Final Nintendo Switch 2 Specifications Surface: CPU, GPU, Memory, and System Reservation

[lilhasselhoffer]

I'd rather play a good game like BOTW at 1080p than Snoyslop at 4k. And lets be real, the Xbox and PS5 aren't even consoles anymore. They're essentially entry-level gaming PCs on a hardware and software level, sold as loss leaders to lock people into the closed market where they get major premiums on game purchases.

That's been Nintendo's MO since the N64, not sure why you're unhappy about it now. I'd consider the inability to run slop a bonus tbh.

Let me shut this down, by logic alone. You want to say 1080p is better than 4k garbage. A point I agree with. Thing is, Nintendo has plenty of shovelware. I'll let you decide to sort it or not, but the list of games from 0-A is already full of goofy crap (Wikipedia, list of Switch games). As such, the retort to this is simply that you don't play slop, and you can get 1080p high refresh, QHD high refresh, 4k, and to some extent 4k high refresh on things that aren't the switch. My point by focusing on 4k was that Nintendo is not focused on putting out things to enjoy they are, like Apple, trying to support well trodden tech inside their own walled garden to maximize profits instead of doing something forward facing. The last time they did something truly forward facing was the Wii...and that version of Nintendo seems to be dead and buried beneath a pile of Amiibos.

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...

 

[Prima.Vera]

A 3050 on its own is much larger than the whole garbage of a console. It also consumes around 30 times more power...

Who the hell cares if the console consume 50W if its plugged in?? I'm not talking about portable capabilities. My phone is stronger than this console, and I can play 1 million mobile games just fine.

 

[Nhonho]

For at least 5 years, people want to play games in 4K 60 fps, and only now Nintendo is going to release a 1080p console... with 5 year old hardware.

 

[JustBenching]

Who the hell cares if the console consume 50W if its plugged in?? I'm not talking about portable capabilities. My phone is stronger than this console, and I can play 1 million mobile games just fine.

If you don't care about a mainly portable console then yes, there are "better" options that aren't portable.

Enjoy your million mobile gotcha games, I'm sure they are awesome. But using your argument, your phone is garbage, my desktop pc is 10 times faster. Unfair comparison, right?

 

[LastDudeALive]

My point by focusing on 4k was that Nintendo is not focused on putting out things to enjoy they are, like Apple, trying to support well trodden tech inside their own walled garden to maximize profits instead of doing something forward facing.

Have you been living under a rock these last 5 years? Apple has been one of the most innovative hardware companies with their M chips. They're so successful they're forcing Microsoft to break away from x86 and support ARM. Now there's even rumors that AMD is considering making an ARM chip for Windows, and Intel was forced to fundamentally redesign and rebrand their core CPU lineup just to survive in the laptop market. It's hard to take what you're saying seriously when you make just hilariously wrong comments like this lol.

The Switch can output 4k, btw, to a 4k TV. And its 1080p screen is better than the Steam Deck or other handhelds. Did you really want them to put a 4k screen on a tiny handheld lmao?

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.

Your strange fetish for ellipsis aside, you don't seem to be able to think through the logic of what you're saying. If nobody wanted to play Nintendo games, Nintendo would just be burning money by aggressively enforcing copyright, shutting down emulators, and making remasters. The only reason they are able to do all of that behavior is because their games are very much in demand. Nintendo has the strongest IP collection of any gaming company. And when you have that IP, yeah, you can make low-powered handhelds, sell $40 remasters and subscriptions, be a PITA to the homebrew and emulation communities, and still make a baziilion $.

I am in no way saying I like this. I'm saying that trying to compare it to a Steam Deck / Rog Ally or an Xbox/Playstation is not possible, because no other company has Nintendo's uniquely strong IP collection and business philosophy.

 

[alawadhi3000]

Those numbers make it about a quarter of the graphical compute power of an ROG Ally and worse than a 3050 mobile. Then again, noone in their right mind expected Nintendo to be competitive in hardware.

If you read the specs on a paper, sure.

In reality:-

1) The Z1E real peak TFLOPs is 4.3 not 8.6 as it uses dual issue FP32 ALUs.
2) Switch 2 GPU clocks are sustainable unlike the Z1E 2.7GHz clock which you won't see unless you increase the TDP to >=50W (Outside the specs of the Z1E and the form factor), at 15W TDP most of the time the clock will be ~1000MHz which is about 1.5 TFLOPs. At 30W you'll probably get ~2.0-2.5 TFLOPs. Thats why the Z1E performance in reality is not much better than the 1 TFLOPs Steam Deck.
3) Comparing TFLOPs between different architecture is mostly useless.

The mobile RTX 3050 has between 5.5 to 7 twrraflops, depending on how is configured, so this garbage of console have half of that ‍

Different form factor, power and cost targets.

Also, mobile RTX 3000 series has dual issue FP32 ALUs so you need to divide the TFLOPs rating by 2 to get a real number.

The mobile RTX 3050 is much bigger and has a TDP of at least 45W, versus the switch 2 which targets ~10W portable and < 30W docked, what did you expect?

 

[Redwoodz]

Have you been living under a rock these last 5 years? Apple has been one of the most innovative hardware companies with their M chips. They're so successful they're forcing Microsoft to break away from x86 and support ARM. Now there's even rumors that AMD is considering making an ARM chip for Windows, and Intel was forced to fundamentally redesign and rebrand their core CPU lineup just to survive in the laptop market. It's hard to take what you're saying seriously when you make just hilariously wrong comments like this lol.

The Switch can output 4k, btw, to a 4k TV. And its 1080p screen is better than the Steam Deck or other handhelds. Did you really want them to put a 4k screen on a tiny handheld lmao?


Your strange fetish for ellipsis aside, you don't seem to be able to think through the logic of what you're saying. If nobody wanted to play Nintendo games, Nintendo would just be burning money by aggressively enforcing copyright, shutting down emulators, and making remasters. The only reason they are able to do all of that behavior is because their games are very much in demand. Nintendo has the strongest IP collection of any gaming company. And when you have that IP, yeah, you can make low-powered handhelds, sell $40 remasters and subscriptions, be a PITA to the homebrew and emulation communities, and still make a baziilion $.

I am in no way saying I like this. I'm saying that trying to compare it to a Steam Deck / Rog Ally or an Xbox/Playstation is not possible, because no other company has Nintendo's uniquely strong IP collection and business philosophy.

AMD made an ARM chip like 10 yrs ago.