VGC: Switch 2 Was Shown At Gamescom Running Matrix Awakens UE5 Demo

[sc94597]

zeldaring said:

sc94597 said:

The issue is that Orin is getting old (almost 6 years old from Nvidia's perspective by 2024), and Nvidia cancelled Atlan (Orin's successor that was suppose to release next year.) It's possible that Nvidia wants to deprecate Orin, given its age, and that means the entire manufacturing process would be set to expire (no new orders) so that investment can be made elsewhere. 

If that is the case then Nvidia and Nintendo would have to find a new deal, and given the way GPU binning works it wouldn't necessarily have to cost a lot more to use a Lovelace chip. In fact, it might actually cost more in the long-term to use the older technology if Nvidia needs to keep manufacturing processes open five years from now that would otherwise been shut down because they support the Switch 2. See (note that the main target for Tegra chips are auto-manufacturers): https://getjerry.com/insights/why-cant-automakers-use-newer-chips-in-stock

"Even the chip manufacturers themselves are requesting that car manufacturers update their technology and make the switch to chips that are easier to produce."

I don't see how the Switch 2 not having an OLED helps your point. Cost savings from not having an OLED could be used elsewhere.

Just for context the architecture (Maxwell) used for the Tegra X1 in the Switch was only 2 years old when the Switch released. Lovelace will be 2 years old in late 2024. 

Remember there is still a chip shortage and nintendo wants to have as many  switches as possible I wouldn't be surprised if ninetndo been stacking up these Orin chips for year  or 2 for them not have any problems which would be smart.

Moving to 5nm would actually make more sense under the conditions of a chip shortage. Sony switched to 6nm to alleviate its shortage, for example. Why? Because the 5nm and 6nm nodes have fewer fabrication defects than the 7nm node.  

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/playstation-5-refresh-boasts-new-6nm-amd-oberon-plus-soc#:~:text=Lastly%2C%20Angstronomics%20also%20observes%20that%20the%20PS5,silicon%20bill%20and%20new%20lower%20BOM%2C%20recently

Lastly, Angstronomics also observes that the PS5 is the first of the big three current-gen consoles to get a 6nm chip and that Sony is getting nearly 50% more PS5 chips per wafer than Microsoft with its Xbox Series X processors. Even so, Sony, with its cheaper silicon bill and new lower BOM, recently pushed price hikes worldwide (except in the U.S.).

It is also an example of how going to a recent node could save money. 

https://www.pcmag.com/news/new-ps5-model-uses-more-efficient-oberon-plus-6nm-chip

The move to a 6nm chip means the logic transistor density increased by 18.8% and the die size shrunk from 300 square millimeters to just 270 (roughly 15% smaller). Combined, it means the CPU requires less power and produces less heat, which led to Sony introducing a smaller, cheaper cooling solution. The other benefit of the smaller chip for Sony is the fact 20% more of them can be produced per wafer, with little difference in production cost.

Last edited by sc94597 - on 10 September 2023