offloading asset unpacking from the CPU to improve loading times without overheating the chipset. The console ships with 256 GB of UFS storage, expandable via microSD Express up to 2 TB, and features a 7.9‑inch, 1080p LCD that supports HDR10 and up to 120 Hz variable refresh rate in handheld mode. Although HDMI VRR is not yet available, the internal display fully supports it.
31 Comments on Final Nintendo Switch 2 Specifications Surface: CPU, GPU, Memory, and System Reservation
Uh, the opposite maybe?
Firstly, apparently some games will target higher framerates, like 60 or perhaps unlocked. So VRR is useful there. Secondly, no, 48Hz isn’t some set in stone floor, that was just the most common one on early FreeSync/AdaptiveSync scalers. VRR can still work below that, even up to 1 (if poorly). GSync from the very beginning worked below 30Hz, it just used frame doubling. So does FS with LFC.
9 gigabytes of SHARED memory is, in fact, less than 8 gigs of VRAM. Part of that shared memory is used for what, on PC, is done by system memory. So no, purely in terms of what will be available for the graphics it will be less.
If the games are good it’s largely irrelevant anyways. Only crappy thing is the ridiculous increase to game costs.
3GB and 2 cores and allocated GPU resources ? That's more ram than a freaking Xbox series X.
That's certainly because of gamechat, that thing is streaming your screen, voice chat..and using RTX for noise reduction and face tracking...and it's streaming the screens at like 10 fps and low resolution.
For me it's a big design mistake that gamechat for such a resource-constrained system, no one asked for it they could have made a much more conservative voice/message-only chat option and allocate much-needed resources to game developers instead.
From the company that has done all of that comes the next great console that does everything listed above and more to bring the gaming experience back decades. This new console will probably be chained to first and second party software development because it won't be powerful enough to push the everygame slop that AAA has to make to justify it's enormous budgets.
I'll pass. I'm pretty sure that the Switch 2 is going to work out as the first console to dip its toes into the dramatic price increase of gaming market, survive by Nintendo life support, and drive even more people away from console loyalty when you will require online subscriptions and parents discover that what used to be a one and done purchase becomes a constant monthly bill, but despite all of this there'll be a legion of die-hard fanboys to tell us what we are missing. Because while I may love Super Smash, I hate that Nintendo is a letigious bunch of weasels...and that isn't defamation Sued by Nintendo website chronicling their lawsuits. It's only defamation if it isn't factually based.
Nintendo would love if no-one looked too close at the hardware and just said what you said and stonewall any further discussion.
Nuance and context matter.
It’s also amusing that to run any of those games on “highend” handhelds, you’re running minimum settings at 720p for any modern titles and generally getting sub 60fps or even 30fps. Let’s not pretend current pc handhelds are wildly powerful either.
At some point in the development cycle they had to decide on hardware, and Im sure that wasn’t last year, the year before or even 3 years to release date. Take it as an excuse, I don’t really care. People can choose to buy it or not. It doesn’t change fact the first party titles both run and look great 99% of the time.
Is there any chance that Nintendo release Mario games for the future MS and Sony consoles with the level of image quality seen in these videos above?
How I wish I could play Mario games in 4K 60fps. :/
You could always just emulate.
2) They are all more expensive - considering they don't come with a screen and a battery
3) None of them really target 4k. When they run in performance mode (for 60 fps) the actual resolution goes as far down as 640p (!!!!!!). In quality mode it goes as far down as 1150p - but also framerates go as far down as 15. They may be targeting 4k - they are just not landing there. In fact im willing to bet switch 2 will play those PC ports better than the PC handhelds do.
To your point about slop...there are genuinely good games it simply cannot run. Call of Duty may have plenty of detractors...but it's only gracing a Nintendo console now because the Switch 2 might finally not be so sad. The list of games on the Steam Deck, but not on Switch, its main competition in the mobile gaming market, is also kind of silly. X-posts listing games not on Switch. You're also welcome to point out that Nintendo is fine with their emulation of games....but using an emulator on the Switch is Verboten. So, they're fine to sell you a copy of some old N64 game...but they view it as a crime to dump the ROM of a cart you own, and use a homebrew emulator, to play an old game on new hardware...because Nintendo believes they should have control over both the hardware and software you use to play your legally purchased games...but paying for Metroid in 2025 with a $20 a year membership and owning nothing is "fine." It's that or spending $39.99 on a remaster of a gamecube game...at the same price it launched at in 2002. 23 years later it's basically not worth less...which is silly when most 23 year old games are either retro cash grabs or a few bucks on Steam. All of this seems immensely ironic when you consider that Nintendo sued Blockbuster for photocopying instructions for game rentals, but now are selling that exact same service for $20 a year to rent a list of games so old they could drive. I...want to summarize this as Nintendo's perceived quality is supposedly legendary, but a lot of that is because they are making silly money by protecting code that should be entering the public domain given the intention of copyright. As such, I take the Switch 2's benefits as huge for being able to better emulate gamecube and newer hardware...but I'm also looking at this and laughing that the average $200 phone can already do that. So...my thoughts on the Switch 2 are my same thoughts as on the N-gage.
God, I feel old referring to that wet fart of a thing. The thing is, that was 2003. It's 22 years old now too...