StarTopic Future Nintendo Hardware & Technology Speculation & Discussion |ST| (Read the staff posts before commenting!)

[ReddDreadtheLead]

The way I'm reading the chart, ~6.5W's for 1.8GHz and ~7.39W for 1.9GHz. Although there is mention that above 1.6 GHz, there's this observation that it's getting hot enough for power consumption to noticeably further climb over a minute. So for towards the right end of the graph, I'm not sure if the numbers are for pre-heating up or post-heating up. Actually, probably post-heating up, because a bit later, there's an estimate of ~1.48W per core at 1.8GHz. Multiply by 4, that's 5.92. Then there's about 10% increase from there to get to ~6.5. That seems like a plausible difference between pre-heating and post-heating? In that case, maybe ~6.7W for 1.9GHz pre-heating... not that it makes much difference if that heating period's only a minute.

~3.5W for CPU + RAM in typical portable, yea.
The approach I was thinking of was to focus on the difference between docked and undocked, but that's lacking two components: the screen's power draw and exactly which profile the undocked Switch was using for Breath of the Wild in the Anandtech article. If we set docked to 11W and undocked to either 7.1W (min brightness) or 8.9W (max brightness), then the difference is either 2.1 (max brightness) or 3.9W (min brightness).
CPU and wireless should be the same in either state, so ignore them.
Joy-cons are assumed either already charged or not even attached, so ignore them too.
I'm assuming that storage is either not in usage while testing either state, or storage is used, but equally so, in both states, so I'm ignoring that too.
Typical ram difference between the two modes is about 1/3 of a watt? I'm assuming that the profiles setting RAM to 1331.2 MHz are more commonly used than the 1065.6 MHz profiles. 2.1 - ~0.33 ~= 1.77 (max brightness) or 3.9 - ~0.33 ~= 3.57 (min brightness)
Am I missing anything else? Until then...
1.77 = (docked_GPU_power - undocked_GPU_power*) - (screen_max_brightness_power)
Or, 3.57 = (docked_GPU_power - undocked_GPU_power) - (screen_min_brightness_power)

*caveat is, within the three profiles that set RAM to 1331.2 MHz, the possible GPU clocks are 307.2 MHz, 384 MHz, and 460.8 MHz.
...but can it be whittled down? Was the 460 MHz option added sometime later?

This probably answers both of your questions at the end:

Switch's 'boost mode' tested: what is it and how does it work?

Let's get straight to the point - Switch is indeed evolving and in select scenarios, Nintendo's hardware is becoming mo…

www.eurogamer.net

New performance mode boosts Switch mobile clocks by 25 per cent

Mere days away from the Nintendo Switch's launch, elements of uncertainty still surround the final technical specificat…

www.eurogamer.net

Originally it only had the 307-384MHz profile, seems like around 2019 or so the ‘boost mode’ was added to the switch that had the 460MHz profile added into the mix.


As for figuring out the GPU, we might need the help of a person where this might be up their ally.

Paging @Jersh on what the battery life of the Switch when running docked clocks in portable mode. With Max brightness and with min brightness if possible?

This might give us more information to probably extrapolate from.

Edit: so apparently first party games had the 460MHz clock since the start.

 

[ArchedThunder]

is this means anything ?


referring to 8 Cores A78 and 1024 Cuda Cores for the New Switch ?
is it possible to see Drake Run at 1536 Core on Dock Mode and 1024 Core on handheld which means they can use smaller 1024 core chips for future Switch 2 lite ?

He’s just saying that because it’s a similar piece of hardware we could get a better idea of the Switch 4K’s capabilities.
A huge thing to keep in mind though is that ORIN NX won’t have games designed for it and won’t have the same gaming drivers that a normal PC graphics card has, so as far as actual gaming performance goes it won’t be a very accurate representation of what Switch 4K will be able to do. It might help figure out what kind of clocks the Switch 4K might have though.

 

[Z0m3le]

The sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo give us a fucking name already) but in 4K.

Jokes aside it will be like a PS4 Pro most likely. The power of a base PS4 but reaching higher resolutions due to DLSS is a solid guess.

PS4 has 1152 Shaders (AMD's 2011 architecture), Drake has 1536 Shaders (Ampere Cuda cores from 2020+) we don't know the clocks, but even at the same clock, Drake would blow away the PS4 before DLSS, even with the Switch's 460MHz clock, portable mode would be 1.413TFLOPs on this much newer architecture, this means it would be comparable for Steam Deck's 1.6TFLOPs GPU before DLSS is applied, Drake is going to be a current gen device, while IMO Steam Deck is a portable PS4.

That's the key issue. It's being framed as either an official stance from Nintendo or a report from Nikkei citing sources -- neither of which seems to be the case (pending better translations).

Drake was always attached to BotW sequel, only when the game was delayed did this potentially change, but given the rumor that Zelda isn't coming this FY but later in Spring, I think Drake will probably just launch with that title and Nintendo will try to repeat 2017 with a new mario next holiday.

As for Nikkei's report, as Doctre81 points out, this statement from Nikkei and Nintendo have been lies with a reveal shortly after the statement for plenty of Nintendo devices. Nikkei is great with getting info from Nintendo, but when it comes to denying hardware, Nintendo has zero issues doing so to a publication.

Still I think Drake launches in Spring next year, I'll point out what Emily said back in 2019 when Mariko didn't get the performance lift Nintendo was testing, 'You have to look at the games surrounding the new hardware, is it a portable game that doesn't rely on graphics? probably is designed around being portable' Zelda is a game Iwata has stated in the past that they want to have as a graphical show piece, so it makes sense to launch new hardware with that title, also if Prime 4 has any hope of a 2023 release, that would also be another game that they would want to show off the graphics with. Reggie also said recently on Kinda Funny that Nintendo likes to build their IPs around the hardware, so their first party line up is released around new hardware, you get a Mario, Zelda, Metroid, AC, MarioKart all around a new platform, once that cycle is complete, they are more likely to release the next device, which we are at that point with the IPs now and Zelda has traditionally become a cross gen title as well.

Lastly, we have Graffitimax, the mod of a very popular gaming forum in China, who has gotten the original Switch Lite backing leaked, has said that the back of Drake has the same Switch logo, and that Drake's production lines are being prepared. This indicates that Drake is indeed on the way and that it is another device in the Switch family, and not just a successor, which makes sense as Iwata said they wanted to do away with hardware platforms, and wanted to build their platforms on the accounts themselves.

 

[mariodk18]

PS4 has 1152 Shaders (AMD's 2011 architecture), Drake has 1536 Shaders (Ampere Cuda cores from 2020+) we don't know the clocks, but even at the same clock, Drake would blow away the PS4 before DLSS, even with the Switch's 460MHz clock, portable mode would be 1.413TFLOPs on this much newer architecture, this means it would be comparable for Steam Deck's 1.6TFLOPs GPU before DLSS is applied, Drake is going to be a current gen device, while IMO Steam Deck is a portable PS4.

Drake was always attached to BotW sequel, only when the game was delayed did this potentially change, but given the rumor that Zelda isn't coming this FY but later in Spring, I think Drake will probably just launch with that title and Nintendo will try to repeat 2017 with a new mario next holiday.

As for Nikkei's report, as Doctre81 points out, this statement from Nikkei and Nintendo have been lies with a reveal shortly after the statement for plenty of Nintendo devices. Nikkei is great with getting info from Nintendo, but when it comes to denying hardware, Nintendo has zero issues doing so to a publication.

Still I think Drake launches in Spring next year, I'll point out what Emily said back in 2019 when Mariko didn't get the performance lift Nintendo was testing, 'You have to look at the games surrounding the new hardware, is it a portable game that doesn't rely on graphics? probably is designed around being portable' Zelda is a game Iwata has stated in the past that they want to have as a graphical show piece, so it makes sense to launch new hardware with that title, also if Prime 4 has any hope of a 2023 release, that would also be another game that they would want to show off the graphics with. Reggie also said recently on Kinda Funny that Nintendo likes to build their IPs around the hardware, so their first party line up is released around new hardware, you get a Mario, Zelda, Metroid, AC, MarioKart all around a new platform, once that cycle is complete, they are more likely to release the next device, which we are at that point with the IPs now and Zelda has traditionally become a cross gen title as well.

Lastly, we have Graffitimax, the mod of a very popular gaming forum in China, who has gotten the original Switch Lite backing leaked, has said that the back of Drake has the same Switch logo, and that Drake's production lines are being prepared. This indicates that Drake is indeed on the way and that it is another device in the Switch family, and not just a successor, which makes sense as Iwata said they wanted to do away with hardware platforms, and wanted to build their platforms on the accounts themselves.

This is what I’ve been telling people for so long now. Follow the software breadcrumb trail. What do we have releasing next year? The next big Zelda, likely a new fire emblem, the next 3D Mario, potentially Metroid Prime 4 (though this one is more chance), and whatever else they might have (Donkey Kong). If there’s a year to release new hardware, (early) 2023 is it.

 

[Paxie]

Wonder if there's a chance that the hardware gets delayed further and Nintendo says "fuck it, just release BotW2 without it"

 

[Skittzo]

This is what I’ve been telling people for so long now. Follow the software breadcrumb trail. What do we have releasing next year? The next big Zelda, likely a new fire emblem, the next 3D Mario, potentially Metroid Prime 4 (though this one is more chance), and whatever else they might have (Donkey Kong). If there’s a year to release new hardware, (early) 2023 is it.

To be completely fair we said a lot of similar things about both 2022 and 2021. "They'll have some huge games, like botw2 maybe, the next 3D Mario, new Mario Kart, etc... It'll be 2017 part two!"

It's best not to assume anything about the lineup outside of announced titles and stuff that's heavily rumored (i.e. not 3D Mario or DK).

 

[Serif]

Wonder if there's a chance that the hardware gets delayed further and Nintendo says "fuck it, just release BotW2 without it"

Could be the other way around, too. BotW2 gets delayed again and they just decide to market Switch Ultra with Pokemon, Xenoblade and Metroid Prime. It is presumably easier to delay software than hardware, after all.

Would be funny if after all this yo-yo'ing around with release dates, the two don't even end up lining up with each other. RIP 2017 pt. II.

 

[NintendoPrime]

That, it is. In 2021, with the OLED/Drake confusion, Mochi - and plenty of others - got burned by being overly optimistic. Now they seem eager to overcompensate.

Honestly, the way this forum jumped on that vague and non-committal article - with so many people eager to say "I told you so" - was disappointing. Don't do that too often, OK Fam?

Thing is, Mochi even said he wasn't really sure it's something Furukawa said, and it's notable that IF he did, does anyone think the Nikkei article wouldn't have been titled "Nintendo President Says No New Hardware This Fiscal Year". It's such a bigger clicky title the very generalized title they went with.


I mean, I don't care one way or another. Nintendo will release something new some day. I just hope they do it well and give us a product that's actually desirable. This is the first real pressure Furukawa will face as Switch was handed to him on a Silver platter. Whatever happens next is one his decision making and guidance.

 

[karmitt]

Thing is, Mochi even said he wasn't really sure it's something Furukawa said, and it's notable that IF he did, does anyone think the Nikkei article wouldn't have been titled "Nintendo President Says No New Hardware This Fiscal Year". It's such a bigger clicky title the very generalized title they went with.


I mean, I don't care one way or another. Nintendo will release something new some day. I just hope they do it well and give us a product that's actually desirable. This is the first real pressure Furukawa will face as Switch was handed to him on a Silver platter. Whatever happens next is one his decision making and guidance.

If we assume that the foundation for what's next is built on 1. It's still a hybrid/Switch, and 2. The NVN2 leak is for that device, I'm just not worried. The worst that could happen is that it's no more than the above - a 'safe' iteration - but I've the impression that that'll suit most fans perfectly well.

Price could be a problem for some I guess, as I don't see it coming in under $400 or even $450.

 

[Tentacle-tropes]

So let’s assume Drake comes out in March. What’s the latest we could expect manufacturing to start? When did the OG Switch production begin?

Oct would be my guess. Anything past that to start manufacturing becomes dicey.

 

[Concernt]

Oct would be my guess. Anything past that to start manufacturing becomes dicey.

I wouldn't be so sure about that. Nintendo Switch wasn't even finalised by time the First Look at Nintendo Switch was wrapping up production, so I have to imagine production began in earnest more around November, which lines up with us getting factory leaks in early December 2016 and the relatively low ratio of "Made in China 2016" launch Switches Vs. Made in China/Made in China 2017 launch Switches.

 

[Josh5890]

Oct would be my guess. Anything past that to start manufacturing becomes dicey.

To add to this as someone who is in the ocean carrier world, port congestion is still very much a thing. The earlier Nintendo can start shipping these things, the better.

 

[Tentacle-tropes]

I wouldn't be so sure about that. Nintendo Switch wasn't even finalised by time the First Look at Nintendo Switch was wrapping up production, so I have to imagine production began in earnest more around November, which lines up with us getting factory leaks in early December 2016 and the relatively low ratio of "Made in China 2016" launch Switches Vs. Made in China/Made in China 2017 launch Switches.

Then the device isn’t making it in March or coming out with pitiful numbers. As @Josh5890 mentioned the sooner the better which I agree with. This is not 2016 anymore & lots of things have happened that is challenging companies on the supply side. Considering that Nintendo has already had to use air drop & train I don’t think they should wait. Bloomberg’s latest article has this quote,

Citigroup Global Markets analyst Junko Yamamura wrote that “the weak Nintendo performance in the US was not really due to the world reopening, but rather a time-lag related to transporting goods.”

And, the David Gibson tweets I posted earlier show that supply is going to be a challenge both sourcing & transporting.

 

[fwd-bwd]

There have been some posts here commenting on people (insiders/members) instead of hardware. Would you please kindly take that to other threads? [Yes, I know this paragraph itself is also commenting on people, but I won't entertain that galaxy brain circular logic. Please keep the "I am very intelligent" to yourself.]

There are times when publications in interviews will put down information disclosed in the interview outside of quotes. Usually it happens directly after a quote. Random example:

"Skittzo was reluctant to post in the hardware thread: 'I'm on vacation and am glad I missed this nonsense and it's not worth stressing about right now.' He was bored though and decided to post anyway"

The latter part isn't part of my quote, but it is still something I told the interviewer.

That is true in many cases. In this instance, however, the content doesn't seem to flow that way:

任天堂の古川社長も「思った量を製造できても全て売れるのかと言われれば楽観視はしていない」と語る。今期は目玉となる最新機種の発表もない。その中で販売計画を達成するには残された9カ月間で1800万台近くを売る必要がありハードルは高い。成長市場に黄信号がともりつつある。

[Machine translation with my own edits] Nintendo's president Furukawa also said: "If you ask whether we would've been able to fully sell the quantity that was expected to be produced, I cannot answer that positively." There will be no announcement of the highly anticipated new model in this fiscal year. In order to achieve its sales plan, the company will need to sell nearly 18 million units in the remaining nine months, a high hurdle. This is a warning sign for its market growth.

[Note: The original content was from Installbase via @Joseki. I can't verify its authenticity. However, I found a Taiwanese translation that said pretty much the same.]

As you can see, the key message Nikkei is conveying to the investors is that Switch sales (thus Nintendo stock) is decelerating, the exact same point they made in the headline of the report (Switch減速 "Switch slowing down"). The Furukawa quote is merely supporting data. The sentence about the "new model" is also meant for supporting this supposition, but it's exceedingly unclear where it was originated—not even an "anonymous sources said" boilerplate.

I'm unsure if anyone outside of Nikkei can be certain that the no-new-model statement is a sourced reporting or Nikkei's own interpretation. This is not a translation issue. Even Mochizuki, a native speaker and journalist himself, was perplexed and had to ask the question on Twitter. Either Nikkei was sworn to secrecy by a top-secret source, carelessly presented an opinion as self-evident fact, or made an editorial mistake of editing out relevant info.

On a related note, Mochizuki guest-wrote for Bloomberg's Game On newsletter this week. Unlike the gloomy Nikkei report, he said that Nintendo is... optimistic?

The gaming industry may be in a post-pandemic funk. But Nintendo refuses to believe it. [...] According to reports by analysts who talked with the Kyoto-based company after its results, Nintendo doesn’t think people are spending less time gaming. The US was simply a problem of getting enough consoles on shelves. Citigroup Global Markets analyst Junko Yamamura wrote that “the weak Nintendo performance in the US was not really due to the world reopening, but rather a time-lag related to transporting goods.”

Apparently in addition to Nikkei, Nintendo talked with some analysts privately as well, and the tone was more positive(?). I don't have access to any of these analyst reports though. I wonder if @Vash_the_Stampede or anyone else do?

I agree with their belief that 2022 is out of play, especially when pairing the article alongside the Hishiden forecast revision.

I have absolutely no idea whether 2022 is still in play. It is my opinion, however, that Hosiden's forecast revision has little to do with the new Switch model, if at all. In fact, the Bloomberg report is the only one that I could find making the association (not counting those regurgitating the Mochizuki article/tweet).

 

[Tentacle-tropes]

There have been some posts here commenting on people (insiders/members) instead of hardware. Would you please kindly take that to other threads? [Yes, I know this paragraph itself is also commenting on people, but I won't entertain that galaxy brain circular logic. Please keep the "I am very intelligent" to yourself.]


That is true in many cases. In this instance, however, the content doesn't seem to flow that way:


[Machine translation with my own edits] Nintendo's president Furukawa also said: "If you ask whether we would've been able to fully sell the quantity that was expected to be produced, I cannot answer that positively." There will be no announcement of the highly anticipated new model in this fiscal year. In order to achieve its sales plan, the company will need to sell nearly 18 million units in the remaining nine months, a high hurdle. This is a warning sign for its market growth.

[Note: The original content was from Installbase via @Joseki. I can't verify its authenticity. However, I found a Taiwanese translation that said pretty much the same.]

As you can see, the key message Nikkei is conveying to the investors is that Switch sales (thus Nintendo stock) is decelerating, the exact same point they made in the headline of the report (Switch減速 "Switch slowing down"). The Furukawa quote is merely supporting data. The sentence about the "new model" is also meant for supporting this supposition, but it's exceedingly unclear where it was originated—not even an "anonymous sources said" boilerplate.

I'm unsure if anyone outside of Nikkei can be certain that the no-new-model statement is a sourced reporting or Nikkei's own interpretation. This is not a translation issue. Even Mochizuki, a native speaker and journalist himself, was perplexed and had to ask the question on Twitter. Either Nikkei was sworn to secrecy by a top-secret source, carelessly presented an opinion as self-evident fact, or made an editorial mistake of editing out relevant info.

On a related note, Mochizuki guest-wrote for Bloomberg's Game On newsletter this week. Unlike the gloomy Nikkei report, he said that Nintendo is... optimistic?


Apparently in addition to Nikkei, Nintendo talked with some analysts privately as well, and the tone was more positive(?). I don't have access to any of these analyst reports though. I wonder if @Vash_the_Stampede or anyone else do?


I have absolutely no idea whether 2022 is still in play. It is my opinion, however, that Hosiden's forecast revision has little to do with the new Switch model, if at all. In fact, the Bloomberg report is the only one that I could find making the association (not counting those regurgitating the Mochizuki article/tweet).

The bold portion of your text is talking about this article that I referenced earlier:

Nintendo Disagrees With Sony About Games Industry Slump

Hi everyone, it’s Takashi from Tokyo, chiming in here for the first time! I’ll talk about how Nintendo and Sony are at odds on the near-term outlook for the gaming industry, but first...

www.bloomberg.com

The piece in question is mostly likely in response to this from Sony:

Sony to Take Action as PS5, PS4 Owners Play Less Than Anticipated

Firm forecasted much better engagement

www.pushsquare.com

What is being asserted is that Nintendo does not believe that a return to normalcy post pandemic is the reason for Sony’s issues with software or hardware. As Nintendo themselves have seen hardware increases in quite a few regions with US being a particular case of decline. Software has also seen slight decline but not to the degree of Sony.

IB user awng782
PlayStation software sales:

• FY3/2021 Q1: 91.0M
• FY3/2022 Q1: 63.6M
• FY3/2023 Q1: 47.1M

Switch software sales, excluding digital-only titles:

• FY3/2021 Q1: 50.41M
• FY3/2022 Q1: 45.30M
• FY3/2023 Q1: 40.41M

When comparing FYQ1s, PlayStation SW sales declined by 48% in the two years since Covid started, while Switch SW sales declined by 20%. So yes, it certainly seems like Sony is more impacted by the return to normalcy than Nintendo.

So that just leaves supply. Which as I posted earlier for more context seems to be the issue.

Spoiler: David Gibson tweets

We’ll probably have to wait for official translations to get a more accurate sense of the wording in the Nikkei article.

 

[Concernt]

Then the device isn’t making it in March or coming out with pitiful numbers. As @Josh5890 mentioned the sooner the better which I agree with. This is not 2016 anymore & lots of things have happened that is challenging companies on the supply side. Considering that Nintendo has already had to use air drop & train I don’t think they should wait. Bloomberg’s latest article has this quote,

And, the David Gibson tweets I posted earlier show that supply is going to be a challenge both sourcing & transporting.

Oh no I absolutely agree, they could push full production to November but that only made sense way back when, I was just saying they've cut it close before, as did Xbox Series X with July/August assembly for November launch. Nowadays the faster the better, and from what we've heard from the Chinese boards and the current reporting here, I'd say production beginning very soon with lines currently in prep, reveal before the end of the calendar year and a release in March.

Before someone says "but that would kill sales over the holiday period";
One, didn't stop 3DS announcement, or Wii U, or New 3DS, etc., even THEN Switch is supply constrained, not demand constrained, so tempering demand to allow more people to buy Switches (some now, some later) would actually increase profits, especially since it's a case of; would they rather have 300 dollars NOW, or 450-500 dollars a little later? Reveal or not for the next system, Switch will sell out this holiday season anyway, it's just not an issue.

 

[Z0m3le]

I wouldn't be so sure about that. Nintendo Switch wasn't even finalised by time the First Look at Nintendo Switch was wrapping up production, so I have to imagine production began in earnest more around November, which lines up with us getting factory leaks in early December 2016 and the relatively low ratio of "Made in China 2016" launch Switches Vs. Made in China/Made in China 2017 launch Switches.

Nintendo Switch began production in late September and was in full production in October 2016 when a leaker posted on Reddit leaked virtually everything about the console, including weight with and without joycons (to the gram) size and shape of heat sink, SL and SR buttons... tons of other stuff.

 

[Concernt]

Nintendo Switch began production in late September and was in full production in October 2016 when a leaker posted on Reddit leaked virtually everything about the console, including weight with and without joycons (to the gram) size and shape of heat sink, SL and SR buttons... tons of other stuff.

Began in earnest. I try to be careful with my phrasing.

 

[Z0m3le]

Began in earnest. I try to be careful with my phrasing.

In October 2016, they were producing ~20K units a day according to that very correct leak, this would translate to launch numbers available, because October until end of January would give you 2.4M units ready for sale, there were some produced before the end of September and they also flew units in as well, which matches the 2.7M units they shipped from March 3rd to March 31st 2017.

 

[mariodk18]

So in other words…if we don’t start hearing murmurs or seeing smoke by October, we should expect to wait until the next fiscal year? Which would give a window of April 2023 - Holiday 2023.

 

[ShadowFox08]

So you are telling me that global events could actually lead to my favorite video game maker changing their upcoming production plans??????

kinda worried about the whole China Taiwan USA relationship too..

is this means anything ?


referring to 8 Cores A78 and 1024 Cuda Cores for the New Switch ?
is it possible to see Drake Run at 1536 Core on Dock Mode and 1024 Core on handheld which means they can use smaller 1024 core chips for future Switch 2 lite ?

Nah, nothing we don't know thats been out for the public on Nvidia's site for a while. Drake is somewhere in between the lowest AGX model (1792 cuda cores and 32GB Ram module ) and the highest NX model (1024 cuda cores. That much has been known already, and I've mentioned that myself a few times.

Drake has the NX's bus bandwidth (128 bit) and amount of RAM closer to NX (8-16 GB), while GPU wise it's closer to AGX in terms of core count. CPU is likely like NX's as well (6-8), as well as the cache amount (2mb l2 and 4mb l3).
We just don't know clock speeds, ram amount, ram bandwidth amount...

NVIDIA Jetson Orin

Next-level AI performance for next-gen robotics.

www.nvidia.com

interesting enough for the modules , the NX models supports external NVme (supposedly doesn't come with any storage), while AGX comes with 64 GB eMMc.

Doesn't Drake support 2x NVDLA v2 though, because that it's only supported on the AGX models, and not NX. Could have sworn I remember someone mentioning this during the breach. Was that toy who saw it? @LiC

 

[CypressFX]

can somebody sum up where we are now since its very hard to interpret even Nates words right on this topic

 

[Ojoloco]

This probably answers both of your questions at the end:

Switch's 'boost mode' tested: what is it and how does it work?

Let's get straight to the point - Switch is indeed evolving and in select scenarios, Nintendo's hardware is becoming mo…

www.eurogamer.net

New performance mode boosts Switch mobile clocks by 25 per cent

Mere days away from the Nintendo Switch's launch, elements of uncertainty still surround the final technical specificat…

www.eurogamer.net

Originally it only had the 307-384MHz profile, seems like around 2019 or so the ‘boost mode’ was added to the switch that had the 460MHz profile added into the mix.


As for figuring out the GPU, we might need the help of a person where this might be up their ally.

Paging @Jersh on what the battery life of the Switch when running docked clocks in portable mode. With Max brightness and with min brightness if possible?

This might give us more information to probably extrapolate from.

Edit: so apparently first party games had the 460MHz clock since the start.

Did we know more games that use this "boost mode"?
Apart of Mortal Kombat 11

 

[ILikeFeet]

can somebody sum up where we are now since its very hard to interpret even Nates words right on this topic

Specs are the same, release slated for somewhere in H1 2023. So nothing really new

 

[Hermii]

Did we know more games that use this "boost mode"?
Apart of Mortal Kombat 11

The portal collection loads really fast after the newest patch, so I suspect it uses it.

 

[Ojoloco]

The portal collection loads really fast after the newest patch, so I suspect it uses it.

I guess all the big ports after that, like The Witcher 3, Wreckfest, Doom Eternal or Plants vs Zombies, along with games like Xenoblade 3 or Metroid dread use it.

but of course, I think nobody has bothered to check it.
It doesn't matter much either because today it is surely used by most games that need it or demand a lot.
but it would be curious to know

 

[Mr Swine]

I can see a boost mode for Drake with the A78 clocking up to 2.5-3Ghz for very fast load times.

Heck Switch games that use boost mode should see a very big gains in loading times with A78 clocking to 1.7Ghz compared to A57

I really want Drake this year as I’m getting tired of 45-60 second load times on Xcom 2: War of The Chosen and long wait times where the zombies appear in masses

 

[ReddDreadtheLead]

Did we know more games that use this "boost mode"?
Apart of Mortal Kombat 11

Do you mean the 460MHz?

Afaik the switch just uses the higher CPU frequency for loading all around after an update. So a game just benefits from that automatically.

The GPU profile though? No. I don’t think many games use it even if it is available to them.

 

[ShaunSwitch]

I can see a boost mode for Drake with the A78 clocking up to 2.5-3Ghz for very fast load times.

Heck Switch games that use boost mode should see a very big gains in loading times with A78 clocking to 1.7Ghz compared to A57

I really want Drake this year as I’m getting tired of 45-60 second load times on Xcom 2: War of The Chosen and long wait times where the zombies appear in masses

The worst offender for load times are the Resident Evil 0 and Resident Evil ports. Some doors can take a minute to load, which doesn't seem that bad until you factor in how many doors you open in that game. The biggest kicker? The in game timer runs during those loading screens.

I'm no speed runner but I often do Jill best ending on PC with no mods in around 90 minutes. Took me 2 hours 50 minutes on switch. Capcom never bothered to add the boost mode though so not sure they would optimise for Drake.

 

[Dekuman]

Thing is, Mochi even said he wasn't really sure it's something Furukawa said, and it's notable that IF he did, does anyone think the Nikkei article wouldn't have been titled "Nintendo President Says No New Hardware This Fiscal Year". It's such a bigger clicky title the very generalized title they went with.


I mean, I don't care one way or another. Nintendo will release something new some day. I just hope they do it well and give us a product that's actually desirable. This is the first real pressure Furukawa will face as Switch was handed to him on a Silver platter. Whatever happens next is one his decision making and guidance.

Could be an off the record unofficial comment

Sometimes this is done to manage expectations since investors build that into price of stocks

But it could also be Nilkei guessing based on the tenor of the interview

Without the original article it's all a guess

 

[Link_enfant]

I’m having a blast playing XC3 (currently on chapter 4) but man, watching that 60fps gameplay on an overclocked Mariko Switch made me we to experience this so bad

 

[Stinky Horse]

Afaik the switch just uses the higher CPU frequency for loading all around after an update. So a game just benefits from that automatically.

It's not automatic, that mode clocks the GPU down to 10% of docked speed, which would obviously be catastrophic if devs couldn't choose when to use it.

 

[Mobius]

Unrelated to Drake, but the Series S now has more memory for games:

Microsoft frees up more memory for developer access in new Xbox Series S software devkit

Microsoft has recently launched the June Game Development Kit (GDK) for developers. One of the GDK's features is that more memory has been allocated on Xbox Series S for developers to have access to, which could lead to improved performance of games on the system. “Hundreds of additional...

gbatemp.net

Might be useful for future comparisons.

 

[Mr Swine]

The worst offender for load times are the Resident Evil 0 and Resident Evil ports. Some doors can take a minute to load, which doesn't seem that bad until you factor in how many doors you open in that game. The biggest kicker? The in game timer runs during those loading screens.

I'm no speed runner but I often do Jill best ending on PC with no mods in around 90 minutes. Took me 2 hours 50 minutes on switch. Capcom never bothered to add the boost mode though so not sure they would optimise for Drake.

Yuck, those games should load pretty fast but I guess the games are heavily compressed or not well optimized this loading slowly? Drake should speed it up thanks to its large IPC improvements A87 has over A57

 

[Hermii]

Unrelated to Drake, but the Series S now has more memory for games:

Microsoft frees up more memory for developer access in new Xbox Series S software devkit

Microsoft has recently launched the June Game Development Kit (GDK) for developers. One of the GDK's features is that more memory has been allocated on Xbox Series S for developers to have access to, which could lead to improved performance of games on the system. “Hundreds of additional...

gbatemp.net

Might be useful for future comparisons.

“Hundreds of megabytes” So its at least 200 then I suppose. Every little bit helps.

 

[Koyota]

[Machine translation with my own edits] Nintendo's president Furukawa also said: "If you ask whether we would've been able to fully sell the quantity that was expected to be produced, I cannot answer that positively." There will be no announcement of the highly anticipated new model in this fiscal year. In order to achieve its sales plan, the company will need to sell nearly 18 million units in the remaining nine months, a high hurdle. This is a warning sign for its market growth.

今期は目玉となる最新機種の発表もない。

Hate to be that guy...
Yes, It`s a line from the writer of the piece.
But that sentence is perfectly translatable (and perhaps better as a direct translation) as "For this fiscal year, There is no announcement of the featured product, new hardware"

Aka, it is discussing the current state of things. It does not necessarily have the meaning of "there will be no".

 

[Nintendojitsu]

ram amount, ram bandwidth amount...

LPDDR5 media kit

www.micron.com

 

[ShadowFox08]

LPDDR5

Micron LPDDR5 DRAM handles the intensive memory needs of AI and 5G in mobile phones, with 50% faster data speeds and 20% more power efficiency than previous LPDDR generations.

www.micron.com

I feel fairly, confident it will be LPDDR5 and 102 GB/s bandwidth, but it's not confirmed.

And no, we don't know how much RAM we are getting yet, nor do we know if it's Samsung of Micron. 8GB minimum at least is likely.

 

[ILikeFeet]

I feel fairly, confident it will be LPDDR5 and 102 GB/s bandwidth, but it's not confirmed.

And no, we don't know how much RAM we are getting yet, nor do we know if it's Samsung of Micron. 8GB minimum at least is likely.

hell it might even be SK Hynix!

 

[Nintendojitsu]

I feel fairly, confident it will be LPDDR5 and 102 GB/s bandwidth, but it's not confirmed.

And no, we don't know how much RAM we are getting yet, nor do we know if it's Samsung of Micron. 8GB minimum at least is likely.

If it's as low as 8gb it won't be from Micron. 16gb is their lowest on lppdr5.

Edit: Correction - https://www.micron.com/about/newsroom/media-relations/media-kits/lpddr5-media-kit

 

[ILikeFeet]

If it's as low as 8gb it won't be from Micron. 16gb is their lowest on lppdr5.

Edit: Correction - https://www.micron.com/about/newsroom/media-relations/media-kits/lpddr5-media-kit

they're lowest production (and not sampling) LPDDR5 is 48gb (6GB)

 

[Skittzo]

今期は目玉となる最新機種の発表もない。

Hate to be that guy...
Yes, It`s a line from the writer of the piece.
But that sentence is perfectly translatable (and perhaps better as a direct translation) as "For this fiscal quarter, There is no announcement of the featured product, new hardware"

Aka, it is discussing the current state of things. It does not necessarily have the meaning of "there will be no".

So it could basically be translated as "the 4k model hasn't yet been announced this quarter"?

 

[Serif]

今期は目玉となる最新機種の発表もない。

Hate to be that guy...
Yes, It`s a line from the writer of the piece.
But that sentence is perfectly translatable (and perhaps better as a direct translation) as "For this fiscal quarter, There is no announcement of the featured product, new hardware"

Aka, it is discussing the current state of things. It does not necessarily have the meaning of "there will be no".

I feel like this should be shared in the thread about that article, to level set discussion. This is a far cry from the conclusive statements many folks have interpreted it to be.

 

[Mr Swine]

Do the other memory manufacturers have 4GB LPDDR5 memory or is the lowest amount 6GB? It would be perfect if Drake could have 12GB, 1.5GB for OS and 10.5GB for games

 

[Skittzo]

I feel like this should be shared in the thread about that article, to level set discussion. This is a far cry from the conclusive statements many folks have interpreted it to be.

Yeah this would make all of those articles and youtube reactions look kinda silly.

Best to wait for further corroboration though.

 

[Koyota]

So it could basically be translated as "the 4k model hasn't yet been announced this quarter"?

Heh, don`t go to far in the other direction.
It`s in a paragraph where the writer is implying that because there is no announcement of a new system, Nintendo making their sales targets for hardware is going to be difficult.

It is almost a throw-away line, I would not actually read anything into it either way regarding some insider knowledge from Nikkei.

 

[LiC]

今期は目玉となる最新機種の発表もない。

Hate to be that guy...
Yes, It`s a line from the writer of the piece.
But that sentence is perfectly translatable (and perhaps better as a direct translation) as "For this fiscal quarter, There is no announcement of the featured product, new hardware"

Aka, it is discussing the current state of things. It does not necessarily have the meaning of "there will be no".

This is what I was wondering (based on machine translations since I can't read Japanese). Even in context it doesn't seem clear whether it's "will not be" or "has not been." I think the main reason people have been going with the former is because that's how Mochizuki interpreted it. But with the latter, a reasonable translation would be "There has not been an announcement of new hardware, which would be a centerpiece [of the sales strategy] for the FY." And that would fit with the nature of the article being Nikkei's outlook based on available info for the rest of the FY, rather than reporting about unannounced plans.

 

[Skittzo]

Heh, don`t go to far in the other direction.
It`s in a paragraph where the writer is implying that because there is no announcement of a new system, Nintendo making their sales targets for hardware is going to be difficult.

It is almost a throw-away line, I would not actually read anything into it either way regarding some insider knowledge from Bloomberg.

So basically you think the statement is more or less "Furukawa believes making their forecast will be difficult (based on procurement issues) and since no new model has been announced it will indeed be difficult"?

 

[Raccoon]

I absolutely love Japanese

context is essential to parsing anything

 

[Koyota]

So basically you think the statement is more or less "Furukawa believes making their forecast will be difficult (based on procurement issues) and since no new model has been announced it will indeed be difficult"?

My English writing is not the best but if you want a literal translation attempt for the paragraph (Correcting some of the other machine translations put out here):
Previous paragraphs discuss how Nintendo were not able to produce the amount of units they wanted to.

Nintendo's president Furukawa also said: "Even if we were able to produce the quantity we wanted, If you ask whether it would fully sell, I can`t say I`m positive."
There also is no announcement of new hardware, which would be a centerpiece [of the sales strategy] for the FY.

In this [situation], the company will need to sell nearly 18 million units in the remaining nine months to meet it`s sales plan, a high hurdle.
There continue to be warning signs lighting up regarding market growth.