Nintendo NX very likely will have AMD x86 chip, possible 14/16nm

[JEMC]

You are giving Wccftech too much credit. Keep in mind that they are a site that most of the time simply publishes the rumors that are floating around the industry without having any proof or facts to support their claims. That's why their info is either generic or labeled as "rumor".

Now, AMD (and Nvidia) pursuing 14/16nm is nothing new, and if things had gone as planned we would have today 14/16nm products in out hands. Things just went wrong and they will arrive in 2016, but that is only a coincidence and have nothing to do with Nintendo launching their new system(s) in 2016 (if they get launched by next year... but that's another matter).

Yes, Zen will launch next year, and also yes, their Artic ISlands GPUs will also launch next year, but since when has Nintendo used not only brand new hardware but hardware that isn't even in the market yet? They never have, and I don't see how or why they would change that now.. specially if the fusion concept is true, where there are so many things that can go wrong that the last thing you want is have to deal with hardware related problems.

Now, if you look at the same wccftech, the have an article today that is not speculation:

AMD’s Embedded Carrizo ‘Merlin Falcon’ SOCs Launched

http://wccftech.com/amds-embedded-carrizo-merlin-falcon-socs-launched-amd-platform-support-ddr4-memory/

Those new SoC (System on Chips) include Excavator cores for the CPU part (they are the newest CPU cores AMD has right now, and are much, much better than the Jaguar chips that power the PS4/X1) paired with the latest GCN design for its GPU (the one that can be found in Tonga and Fiji).

And now look at this table:

 

SKU Name	RX-421BD	RX-418GD	RX-216GD	RX-421ND	RX-216TD
Cores/Threads	4/4	4/4	2/2	4/4	2/2
Base Clock (15W)	2.1 GHz	1.8 GHz	1.6 GHz	2.1 GHz	1.6 GHz
Max Clock (>15W)	3.4 GHz	3.2 GHz	3.0 GHz	3.4 GHz	3.0 GHz
L2 Cache	2 MB	2 MB	1 MB	2 MB	1 MB
iGPU	Radeon R7	Radeon R6	Radeon R5	N/A	N/A
GCN CUs	8 CUs	6 CUs	4 CUs	N/A	N/A
GCN SPs	512 SPs	384 SPs	256 SPs	N/A	N/A
iGPU Clock	800 MHz	800 MHz	800 Mhz	N/A	N/A
TDP	12-35W	12-35W	12-15W	12-35W	12-15W
DDR4 Data Rate	2400 MHz	2400 MHz	1600 MHz	2400 MHz	1600 MHz

Now, given that AMD first talked about these chips way back in 2014, it is much more logical (but also inherently wrong) to assume that Nintendo could use them to power their machines.

Why wouldn't Nintendo use the most powerful of those SoC, the 421BD, as the base of their home console, just dial down the CPU frequency to 1.6GHz but double the amount of GPU cores from 8 to 16 (or even 20 like the PS4) to keep it around the 20W mark, and use the 216GD as the base for their handheld part of NX tweaking it to keep it into the 10W mark?

Porting between the home and handheld would be a lot easier having the same components (but in different number), they both would use tried and tested components, given their nature of SoC chips they wouldn't be too pricey for the performance they give and, surprisingly enough, the home console could be more powerful than the PS4. It's a win-win escenario for Nintendo!

Now, am I going to say that Nintendo will use those chips? Of course not! There were SoC more powerful than WiiU long before it launched and Nintendo didn't use them back then, so no one can say what Nintendo will do.

But if I had to bet, I'd bet on one of these chips rather than on a Zen+Artic Islands GPU.