How will be Switch 2 performance wise?

[Wman1996]

shikamaru317 said:

The latest Switch 2 leak is concerning to say the least, I really hope it is bogus. I see 3 main mistakes in the leaked specs:

1. Only 8 GB of RAM. Devs are already frequently complaining that 10 GB (8 useable by devs) on Series S is not enough, so if Nintendo only has 8 GB (6 useable) it definitely feels like many 3rd parties won't want to port their games to Switch 2, just like Switch 1 before it. Imo they need 12 GB of RAM (10 useable by devs).

2. 64 GB of internal storage. Games continue to get bigger and bigger, with some games like CoD now regularly over 100 GB, and the upcoming GTA 6 likely shaping up to be 200 GB+. How in the heck will Switch 2 get ports of these games with such low internal storage? Xbox for instance already committed to putting CoD on Switch 2, but how in the heck will they manage to get a 100 GB+ game to fit on Switch 2? Physical carts only, no digital download? Solid state storage is fairly cheap now, you can get a 500 GB PCIe 3.0 SSD at retail for like $35 now, and Nintendo is buying wholesale, not retail. Why not go big on storage and embrace digital sales where the profit margin for Nintendo is much higher than on physical sales where they waste alot of money on pricey carts?

3. 120hz screen. This just seems pointless. Very few games will be capable of running over 60 fps in handheld mode (ports of older generation games and low graphics indies at most), so why spend money on a higher refresh rate screen when you can put more money into fixing the above RAM and storage problems instead?

12 GB RAM could happen. Steam Deck is obviously a lot weaker than the 9th gen consoles but has 16 GB RAM. I really don't see Nintendo using that much. Nintendo will probably use 8 or 10, but 12 like you said would be awesome. 

64 GB storage is indeed very paltry. Let's look at some file sizes.

Switch is closer to an Xbox 360 and PS3 in specs than an Xbox One and PS4, but is still clearly above those old consoles.

Uncharted 3 on PS3 is about 43.5 GB. I don't know of any Nintendo games on Switch with that high of a file size, but there are some that are 17 GB and up with updates and DLC. And of course, NBA 2K24 is 61.7 GB. With that in mind Switch having 32 GB (64 GB for OLED) of storage is still small, but not the craziest thing for a hybrid.

Now let's look at Xbox One and PS4, which Switch 2 will be more in line with. COD Modern Warfare is 175 GB+, and I'm sure some third-party games on Switch 2 might be around that. There will probably be a good number of Nintendo games that push 20 GB, some might even go above 40 GB.

128 GB seems like the minimum amount of storage for Switch 2, with 200-256 GB as more ideal. 

120hz on a small screen seems like an unneeded expense for Nintendo. I can picture virtually no games in handheld or docked running 120hz on Switch 2 (PS4 and Xbox One can't run 120hz). I'd take a 1080p screen on Switch 2 over 120hz. The resolution might still be 720p, though. Or maybe 800p (Steam Deck) or 900p.