http://www.anandtech.com/show/8329/revisiting-shield-tablet-gaming-ux-and-battery-life
And it still eventually throttles, even at 15 to 18C ambient.
Hardware Specifications of Nintendo Switch Reveal
- Thread starter McHuj
- Start date
Am I correct to assume that an API that allows better hardware utilization also comes with the caveat of creating more heat? If so, it may further substantiate the idea that the Tegra Chip simply cannot sustain max clocks for hours on end. The article above shows that many of the titles not designed specifically for the Tegra K1 rarely pushed the GPU past 450 Mhz. Even in the uncapped T-Rex benchmark, you can see the processor constantly cycling between 700mhz and its 850mhz maximum. Basically, it seems that every chance it gets, it lowers its clock speed.
I think MrFox has pretty much figured this out. The clocks speeds that we are familiar with for the Tegra processors are misleading. Not intentionally so, but a mobile device simply isn't a dedicated gaming device that will be played for many hours full throttle. A tablet can run max speed for a 3-5 seconds, and then have many seconds or even minutes of down time before it sees a heavy workload again. On top of all that, Nintendo Is very conservative, and places a lot of emphasis on long term reliability. Nintendo products last, they last a long time. In the world of discreate GPU's, who cares what the 5 year heavy usage reliability looks like, most PC gamers upgrade before that. Even within Nvidia's Shield Products, I could see this philosophy being their mentality. Nvidia is far more likely to push the thermals for the extra performance than Nintendo is, I guess that's what I am trying to get at.
Anyone else find it odd that developers have been so pleased with performance when the specs are this low? Skyrim is one thing, that game runs on the 360/PS3, but Dark Souls 3 struggled even on Xbox One at times. We have yet to really hear developers complain, even anonymously. Perhaps this is because they see the Switch as a totally separate product, one where drop resolution way lower than typical is acceptable. I don't know, I am really dumbfounded with this recent leak.
I want to add one more thing after reading that article on the Shield Tablet, how do we know that the Shield Console wouldn't mirror the results. Basically, the Shield Tablet rarely operates at max clocks and lowers it clock speeds every chance its gets. Do we know this isn't the case with the Tegra X1 powering the Shield Console? Perhaps the Shield Console actually operates closer to 800Mhz most of the time, even when playing games like Doom BFG. Tegra X1 max clocks could be very misleading, and even comparing the Switch to the Shield Console may be tough unless you actually have similar benchmarks performed on the Shield Console as they did with the tablet.
I think MrFox has pretty much figured this out. The clocks speeds that we are familiar with for the Tegra processors are misleading. Not intentionally so, but a mobile device simply isn't a dedicated gaming device that will be played for many hours full throttle. A tablet can run max speed for a 3-5 seconds, and then have many seconds or even minutes of down time before it sees a heavy workload again. On top of all that, Nintendo Is very conservative, and places a lot of emphasis on long term reliability. Nintendo products last, they last a long time. In the world of discreate GPU's, who cares what the 5 year heavy usage reliability looks like, most PC gamers upgrade before that. Even within Nvidia's Shield Products, I could see this philosophy being their mentality. Nvidia is far more likely to push the thermals for the extra performance than Nintendo is, I guess that's what I am trying to get at.
Anyone else find it odd that developers have been so pleased with performance when the specs are this low? Skyrim is one thing, that game runs on the 360/PS3, but Dark Souls 3 struggled even on Xbox One at times. We have yet to really hear developers complain, even anonymously. Perhaps this is because they see the Switch as a totally separate product, one where drop resolution way lower than typical is acceptable. I don't know, I am really dumbfounded with this recent leak.
I want to add one more thing after reading that article on the Shield Tablet, how do we know that the Shield Console wouldn't mirror the results. Basically, the Shield Tablet rarely operates at max clocks and lowers it clock speeds every chance its gets. Do we know this isn't the case with the Tegra X1 powering the Shield Console? Perhaps the Shield Console actually operates closer to 800Mhz most of the time, even when playing games like Doom BFG. Tegra X1 max clocks could be very misleading, and even comparing the Switch to the Shield Console may be tough unless you actually have similar benchmarks performed on the Shield Console as they did with the tablet.
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I wonder about the Pixel C, but I haven't seen any comments online about problems with extended gaming on it.
The idea that low utilization might be helping Shield Tablet is a possibility I guess. I don't know. I haven't played Doom3, Half Life 2, Portal, etc. The most demanding has been probably Trine 2. Android gaming isn't exactly pushing the eyecandy hard.
The idea that low utilization might be helping Shield Tablet is a possibility I guess. I don't know. I haven't played Doom3, Half Life 2, Portal, etc. The most demanding has been probably Trine 2. Android gaming isn't exactly pushing the eyecandy hard.
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Much hinges on the resolution of the screen. If the resolution is modest then 300Mhz suddenly isn't so slow when looking at filtrate. The high resolution of tablets and laptops is needed because they are used for text and detailed 2D work.
For a 3D console with a small screen resolution isn't as important. The doubling of the clock could merely be to get the filtrate up to be able to quench 1080p.
For a 3D console with a small screen resolution isn't as important. The doubling of the clock could merely be to get the filtrate up to be able to quench 1080p.
