Currently, the Switch uses an NVIDIA Tegra SoC. This processor has 4 Cortex-A57 @ 1 GHz cores and 4 Cortex-A53 @ 1.3 GHz cores. This processor is accompanied by a graphics card made up of 256 CUDA Cores working at a base frequency of 307 MHz and which comes in Boost mode at the 768 MHz.
The big problem with this console is the graphic power, which is disastrous. According to the specifications, it offers a power of 0.39 TFLOPS, which limits the development of games. Really, the developers do wonders considering so little graphics power.
Nintendo must change provider
They have recently been launched on the market ASUS RoG Ally and Steam Deck handheld consoles. These consoles differ from the Switch in that they do not have their own games and the price, among others. But, the most important is that they opt for modern high-capacity processors.
console ASUS bet on the processor AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme 8 cores and 16 threads which includes an RDNA3 graphics card. Thanks to this processor, we have a 8.6 TFLOPS graphics powerwhich is a lot.
Let’s go now with the valve console, which is somewhat more limited than that of ASUS. In this case, it has a processor AMD Zen 2 with 4 cores and 8 threads. It is complemented by an RDNA 2 graphics card that offers a power up to 1.6 TFLOPS.
If we do the comparison, the Steam Deck is 4 times more powerful, but the RoG Ally is 22 times more powerful. Between one console and another there is a middle term, that is obvious.
But the important thing is that the Nintendo Switch 2 should opt for a SoC developed by AMD. Currently, the only company capable of offering a powerful and complete processor to the Japanese company is AMD.
NVIDIA It has been forgotten totally of his Tegra chipsWhat’s more, they were already forgotten long before the launch of the Switch. The normal thing would be to use an AMD solution that combines Zen 2 cores and RDNA 3 graphics. A power of 2-3 TFLOPS would be ideal to be able to play in 1080p to spare and take a necessary leap.
What is beyond AMD?
A desert. The reality is that Intel processors in terms of graphics are greatly limited and do not seem like a solution. Also to say that Intel does not create customized solutions, it presents its catalog and the manufacturer chooses, without further ado.
Although, there is still a small oasis in the middle of the desert. Samsung presented the Exynos 2200 SoC a year and a half ago. This processor is based on ARM cores and an AMD RDNA 2 graphics card. At the moment and to our knowledge it has not been integrated into any device. Soon after the Exynos 2400 was announced, also with AMD RDNA 2 graphics, also not used.
It would not be ruled out that Nintendo for the Switch 2 opted for this route. It could be the perfect solution, a powerful processor, with powerful graphics, low consumption and a good price. We assume that it is a way that the Japanese have investigated and the good thing is that Samsung are neighbors, since the company is South Korean.
