While Switch 2 is putting a bigger emphasis on technical power than we've seen from Nintendo in years, the publisher has still been oddly reticent to reveal the platform's actual technical specifications. Now we're finally getting some clarity on the system's specs.
Switch 2 leaks have actually intensified in recent weeks as the supply chain for the console moves forward, and the folks at Digital Foundry have confirmed the specs. In short, the system features a custom Nvidia system on a chip called a T239, which features a GPU built on the same Ampere architecture that powered the RTX 30-series GPUs first released in 2020.
Notably, this specification of a custom Nvidia chip called T239 featuring an Ampere-based GPU had been leaked as far back as 2021, and if the past four years of leaks have had some element of truth to them, it's clear that Switch 2 has been in the works for a long, long time. Nintendo released a Switch 2 spec sheet alongside the console's initial reveal in April, but that only mentioned a "custom processor" from Nvidia, with no accompanying specs.
According to DF's rundown, we're looking at a CPU clock of 998MHz while docked or 1101MHz in handheld mode, with six cores available to game developers and two reserved for system resources. There's a theoretical maximum clock of 1.7GHz, but it's unclear in what circumstance that additional performance headroom might be unlocked.
On the GPU side, it's rated for 1007MHz in docked mode, 561MHz in handheld, and a theoretical maximum of 1.4GHz. Digital Foundry suggests thinking "of it as a miniaturised version of a consumer GPU," similar to how the Switch 1 made use of a variant of the GTX 900 series. Here, though, we're dealing with something similar to an RTX 30-series card.
Exactly what all this means in terms of concrete performance for Switch 2 is still difficult to measure without actually seeing games in action, and it's going to be doubly tough to compare the system's raw performance against other hardware when it's making use of Nvidia's performance-boosting DLSS tech.
In more concrete reveals, DF says that VRR – which helps match the screen refresh rate to the in-game frame rate for smoother video when performance fluctuates – is only supported for the built-in handheld screen. There's no support for VRR-enabled televisions over HDMI.
Switch 2 also features a custom file decompression engine, which can offload some of the burden from the CPU, which "should be a lot faster and more power-efficient" when loading your games.
GameChat also seems to be quite a serious part of the platform in Nintendo's eyes, though it's one that apparently eats quite a bit of system resources, to the point where "Nintendo actually provides developers with a GameChat testing tool" to measure the performance impact of the feature. DF notes that GameChat's impact on performance "does seem to be an area of developer concern."
We're now just a few weeks out from the launch of Switch 2, so the answers to many of these questions will be clear soon enough. Here's hoping that the long, long wait for the new hardware proves worthwhile.
If you're keeping up with all the Nintendo Switch 2 news, here are all the Switch 2 launch games and other upcoming Switch 2 games you need to know about.
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