Nintendo Switch Tech Speculation discussion

[mpg1]

Videocardz speculating that new Shield TV is using Parker: http://videocardz.com/64794/is-this-pascal-powered-nvidia-shield-tv

lol...why nintendo...why

Anyway I'm coming to the conclusion that Nintendo isn't even competing in the console market anymore...it's competing against mobile. On the bright side game development cost should be lower on Nintendo's platform than Xbox/Playstation.

 

[milk]

Man, I don't read the forum tags often enough. They add a whole new layer to these forums.

 

[Lalaland]

You're not wrong, I almost shorted out a keyboard when 'wizard jizz' got added to the tags for the XB1 pre-release thread

 

[AlNom]

Reminder: There is a thread for what they should do.

This is HW speculation.

 

[Goodtwin]

Assuming these clock speeds hold true, I would guess that this is really Nintendo being Nintendo, and they like to sit comfortably under thermal limits. Nintendo is very conservative in this respect. They value reliability, probably a bit too much really. This is still the first time in history mobile technology can give a respectable console experience on the TV screen. The 3DS did not have this perk and the Switch will. Event his year, in 2016, the 3DS is selling better year over year, something I doubt anyone expected. Tech specs are a factor in the appeal of gaming consoles/portables, but hasn't historically been the primary reason for success or failure. PSP and Vita both eclipsed Nintendos DS and 3DS, and yet Nintendo outsold both of Sony's products by a large margin. I cant imagine Sony releasing another portable, so this leaves the market to Nintendo, and the Vita actually did pretty well in Japan, so Nintendo should kill it in Japan. Even in the West, the 3DS has done pretty well, and Nintendo's own IP's all look very current gen these days. The 3D Mario game shown in the promo doesn't look like a portable game, it looks comparable to other cartoon graphics games on PS4/X1. While I am sure people can dissect the games visuals to argue all the short comings, but the truth is most consumers will see a game that is very visually pleasing.

 

[Cyan]

I'm waiting for the "Weaker than Wii-U" headlines.

Even in handheld mode, Gflops wise it's faster than the WiiU

 

[Rootax]

flops wise yes. Real perf, we'll see. I wonder about the memory access now. 128 bit ? 64 ? If it's 64, maybe the WiiU Edram helped a lot to fully utilize the gpu compared to the tegra X1 ? (sorry for my english)

 

[Esrever]

Even in handheld mode, Gflops wise it's faster than the WiiU

Not the actual numbers: Switch in mobile: 157GFLOPS Wii-U:176GFLOPS

 

[eastmen]

Omg, those clockspeed... Few days ago we were talking about "hey, at least the cpu could be better than ps/one". With that downclock, it's not even the case anymore.

IMO, it looks like they were shooting for a portable device with WiiU power. That's it. And the dock/tv/oc thing was a last minute thing ? I wonder if in some situations the actual 3 cores wiiU cpu is not a little more powerfull, because it was pretty efficient if I remember some devs comments. Hell, even the GPU, with a big chunck of fast edram... I wonder how much this "tegra" is customized. If it's only a downclock, then "lol"... I wonder if 720p on portable mode is even a good thing...

I wonder what the devs at Nintendo at thinking, seeing their friends at other compagnies work with a loooot more power for years now. Big open game, full of life, crazy art work, voice acting, etc. But them "eh, our system sucks, so, make a cartoon zelda one more time". I know I know, it's not that simple, I'm just frustrated :/

I wonder if they are just the latest to get swindled by Nvidia. It happened to MS back with the xbox , sony with the ps3 and now Nintendo with the switch.

Nvidia prob sold them on the tegra and then delivered a over heating problem child that Nintendo had to aggressively declock. They might have been better just going with a quad core puma + gcn

 

[Goodtwin]

Even in handheld mode, Gflops wise it's faster than the WiiU

Wii U is 176Gflop, and Switch Portable is 157Gflop, so technically on paper its less. Of course the Maxwell architecture should outperform the Wii U VLIW5 shaders flop for flop by a decent margin, and combine that with the ability to use half precision operations with Switch, we are probably looking at something like 1.5-2x Wii U performance in portable mode. I would assume that memory bandwidth is being handled one way or the other. Either the typical solutions like tiling are sufficient, or perhaps some esram is on the chip. Nintendo has used small pools of fast memory dating back to the Gamecube, so its certainly not out of the question. Really tough to say what the bandwidth requirements are to keep a Tegra X1 from being bottlenecked at the memory level. We saw Doom BFG run flawless 1080p 60fps on the Shield Console.

 

[eastmen]

There is also the SmachZ

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/smach-z-the-handheld-gaming-pc-games#/

They claim to be using an AMD RX-421BD with 8 GCN 1.2 CUs at 800 MHz and 4 x86 excavator cores at 2.1GHz.

I personally doubt the final product will be that powerful, they will probably have to underclock the GPU or disable some CUs.

I believe them , look how thick that thing is , its like 2-3 switches easily. So they could put a much bigger heatsink and fan in there

 

[wco81]

So this is inferior hardware to the Shield?

How much did they priced that at the end, when it didn't sell?

Any reason the Switch shouldn't be priced below the last lowest price of the Shield?

 

[eastmen]

So this is inferior hardware to the Shield?

How much did they priced that at the end, when it didn't sell?

Any reason the Switch shouldn't be priced below the last lowest price of the Shield?

Nintendo games ? I'm assuming the $200 base and $250 with extra storage and a game is the real price at this point and at that price point it slots in just above a 3ds xl and so its not a horrible value

 

[Deleted member 13524]

I believe them , look how thick that thing is , its like 2-3 switches easily. So they could put a much bigger heatsink and fan in there

The functional prototype is very think but the production model is 2cm thick except on the gamepad handles.

For me, a Smach-Z v.2 with a Raven Ridge would be a blast. They claim the device can actually be upgradable, but I wouldn't trust that Click ARM tech to be widely available enough to warrant support for new SoCs and much less new RAM modules.

 

[wco81]

But the point is, the market rejected the Shield, leading Nvidia to slash prices.

It'l be mostly Nintendo loyalists and kids from well-off families getting this. Those are the people willing to carry an extra device in addition to their phone. Japanese market will do better than other regions probably. They may not be aware of the Shield lineage of the Switch.

It could still be tens of millions.

 

[Deleted member 13524]

So this is inferior hardware to the Shield?

If it's a TX1 running at those clocks then yes, it's inferior.

How much did they priced that at the end, when it didn't sell?

Shield TV is going for $200-250 right now.

Any reason the Switch shouldn't be priced below the last lowest price of the Shield?

A can think of three reasons: display panel, capacitive matrix and batteries.

 

[eastmen]

The functional prototype is very think but the production model is 2cm thick except on the gamepad handles.

For me, a Smach-Z v.2 with a Raven Ridge would be a blast. They claim the device can actually be upgradable, but I wouldn't trust that Click ARM tech to be widely available enough to warrant support for new SoCs and much less new RAM modules.

just seems to be the wrong side of time here. If they did this next fall o something they'd have zen which should be much better performance at lower power usage.

I'd wait for that. I think if switch is $200 to $250 I will buy it. I love Zelda , smash bros and Yoshi and Mario kart. I also like Mario and some of their other properties and Ithink this will be a great system for my nephew who we just got a tv . He can play it around the house and then dock it in his room and play on the tv with his cousins. He wanted a wii u for Christmas but with this around the corner I've just let him take my wii u. He also wanted a new 3ds so I think its a no brainer.

For me tho I would really invest in a new surface , hopefully kraby lake or whatever makes a decent 360 / xbox one gaming machine

 

[eastmen]

But the point is, the market rejected the Shield, leading Nvidia to slash prices.

It'l be mostly Nintendo loyalists and kids from well-off families getting this. Those are the people willing to carry an extra device in addition to their phone. Japanese market will do better than other regions probably. They may not be aware of the Shield lineage of the Switch.

It could still be tens of millions.

The market rejected the 3DS and well then it embraced it ...... I think if Nintendo puts out the right software. Mario Kart , Smash brothers , Mario , Zelda and then a Pokémon game and have them all 2017 it can move a lot of platforms. Its not rich kids getting it. Kids all over are walking around with 3ds and new 3ds both normal and xl and those have been $100-$250 bucks over the life of the device. If this plays movies off sd cards , has a video store , app store for android ports and so on it could be a very good value for a parent

 

[Deleted member 13524]

just seems to be the wrong side of time here. If they did this next fall o something they'd have zen which should be much better performance at lower power usage.

True, but next fall people would be thinking they could have waited for Zen+ APUs made on 7nm. They'd have to start somewhere.
If this ships in May 2017, it'll be a great product as it stands.

 

[Globalisateur]

Skyrim is running on PS3, ish.

This is a Nintendo mobile hardware. When we think that such spec like the frequency could be X, like 1ghz for the GPU...

Then it's more likely lower.