| zeldaring said: I'm confused as to why this would be sold at a loss this isn't a steam deck which only sold 2-3 million in 2 years. If the rumored specs are true we are looking at basically a cut down version of a 2050 a gpu released in 2021, I'm sure Nintendo got a sweet deal considering the switch sold 140 million So the chip will be mass produced for nintendo. |
I'm looking at your comments here and I think you have a misunderstanding. While the 2050 may be the most similar comparison to the T239 in terms of feature set, memory interface, etc. they are not the same chip. It's not just a "cut down" chip from 2021. It's a new chip that is made to be more compact and with a lower TDP.
2050's die size is around 200mm². The original Switch was about 110mm² and the revision is 100mm². The T239 is estimated to be around 91mm² based on 5nm production. The 2050's TDP is about 30 watts. The Switch is 15 watts and the Switch 2 should be around the same.
Basically, T239 has a little less grunt than a 2050 while working with less than half the space for transistors AND half the TDP. We also aren't considering the fact that the amount of low latency RAM that the T239 will have access to far surpasses the paltry 4GB the 2050 does and that the T239 is heavily rumored to feature several customizationsand features which weren't originally part of the Ampere architecture.
So your dissatisfaction with this chip is a bit unwarranted from what we know. Yeah, it's not top of the line, but it's not some old chip from four years ago either. Making something ultra portable is difficult and creates limitations that consoles like the Series X and PS5 don't have to deal with. If the die size is too large then you have to deal with the weight and size of the product and how you'll have room for things like the battery. If the TDP is too high then you have to include a bigger battery (which also equals a larger product and more heft) or deal with absurdly low battery life and consumer complaints. This isnt even getting into the issue of heat dissipation, which is incredibly important. The more wattage the more heat, the more heat the more that needs to be done about the heat which, again, will increase size, weight, etc. While laptops have to worry about some of these issues too, they don't have to worry about it nearly to the extent that a product like the Switch does. I mean, the Switch is roughly a quarter the size of the average laptop. You can't expect the same things out of those products.
