The Nintendo Switch 2 SOC may be produced on a 5nm process node and have a maximum clock speed of over 2.5 GHz, according to information unearthed today.
In a new video shared on YouTube, Doctre 81 detailed how, a few months back, they found the LinkedIn profile for a former Physical Design Engineer for Siliconist Technologies, who worked there from February 2020 to October 2022 on the T239 project for NVIDIA, which is said to be the Nintendo Switch 2 SOC.
Today, the YouTuber reported to have found another LinkedIn profile for another former Physical Design Engineer who worked at Siliconist Technologies during the same time as the other employee who actually put a more detailed summary of what they worked on during their time at the company, confirming it was an NVIDIA project without, however, mentioning any other specific. In this project summary, the former Siliconist Technologies employee mentions a 5nm process node and a maximum clock speed of 2.653 GHz, higher than the maximum clock speed of the original Nintendo Switch SOC, the TegraX1. As Nintendo is keeping a tight lid on its Nintendo Switch 2 console, however, we have to take what Doctre81 revealed in their video with a grain of salt.
Nintendo underclocked the X1, so all this tells us is some upper bound.
Big time. Their chassis design will dictate performance too. They will get the best chip they can in a cost budget and then thermal/battery limits will dictate where that chip actually lies.
The steam deck is cool and a great device but the Switch 2 will be sleeker and nintendo won’t settle for a 90min battery a whiney fan, and that has trade offs.
Hopefully they’ll actually use an active dock with cooling this time rather than the simple stand that comes with the Switch 1.
Might actually be a good shout.
Switch 1 had a 720p screen with a 1080p max TV output. That’s approx a 2x increase in throughput.
With Switch 2 it’s expected to be a 1080p screen and a 4k output, that’s a 4x increase in pixel throughput. So a 2x output increase might not be adequate.
However, it is widely expected to have DLSS, which would greatly reduce that requirement.
Cost is going to be a big factor. Nintendo doesn’t want the best possible console. The want a good console, that they can get into as many hands as possible. Even a simple active dock is going to add £10 to the price.